Chapter 94: Chocolate Parfait, Once More

Chapter 94:
Chocolate Parfait, Once More

 

What’s wrong with this man?

Twenty years ago, having survived against the four beasts, and having become the continent’s only remaining demon king, Altina stood confused.

“Let me cut to the point. Pledge your loyalty to me and become my servant. I’m sure you don’t want to die,” said the young man. He was accompanied by a warrior, a mage, and numerous others who looked like priests of some sort.

The young man’s bold, proud words enraged Altina’s subjects and servants immediately. Her pets rose to their feet, prepared to pounce.

“How dare you speak to her like that, foolish human?!”

“My liege, let us tear them apart here and now!”

“I hope you’re ready to die!”

Those surrounding the young man readied themselves for combat.

“You stupid prince! Why the hell are you picking a fight like this?! We’re gonna die!”

“Geez. I don’t think she’s just gonna let us go now.”

“Young Lord, please consult me first before doing something so rash.”

Altina found herself fascinated by the man’s strange attitude. “Stop,” she overruled her servants, preventing them from attacking.

Her piercing gaze was enough to terrify not only humans, but demons and monsters as well. They trembled in her presence. Except for this man.

“So? Let’s hear what you have to say! Why must I pledge my loyalty to you, human?”

Altina made sure to imbue each and every word with fierce bloodthirstiness. At the same time, she wondered why a weak man was capable of such bravado.

Well, as far as humans went, the young man in front of Altina was likely quite strong. He had a warrior’s fit body, and he clearly knew how to use a sword. From the way his party moved to protect their leader, they also seemed experienced.

Nonetheless, they were far too weak to stand against Altina. She’d lived close to three hundred years and wiped the floor with thousands of knights. These humans couldn’t compare to the four beasts who’d once defeated Altina’s adorable pets and servants, eventually forcing her to prepare for her own death.

“Hm. Let me be clear. The capital was originally mine,” the man told her, unfazed by her deadliness. “Twenty years ago, you killed the king who governed this land. And his family, at that. However, you failed to slay them all. There were two survivors—my mother Adelheid and myself. Sadly, my mother passed away when I was young. In other words, I’m the true heir to the throne. As such, I’m the king of this country.”

So what? All those truths were meaningless to Altina, which only confused her further. Why should she care about the survivors of a nation her demon folk had destroyed? King or no king, she’d never just hand the city over.

If the young man truly wanted this land, he should’ve brought an army and used military strength and magic to reconquer it.

“In other words,” he said, “as this nation’s king, I request that you surrender, return the capital to me, swear allegiance, and become one of my own subjects.”

“And you really think I’d do all this?”

Altina didn’t mean it as a threat but rather a genuine question. Who would’ve been stupid enough to agree to those terms? As fate had it, she wasn’t the only one who wondered as much.

“Not really, no. That’s why I left behind a will.” Understanding full well that Altina wouldn’t willingly cooperate, the man played his trump card. “‘Should I die, I ask that you take revenge. If you succeed, I bequeath this capital and nation to you.’ That’s what I ordered my people to tell the Kingdom, Duchy, and shrines of the Ancient Six.”

“Needless to say, they’re already preparing their armies,” the man continued. “That would be a war for revenge and conquest. No matter how many soldiers they had to sacrifice, they’d do anything to defeat the last demon king. The city would likely burn to the ground.”

“You sly bastard.”

Altina finally realized the man’s intentions. This was a threat. If she killed him, the armies of the Kingdom and Duchy—and the shrine priests, who still loathed demons even now—would come knocking at her door.

“Then why ask me to join you? Why not go to those nations and have them depose me?”

“That’d be no good. All I’d get out of that would be an empty wasteland. A rotting corpse, if you will.” Staring directly at Altina, the man explained why he’d rather join hands with a demon king than his own race. “Demon King Altina, humanity fears your strength. I do not. Instead, I value and respect your knowledge greatly.”

“Before I met you,” he continued, “I wandered through this nation and found myself surprised. The citizens complained about how expensive goods were, how strict the government was, how the colosseum was rigged, how newcomers were too aggressive and how annoying that was. Those were complaints we humans made about countries that operated well enough—countries run by competent leaders.”

Altina understood. She was a demon. Probably the strongest demon on the continent. She was absolutely not an idiot.

“If you pledge loyalty to me, I’ll give you this city,” the man said. “You leading it would be the best choice for all of us. I’d even be happy to lend you a few human civil servants, if you’re open to the idea. I know you’ve wanted aides experienced with paperwork for a while now. Am I wrong?”

If Altina had ruled this nation through sheer power—if it were truly the hell that humans from other countries claimed it was—this man would never have come to her doorstep with this idea.

But as far as he was concerned, there had to be a way out of the situation besides bloodshed, if Altina held the knowledge and wisdom to govern her country properly.

“Keep in mind that I won’t give you this for free,” the man said. “You’re going to work. I’ll have you give me any strong fighters you have.”

Approximately half of Altina’s country was made up of demons.

“Truth be told, I have lots of enemies,” the man continued. “I’m the rightful heir to the throne, but nobody seems to give a damn. Tons of rebels refuse to serve me. I’ve gotta set them straight. The problem is, my soldiers are weak. They’re fine for carrying food and weapons to the battlefield, or protecting land we’ve conquered, but anything else is impossible for them. They’ve also got important jobs like farming to attend to, so I can’t let them die or get hurt. In short, they’re too weak to face the rebels.”

“That’s when I had a thought,” he concluded. “Maybe I should subjugate the rebels first, since they’re the strongest of the armies, and they can fight without affecting agriculture. They’d be one hell of a fighting force.”

“And that’s where we come in?” Altina asked.

I see, she thought. It was true that most humans, besides knights and mercenaries, didn’t like conflict.

“Well, that’s the gist of it,” the heir to the throne said. “I know that, to us humans, being drafted into a war by someone up top is usually reserved for criminals or slaves, but I imagine that plenty of demon folk would be on board with battling humans. Especially if they could fight without having to ask what they should take and what they shouldn’t.”

Altina smiled instinctively. She and her people welcomed this sort of thing. Twenty years ago, when the beasts had defeated the demon lord, the demon race grew weak. However, they hadn’t lost their fighting spirit. Plenty of fierce demon combatants felt that war was their only way of life.

“As you wish,” said Altina. “I’ll pledge my loyalty or whatever to you.”

“Your Highness?”

She glanced at her stunned underlings and then once again glared daggers at her new ally.

“But only as a formality,” she added. “I’ll be doing whatever I want. Just ensure that, as my master, you protect this city from foreign invaders, eh? Heh…fear not. As long as you’re fine with bloodthirsty warriors, I’ve got plenty for you.”

She would not be his underling. This was an alliance. Other countries could freely attack the demon king’s nation, but they would require a certain rationale to invade a country ruled by the true king. Altina wasn’t ignorant of that.

The man sighed in relief. “Then we’ve got a deal.”

Things were finally in place. At long last, he was ready to take down the rat-bastard traitors who’d switched sides as soon as they lost to the demons.

He rose to his feet. “Altina! In the name of the one true king, Wilhelm, I recognize you and your line as servants of the Empire. I grant you and your own control over the capital and its surrounding territories. Serve your nation well!”

“As you wish.”

A single nation was born that day.

 

***

 

It was early afternoon in the demon capital. In the office, a young lady was hard at work, surrounded by lush furnishings.

“Then this afternoon’s work is complete, Your Highness. Well done.” The human civil servant took the papers she’d just signed, bowed his head courteously, and left the room.

The young woman, Lastina, watched him leave and then immediately rested back in her office chair. “Your Highness, eh?”

And so, the self-ridicule began.

Lastina was, in fact, a demon—but not just any demon. She was the great Demon King Altina’s only daughter, the head of the Empire’s largest noble family, and the ruler of all demon folk. Or, at least, that was what it said on paper. Lastina didn’t believe that her title suited her.

“It isn’t like I have the power to be called a demon king.”

When Lastina was a small child, she’d dreamed of being able to soar through the air. She’d flapped her tiny wings constantly but had only depressed herself.

Due to the demon lord’s blessings, demons typically paid no thought to bloodlines. The blessings the demon lord granted demon folk were largely random. Even if two parents had powerful blessings, their child wasn’t guaranteed to have the same luck. The opposite often happened as well.

Therefore, the title of “demon king” wasn’t passed down by one’s parents but rather was something one called themselves and forced others to acknowledge. Humanity feared a host of self-proclaimed demon kings.

Unlike Lastina, the Demon King Altina had incredible magical powers and strength, with countless demon followers. However, the demon lord had been unkind to the future Demon King Lastina. She was the weakest demon king ever.

Unusually, Lastina’s blessing had manifested the same way her mother’s had: she’d grown horns, wings, and a tail. The difference was that Lastina was significantly weaker than her mother.

Altina’s exceptional magical power was superior to even the elves’. A single one of her magical attacks was on par with dragon’s breath. Even her basic healing spells far eclipsed a high priest’s. The seven horns on Altina’s head almost looked like a crown.

In comparison, Lastina had but two horns to call her own. On top of that, she had to lift her hair to show them. Her magical powers were only slightly superior to those of an average human mage.

Altina’s tail was as long as she was tall and could reportedly cut through steel with one whip-like attack. Lastina’s tail, on the other hand, only reached her knees. However hard she wagged it, she only ever resembled a small child throwing a tantrum.

Altina had massive wings that allowed her to soar over battlefields. Lastina’s wings were smaller than a bat’s. No matter how hard she flapped them, they served as nothing more than weak fans. She couldn’t fly.

Even if Lastina learned to wield magic, fight, and subjugate other demons directly from her mother, the reality was that countless demons were stronger than her. Take Lionel, the fierce, undefeated warrior of the colosseum, who was strong enough to call himself a demon king.

Of all the demons who called themselves by that title, it was clear that Lastina was weakest. That was why she’d been nicknamed the Weakest King. Of course, nobody dared say that to her directly, but she was known as such throughout the capital.

Thinking about it any further would just be painful, so Lastina switched gears. “I suppose I should head back and train a little.”

Three years had passed since she’d inherited the title of demon king. She’d finally gotten used to paperwork, but her strength hadn’t grown in the least.

In fact, she was so busy with desk work that she didn’t have time to train as often as she liked, so her actual skills had probably declined. How could she possibly call herself a demon king?

That was why Lastina secretly decided to discover the truth about that strange door’s existence.

“I’m heading to my room, Fal. I don’t need help getting changed,” she informed the maid in the corner, standing up.

The maid in question had medusa eyes capable of stopping any intruder in their tracks, so she also served as a bodyguard of sorts. “Understood, Your Highness.”

Of course, Lastina had no way of knowing what fateful meetings and reunions awaited her.

 

***

 

It truly was strange.

“‘Nekoya, Restaurant to Another World.’ What the heck’s this thing?”

The sign on the polished door was written in letters from the Eastern Continent, and there was a cat plaque on its front. For some reason, the door had randomly appeared out of nowhere in Lastina’s dressing room that morning.

I heard that the ancient elves had special teleportation magic. Is this an example of that?

Belonging to the continent’s greatest noble family allowed Lastina to gather information quickly and effectively. Through those avenues, she’d learned of the legendary teleportation magic that the mage Altorius, one of the four heroes—“beasts”—had resurrected.

Lastina had also heard that a student of Altorius’s had learned that magic directly from him and mastered it. That student could travel across the Eastern Continent in a single instant.

But then, why here in the demon capital?

Why had the door appeared in Lastina’s dressing room, and why did its sign say it led to a restaurant? It didn’t make any sense.

“Well, sitting here thinking about it isn’t going to give me answers.” That meant she had one option.

Lastina made up her mind and opened the door. The sound of bells ringing filled the air, and she stepped into a strangely well-lit room that was exactly like the door’s sign described. It was full of the hustle and bustle one expected at midday.

This looks like one of the taverns in the city.

Lastina quickly took in her surroundings and saw humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, halflings, and even demons and monsters.

The collection of races, all eating and drinking their fill, seemed unlinked to one another. In fact, a number of races would normally have been at each other’s throats if they’d met elsewhere, yet they showed no signs of hostility in the restaurant.

The whole thing reminded Lastina of the time her mother had taken her to a tavern in the city where demon folk gathered. Thanks to her specific blessing, Altina’s outward appearance was rather limiting in some ways.

But I’ve never heard of a place like this in the demon capital.

Not only were demons present but monsters as well. Lastina didn’t know of a tavern like this. If one did exist, there was no way that the demon king wouldn’t have been aware of it.

As she attempted to dig a little deeper, Lastina heard a very unique and familiar voice address her.

“Um…Lady Lastina, is it really you?”

“Princess Adelheid…? Why are you here?!”

Standing before Lastina was her master’s beloved daughter, Adelheid.

Lastina had only ever met the princess twice in her life. The first time, when she’d been much younger, was at the emperor’s coronation ceremony. She recalled greeting Adelheid and playing with her. The second time Lastina had met the princess was when she’d visited the imperial capital to inform them of her inauguration as the new demon king.

Still, she could never mistake Princess Adelheid for someone else. The young woman was even more beautiful than in Lastina’s memories, and her surprised face was very familiar.

“I haven’t seen you since I became the demon—er, inherited my title. I heard that you were being treated for an illness.” Indeed, shortly after becoming demon king, Lastina learned that Princess Adelheid had been afflicted with the “peasant killer” and sent to the outer palace.

So, how come she was present on the other side of that suspicious door? Lastina couldn’t wrap her head around it all. “Why are you here?”

“To eat a parfait, of course! It’s all thanks to Grandfather.”

Adelheid’s response immediately jogged Lastina’s memory. That’s right. The princess has always been like this.

Although Lastina had only met her twice, she knew all too well that Adelheid could be a bit of a ditz, largely unaware of the way the world worked. She cared little about the demons’ past, or how others viewed them.

Even in the Empire, where demons and humans coexisted, Lastina had found that humans often distanced themselves from her. Even her fellow demon folk did that. In that regard, she found Adelheid’s approach very warm.

“Would you care to join me?” Adelheid asked. “Lord Shareef and Lady Renner aren’t here today, so I was feeling rather lonely.”

Shareef and Renner… Could she be referring to the prince and princess from the Western Continent?

If memory served Lastina correctly, the Empire had recently engaged in friendly relations with a desert nation on the Western Continent. The royal family there bore the same names Adelheid had just mentioned.

Lastina sat on a soft chair the princess recommended. As soon as the demon king sat down, a waitress holding another customer’s food called out to her. Judging by the waitress’s goat horns, she was also a demon.

“Welcome! This is your first time here, right? Are you a friend of Adelheid’s?”

“Oh…yes.”

Lastina was actually slightly relieved to have bumped into a demon in this mysterious restaurant. After taking a longer look at the girl, she noticed that—although her blessing was very weak—she was clean and quite beautiful. Lastina guessed that she probably belonged to some affluent family in the Empire.

If she was a waitress in this bizarre establishment, maybe the demon girl could give Lastina the details she so desired. “Um, what is this place?”

“This is an otherworldly restaurant! We serve all kinds of food here, and it’s all delicious!” answered the girl somewhat proudly.

“F-food? I suppose it did say as much on the door.”

Indeed, the door sign had read “Nekoya, Restaurant to Another World.” This place was, in fact, exactly that.

“Since you’re here and all, would you like to grab a bite?” asked the waitress, smiling brightly. “Most first-time customers don’t have money on them, so we usually just put it on their tab!”

“That sounds lovely! Since you’re here in the Restaurant to Another World already, would you care for a parfait, Lady Lastina?” Adelheid followed up with a recommendation.

“Er…I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” It would’ve been rude to say no at this point, so Lastina nodded.

“Excellent. In that case…” Adelheid searched her distant memory and recalled the month she’d spent playing with her old friend. “If I remember correctly, you don’t like fruit, do you?”

Lastina wasn’t particularly fond of fruits or vegetables. At one banquet she and her mother had been invited to, Lastina had primarily eaten meat, avoiding dishes made from fruits and vegetables harvested around the Empire.

Adelheid also remembered Lastina’s mother. She and Lastina shared similar facial features, but Altina had a much larger tail and wings. Adelheid also recalled that, unlike her daughter, Altina seemed to prefer fruit and vegetable dishes to meat.

“Yes…I like sweets, but I’m not really big on fruits,” Lastina answered, somewhat embarrassed. Even now, she had trouble eating fruit; as an adult, she did so simply for nutritional reasons.

Lastina remembered how, when she was still a child, her mother had once abandoned her desk work, fled the castle, and tried to force Lastina to eat a ripe fruit she’d gotten somewhere. What was once a dark memory was now incredibly nostalgic for the demon king.

“In that case, how did you enjoy the cafa?” Adelheid asked. “Lord Shareef told me that he sent some to you and that you were quite fond of it.”

The black tea from the Western Continent had recently become available in the Empire and had begun to do the rounds in the demon capital about a year ago.

“Cafa? Yes, yes. I quite enjoy a cup of cafa,” Lastina nodded. “It’s unfortunate that it’s so hard to get, but myself and many of the capital’s citizens are fond of it.”

A cup of rich cafa with lots of high-quality sugar was the perfect sweet drink to accompany her paperwork. It relieved Lastina’s exhaustion and helped her stay on top of things. Nowadays, she made a point of keeping enough cafa stocked so that she didn’t run out.

Hearing her friend talk about the virtues of cafa, Adelheid decided what to order for her. “That’s perfect, then.”

The other world had so many sweets and pastries, one had to take extra care when making a recommendation. That was something Adelheid had heard from a long-eared noble mage from the Duchy who sometimes sat with her in the restaurant.

Calling out to Aletta, who just happened to be passing by, Adelheid made an additional order. “Aletta, she’ll have a mocha-chocolate parfait. Could you bring it out with my chocolate parfait, please?”

“Absolutely! It’ll take a few minutes to bring them both together. Is that all right?”

“Of course. Thank you so much,” Adelheid said to Aletta and then told Lastina, “Now, all we have to do is wait. Actually, how did you get here, Lady Lastina?”

“Huh? Well, a strange door appeared in the palace.”

“Oh, my! How lucky!”

“Excuse me?” As usual, Lastina had trouble keeping up with Adelheid. She waited for the princess’s next words.

“The doors leading to this restaurant can be quite whimsical, you see,” Adelheid explained. “Where a new one will appear is anyone’s guess. Or so I’ve heard, anyway. Grandfather actually went and built a palace over a spot where a door appeared, so it shows up in the same place every time.”

“Really?”

Now that Adelheid mentioned it, Lastina recalled that the late Wilhelm had constructed a palace outside the capital to spend his final days in. The doors weren’t anything to be feared, judging by the princess’s words. That much was clear when she looked at Adelheid.

With that matter settled, Lastina finally loosened up a bit. “I guess, in that case, I won’t have to take action.”

“Indeed! I’m so happy that I got to see you again after all these years.”

“Likewise.” Lastina couldn’t help smiling warmly at Adelheid’s own glowing expression.

“You finally smiled! Thank goodness.”

“Huh?”

“Since you stepped in here, not only have you been on guard but also it’s seemed as though something’s nagging at you. What happened, Lady Lastina? We have some time before our parfaits arrive. Would you care to talk about it? I don’t get to chat much about such things at the palace where I’m staying.”

Adelheid went quiet and stared at Lastina. As if lured by Adelheid’s gaze, Lastina began to come clean about concerns she knew other demons had about her. That was something she would never, ever have done in the palace at home.

“The truth is…I don’t know what to do. Am I really fit to be the demon king? Should I pass my position on to another more capable demon?”

“Is that so?” asked Adelheid. “You know, my father once said that he thought you becoming the new demon king was a very dependable thing.”

“The emperor said that?”

Adelheid’s reaction was not what Lastina had expected. Emperor Wolfgang, the nation’s second-generation ruler… Despite being fairly distant in age from the emperor, Lastina had always felt a kind of kinship with him. They both had legendary parents.

And yet he’d complimented her? She couldn’t fathom why.

“Yes,” Adelheid continued. “That wasn’t long after you took the position. When your mother first brought you to see him, he felt that you were smart and wise beyond your years, and that didn’t change in the years after. He said that he felt that you would be the perfect leader to rule the demon city.”

“Wise, huh?” Lastina couldn’t help but sigh.

She was, in fact, smarter than most. She was a fast learner, a top-level negotiator, and had conquered paperwork with ease. When she was younger, as the next in line to the throne, she’d even helped Altina plan invasions and govern.

Since becoming demon king, Lastina had focused more on economic negotiations with the humans, raising both tax revenue and population a little bit. Before Altina succumbed to the inevitability that was death, she’d told Lastina that she felt at ease leaving the demon capital to her.

“Unfortunately, those around me say that I’m too weak a demon king,” she explained to Adelheid.

Ultimately, Lastina’s talents weren’t enough to cover the fatal weakness she’d held since birth. She couldn’t help but wonder if a demon granted such a weak, pathetic blessing by the demon lord was worthy of being called a demon king.

“Oh…is there something wrong with being weak?” Adelheid asked.

“Excuse me?” Adelheid’s words surprised Lastina. What was she saying?

The princess continued. It was unclear whether she realized that the demon king was stunned. Her answer was clear and focused.

“I have close to no skill in battle. I can barely use a knife, never mind a sword. I know no magic. Nevertheless, I’m still the imperial princess. Father only knows the basics of swordsmanship, but he’s still the emperor. I think it’s wonderful to be strong, like Lord Shareef is, but if one asked me whether I think physical strength is a necessity…I’m not sure it is.”

“You really believe that?” Lastina asked.

It wasn’t as if she didn’t understand where Adelheid was coming from. As a ruler, she knew a fair bit about the humans’ world.

Most human kings were far from strong; that was common sense. But Lastina wasn’t human. She was a demon. Was she allowed to be weak?

“I don’t know,” Adelheid replied. “But let me ask you this—if you’re weak, wouldn’t it be fine simply not to step onto a battlefield? Grandfather once told me something: ‘Leave war to the strong. It’s the job of those who stand on top to prepare, so that the warriors can fight their best. Once a commander is forced to step onto the field themselves, the battle’s already lost.’”

Adelheid didn’t really understand what any of that meant, but she did know that her grandfather—the greatest, most respected man in all the Empire—hadn’t valued physical strength much. She seemed to recall him saying something about how the one who best manipulated soldiers on a battlefield won, regardless of whether they were personally weak.

“He also said something else,” she added. “‘Bringing honor to your country is a very difficult thing—even more difficult than victory in war. A king who can do so should be valued.’”

“He…said that?”

Adelheid’s words dug deep into Lastina. They were the words of a human who didn’t value strength above all else. Lastina, who’d been born without a blessing, would rather accept those words than cry over her circumstances.

That’s why she eventually nodded her head and smiled. “I suppose he’s right.”

“Oh, thank goodness! You’ve smiled again,” Adelheid responded with a grin of her own.

This was the Restaurant to Another World. If Lastina and Adelheid were going to eat parfaits, they should do so with smiles on their faces. Adelheid had learned that through her time coming to the restaurant.

“Sorry for the wait! Here are your parfaits!”

The pair’s orders arrived as they smiled at one another, and so their quiet little tea party began in earnest.

Now then…hmm. It’s black and brown.

That was Lastina’s first impression of the parfait, a treat she’d never seen in her life.

It’s presented quite carefully, but…is it burnt?

She frowned suspiciously at the dish as she examined the beautiful arrangement, the unknown ingredients nearly spilling out of the glass.

The parfait itself comprised multiple layers, making it clear that a master patissier had put the dish together.

All sorts of colorful fruit, centered around some kind of white stuff, decorated the parfait in front of Adelheid. Although Lastina couldn’t vouch for the parfait’s taste, it was easy to see how one might look at it as a piece of art.

Lastina’s parfait was somewhat different, however. It was primarily composed of blacks, whites, and browns. Quite frankly, it didn’t look very good.

At the bottom of the glass was some sort of black slime. Atop that was a brown-colored something-or-other, and above that was moist, black stuff. A bunch of crumbled-up brown things were layered on top of that.

However, the tower didn’t end there. Above the crumbled bits was some white-and-brown stuff topped with a soft-looking white layer, not unlike Adelheid’s parfait. Above the white layer rested some kind of black stuff—lots of it.

At the tower’s very top was some sort of round pastry. It wasn’t light brown; it looked kind of burnt.

Beautifully browned, leaf-shaped treats sprinkled with sugar decorated the sides of the glass. This clearly wasn’t a failed dish, but rather, what the parfait was supposed to look like. Nonetheless, it required a measure of courage to eat.

“Come, come! Dig in! This parfait is my personal favorite, but that one’s delicious too! I’m sure you’ll love it.” Adelheid began to joyously devour her dessert.

I suppose this is another world. It shouldn’t be that surprising that something like this parfait could be tasty.

Making her peace with her order, Lastina decided to take a bite. First, she picked up one of the normal-looking baked treats decorating the sides of the glass.

Oh! This is delightful. It’s not particularly sweet, and it’s light to the bite.

The baked treat was decidedly savory, despite the sugar spread on its surface. Maybe the baker hadn’t used much for the inside? Its mouthfeel was light and crispy as well, almost as if the treat were made of multiple baked layers.

It tasted of wheat and butter, and as it fell apart in Lastina’s mouth, it quickly dissolved and vanished.

The baked good’s quality significantly raised Lastina’s expectations. She turned her attention to the round, burnt brown object sitting at the dessert’s very top, carefully placed above the pretty-looking white stuff.

Next up…

Lastina had no idea what the round object could be, but she assumed that it, too, was some treat or pastry. She used her silver spoon to scoop it up along with some of the surrounding white stuff and then took a bite.

Mmm…is this white stuff some sort of milk-based food? It’s a little sweet and—huh?!

As she thought about how tasty the mouthful was, the brown object in her mouth began to melt, throwing her into confusion.

It’s bitter! Wait, no! It’s sweet?!

In fact, it was both. As far as Lastina knew, however, there was no such thing as a bitter pastry. Sweets were, well, sweet! Still, the thing that her tongue’s heat was melting most certainly had a sweetness and bitterness.

I get it! That’s why Princess Adelheid asked me about cafa.

Cafa by itself was sour and bitter. After adding sugar and letting it dissolve, though, it became bittersweet. Sugared cafa was a terribly delicious drink, in fact.

This brown confection in particular reminded her of cafa and was more delicious than its outward appearance implied. Lastina immediately scooped up the remaining two pieces with her spoon and ate them.

Hmm. This black stuff scattered across the white cream’s surface must be made by melting that bittersweet confection from before, Lastina thought. The fact that both ingredients were the same color lent credence to her conclusion.

Together, the soft white cream and extremely bittersweet black treat created a portal to another world of deliciousness.

As she continued digging through the tower, its flavor suddenly changed. Now, Lastina encountered a layer a bit harder than the cream.

Oh—next is something cold.

It was some sort of chilly brown food and wasn’t completely different from the earlier flavors.

It’s bittersweet, but something’s different about the bitterness. Hmm…? I’ve tasted this before.

Deep inside the sugary milk flavor, Lastina sensed some kind of bitterness pulling out the dish’s overall sweetness. However, it was entirely different from the bitterness she’d experienced biting into the round treat earlier.

This new flavor was familiar to Lastina, making her trace her memories. I’ve tasted this recently before coming here.

Even while she thought, Lastina’s spoon didn’t stop. This time, she directed her utensil at some kind of baked good. It wasn’t particularly sweet and wasn’t all that tasty by itself.

As it soaked in the melted cream stuff, however, it became surprisingly good. Its crunchy texture and fragrance were both missing from the various ingredients atop the glass—well, besides the leaf-shaped baked goods, anyway.

As Lastina enjoyed this unique mouthfeel, the next delight came into sight. It was a moist, brown-black something or other.

At first glance, it didn’t look at all tasty. At this point, though, Lastina was more than aware that everything in the parfait glass was delicious. So she didn’t hesitate for a moment. The cake was shockingly soft and soaked with…something.

The moment she put it into her mouth, Lastina immediately understood what the taste she’d recognized before had been. I get it now! This is cafa!

It was the flavor of cafa full of lots of dissolved sugar. The delightful treat was almost like a water-drenched cloth. The cake was so soft that she didn’t even have to bite into it to taste the cafa’s rich flavor flowing across her tongue.

That means this must be some sort of cafa confection with milk.

Lastina wasn’t sure how the strong cafa-and-milk flavor was made. It was hard, gradually popping and melting, and had a very gentle taste altogether different from the cake up top, which tasted of rich cafa.

If she changed the balance of a bite, she actually experienced something slightly different in terms of flavor. It wasn’t long before all the layers disappeared into Lastina’s stomach.

Last but not least… Ahh. This must be some sort of hardened cafa.

The remaining slime-like black stuff on the bottom of the glass tasted like frozen cafa.

Like the cake above, it wasn’t particularly sweet or delicious by itself. However, the melted remnants of everything else in the glass had soaked into the black cafa, filling it with all sorts of sweetness. The strange, jiggly texture combined with the taste of milk for a completely new flavor profile.

 

***

 

Lastina devoured everything there was to devour in her mocha-chocolate parfait, sighed deeply, and set her spoon down.

As luck had it, Adelheid had just finished her parfait as well. The princess put down her spoon, and the two women made eye contact and smiled. It was clear that they’d both greatly enjoyed their desserts.

“Is it all right if I join you again?” Lastina asked frankly.

“Oh, but of course!” Adelheid nodded, responding as if it were the least complicated thing in the world. “I’ll wait for you here. Next time, I’ll have to introduce you to Lady Victoria, Lady Renner, and of course, Lord Shareef!”

“I’m so glad I found this place,” Lastina whispered to herself. She unconsciously wagged her tail and flapped her wings as she watched Adelheid order two cups of hot cafa.

A wonderful conversation with wonderful company and wonderful food—she would never forget this day for the rest of her life.

It was a while yet before the young woman proudly declared herself “Lastina, the Weakest King.”