Chapter 71
Someone from the imperial palace has arrived.
That was a phrase we'd begun hearing fairly often at Maison Monbel.
At first, my heart sank.
Whenever the imperial palace was involved, things generally grew serious.
Uncle Bernard said quietly.
“An imperial envoy.”
I reflexively asked.
“Did they come here to eat, or to take someone away?”
Uncle Bernard was silent for a moment.
“Neither this time.”
That made me even more uneasy.
The imperial envoy got straight to the point, unexpectedly simply.
He unfolded a thick document bearing the imperial crest and bowed politely before Elysia.
“Lady Elysia de Monbel. His Majesty the Emperor has judged that House Monbel has made a significant contribution to the development of the Empire’s culinary culture. Maison Monbel has established the standard for the new-style course meal, shed new light on local ingredients and regional cuisine, and enabled a broader range of people to experience a new food culture through its popular restaurant business.”
Listening beside her, I felt strange.
Put that way, it sounded like a highly refined cultural enterprise.
In reality, we'd just sold all sorts of things to make money.
Packaging really was important.
The envoy continued.
“Accordingly, His Majesty the Emperor had been considering granting you, Lady Elysia, a baronial title, but on this occasion, he has decided to elevate House Monbel to a count’s house. The formal investiture ceremony will be held at the imperial palace at the end of this year, and Lady Elysia de Monbel will receive the title of Countess there.”
From the kitchen, I heard Marie quietly draw in a breath.
Elysia said nothing for a long while.
Her expression was calm.
It was a perfectly composed face, befitting a noblewoman.
But her fingertips trembled ever so slightly.
The woman who had laughed that if everything went under, she could just kill herself was about to become a countess.
The envoy added one final sentence.
“His Majesty the Emperor also wishes to entrust Kyle Prat with the celebratory banquet to be held after the investiture ceremony.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course it wasn't going to end there.
Elysia slowly lowered her head.
“I am deeply grateful for His Majesty the Emperor’s grace. Monbel will prepare itself so as not to disappoint that expectation.”
The envoy nodded with satisfaction.
“The imperial palace will provide the detailed schedule at a later date. You may coordinate with the imperial kitchens regarding everything needed to prepare the banquet.”
I sighed inwardly once more.
I could already see how much trouble would arise from that.
A battle of wills with the imperial head chef, ingredient control, questions of protocol, anti-poisoning procedures, the Emperor’s tastes, the gazes of the nobility, and, without a doubt, the uniquely imperial inefficiency that would emerge from somewhere.
Even in my previous life, collaborating with a hotel kitchen was exhausting.
This time, it was the imperial palace.
The version of exhaustion with a crown placed on it.
After the envoy left, the estate remained quiet for a while.
Marie spoke first.
“Is my lady going to become a countess?”
Elysia was still looking at the document.
“I suppose so.”
“Countess?”
Marie called carefully again.
Only then did Elysia raise her head.
Then she smiled with an odd expression.
“Don’t. It still feels awkward.”
But Marie’s eyes were already sparkling.
“Countess.”
“Marie.”
“Countess.”
“I said don’t.”
Marie ran away laughing.
I looked at Elysia.
“Congratulations, my lady.”
Elysia looked at me.
“Are you going to say that too?”
“Then what should I call you?”
“You can call me what you used to.”
“But you’re going to be a countess.”
Elysia pressed her lips together for a moment.
“I’m still a lady for now.”
“You’ll be a countess starting at the end of this year.”
“Then call me my lady until the end of the year.”
“Understood, my lady.”
Only then did Elysia’s expression relax a little.
Uncle Bernard’s eyes were already red.
He had watched over House Monbel longer than anyone.
The man who had clung to the vault key at the very end of its downfall.
The man who had tried again and again to stop Elysia on the day she was going to the gambling hall.
Without asking, I knew what this moment meant to him.
He quietly bowed at the waist.
“Congratulations, my lady. The late Baron would have been delighted too.”
Elysia’s expression wavered slightly.
“Thank you, Bernard.”
At that, the kitchen staff and the household staff began offering their congratulations one by one.
Thomas, Nina, Ria, Baron, and Estelle included.
Some had joined Maison Monbel late, but everyone was happy about this as though it were their own affair.
In fact, it was their affair.
When the house rose in rank, so did the restaurant’s standing, and when the restaurant’s standing rose, the employees’ shoulders rose with it.
And we would probably have even more work.
I’d think about that later.
Elysia accepted congratulations for a while, then suddenly looked at me.
“Kyle, I’m going to become a countess now.”
“Yes.”
“Then I can grant titles to people below me too, right?”
I paused.
“Pardon?”
Elysia was completely serious.
“Of course, I can’t just hand them out to anyone, and there would be procedures. Once Monbel becomes a count’s house, I can grant a lesser title to someone who has rendered service to the family. And you’re the person most responsible for getting Monbel this far.”
It took me a moment to understand what she was saying.
“My lady.”
“Yes?”
“Are you saying you’re going to grant me a title?”
“Yes.”
She said it far too casually.
Marie poked her face out through the kitchen doorway again.
“Is Kyle becoming a noble?”
“We still have to see what the procedures are.”
Elysia said it loudly enough for Marie to hear too.
“But I intend to appoint Kyle Prat as a baronet of House Monbel.”
The kitchen fell silent again.
I spoke slowly.
“Even if I receive a title, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it.”
Elysia answered immediately.
“You can learn.”
“I don’t know noble etiquette very well, either.”
“Bernard can teach you.”
Uncle Bernard bowed his head far too naturally.
“Leave it to me.”
“No, don’t accept responsibility that quickly.”
“You’ll have to get used to it.”
“And I’m a chef.”
“You can keep doing that.”
“Isn’t it strange for a nobleman to be a chef?”
Elysia stared pointedly at me.
“At Maison Monbel, are you really going to start worrying about what’s strange now?”
I had no answer.
Elysia spoke a little more gently.
“Kyle, this doesn’t mean you have to be bound to Monbel, nor does it mean I intend to put you on display as a decoration. I want to give you a title fitting what you’ve created. Maison Monbel wouldn’t exist without you, and you’re a benefactor of our family.”
Those words hadn’t begun as a light joke.
So I couldn’t brush them aside.
Elysia wasn’t smiling.
“So accept it. I finally have something I can give you now.”
I was silent for a moment.
The kitchen was quiet.
Marie didn’t joke around this time, either.
I looked at Elysia, then slowly lowered my head.
“I will accept it gratefully.”
Only then did Elysia smile.
“Good. Then you’re Baronet Kyle Prat.”
“The formal procedures haven’t been completed yet.”
“Bernard can handle all that stiff talk.”
Uncle Bernard said quietly.
“I will prepare the official documents and take care of the formalities.”
“See? He’s good at it.”
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
Somehow, I was about to become a noble.
Only then did Marie sidle over.
“So do I have to speak politely to Kyle now?”
I answered immediately.
“Don’t.”
“Baronet.”
“Marie.”
“Baronet Kyle Prat.”
“I said don’t.”
Marie looked delighted.
We were doomed.
I was going to be teased for a while.
Estelle asked seriously.
“Once you have a title, will you have greater authority to approve research budgets?”
“No.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
Everyone reacted in their own way.
Meanwhile, Elysia looked at the imperial document again and said,
“The imperial banquet at the end of this year is extremely important. It will be where I receive my title as countess, and where House Monbel fully establishes itself among the Empire’s nobility.”
“Yes.”
“You can do it, right?”
I let out a breath.
The burden was heavy.
But strangely, I didn’t want to run away.
Monbel had made it this far.
Then we had to set the table properly on that day too.
I nodded.
“I can do it.”
Elysia smiled with satisfaction.
“I knew you could.”
I added,
“However, I’ll handle the coordination with the imperial kitchen myself. It would be troublesome if they interfered unnecessarily.”
“Are you already preparing to fight?”
“The kitchen is a battlefield.”
Elysia laughed.
“Then I’ll be counting on you, Baronet.”
I closed my eyes.
“It’s troublesome when even you do that, my lady.”
“Why? I’m the one appointing you.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
It was a day when I kept hearing more and more things I couldn’t argue with.
House Monbel would become a count’s house.
Elysia would become a countess.
And I would become a baronet.
A contribution to culinary culture, huh? It sounded grand.
But in the end, it had all begun with one thing: stopping a young lady on her way to a gambling hall and feeding a debt-ridden count a meal worth 150 gold pieces.
That one meal had brought us this far.
I quietly looked toward the kitchen.
Broth was still simmering in the pots.
The plates had been washed, and the knives were in their places.
Even if I acquired a title, I’d still return there.
Noble or not, a chef was a chef.
I muttered under my breath.
“Fuck, I never thought I’d receive a title while cooking.”
Marie laughed immediately.
“Baronet, your way of speaking is so vulgar.”
“Don’t.”
“Yes, Baronet.”
“If I become a noble, do I get the right to beat my servants?”
Elysia immediately stopped me.
“Marie would probably enjoy it if you hit her.”
“What? Why on earth would she?”
It seemed I was going to be very tired for the time being.