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"I am truly furious!"
Aub Alexandria, Rozemyne, was openly displaying her anger.
"Lady Rozemyne, Lord Ferdinand surely did not have any malicious intent," Lieseleta said, trying to soothe Rozemyne.
But Rozemyne would not stop.
"Lieseleta, you saw the face he made, didn't you?! He looked down on me with eyes I couldn't believe! That is absolutely unforgivable!"
Upon returning to her chambers, Rozemyne threw herself onto her bed in a fit of rage.
Even Lieseleta resigned herself to the fact that she had no choice but to wait for Rozemyne’s anger to subside.
"Haaah... Ferdinand and I really just don't match, do we?"
Rozemyne spat out words of disappointment from the bottom of her heart.
It all started when Rozemyne asked Ferdinand that she wanted to eat sushi.
Naturally, there was no sushi culture in Yurgenschmidt. So, Ferdinand began making sushi completely from scratch for Rozemyne’s sake.
Finding vinegar that matched the shari (sushi rice), the proper way to fillet fish, and hygiene management.
And, of course, the technique of molding the sushi.
As he established the culture of sushi, Ferdinand had inadvertently awakened as the founding father of sushi artisans.
Ferdinand showed such thoroughness that he remodeled a room in the castle exclusively for sushi.
A Japanese-style interior with a counter and chairs. And there stood the sushi chef, Ferdinand.
He grabbed the perfect amount of shari with his hand, applied wasabi, placed the neta (topping) on top, and pressed it with exquisite force.
A natural flow with absolutely no stagnation. It was even beautiful.
"Here you are, Aub. Silver-skinned fish."
Sushi Chef Ferdinand prioritized the customer above all else. Even more so when the customer was the Aub.
"To think I can really eat sushi... You are amazing! Ferdinand!"
Immediately after being moved to tears, Rozemyne remembered she had been addressed as Aub and straightened her posture.
"This fish had many small bones, so I carefully removed them and added hidden knife cuts to make it easier to eat. Please enjoy it with the green onions on top and the appropriate amount of wasabi."
"Oh? are there no chopsticks?"
Ferdinand frowned.
"I want you to eat with your hands. That is the rule of my shop."
"I-Is that so? I understand."
Rozemyne grabbed the sushi with her hand and dipped it into the soy sauce in the small dish.
"Aub! Wait! You must not dip the shari in the soy sauce! The rice will crumb— Ahhh!"
Ferdinand’s face turned to despair.
"I just have to eat it before it crumbles, don't I?! Please leave me alone! ...Oh my! This is delicious! It melted in my mouth!"
"Hmph, I suppose it did. I struggled to find fresh fish and rice that matched it. But the hardest part was the molding technique. A balance that is neither too hard nor too soft. Now, next is the red meat."
Rozemyne’s eyes sparkled at the fatty red meat sushi.
"I have already applied rock salt, so please eat it as is."
"Eh? Not soy sauce? I would like to eat sushi with soy sauce, though."
"I told you I applied rock salt!"
Ferdinand snapped. In my shop, you obey me, Aub? Who cares! I am the Zent of the sushi shop! His bad habit of having an artisan’s temper had emerged.
"I am on Team Soy Sauce!"
"Sigh. Why are you like this? Salt suits this fish better than soy sauce. Do you know how much I made Eckhart and Justus eat to confirm this?"
"That is only two people! When it comes to sushi, I think my sense of taste is far superior!"
Rozemyne, as Aub Alexandria, also competed uselessly. Furthermore, her previous life was Japanese. Sushi is the heart of a Japanese person. Incidentally, soba, udon, and mochi are also the heart. She has many hearts, but sushi is the head of the list of hearts she cannot compromise on.
"What? You claim to be above me regarding sushi? Heh..."
Ferdinand’s eyes clearly contained contempt.
"W-What is that?! That look! You could just let me eat it how I like, couldn't you!?"
Angry, Rozemyne stood up, threw the sushi into her mouth, and walked away briskly.
(Sushi eaten with salt...! Guh! This tuna is too delicioooous! But I can't stop being irritated!)
By the time she thought that, Rozemyne had already passed the point of no return.
Rozemyne lay on her bed, regretting that she had been stubbornly petty over something so trivial.
She had prided herself on knowing more about sushi than Ferdinand.
But she was wrong.
It was ignorance born from the fact that she had never eaten at a high-end, non-conveyor belt sushi restaurant in her previous life. And arrogance.
(But it's cruel to look at me with those eyes. Ferdinand...)
It was then that Lieseleta called out to Rozemyne.
"Lady Rozemyne. Lord Ferdinand is here."
"Rozemyne... my apologies. My passion for sushi went out of control."
(Eh? What is 'passion for sushi'?!)
"Because I wanted you to eat it in the most delicious way possible, I served sushi with rock salt, but I should have grasped your preferences first."
(Guh... He's kind. He really is always thinking of me first, isn't he?)
"You haven't eaten enough, have you? I shall make arrangements so you can eat with soy sauce. These are ingredients I prepared specifically for you. I do not want them to go to waste."
(...I cannot let ingredients go to waste. That's right, I am not forgiving Ferdinand. I am going to ensure the ingredients are not wasted.)
Rozemyne got up from the bed and asked Ferdinand for an escort.
"I am truly sorry."
"I do not forgive you. ...However, if you feed me delicious sushi, I will forgive you."
Smiles returned to Ferdinand and Rozemyne’s faces.
Seeing this, Lieseleta smiled as well.
After this, Rozemyne fully enjoyed the sushi. She even accepted eating it with salt.
"Ferdinand, is that, by any chance...?"
"Yes. It is Tempura. You can still eat a little more, can you not?"
"Of course! I am so happy to be able to eat such delicious things. I could ascend to the distant heights at any moment."
"In your case, that is not a joke."
While exchanging such banter, the tempura was fried.
A plate with beautifully battered shrimp was presented.
"Oh? Where is the dipping sauce?"
"There is salt right there, is there not?"
"I want to eat Tempura with dipping sauce!"
"I told you I prepared salt! It tastes better with salt!"
"Please let me eat how I like!"
Having to witness the Aub couple fight over dipping sauce versus salt twice in one day, even Lieseleta finally stumbled in disbelief.