Chapter 175: The Bear Rescues Kumakyu

Chapter 175:
The Bear Rescues Kumakyu

 

WE’D DECIDED to sell pudding and cake at the shop at the capital, so I was going to teach Zelef how to make the cake.

I’d handed off my pudding recipe to him, but he’d apparently messed up while making it a lot of times. It wasn’t like my directions had pictures with them, like Japan’s cookbooks, so some things hadn’t been clear. This time, I was going to demonstrate the process right to his face.

“Okay, I’m going to start making it now. Are you ready?”

“Are you sure?”

Everyone had cleaned the cake from their plates. “It looks like everyone’s finished eating, so I think we might as well.”

More importantly, I wanted an excuse to leave so I could save Kumakyu from the queen’s lap. The queen still had Kumakyu in her lap, after all this time, and she showed no sign of letting my bear go.

She was still elegantly sipping her tea with Kumakyu gripped in her hands. Kumakyu’s eyes glistened with tears from atop of the queen’s lap.

C’mon, little buddy. Just a little longer.

Operation Kumakyu Rescue…begin!

“Heyyyy, so! Queen, I’m going to show Zelef how to make the cake, so if you could let Kumakyu...”

“Oh, I was listening. It’s all right. I’ll carry your bear over.” The queen stood, Kumakyu still in her arms.

‘All right?’ Um, how is this supposed to be all right? What did she think she was doing? She wasn’t even coming with us…was she?

“Make sure you don’t get in Yuna and Zelef’s way too much,” said the king.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I’ll simply be a taste-tester for Zelef’s cake.”

She was planning on having more cake? And queens were a lot of things, but they were not taste-testers. That was, like, the opposite of their job. Tasters ate stuff before the royal family to make sure the food wasn’t poisoned or something. Well, that was the image I had in my head for how royal families worked, anyway.

“I wanna test-taste too!” Lady Flora blurted.

What was with this royal family? Were they supposed to be doing stuff like this? Lady Flora had already eaten two whole slices. I doubted a little kid like her could fit in a third.

“Well, then,” said the king, as he stood from his seat, “I will be returning to my work. Yuna, that was—as always—delicious.”

And just like that, the king was out of here. I’d wanted him to tell the queen to give me back Kumakyu, but he was gone in a flash.

“And I,” said Ellelaura, standing up too, “will get that shop set up.”

Was she not going back to her regular job? Was that her job? She was full of mysteries.

“All right, Yuna. Let’s go,” said the queen, nudging me in the shoulder and knocking me out of my thoughts. All right, all right, but…couldn’t the queen at least give Kumakyu back to me already?

Please?

But the queen didn’t hear my pleas as she started walking, still holding Kumakyu. My bear gave me a sullen look, its face resting on the queen’s shoulder. Oh, Kumakyu, I thought. I’m sorry I can’t save you…

 

We piled into the kitchen and, almost immediately, Zelef shut the door and locked it.

Uhhhh?

“It’s to prevent any information leaks,” Zelef explained. “Whenever I make any of your recipes, Master Yuna, I make absolutely sure that no one can barge in.”

Wow, he really was strict about it…or no, this was probably also a safety thing. They’d prepared this kitchen specifically so that no one can sneak poison into the royal family’s food, right? If tons of people got in, they wouldn’t be able to tell who’d poisoned the food. The chef was thinking about safety and keeping people out of the kitchen.

Probably.

I pulled the ingredients and tools we’d need from my bear storage and began to explain stuff, while Zelef took notes. He asked me questions occasionally, and I answered as I worked. I guess Lady Flora and the queen were pretty entertained just watching too, since they were staring at me the whole time.

“I see. Fascinating, Master Yuna. You’re quite skilled at this!”

“You think so?”

“Indeed! It’s amazing what you’ve done at such a tender age. Why, you’re practically on equal footing with my own chefs.”

Whoa. I mean, he was talking about castle chefs hired to cook for the royal family and nobles themselves, so they had to be impressive. Probably as good as chefs at a super classy restaurant. That was high praise.

“Is bear really that amazing?” Lady Flora asked.

“Yes, very,” said Zelef.

The queen smiled. “Yes, she is. She is amazing.”

Lady Flora nodded at them, then at me. “Bear, you’re amaziiiiing!”

“Please, I’m not at all.”

Since I’d finished the whipped cream while the shortcake had been baking, I scooped up some of the cream and brought it to Lady Flora, who opened her little mouth wide and ate it.

“Yumm.”

 

The shortcake was done, so I sandwiched some strawberries between the layers and slathered on the whipped cream. Then I decorated it with some more strawberries, aaaaand…done!

“A lovely little cake.”

“Looks yummy!”

“Master Yuna, thank you so very much. This has been a most useful lesson.”

“No problem. Remember to substitute out the strawberries with other fruits that are in season too.”

“Yes, naturally. I will scour the land for the finest combinations of fruit and pastry known to man or animal!”

“Yes, yes. But since you’ve already made it, we might as well have a taste,” the queen said, eyeing the cake.

I guess we had to eat it now that I’d made it. But could she really eat more? She’d just had cake. It’d been a while since they’d eaten in the garden, but had it been all that long? Still, Lady Flora looked like she was really looking forward to it.

“I shall prepare the tea,” Ange proposed.

“In that case, Zelef, would you be kind enough to prepare plates and forks?” I asked him. Zelef got right on it.

The queen smiled. “My, to think a bear girl is giving the head chef instructions. If all those chefs who idolized Zelef could only see this now, why…they’d be so very shocked.” I guess Zelef really was the head of all the chefs in the castle, even if he didn’t act like it.

Zelef didn’t seem to mind, still busy gathering plates and forks. I sliced up the cake and put it on the plates he brought out. I made sure the one on Lady Flora’s plate was half the usual size—she was a kid, after all, and had to have room for a healthy dinner later.

“Please have some too, Ange,” I said. “I’ll slice up the rest of it, so go take it home for your kid.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course!” I was pretty sure she had a kid about Lady Flora’s age.

“Thank you.”

After the tea (or milk, in Lady Flora’s case) was passed around to everyone, we started taste-testing the cake I’d made…and there was my chance!

It was time to save Kumakyu!

The kitchen only had a single chair. Lady Flora was using that chair to watch me make the cake, and now she was using it to eat the cake. The rest of us were all standing. Since this was a kitchen, there were tables, but they were made specifically for cooking.

When the queen ate her cake…she would have to let go of Kumakyu.

She set Kumakyu on the corner of the table to start eating. My bear looked at me. The queen was eating her cake. I nodded, and Kumakyu slowly started walking along the table. After a while, the queen seemed to notice, but Kumakyu was too far for her to reach.

All she could do was watch. “Yuna, watch out for Kumakyu,” she said.

“It’s all right. I’ll hold Kumakyu, so you just…enjoy your cake, Your Majesty.”

She watched Kumakyu as she ate, seeming disappointed. But there was no way I was handing my bear back, no matter how sad she looked.

Kumakyu, meanwhile, was thrilled to be in my arms. Mission accomplished.

We finished the taste-testing, I answered some questions for Zelef, and that was it for the day. The queen had been staring at Kumakyu the whole time. She really seemed to have taken a liking to my bear.

Yeah, they were pretty soft and cute. Maybe the queen needed a stuffed animal—for Kumakyu’s safety.

 

After heading back to Crimonia via bear transport gate, I had dinner and turned in early.

Kumayuru had played with Lady Flora. Kumakyu had humored the queen. Maybe they’d have a better night’s sleep inside my bear gloves, but they always seemed so happy to be summoned when I called them for bedtime cuddles.

When I summoned them onto the bed this time, they snuggled in with me. “Kumayuru, Kumakyu, thanks for everything you did today. Take it easy.” When I got under the covers, they moved to either side of me and curled up into balls.

I silently wished them a good night and fell asleep.

 

I never thought that I’d regret agreeing to that shop. If only I’d visited it at least once and seen it, I never would’ve let them make that monstrosity...