Chapter 49
Monica had been thrown into a panic by the suspicion that her friend and familiar were involved in an illicit romance, but Isaac's words seemed to have calmed her down. She now sat primly in a chair, taking tiny sips of the lemonade Isaac had made.
Watching Monica out of the corner of his eye, Isaac decided to start preparing dinner with the ingredients he had brought.
The main ingredient today was white-fleshed fish. Isaac skillfully filleted it, separating the flesh from the trimmings, then soaked the trimmings in cold water.
"Ike, what are you making today?"
After finishing her lemonade, Monica asked Isaac as she washed her glass.
Isaac answered while chopping vegetables.
"I'll simmer the trimmings with vegetables and strain them to make soup... As for the fillets, I wonder what I should do."
"Um, um..."
Monica fidgeted with her fingers and looked up at Isaac like a child asking a parent for something.
"I... would like some sautéed fish."
It was rare for Monica to make this sort of request. As a rule, she ate whatever was put in front of her without complaint.
Thinking back, Monica had been a girl who was bad at asking for things ever since her days at Serendia Academy. Perhaps she had been bad at asking other people for anything in the first place.
Isaac smiled, his eyes crinkling at this precious request from Monica.
"Sure. Let's sauté it in butter today. I'll add the lemon you like at the end."
"...! Ike, you knew? That I like fish with lemon and butter?"
"Of course."
Isaac knew that although Monica ate whatever was served to her, she did have clear preferences.
After all, Monica saved the foods she liked for last and savored them with the utmost care.
"I haven't eaten much fish that wasn't salted or smoked... I had some at Serendia Academy, and it moved me a little."
"Ah, these days, transportation technology using ice magic has advanced quite a bit."
Preservation and transportation technology for fresh food and medicines using ice magic had advanced dramatically in recent years, but it was naturally still quite expensive.
Consequently, being able to eat fresh meat and fish was a privilege enjoyed by the upper classes who attended Serendia Academy.
Even salted seafood was a luxury in farming villages far from the sea.
Monica had apparently lived deep in the mountains for some time, so she probably had few opportunities to eat fresh seafood.
(Nero is hibernating, so maybe I'll make nothing but fish dishes for a while.)
That black dragon did not like fish despite taking the form of a cat. As a result, when Nero was awake, meat dishes tended to be the main course.
"Ike, Ike."
"Hm?"
"What kind of food do you like, Ike?"
Monica had taken an interest in him. She wanted to know what he liked.
That small thing made Isaac happy.
But when he tried to answer Monica's question, Isaac's tongue froze.
──He had tried to think of his favorite food, but nothing came to mind.
(I remember Ark's likes and dislikes. He wasn't fond of meat, fish, or vegetables. He liked fruit. But he was a light eater and could never finish his meals, so he was always sniffling and crying.)
When the switch had just happened, everyone believed Prince Felix was ill, so Isaac had to eat small portions of a sick person's diet to avoid arousing suspicion.
Even after making his debut in high society on the grounds that he had recovered his health, it would have been unnatural for Prince Felix, a light eater, to suddenly become a big eater, so Isaac still had to limit the amount he ate.
Extreme likes and dislikes invited suspicion. The safest approach was to taste everything he was served equally.
The preferences of Isaac Walker were nothing but a hindrance when he was playing the perfect second prince.
If someone asked, 'What does His Highness like to eat?' he could answer with whatever the other person liked or something from the local area. That would give him something to talk about and improve the other person's impression of him.
...After living that way for nearly ten years, he had completely forgotten what his own favorite food was.
Isaac closed his eyes and slowly traced his memories.
The things he liked, the things that stirred his heart, the foods he had loved as a child.
"...If I had to choose, I suppose I like meat dishes. I used to look forward to having skewers bought for me on festival days."
"Oh! We ate skewers in the back garden at Serendia Academy with Glen-san and the others, didn't we? Um, after we passed the dance exam."
"To be honest, I wanted about three more at the time. But it wouldn't have looked very dignified for a prince to be a glutton, so I held back."
When Isaac said this jokingly, Monica's eyes widened in surprise.
"So you were a glutton, Ike."
"I'm pretty average. About as much as Dudley-kun."
"To me, Glen-san eats a lot."
Glen Dudley-kun's usual refrain was, 'I can't get any energy unless I eat meat!'
Isaac secretly sympathized with that refrain. If possible, he wanted to eat his fill of meat.
"Um, Ike... In this house, you don't have to hold back from eating what you like. Please eat as much as you want, okay?"
As Monica desperately struggled to get the words out, Isaac smiled softly, narrowing his eyes.
──Even if I lost everything, I had a place where I could remain Isaac Walker like this.
Let's remember the things I had forgotten that I liked, one by one, sometimes discover new ones, and then fill this table with them. Together with Monica's favorite foods.
(That would surely make for... a very happy table.)
Holding that thought close to his heart, Isaac opened the cupboard.
"...Huh? There are some new teacups."
"Oh, yes, that's right! I broke one of the cups... So I went shopping with Lana!"
Waving her hands excitedly, Monica told him about shopping with Lana and how delicious the fried pies they had eaten together were.
Isaac listened happily as he stirred the soup pot.
＊ ＊ ＊
White fish sautéed in lemon butter, soup made with stock from fish trimmings and vegetables, soft bread, and baked apples.
As Monica savored Isaac's cooking and drank tea from one of the new teacups after dinner, someone began pounding forcefully on the door knocker.
When Monica started to rise from her chair, Isaac raised one hand to stop her.
"I'll get it."
"But, um..."
"Yeah, I know."
Few people knew that 〈Silent Witch〉 Monica Everett lived in Sazandoll.
To prevent would-be apprentices and outlaws like Hubard Dee from showing up uninvited, mail addressed to Monica was sent to Sazandoll from the 〈Jade Room〉 in Ridill Kingdom Castle.
As for Monica's friends who visited this house, if they came after dark, they would contact her beforehand and announce themselves from the other side of the door.
Isaac moved only his eyes toward the belongings he had placed in the corner of the room. He had brought a hunting rifle for self-defense.
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but in the end he left the rifle where it was and called out through the door.
"Who is it?"
"I'm with Flux Trading Company."
Monica recognized that flat, toneless voice. It belonged to Lana's secretary, Clifford Anderson.
Monica stood up and spoke to Isaac.
"It's Lana's secretary—the one I met at lunch... I wonder if something happened to Lana."
"Hmm?"
Isaac raised one eyebrow suspiciously as he opened the door.
Standing on the other side was a young man with unruly black hair tied back and round glasses covering half his face—Clifford Anderson.
After looking between Monica and Isaac, Clifford inexplicably turned toward Isaac rather than Monica, the homeowner.
"You're Bartholomew Alexander?"
It was a spectacular case of mistaken identity.
Isaac was about to deny it when his face suddenly stiffened. A moment later, Monica realized why.
A handgun was in Clifford's right hand. Its muzzle was aimed at Isaac's heart.
Clifford said to the ashen-faced pair in a voice utterly devoid of emotion:
"Where is Lana?"