Chapter 17: Pudding à la Mode

The Duchy was one of the most powerful nations on the Eastern Continent. Its history was long and vast, stretching back to a kingdom of old that was destroyed in ancient times.

In that powerful nation lived a princess named Victoria. She was thirty-six years old and the older sister of the duke. Victoria was unmarried, and those around her said she would likely remain that way for the rest of her days.

The reason for this was tied to Victoria’s birth; she was a changeling.

Changelings were children who, despite being born of two humans, entered the world with half-elven traits. Under normal circumstances, one of the parents would have to be an elf for this to be possible, making this one of the world’s many strange phenomena. One theory brought forth by scholars was that elf or half-elf blood that had found its way into a bloodline some thousand years prior randomly emerged, but the truth of the matter was still unknown to all.

Those who were born as half-elves or changelings could not hope to live normal lives. The reasons for this were simple. Half-elves possessed the same strong magical power that elves had, as well as the life energy that humans had. They were also capable of living for hundreds of years at a time. So while it did vary from individual to individual, most half-elves looked like they were in their early teens until they were a century old. They were beings that defied human knowledge.

Never mind elven society, half-elves were often treated as aliens in the human world. It didn’t matter who they were born to; they were outcasts.

As such, their options in life were inherently limited by their birth. They could choose to cut themselves off from the world and serve a god or perhaps utilize their long life spans and inhuman magical power to become sorcerers. Other options included becoming mercenaries or adventurers, for whom ability was everything, or moving to one of the handful of small half-elf villages across the land. Either way, they were incapable of simply walking a normal path through life.

Victoria chose the sorcerer’s path.

By the time she turned twenty-five years of age, it had become clear that despite being a princess of the Duchy, she was not human. In the ten years that passed since she was 15, her appearance had not changed at all. And so the princess, wanting to make use of her immense magical powers, went to the then-duke, her father, and appealed to him. She wanted to pursue the path of a sorcerer.

This was when she discovered that she was a genius.

It took not but three months before her own skills surpassed those of her teacher. She then went on to surpass the best sorcerer in all the Duchy, the court’s head sorcerer, in only a year. This was an incredible feat on its own but even more amazing considering that the Duchy was considered the greatest of magical nations on the Eastern Continent.

It was then that Victoria’s magical prowess was recognized. Ten years ago, she became the pupil of the greatest sorcerer in the Kingdom, Sage Altorius, one of the heroes who helped to slay the demon god. After spending only eight years dedicated to her studies, Victoria unlocked the greatest secrets of magic.

And so two years ago, Victoria told her master, the Sage Altorius, that she wished to walk her own path. She departed from the Kingdom and returned home to the Duchy, where she was given limitless research funds in exchange for promising to remain in the shadows. That was how she gained the nickname, “The Witch Princess of the Duchy.” She spent her days in her room researching magic.

However, even the Witch Princess took breaks every now and then… Specifically, once every seven days.

***

Victoria’s personal room, also known as the “lab,” was sealed off so that nobody but her could enter. It was nothing like one might expect of a princess’s room. Instead, it was filled with all sorts of suspicious-looking vials and magical items. Quite frankly, it resembled a fairy tale witch’s house, if anything. It was in this room that Victoria had holed up, reading a magic book the ancient elves had left behind. The elves of old were said to have had magic far beyond that of her time.

It’s still too early, she thought.

Rather than wear a decorative gown befitting the princess of a great nation, Victoria instead wore a simple dress that prioritized ease of movement. She lightly rubbed her stomach over the fabric and waited for the time to come.

Victoria continued to glance at the complicated magic circle on the floor. To be more precise, it was a summoning circle for doors to another world, one of the most complicated of its kind. Creating one required precise knowledge, incredible magical skills, and control.

Mastering it was a difficult feat for even a pure elf. In fact, only two magic circles of its kind existed in all the world. One of them was right in front of Victoria, and the other was the one her master and the world’s greatest sage, Altorius, had made. The magic circle designed to call forth a very specific object was currently activated and doing its job.

The black door with the cat picture appeared over it.

Normally at just past noon, Victoria would have already gone out. However, her stomach was still rather full. Earlier in the day, her younger brother had invited her to join his family for a meal, likely because he knew that Victoria wasn’t particularly fond of putting herself out in front of people. Since this particular meal was a personal affair, he was clearly thinking of his older sister. She appreciated the gesture.

The problem was that it was a special day. Victoria had been looking forward to swinging by her special place since early in the morning, so she couldn’t help but feel like her chance had been ripped out from under her. Of course, her little brother knew nothing of the door’s existence, which made feeling that way silly to begin with. Victoria was more than aware that none of this was his fault.

After a brief period of reading her book, the Witch Princess finally stood up, convinced that she could probably do with something light. She stepped into the magic circle and placed her hand on the door. The ringing of the bell, an old elf relic, announced her arrival at the restaurant.

“Welcome!” the master called.

“Hello,” she answered.

Victoria exchanged brief words with the master of the restaurant, someone she had now known for eight years, ever since Altorius first brought her here. She took a seat.

“Here you are. Ice water and a menu.”

Victoria thanked him and immediately turned to the dessert page.

Maybe I’ll just get a dessert today…

Meals here were to be eaten in silence and with respect. Victoria couldn’t help but feel this way as a citizen of the Duchy. People in her homeland often said that “changelings were not to speak of government matters.” This carried over to how she handled herself in day-to-day matters. She looked at the menu and made sure not to interact with the other customers. Victoria paid them no mind.

That’s right. She paid them no mind. For example, she paid no mind to the imperial princess eating a parfait who was supposed to have started treatment for her illness three months ago. She paid no mind to the Monastery of Light followers, one of them even a half-elf like herself, who happily chatted amongst themselves while eating sweets. She paid no mind to her own master, who would appear at lunchtime, digging into a pork loin cutlet and some beer. She paid no mind to the former admiral of the Duchy eating curry rice, a man who supposedly died twenty years ago in a vicious battle with a kraken.

Victoria visited the Restaurant to Another World with only one objective: to eat delicious food.

She made her decision.

“Pudding à la mode, please.”

She ordered only her most favorite of desserts.

The master nodded. “Aye, you got it. Hang on just a minute.”

Victoria watched the master retreat to the kitchen in the back and cast her gaze down at the menu in front of her.

This is definitely my handwriting, she thought.

The dessert menu was in a beautifully written Eastern Continent script. Everything about the characters, including the little quirks, were exactly the same as Victoria’s handwriting.

But I only gave him one…

The Witch Princess also looked at the characters on the normal menu that her master wrote long, long ago.

She collected her thoughts.

The other world was fairly technologically advanced. Just one glance at this small space said as much. The first time she came here, she was met with surprise after surprise.

Exactly eight years prior, Victoria became Altorius’s pupil and went on to master all manner of difficult magic. Two years after she began studying under him, she became aware of the Restaurant to Another World. Altorius summoned the door with his magic and brought her with him inside.

“Welcome! So you’re going to be writing the menu for me, young lady?”

At the time, Victoria looked quite a bit younger. The irony of course was that the master was actually about the same age as her, not that he was aware of that. The Witch Princess nodded her head at the man. She’d heard the details from her master.

“Much appreciated,” he said. “I’m not much for sweets.”

This of course begged the question as to why the master would even think to add a dessert section to his restaurant’s menu; something about his friend being a patissier or something. The main problem was that the master was a resident of the other world, meaning he couldn’t read or write in Victoria’s world’s language. This inspired Altorius to go to his new pupil Victoria, an incredibly talented sorcerer who loved sweets more than anybody he knew. He ordered her to try each new confection and write the names and descriptions for them in the language of the Eastern Continent.

“Again, thanks a bunch. Here’s a pen and some paper. And…”

Apparently, Sage Altorius and the master had already settled things between themselves. The middle-aged human man handed her a useful otherworldly pen that didn’t require an ink jar and some white, thin but durable paper. He retreated to the back but quickly came out again holding something in his hands.

“Try this one, first. I heard from the old man that you’re big on egg-based sweets, right?”

This was the first thing she ever ate at the Restaurant to Another World…

“Sorry to keep you waiting! Here you are, custard à la mode.”

It was the same hypnotizing confection that she’d eaten eight years ago. The food was presented to her in a glass cup with a thin stem and a wide top. In the center was the soft yellow pudding drenched in brown sauce. Victoria licked her pink lips and grabbed the spoon off of the table.

Gotta save the best for last, she decided.

Victoria started by waging a full-fledged assault on the surrounding areas of the cup. She attacked the white cream decorating the edges of the pudding with her spoon. It was the very same soft and sweet white cream used in the parfaits and cakes served at the restaurant. She scooped it up with her spoon, enjoying how fragile it was to the touch.

She then switched to the small fork on the table and reached for the fruits next to the pudding. According to the master, the half-peeled appul was meant to look like a rabbit. It was as crunchy as expected, refreshingly sweet and tart. Meanwhile, the neighboring orange sauce added a whole new level of sweetness to the appul.

The sweet fruit was very similar to a southern one she’d eaten many times on the Western Continent with her master when they traveled there via magic circle. Since it was quick to rot, one didn’t see it very often in the Duchy. She quietly enjoyed the different flavors of fruit blending together in her mouth.

Before getting to her main objective, Victoria next targeted the ice cream. She enjoyed the crisp, cold sweetness sitting on the side of the cup. Each scoop had a sweetness to her liking, and they were all delicious in their own ways, but they didn’t stand a chance against the main draw in the center of the cup.

The time had come.

Victoria licked her lips multiple times, took a sip of cold water, and only after washing away the sweetness of the foods she’d just eaten did she begin her final attack on the fortress of deliciousness in front of her. It went without saying, but custard was the true star of pudding à la mode. It was the first dessert that Victoria had tried at the restaurant, and it was the one otherworldly confection that refused to move from its number one spot.

The Witch Princess pressed her shining silver spoon into the egg-colored pudding covered in brown sauce. In response, it jiggled ever so slightly, allowing the spoon into its gentle domain of tastiness. She then raised it back up again, observing the tiny, brown and egg-colored hill sitting atop her silver spoon.

Into her mouth it went, rolling about on top of her tongue.

The rich and sweet flavors of egg and milk spread across her tongue, accompanied by its unique mouthfeel and the sweet but slightly bitter flavor of the brown sauce. They complemented each other beautifully, with the former gently accepting the other into its soft arms and the latter bringing out the flavor of the pudding even further. It was the perfect marriage of elements.

Victoria found herself utterly charmed by the flavors melting away in her mouth.

This truly is the most perfect of combinations.

It was during this time, and this time only, that Victoria felt grateful for being a half-elf. If she had been born a human, she never would have thought to become a sorcerer, which meant she likely never would have stumbled her way into this restaurant. On the flip side, if she were born an elf, she’d never have been able to eat custard à la mode even if she did reach the restaurant. After all, elves hated all foods made from animals.

Victoria was a half-elf sorcerer. It was for that very reason that she was able to be where she was, enjoying custard to her heart’s content. The Witch Princess didn’t intend on letting this chance meeting go to waste, and she would do whatever it took to make sure she could continue to eat this delectable treat. The magic circle in her lab that summoned the door to the Restaurant to Another World was testament to her determination.

Spoonful by spoonful, Victoria continued to enjoy her dessert. She was as careful as could be so that she might stretch out the experience as long as possible. Sadly, all good things eventually came to an end. The spoon made but a light tapping noise as Victoria set it down on the table. The cup in front of her was empty but her stomach was full. She let out a satisfied sigh. After consulting with her stomach, she decided that she only needed one for today.

“Master, the check, please. Also…”

“Aye. The usual, right?”

Victoria nodded. “Yes, exactly.”

The master knew her quite well by this point, so he nodded and grabbed something out of the fridge.

“Here you go. Make sure you eat it today, all right?”

With that, the master handed her a small box with an illustration of a winged puppy on it. Inside were four glass jars of pudding, along with a strangely cold object that didn’t melt like ice. The special pudding was made by the patissier upstairs, and she always ordered it to go.

“Understood.”

The master told her the same thing every time, and she always nodded her head in response. That said, she was lying. She was incapable of eating all of this in one sitting, especially if it meant living out the next six days without pudding. She was well aware that because of the way the custard was made, it spoiled fast. Victoria took steps to ensure that would not happen.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yup! Thanks as always!”

Victoria opened the door as she listened to the master’s words and exited into her room.

“…Now then,” she said.

The Witch Princess knew exactly what needed to be done upon her return. She immediately exited her lab and made a beeline for her bedroom, a wonderfully ornate space fitting for the princess of a great nation. Victoria then grabbed the box sitting next to her pillow. At first glance, it looked like a jewelry box, but once she opened it, the truth became clear. There was nothing inside of it except for cold air. She carefully placed each of the four jars into the box. This jewelry box combined two different spells: one designed to prevent rotting and another that continuously blasted cold, wintry air. Victoria specifically developed this contraption so that she could enjoy her pudding for as long as possible.

Victoria giggled to herself as she closed the cold container. Now she’d be able to enjoy her beloved pudding once every couple of days.

The Witch Princess of the Duchy was known for being aloof and inexpressive, much like a doll. This smile of hers was as important as it was rare. She only let it show when she was truly filled with joy, to express the fact that she never felt pity for herself due to her birth.

It was a smile that expressed that, if anything, she was incredibly grateful for being born as she was.