It’s been years since I touched a la carte, but this chapter was commissioned by a guy, so here it is.

Denmark. Formally, the Kingdom of Denmark.

Located in the northernmost part of Scandinavia, made up from the Jutland Peninsula next to germany, the Zealand and Funen island, as well as about 500 other small islands.

The country that uses a white cross on a red background, the called ‘Dannebrog’, as their national symbol.

Boasting great social welfare and high taxes, it is said that out of the country’s population of six million, 80% of them claim to live happily.

This is the country that gave birth to Hans Christian Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard. With the works of chair designer Arne Jacobsen and the famous tableware of Copenhagen, Denmark’s goods have become extremely popular in Japan.

Denmark, where in winter the days are short, and by December the towns are perpetually bright and cheerful.

It was during one of those christmas seasons that an 8-year old Kurokiba Ryou arrived together with Nakiri Alice, to one of her family’s mansions in Denmark.

This is fine so far, but for some strange reason, Ryou was standing in the kitchen holding a knife. The sparkling kitchen was so clean that. in a way, the word ‘snowscape’ was oddly fitting to it. There, many ingredients from Denmark lied side-by-side.

They had veggies and meat, but also other ingredients like eel, salmon, gadidae and shrimp just waiting to be used. Along with Ryou, there were other kids his age, along with kids two or three years older. There were about 20 kids total.

“Hehe, you better not lose, Ryou”.

Ryou turned towards the voice, and he could see Alice and his mom Leonora watching him from their seats above the kitchen. Alice was smiling as she waved at Ryou.

“You don’t need to tell me twice, lady…” Ryou whispered, then…

“Kh, Lady Alice was waving her hand at this guy!”

“We can’t forgive this, let’s crush him!”

The boys surrounding Ryou suddenly got fired up. Ryou simply let out a sigh and tied his bandanna along his forehead.

“You’ll be the ones getting crushed!” A fierce light could be seen in Ryou’s eyes as he glared at his opponents.

——–

Shortly after Ryou had become Alice’s retainer, she suddenly asked him to come to her house.

“Why go all the way to the lady’s mansion? I’ve got a shop here.” Ryou refuted towards Alice. He was serving up food in the local pub of a port town near Copenhagen that associated with the fishermen.

After winning the cooking battles that Alice had challenged him to compete in many times, he suddenly became Alice’s retainer and started calling her ‘lady’. He also started talking in a more respectful manner when speaking to Alice.

“Well, it’s almost time of Yule, right? It’s natural for a retainer to visit the mansion.”

Ryou clicked his tongue at Alice’s bothersome remark.

Yule is a word that has its origins in the old Norse languages. It used to be a festival held during the age of vikings, which started with the winter solstice and lasted for a month and a half. After christianity came to Denmark, the festival lost most of its meaning and now its become only a celebration of Christmas. Celebrated along with the Advent that starts along with December, Christmas is also called ‘Yule’ in Denmark.

“We’re having a party at the mansion. It would put me in trouble if my retainer didn’t come, you know?”

“I don’t see how that would cause trouble. I’m not even part of the family.”

Hearing this, Alice puffed her cheeks.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? You always say things like that! You also only saw my mom the one time she came here!”

“Meeting her once is enough, right?”

“Hmph!” Alice’s cheeks puffed even further.

Spacing out, Ryou started thinking Alice resembled a puffer fish or a porcupine fish. He remembered seeing one in the fish tank of a japanese food shop, but he wasn’t too sure. Maybe he saw it on TV.

“See, we’ll all gather in front of the christmas tree! Then we’ll set candles, and sing while we hold hands! Of course, we’ll have our presents on top of the chimney, and we’ll exchange them.” Alice started talking to Ryou, but to him it sounded like something out of Andersen’s fairy tales. Nothing but a fleeting dream that would disappear with the strike of a match.

“I just can’t imagine a christmas like that. It’s more fitting for me to just serve food for the guys that come to this pub.”

“Hmph! You’re so mean, Ryou!” Alice’s puffed cheeks were now turning red.

“You leave me no choice, let’s have another battle! If I win, you’ll have to come to the party! Got it!?”

“Sure, whatever. Same as always, right…”

The next day, Ryou lost to Alice. The fishermen who were acting as judges all voted in her favor.

“Hey, you played dirty!”

“What, Ryou? You sayin’ we were on her side all along?”

“Wow Ryou, you really don’t know when to give up!”

“That’s right!”

The fishermen lashed out at Ryou.

“You’ve still got a ways to go, Ryou”

The winner, Alice, was looking at Ryou with utmost happiness.

Up until he became her retainer, Alice had been losing every match, but with this, their score is tied, which Ryou couldn’t accept. He took the plate that had Alice’s dish, ‘Gorgonzola-flavored Imitation peanuts’, and tasted it.

“!!!”

“It’s good, right?” Alice smiled at Ryou.

It was painful to accept, but today’s dish was different from the rest. Ryou could feel some sort of ‘passion’ in today’s dish, and had no choice but to accept his defeat.

Alice’s mansion was in a small island a way’s away from Copenhagen.

The entire island was owned by the Nakiris, and they get there by riding a Nakiri-owned ship from the port. Ryou didn’t know this at the time, but the island had enough supplies that one could survive self-sufficiently for a while even if there was a storm at sea and you were left stranded on the island.

“You know, the locals tell scary rumors about the Nakiri mansion, so people usually don’t go anywhere near it.”

“Ahh, right, they say that once per year they’ll kidnap a child from the town, then they sacrifice him and hold a banquet for days.”

“Ah, you mean the sacrifice’s that are the secret to Lady Leonora’s beauty?”

“Yeah, that’s why she’s so pretty, you know! Man, if only I were younger I’d gladly become a sacrifice. You really did it now, Ryou!”

Knowing that Ryou would spend christmas with the Nakiris, the fishermen started teasing him by spouting nonsense.

“So they use young boys as sacrifice…”

Letting out a sigh, Ryou took the plates with smoked eel & eggs, and laid them in front of the fishermen. The fishermen then started devouring their meal.

It’s already been some time since Ryou came to this country and started working at the pub. It didn’t take much for the fishermen to recognize Ryou’s cooking skills. But it took a little more time for them to ‘recognize’ him.

Usually, Ryou looks like he’s very absent-minded and constantly spacing out, which made the cooks and fishermen distrust him, but when it came to cooking, he changed to a ferocious attitude.

When it came to serving customers’ food, Ryou had created a hierarchy on his own.

The fishermen who came for food would line up in front of the shop, and bet let inside once it was opening time. These customers have to fulfill two requirements in order to be served by Ryou. First, pay for your meal. Second, always do what Ryou says.

Many of them weren’t happy with this at first, but where forced to follow the rules once they got a taste of his food. There was nobody other than Ryou that could make the fish they caught into such delicious meals. In a way, it resembled the feeling of awe a fisherman would feel when confronted with a beast that controlled the sea. They had feelings of both fear and admiration towards Ryou.

But his relationship with the fishermen started changing once Alice came to visit the pub more frequently.

Ryou sees as enemies not only other cooks, but also his customers. This is something that won’t change. However, even if Ryou himself doesn’t change, by having him compete against Alice, it became clear that ‘even Ryou can lose’. Seeing Ryou’s defeat, the image the fishermen had of him as ‘a beast that lives in the sea’ change do ‘a boy that lives in the sea’. This was simply one-way thinking by them, but it helped them see Ryou more like an actual person. Of course, Ryou himself wouldn’t notice any of this.

Ryou’s defeat in this town was also convenient to the ‘Nakiri International’ molecular gastronomy research facility that had been constructed in the area, as Alice’s skill had been recognized as the real deal.

————–

And so, the day finally came for Ryou to visit the Nakiri mansion.

“Ryou, are you planning to go wearing that?”

Alice had come to pick up Ryou along with her servants, but she kept staring at him.

He was wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt, black pants, boots and an apron, the bare minimum required to cook comfortably.

“…Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is! It’s the once-in-a-year Yule! Not to mention a Nakiri Christmas Party! We need to get you prettied up!”

Alice then brought him a child’s tuxedo and bowtie. The fishermen that came to tease him all burst out laughing.

“There you go Ryou! Now you’ll be a real proper little boy!”

“I think it actually suits him.”

“No way I’m wearing this.” Ryou said indignant, to which Alice put her hands on her hips and asserted herself.

“But it was you who lost our last match, Ryou. You gotta listen to what I say.”

“……”

“Or what? You weren’t serious back then? Does that mean you lost that pride you had when you said any time you stood in the kitchen it became a battle field?” Alice brought her face closer to Ryou’s.

“Understood.” Clicking his tongue, Ryou dressed himself in the clothes Alice brought him.

(I feel like I’m cosplaying…)

After getting dressed and reaching the port, Ryou stepped into the ship prepared by the Nakiris.

———-

Sitting at the top of a hill, the elegant mansion of the Nakiris, named ‘Neverland’, had within its premises various attractions that reminded one of Copenhagen’s long-standing amusement park ‘Tivoli Gardens’.

As soon as Ryou stepped into the garden, christmas music performed by accordions started playing and the ferris wheel started spinning. Ryou turned his eyes to another direction and saw a group of children happily playing in a merry-go-round.

“What is this place?”

“It’s like a fairy tale land, right? Mom made this park so any kid could have fun here. Anyone can get here by just riding the liner at the port.

“Hehh…”

Ryou pretended to be listening, but he couldn’t care less about the park. Maybe he came here at some point, but sweet memories like that aren’t worth keeping, so he didn’t bother remembering it. Ryou doesn’t really care about the past. The only thing that matters is the present.

Or well, in eight-year old Ryou’s short life, the only things that matter are those moments when his soul is set aflame by cooking.

“If you want to play you can try riding on anything, Ryou.”

Alice talked to Ryou as if mistaking his vague gaze for having interest in the park, or maybe she was just proud of the park her mom built.

“No way, I’m fine.”

“Ehh, don’t be like that. Hey, let’s ride the merry-go-round together.”

Merry-go-round.

Ryou couldn’t stand the fact that she chose that out of all the attractions available.

“What if I say no?”

“Let’s make it a contest!” Alice proposed in a cute manner.

“……”

Ryou couldn’t back down after hearing that.

Ryou let himself be dragged by Alice to the merry-go-round.

“……”

I can’t believe I’m riding something like this. I imagine the fishermen would laugh at me if they saw me.

Ryou kept telling himself ‘this is just a horse’ as he shook up and down.

“Ahaha!”

Alice was waving her hand at the other children with a carefree smile. The children seemed to be entranced by her, as if they were looking at someone who they deeply admired.

And indeed, Alice is quite admired by the kids around here.

Beautiful porcelain-like white skin, silver hair, and even though she comes from a wealthy family, she’s not rigid, but rather carefree and extravagant.

It wans’t until he became her retainer that Ryou realized many children admired that lovely attitude of Alice which made her seem like a character from a fairy tale. As far as Ryou could tell, Alice didn’t have any friends her age, probably because that same sense of admiration kids had for her made it difficult for them to approach her.

Ryou himself had become Alice’s retainer, but it’s not like he felt himself superior to the other kids.

That friendless Alice always brought adult men with her to the pub, but Ryou didn’t know how Alice felt about the whole thing.

Maybe she felt lonely, but maybe she didn’t mind. To Ryou, Alice would still be Alice regardless of whether she had any friends or not.

So what is Alice to Ryou?

Asking himself this, Ryou realized he didn’t quite understand. And then again, there wasn’t any point in thinking about it anyway.

“Hey Ryou, let’s ride that one next!”

Ryou regained his senses and heard Alice’s cheerful voice calling out to him. He could see a roller coaster in the direction Alice’s finger was pointing.

“You know Ryou, I had always wanted to take you to this park with me.”

Alice started talking happily once they sat together in the first-row seats.

“Why?”

“Well, because you can only enter this park up until you’re eight. Time’s almost up for both me and you. After this we’ll have to do our best at Nakiri International. And also, I don’t know when it’ll be, but I may have to go back to Japan eventually.”

“Japan?”

Ryou seemed surprised at Alice mentioning Japan.

“Yeah, once I go back I have to go to a Tootsuki…something-or-other, a cooking school. I’ll have to improve my cooking skills there. Of course, you’re coming too.”

Tootsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy. Alice didn’t quite get the name, so she couldn’t say it completely.

A cooking school. And in Japan.

Even when she told him he’d go too, it all seemed too sudden and unreal to Ryou.

And then suddenly, as the roller coaster’s buzzer started making noise, the car started moving.

“Kyaaaaahhh!”

Alice started screaming with something that was neither fear nor joy. Meanwhile Ryou just sat there in an uninterested manner.

If he stayed at Alice’s side, would his life become just like this roller coaster? Ryou thought that he was fine with that.

Even up until now, Ryou had simply lived in this country without caring for anything. The only time Ryou felt truly alive was when he was cooking.

He wasn’t sure if he could keep serving food for the fishermen forever. His skill wasn’t the problem, but rather that he could get sick of it eventually.

He had already visited Japan once with his parents, at an age when he was already conscious of what was happening around him.

Moist air. Red goldfish. Blue fish in a tank. Sushi. The only things Ryou seemed to remember were sensations and colors. He also seemed to remember the fish quite well. Those fish moving their mouths repeatedly, just what where they trying to tell Ryou?

Practicing one’s cooking in Japan, his parents’ homeland which seemed quite distant to him. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. There’s a lot of fish in Japan as well. Although Ryou thought he really didn’t mind not going either.

Once Alice got enough of playing around, the two finally headed towards the Nakiri house.

“Fufu, I’m sure you already know but our house is really huge.”

Just like Alice said, the way to her house was taken by a golf cart-like vehicle. For some reason, they passed through a greenhouse, a field used to raise alligators and a forest that was growing fruits from the southern countries. This tour they made was big enough to be an attraction on its own. By the time they reached the mansion, Ryou had already gotten cold.

“Your house sure is big…”

“I really like that casual and calm attitude of yours, Ryou”

“There was actually a shorter way to get here, right?”

“Fufu, you’re right.”

“……”

“Well I wanted you to see the whole place, so there was no other way around it, ok?”

Ryou let out a sigh, wondering if this was part of his duty as her retainer.

————————————-

The place they went through after they left the car was the entrance, also know as the ‘green room’. In it was a Japanese fir tree so big it reached the ceiling. The tree was dressed with all sorts of colorful decorations. It was so big that Ryou’s neck made a snapping sound when he looked up.

“Ufufu, so you finally arrived. We were waiting for you.”

Ryou turned towards the direction of the voice, and there was Alice’s mom, Nakiri Leonora, standing in the middle of the central stairs.

“It’s been a while, Ryou. How dare you?”

“Oh mom, it’s how ‘are’ you. You need to work more on your Japanese. Oh, I’ll help you!”

Alice pointed out Leonora’s mistake with a bright smile.

“You know, I can speak danish. And this is Denmark after all, so…”

“No! I can’t have you spoiling me like that. I need to better myself or I’ll get rustier.”

“That’s right, Ryou. You need to talk in japanese for mom’s sake.”

Both Leonora and Alice puffed their cheeks making the same face and Ryou simply agreed indifferently. As long as both parties understand the other’s intention or message, any language would do fine. Whether it is the correct message that is understood, is another story.

Seeing Alice and her mom, Ryou couldn’t help but think they were very much alike. Alice’s skin and hair were clearly taken from her mom. The way they puffs their cheeks, their bright personalities, and their spirit that comes from their pleasant upbringing were all very similar.

“Ok then, Alice. Everyone’s waiting now.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Everyone?” Ryou asked confused.

Leonora simply replied with a giggle, while Alice had a fed-up expression in her face.

“Let’s go then, to the ‘jewel room'”

Leonora pointed her finger towards the end of the beautiful hallway, where a pair of huge doors opened.

And there…

A sparkling, silver kitchen appeared.

At the edges of the walls, many boys in tuxedos stood in lines.

Such a sight made even Ryou back up for a bit. The boys ranged from Alice and Ryou’s age up to fourteen. Judging from the aura they gave off, they were mostly boys from rich families. Ryou remembered how the fishermen talked about the sacrifices for Leonora. He wondered if they were really keeping young boys trapped in here.

While Ryou was lost in his thoughts, Leonora simply smiled and started talking.

“These beautiful boys are all candidates to become Alice’s fiance!”

“Fiance…”

It seemed as if all these boys were gathered her for Alice, not Leonora.

“Whoever is the man amongst men, whoever gets first place in this cooking contest will marry Alice!”

“Come on mom, it’s not like that’s been decided yet.”

“Oh, but it has.”

“But mom, you married my dad out of love. How come I’m the one who gets forced to marry someone? It’s not fair!”

“Well this is this, and that’s that. The Nakiris are a very old and honorable family. There’s nothing to be done.”

Alice puffed her cheeks at her mom’s words. Then she showed a mischievous smile, took Ryou’s hand and raised it.

“It’s ok! Ryou will compete for me!”

“Huh!?”

Thanks to Alice, Ryou, who had been only listening to their conversation, was now being brought to the center of it.

“Ohh, I see.”

“Yeah! Ok now, Ryou, go get ready!”

“Wait, hold on. What’s this about, young lady?”

Ryou couldn’t follow what was going on, and Alice simply smiled at him.

“See Ryou, you just have to defeat every candidate. Then I won’t need to marry any of them.”

“Eh, but why me…”

“Because you’re MY retainer, of course. There’s nobody else who can do this!”

Ryou couldn’t help but accept the insistent Alice’s words. Basically he was fighting in her place. Since Alice can’t participate in this competition (or rather isn’t allowed to, Ryou thought), she has no choice but to have someone compete for her. So this role obviously fell upon her retainer, Ryou.

Thinking about it, Ryou now understood why Alice put so much effort into the Imitation Peanuts she made when they competed in the pub. She wanted to beat Ryou back then so she could use him here. If she didn’t, her future would be decided by somebody else. Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing to bear for someone who lives as freely as Alice?

(I’ll gladly accept this challenge, then. As her retainer, I will take back Alice’s freedom.)

For Ryou who also didn’t have any friends his age, this show of loyalty was something that resembled friendship.

Ryou took of his tight suit and shirt, as well as his necktie. He took of his shoes and socks, now standing barefoot in the floor he could really feel his feet on the ground.

Now he wore only his pants, a black tank=top and an apron. He stood by himself in one of the cooking stations and fired himself up.

Ryou gave a glance to the other kids. Some of them were already wearing their cooking caps, some were wearing white robes. Trying to win to become Alice’s fiance, they probably prepared nothing but their best. Seeing their pure white garments, Ryou couldn’t stop thinking of them as spoiled rich boys.

Within this flock of white swans, only Ryou was black. A black leopard. He would bite the swans’ necks, rip their wings, and feast on their meat. Just imagining that moment made shivers run up Ryou’s spine, the thought of it gave him pleasure.

“Hehe, you better not lose, Ryou!”

Ryou turned towards the voice, and he could see Alice and his mom Leonora watching him from their seats above the kitchen. Alice was smiling as she waved at Ryou.

“You don’t need to tell me twice, lady…” Ryou whispered, then…

“Kh, Lady Alice was waving her hand at this guy!”

“We can’t forgive this, let’s crush him!”

The boys surrounding Ryou suddenly got fired up. Ryou simply let out a sigh and tied his bandanna along his forehead.

“You’ll be the ones getting crushed!” A fierce light could be seen in the leopard’s eyes as he glared at his opponents.

————————————-

“Your objective is to make a dish to eat with your loved ones during Yule. You are free to use any ingredient you can find here. From meat, to fish, to dessert, anything goes.”

Leonora explained the rules in Danish from her viewing seat.

“Now, start!”

Just as Leonora clapped her hands, all the boys started to move. Alice was closely watching them by her mom’s side.

(Ryou will be first for sure.)

Somehow Alice just couldn’t take her eyes off of Ryou’s black figure within the white crowd. Alice believed in Ryou’s skill, but trusting her future to him made her a bit uneasy. But now she has no choice but to believe in him. That is all that Alice can do if she can’t participate.

When Alice heard from her mom that they’d find her a nice fiance during the yule party, Alice strongly complained to her mom, but…

“I’m sorry Alice. But it was your dad’s decision to find you a fiance by the time you were eight…” Leonora said with a troubled expression.

With no other choice, Alice thought to have Ryou compete. But simply asking him wouldn’t help. So the only way to settle this was with a cooking competition. But ever since Alice made Ryou her retainer, she had been doing nothing but lose their matches. What should she do to beat him next time? That’s all she could think about.

Then one day, as she walked through town looking for ingredients, she found her shot at victory using Imitation Peanuts. Even now Alice felt truly glad that she managed to win their match at the pub.

“Fufu, there’s some fights you just can’t afford to lose.” Alice believed in her strength to win when she truly needed to.

Alice felt as if she could see the flames of Ryou’s fighting spirit coming out of him as he stood in the crowd.

“Ryou’s really amazing.”

Maybe it was because she could feel Ryou’s bloodlust-like aura, but Leonora also couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.

Ryou took a salmon and neatly cut it up. First he removed the scales and cut open its stomach, removed its organs and cleaned up the blood using water, and then cut its head by first sticking a knife into its gills.

The other boys all concentrated their attention on Ryou. Ryou sliced the salmon from it’s head all the way to the tail, cutting through it like butter. He set side half of the salmon, then cut the other half by sliding his knife on top of its bones. Suddenly Ryou had sliced the salmon into three parts.

“That skill with the knife…Alice is truly my daughter. She really has a great eye for things.”

“But of course, mom.”

“You know, I wasn’t sure what to think when you said you wanted to make Ryou your retainer. I didn’t really mind, but I thought Ryou might be discriminated against for being just some boy from a port town. I thought that would be terrible for the two of you.”

“Fufufu, you should just let those people talk all they want. It’s not like you, mom.”

Leonora seemed surprised for a second, but her face quickly changed to a wide smile.

“Yes, you’re completely right, Alice. Ryou’s skill is really amazing.”

“Yes!”

Alice was happy at hearing praise for Ryou.

“I’m the one who discovered Ryou’s talent!” or so she wanted to tell everyone who criticized them.

The sound of the bell that signaled time was up echoed throughout the kitchen.

The young boys all presented their dishes to Leonora and Alice, each taking traditional Danish dishes and arranging them with the theme of Yule.

“This is Flæskesteg (Pork loin with skin baked in an oven)”

“Potatoes with caramel sauce”

“Red cabbage cooked with sweet vinegar and gravy sauce.”

“Pacific herring with vinegar.”

“This is Wreath a la main (rice porridge with milk and vanilla beans)”

Just looking at the dishes that were prepared, Leonora and Alice simply reacted with a cold ‘Hmph’.

“Do you think you can satisfy our tongues with something like this?”

The boys all looked taken aback by Leonora’s cold remark.

“B-But you could at least taste them…” One of the boys said.

Leonora’s face was putting up a smile, but her eyes weren’t.

“No need for tasting. We can judge these dishes just by looking at them, right Alice?”

“That’s right. Those of us who practice molecular gastronomy have sharpened or senses further in order to be able to bring out the full potential of our ingredients. The cutting of the ingredients, the degree of heating and the sauce’s balance…We can tell just by looking that you were all mediocre in these aspects.”

The boys all shivered in presence of Alice, who had the same smile as her mom. But as the boys all turned to look at each other, their expressions changed. Then the entire crowd all reached the same conclusion.

“I came because I heard it was the daughter of some rich folk, but what a disappointment it was!”

“Deciding who to marry by a cooking competition, how corny.”

“No way, they’re nothing but food maniacs.”

“They’re just too pretentious.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

It was probably because the two didn’t even taste their dishes, but every single one of the started lashing out against Alice and Leonora.

Sometimes admiration can easily transform into hate. When one’s object of admiration betrays one’s expectations, people start lashing out at them. Against someone who won’t even turn to look at them, people resort to attacking them in order to preserve peace in their hearts. There’s no need to praise an idol that will never answer your prayers. Such was the intent seen in the boys’ eyes. Alice thought about saying something back at them, but at that moment…

“You guys are just stubborn as hell, aren’t you?”

Everyone turned to the direction of the voice, and there stood Ryou holding a plate.

“Lashing out at women just because they showed you how terrible your skill is. How pathetic.”

Ryou glared at the boys and they suddenly backed off.

“Eat this. I’ll show you what true cooking really is.”

Ryou took off the silver cover off his plate, and there…It was a salmon terrine adorned with beautiful colors.

“!”

The boys were left speechless. Just looking at that dish made them realize Ryou was on a whole other level than them, so they couldn’t say a word.

(I guess it was obvious, but I expected nothing less from Ryou!)

Just as Alice thought that she was also thanking Ryou from the bottom of her heart. She didn’t mind taking flak from the boys, but she couldn’t bear seeing her mom taking it too.

“Come on, eat it.”

Compelled by Ryou, the boys all took some of his terrine and ate it. Alice and Leonora did the same.

Suddenly, the salmon rampaged through everyone’s mouths. They could feel the taste of dill, and the texture of scallop, as well as a light scent of fresh cream, all at once.

“This is…?” Alice couldn’t quite put her finger on one of the tastes she was feeling.

“Gorgonzola?” Alice was surprised when Leonora pointed it out. It was the same ingredient Alice had used in her imitation peanuts. At that time Alice had used espuma (a technique where gas is used to turn ingredients into a moose-like state) on the gorgonzola to make it lighter. Ryou did the same thing to capture the gorgonzola’s scent.

“A normal terrine would’ve been too plain, you see.”

Ryou said as if laughing scornfully. Alice then realized what Ryou’s intentions were.

Ryou and Alice had competed many times up until now, and they would surely keep competing in the future. And that would become some sort of exchange between them. An exchange of techniques, ideas, and a clash of their passion as cooks.

Ryou had learned Alice’s technique from their last competition, and he had used for the gorgonzola in his own dish this time. Ryou was now showing Alice how they could take their own techniques and pass them on. Alice would probably take some of Ryou’s techniques as well in this exchange.

“So, how was it?” Ryou turned to look towards the boys who ate his terrine. The boys all hung their heads without saying a word.

“You brats are a million years too early to criticize the young lady and her mother. Bunch of trash! Come on, apologize!”

Hearing Ryou’s intimidating voice, the boys all started shamefully apologizing.

——————————-

After the boys had left, Alice, Ryou and Leonora decided to hold a christmas party with the three of them.

“Having a big party is nice…but sometimes just having a party with a few people close to you is nice as well.”

“That’s right, mom.” Alice glanced at Ryou.

Now that the competition was over and Ryou was out of his battle mode, he was just wolfing down Flæskesteg made with an old Nakiri recipe.

“Mom, you should learn from today and stop searching a fiance for me. This all happened because you said those things so carelessly.”

“It couldn’t be helped. I thought it’d be more interesting that way.”

“Hmmm.”

Alice puffed her cheeks and started eating a peanut salad. The salad was something Leonora made after having not cooked for a while.

“By the way, Ryou.”

“…Yes?”

Hearing his name being called out, he turned his eyes towards Leonora.

“Please keep looking after Alice from now on.”

“…Sure.” Ryou nodded and continued eating his food.

(Oh yeah, Ryou won the competition…)

The thought suddenly crossed Alice’s head. To begin with, this was a competition to decide Alice’s future husband, and Ryou won so…

Alice stopped thinking there. That’s wrong, Ryou fought in Alice’s place. Alice relied on him with a show of trust for her retainer that resembled friendship. And this friendship-like master-servant relationship would probably go on for the rest of their lives.

“Oh right, I got presents for both of you.”

Leonora said with a loud voice after finishing their meal. She took two wrapped presents that laid on top of the fireplace and gave them to Ryou and Alice. When the children opened them,they found two sets of gloves. A white pair for Alice, and a black one for Ryou. Both of them had the same snowflake pattern on them.

“Fufufu, be friends forever, ok?” Leonora said with a warm smile.

Just as Alice was about to say ‘of course!’, she noticed Ryou had a weird expression on his face.

“Ryou?”

“Eh?…Ah, it’s nothing.” Ryou’s cheeks turned a little red.

And just as Alice was thinking ‘Don’t tell me Ryou likes mom now!’, his next words made those thoughts disappear.

“Mom, huh…”

“……”

Alice couldn’t understand what Ryou’s words meant. But she simply wished to be able to continue competing in cooking with this beast-like boy forever.

Alice’s dearest wishes and dreams grew bigger along with this night of Yule.