Chapter 8: Chocolate Parfait

Chapter 8:
Chocolate Parfait

The imperial princess had a vague memory from her past.

When Adelheid was but a child, she ate clouds.

It was during the height of summer when she was on vacation to the palace outside of the imperial capital. As far as Adelheid could remember, these trips to the palace were a yearly tradition. The only difference was that that year, neither of her parents went with her. She later discovered from her history teacher that the reason they weren’t present was because the Empire was preparing for war with a neighboring country in an attempt to annex them. The year Adelheid was born into the world, her father accepted the seat of emperor from her grandfather, making him the second monarch in the Empire’s brief history. This was the perfect opportunity for him to display his power to the world and acquire a port nation, something the Empire had sorely lacked until then. Her father poured everything into the coming war, which meant there was no time for vacationing.

It was also during this time that Adelheid’s mother was pregnant with her little brother, restricting her to the inner palace in the imperial capital. As a result, the aides who had served as Adelheid’s playmates and friends also remained in the city, unable to accompany her to the palace.

Thus, the then four-year-old Adelheid was forced to go to the palace outside of the city all by herself. While her time there was nothing but comfortable due to being surrounded by servants as well as the presence of her grandfather, it was an incredibly lonely experience. She missed the city and often cried to herself at night.

That was when things changed.

Her grandfather had spent fifty years of his life building the small country that was the Empire up into the mighty power it was, and then stepped down from that position. It was he who grabbed her tiny hand and led her to the hidden chamber. Her grandfather had ordered the construction of this palace after his retirement and knew it better than anybody else. The room he brought young Adelheid to was quite the secret.

“Listen well, Adelheid. This is a secret between you and me. I wouldn’t want to have less of it for myself.”

The secret chamber’s entrance was a black door with a picture of a cat on the front. Adelheid’s grandfather smiled and patted her on the head with his large hand. She remembered it feeling wrinkly but surprisingly cool.

The old man opened the door in front of them. The bells on the entrance rang pleasantly, and the two of them passed through.

Unfortunately, Adelheid could barely recall what the inside of the secret chamber looked like. She recalled lots of chairs and tables, and that the room was quite bright. Her grandfather spoke to another older man there, but she hadn’t the slightest idea what they said. If nothing else, she remembered their conversation being too difficult for her to understand.

The old man noticed Adelheid politely sitting still in her chair, bored, and smiled at her. “Oh, my apologies, little lady. This must be pretty dang boring for you, huh? I know! How about we get you something sweet?” He turned to a younger man nearby.

“Hey, dummy! You said you worked part-time at a cafe back in college, right? Can you make one of those things? We got the glasses for ’em here, but I’m just not great at making ’em.”

“C’mon, why you gotta call me a dummy, Gramps?! Geez… And what do you even mean by ‘one of those’? Ah, wait. I get it now.”

That was all it took for the younger man to seemingly understand what the older man was referring to. After a little while, he reappeared holding “it.”

“Here you go, little lady. This one’s on Gramps, so dig in!”

Adelheid had no idea what it was that she was presented with. What she did know was that it was so beautiful that she didn’t want to eat it at first. That feeling disappeared the second she took a bite. This strange treat she was eating for the first time had a black pattern running through its white surface. It was also soft, sweet, and incredibly cold… In any case, it was more delicious than anything she had ever eaten in her entire life. Or at least that’s how she remembered it.

“Isn’t that great, Adelheid?”

The princess had completely forgotten herself in the moment, her mouth sticky with the cold treat as she kept digging in. Her grandfather patted her on the head. He was eating something completely different.

“Grandfather, what is this?!” Adelheid had a memory of asking her grandfather this very question. She also recalled him looking slightly troubled as he tried to answer.

“Well, uh, it’s a cloud!”

“A cloud?”

“Indeed! A winter cloud with lots of snow on it! It’s delicious and cold, right?”

“Yeah!”

In retrospect, that day was the first time she smiled that entire summer. This was all she could remember from the special day in which “clouds” became her number one favorite food. Of course, Adelheid was no fool. Now sixteen years of age, she recognized that these memories were probably naught but a dream.

In winter of the year she tasted the clouds, Adelheid’s grandfather Wilhelm, the first emperor and founder of the Great Empire of the Eastern Continent, passed away. His was a peaceful death; he laid in bed in his palace, a giant smile on his face. To the young Adelheid who didn’t yet understand the nature of death, all she knew was a deep sadness that she would never see her beloved grandfather again. She remembered crying for days. With him gone, she would also never be able to confirm whether her memories of the “cloud” were real or not.

Just before the first emperor passed away, Adelheid’s little brother was born into the world. As older sister to the imperial prince, and royalty in her own right, she spent her days in comfort. That is, until she turned sixteen and came down with a rare illness that only affected young people. As a result, she was now living in her grandfather’s palace, traveling the long road to recovery.

***

“Here you are, Princess Adelheid. Please try not to lose heart.”

“I know. I’m fine,” she said, though she had to speak through a persistent cough.

Adelheid’s room at the palace was as beautiful as the one in the capital. In fact, it was the same one that the previous emperor used as his own. Upon arriving, she began to cough.

“A-are you all right, Princess?” the servant asked.

“I’m fine. I’m just a little tired from the journey here. Please don’t worry.”

One of the servants Adelheid’s father had sent along to help with her recovery came rushing to her side. She was there in the event that the princess’s symptoms began to worsen. While she was to see to Adelheid’s everyday needs, she was also a priestess of the Earth God, gifted with the Iron Sigil. This meant that she could use all manner of healing spells.

Adelheid raised her hand up, signaling that nothing was wrong.

“I see, thank goodness.”

The servant took a step back from Adelheid, a gesture that stung the young girl’s tender heart.

That’s cruel, Adelheid thought. It’s not like I asked to be sick.

Adelheid understood, though. The girl in front of her was merely a priestess-in-training. If a priest with a Silver Sigil, or even a high priest with a Gold Sigil did not possess the magic to heal her, how could she? Adelheid’s sickness was a “peasant killer” that could only be healed by quarantining yourself for years. While it rarely spread from one person to the next, it only made sense that royalty, nobles, and peasants alike were afraid of it. And yet all the logic in the world was not enough to heal the girl’s wounded heart.

Just a month ago, she had been living in the imperial capital, admiring flowers and butterflies in the garden. Now she was sick and all of a sudden was forced to live away from her beloved family in a palace filled with unknown faces.

Best case scenario, I’ll have to live here for the next two years.

Adelheid found herself shivering at this cold reality.

After Wilhelm passed away, only a handful of servants from the old days remained in the mostly unused palace. New ones had of course been hired specifically for this occasion, but they were all from the neighboring town. This place was the exact opposite of the lovely home she used to live in. Until her sickness was cured, Adelheid would have to live here like some kind of hermit. She felt herself growing gloomy at the prospect.

“If you need anything, please call for me at any time.” With that, the servant quietly left her master to rest.

After the young woman left, Adelheid collapsed onto the extravagant bed in front of her and began to quietly cry. She was all alone in the world, struggling against her own cursed fate. From this day forth, she would live in this beautiful cell-like room, with no joy or happiness to be found anywhere. This was the start of her new, dark life.

***

It wasn’t until three days later that something changed.

Adelheid was reading a book when all of a sudden she felt a breeze blow by her. Her window was supposed to be closed to prevent the cold air from exacerbating her illness, yet there was a breeze. How could that be possible? Confused, Adelheid looked in the direction the wind came from and widened her eyes at what she found.

Huh? I don’t recall there being a door here…

Doubting her sight, Adelheid rubbed her eyes for a moment before re-confirming that there was in fact a mysterious door in her room. It had been three days since she’d started living here, and yet she never once noticed it. No, she was sure there hadn’t been a black door with a cat picture on it yesterday. This strange object, clearly made from different materials than everything else around it, was stuck to the wall of her bedroom.

What is this? I feel like I’ve seen this door somewhere before…

Adelheid quizzically cast her gaze on the door as she brushed her hand along its smooth surface. For some reason, it felt familiar. She couldn’t recall the circumstances, but she thought she remembered seeing it a long time ago. She unconsciously gulped and readied herself to open it up.

What could be on the other side?

Common sense said that it’d be linked to the room next door, but there was no room next to Wilhelm’s. So where could this door possibly lead to? She wasn’t sure, but for some reason she wasn’t worried. All that resided in her heart was the hope that this would alleviate her boredom and the expectation of something, anything, existing beyond it. Adelheid herself didn’t even realize that she was hoping for something, even as she couldn’t recall what waited for her just beyond.

The black door smoothly opened.

Ring, ring.

“Welcome… Oh?”

A middle-aged man wearing clean-cut, well-tailored clothes and an apron cast his eyes on Adelheid and tilted his head.

“Um, excuse me,” she asked. “Where is this?”

There were tables lined up with chairs everywhere. Even though the shop had no windows, it was as bright as if it were the middle of the day. This was completely different from the palace she currently lived in. But there was something familiar about this place… As she continued to struggle with her old memories, the shop’s owner responded to her.

“A-ah, this is ‘Nekoya,’ a restaurant. Folks from your ‘side’ call it the Restaurant to Another World… Ah!”

On the other hand, the master finally realized why the young girl in front of him seemed so familiar despite this seeming to be her first visit.

“I remember now! Miss, you’re Croquette’s…er, Wilhelm’s granddaughter, right?”

He remembered her quite clearly. Nekoya rarely got customers younger than the high school students in the area, never mind ones from the other world. One of the regulars who hadn’t been by in over ten years once brought his little granddaughter to the restaurant. The young lady had grown to be quite beautiful since her last visit, though she still retained some of her childlike features. The master remembered her making a similar face the first time she visited.

“Oh, my! You knew my grandfather?!” Adelheid’s eyes widened with expectation at the man’s words.

While anybody who lived in the Empire knew of the great emperor, very few people knew him personally. More importantly, the fact that the master referred to him without his title spoke volumes. There were few who would refer to the man who built the Great Empire by name. Only fellow royalty or people he considered friends were allowed to do as much.

So who was this strange man, then? Adelheid’s mind was buzzing with questions.

“Yeah, I did. He was a customer here for a good, long while, so… How about it? Care to grab a bite? It’ll be on the house today.” The master’s words were kind. He was happy to have remembered the face of an old regular he hadn’t seen in so many years.

Now that the master thought about it, the young girl’s grandfather loved his precursor’s croquettes but never did get around to trying his own food. In that case, he felt it’d be appropriate to at least treat his granddaughter to something good.

“A bite…? Ah!”

Meanwhile, the moment Adelheid heard the master’s words, everything clicked. The sweet memory from her youth came rushing back. The memory of a time when her grandfather was still alive and well. That’s right, this was where she…

“In the case, um… I’d like to eat a ‘cloud.’”

…Ate something positively delicious.

“A cloud..? Oh, I gotcha!”

The master thought back on the last time the young girl had visited and nodded his head. He remembered the dish he served her some ten years prior.

“We’ll bring it right out.” The master returned to the kitchen and began to work.

The previous master had never been particularly great at making sweets. He didn’t really grow up eating them when he was younger. Back when he was still an apprentice, the current master had included a hidden dessert option on his grandfather’s menu. When he finally took over, he made it a proper menu item.

After a brief wait, the master came back to Adelheid with “clouds” in hand.

“Here you are. Your ‘chocolate parfait.’” He placed the mysterious food down right in front of her.

“Oh, my…” Adelheid uttered to herself, her eyes tracing the beautiful arrangement of food resting on the table.

“Enjoy!”

The master returned to the back, leaving Adelheid to be entranced by the parfait. All that remained at the table was the princess and her chocolate parfait.

It looks more like a colorful piece of art than food…

When she first ate it as a child, all she really thought was that the clouds were beautiful. So beautiful that they couldn’t have been food, even. But now, the first thing that caught her eyes was the magnificent, transparent glass holding the food itself. It was exquisite in form, opening up like a kind of blossoming flower.

The food inside the glass was something else entirely. Adelheid’s attention was drawn to the mountain of white snow, not unlike what one found in the mountains in the northern areas of the Empire. At the very tip of the mountain was some kind of black sauce, flowing down the snow almost like a beautiful river. On top of that were tiny grains of some kind. Serving as the greenery of the mountain were a series of colorful fruits and baked treats. One side of the light brown, baked food was covered in the same black syrup as the mountain, a beautiful combination of contrasting colors.

And then there was the red berry that had been split in half and the green fruit covered in black grains. The raw colors of the fruits helped to make the mountain of snow that much more beautiful. Beneath that was a layer comprised of white, brown, and golden brown. The fact that one could see these three colors through the transparent glass was another major charm of the dish. It was aesthetically beautiful.

As royalty, Adelheid had experienced much of what the world had to offer in terms of luxuries, and yet this beautifully colorful dish was such a shocking thing to her. If she was being completely honest, the thought of eating it seemed like a waste.

I suppose it’s time to try it.

Nonetheless, there was no point in just staring at it. Adelheid quietly grabbed the polished silver spoon on the table and began to eat the parfait.

The first thing she tasted was the tip of the white mountain dripping with black syrup. She brought her spoon down into the parfait and found that it cut through with no resistance, just like a real cloud. On top of her spoon sat a tiny triangle-shaped mountain. She carefully brought it to her mouth, the sweet scent of the black syrup reaching her nose.

…Oh, my.

It was a sweet, ephemeral flavor backed by the cold feel of the spoon. Adelheid was at a loss for words. This was truly unlike any food she had ever eaten in her time in this world.

It’s sweet but not too sweet.

The aromatic, slightly bittersweet taste melted away atop her tongue without her even having to chew. All that remained in her mouth was the rich sweetness of milk. Adelheid found herself in love with that flavor, though she harbored an oddly contradictory opinion of it as well. This chocolate parfait was sweet, but it wasn’t too sweet. The princess struggled to wrap her mind around it.

In the Empire, the sort of expensive snacks and candies that the princess was used to eating were all sweet. It was understood that the more high-quality sugar one used to make a treat, the more luxurious it was meant to be. This was due to the shared belief on the Eastern Continent that sugar was a precious commodity. The Empire was much the same way, and so Adelheid, the woman with the highest status in all of the Empire, was given nothing but the sweetest of treats.

But this is far more delicious than anything I’ve eaten in the Empire!

Adelheid always felt as though the snacks she was given were too sweet, and thus was never particularly fond of them. Yet here she was, taking spoonful after spoonful of this parfait. It was unbelievable. After every bite, she would once again dip her silver spoon into the mountain for more. With every chunk melting away atop her tongue, Adelheid’s cheeks would unconsciously loosen, and her eyes narrow. As a direct result of the parfait’s balanced sweetness, she could freely experience all of the other flavors that the dish had to offer, like the white substance that tasted of milk or the bittersweet black syrup that helped bring out the overall sweetness of the dish. The combination of elements melted away in her mouth, leaving behind a dream-like flavor.

The sweet and sour fruit is also wonderful!

Adelheid’s spoon had two large chunks of the green and red fruit sitting atop it. The colorful fruits were just the right level of ripe. They still maintained their sweetness, but they also had a pronounced sour taste to them. It was the latter that allowed the tongue, now used to the sweetness of the parfait, to rest for a moment. This ultimately enhanced the flavor of the white and black clouds even further.

Everything else is amazing, too!

Unable to scoop the brown sweets into her spoon, Adelheid, recognizing how unbecoming of a princess it was to do this, picked one of them up with two of her slender fingers. The golden brown treat was covered in a white substance sprinkled with black all over. It had a crisp aroma and was only lightly sweetened. Adelheid also couldn’t ignore the light beige fruit with a sweetness all its own, completely different from that of the clouds.

Just how many flavors are in this?

“Aaah!” Adelheid was quietly enjoying the explosion of sweet flavors in her mouth when she suddenly raised her voice. The white thing she had been eating suddenly became as cold as snow.

This is completely different from what was at the top!

This caught the young lady completely off guard. Hidden deep within the fluffy clouds were similar looking snow clouds, cold as winter itself. Unlike the ones at the top of the mountain, these clouds were super cold, slippery, and maintained their form for much longer in her mouth.

I never knew something like this existed!

The snow cloud melting atop Adelheid’s warm tongue was as smooth as silk, with a sweetness that spread itself over her entire mouth. Back in the palace, she had once eaten crushed ice that the royal mages made, drowned in fruit juice and topped with honey and sugar, but this was different. This was her second time eating this.

It’s a winter cloud with plenty of snow on top. And…

Adelheid recalled the words of her late grandfather as she continued to eat, eventually leading her spoon to a round clump the color of the earth. One glance at it made it clear to Adelheid that it was different from the other elements of the mountain. She drove her spoon into it without hesitation.

Sweet yet bitter… This is chocolate, is it not? Yes, this is quite good.

It was harder than the clouds above, but with a unique reserved sweetness. The cold earthen-colored stone had the same flavor as that of the black stuff at the top of the mountain. After having experienced an array of gentle and sweet flavors, its slight toughness and bitter flavor proved to be a refreshing treat.

Ah, I’m finished.

Adelheid felt a wave of sadness wash over her as she treated herself to the final baked good, still moist from absorbing the sweetness of the snow it was covered in. Its strong wheatish scent found its way to her nose. The fact that this incredible performance of flavors was coming to a close was the most unfortunate thing of all.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Adelheid ate the final baked treat and set her spoon down on the table.

“Whew…”

Her sigh was a mix of immense satisfaction and a dash of sadness. Adelheid sat still, looking down at her empty glass.

It’s been quite some time since I last felt this way.

Adelheid felt herself smiling, her stomach satisfied. Now that she thought about it, this was her first time truly smiling since getting sick. This chocolate parfait had managed to bring back her smile not once, but twice.

“You look like you’re feeling better! I’m glad to see it.” The young lady’s satisfaction made the master smile. He brought over a pure white ceramic cup to her table. It was filled with black tea.

“Here you are. Hot coffee, on the house. If you drink it as is, it’s quite bitter, so feel free to put as much sugar and milk in it as you’d like. That blue pot right there has the sugar, and this silver one has milk.”

“Thank you very much.” Adelheid thanked the man and took the strange coffee drink in her hands.

…Huh, this is kind of hot and bitter.

Since she’d never drank this sort of tea before, Adelheid wanted to try it “as is” first. What she found was a bitter flavor that furrowed her brows. She was fond of its aroma, but her tongue was still cold after devouring the chocolate parfait. The heat and bitterness of the coffee were a bit too strong for her.

I believe the master mentioned mixing in sugar and milk… Oh, my.

Adelheid followed the master’s instructions and mixed in sugar and milk; just a spoonful of the former so it wouldn’t be too sweet and lots of milk. After stirring it all together, the pitch black coffee turned light brown. Its bitter flavor also grew gentler.

This is quite good. I can feel myself warming up.

Adelheid was rather fond of this newfound combination. While the addition of the milk cooled the drink and weakened its aroma just a bit, it also made it easier to drink. It was the perfect way of warming up the body after eating such a cold chocolate parfait.

The princess let out a satisfied sigh from the one-two punch of the filling chocolate parfait and the body-warming coffee. One didn’t have to be particularly perceptive to tell that she was in high spirits.

“We’re open once every seven days, so feel free to come again if you’d like. Oh, and I’ll have to charge you next time.”

The master could tell that the sad aura that once wrapped itself around the young lady was now completely gone. Seeing customers happy after eating his food never got old, especially when it came to young folks like her who still had long lives to live.

“I’ll definitely come again,” Adelheid answered with a smile.

She grabbed the hem of her dress and curtsied, then proceeded to leave the shop, once again finding herself in her room at the palace. The room was entirely unchanged, and yet Adelheid no longer looked at it as a prison.

Gold… I wonder how many gold coins I’ll need?

Realistically, just how many gold coins would it cost to purchase such an amazing treat? The princess happily tossed herself onto her bed, away from others’ eyes and thought about how she’d be able to have this amazing experience again in seven days. Likely a result of how happily full she was, a wave of exhaustion washed over her, and her breathing, evening out in sleep, filled the room.

For the first time in quite a while, Adelheid napped happily and dreamt. She dreamt of the day that she would get better and return to live here in the capital, all the while excited about the joyous time that awaited her in seven days.

Adelheid had no way of knowing that in seven days time, she would find herself struggling to pick one parfait out of the many on the restaurant’s menu. She had no way of knowing about the many fateful meetings that awaited her at the Restaurant to Another World.