I bit into the skewered dumpling .
There was some hesitation over possible rudeness with the first bite, but then I noticed that such hesitation would result in the syrup running down my mouth and making my face filthy . The second bite was bolder, as I swallowed the whole thing . After that, I had mastered the technique and finished eating the last bite .
As I enjoyed this most memorable first item, Leon, who had finished much quicker than I, asked for my review .
“How was it?”
“It lacks subtlety . ”
I said honestly, as I chewed on the dumpling that was still in my mouth .
There was something sloppy about the sweetness of the brown sugar syrup . The texture of the dumpling itself was rough . In the first place, it was most annoying to eat a chewy dumpling off a skewer . I think I would have preferred it on a platter with toothpicks in every single piece .
“I suppose it was a compromise of less time and effort and also being decent enough for people to eat . That’s what it is . It is so thoughtless and flawed in both taste and presentation . But, I see . So this is what commoner food tastes like . ”
“Hey, are you mocking me?”
I ignored Leon as he squinted upon hearing my review . I needed to do something about this syrup that was on my hands and mouth . I couldn’t possibly wipe it on my clothes or sleeves . As I was thinking this, a towel was presented to me from the side .
“That is basically what stall food
tastes like . ”
“Hmph . I suppose so . ”
Mariwa said it with a knowledgeable air, but she herself had not even eaten it .
She probably did not want to dirty her hands and mouth with syrup either . I accepted the towel gratefully and wiped myself .
One person who was not happy about our conversation was Leon, who had guided us to that stall .
“As a friend of Christina, you probably eat very well too, but…”
Mariwa shrugged as Leon narrowed his eyebrows .
“It is fine though . It is not as if we have come here to evaluate the best delicacies . Isn’t that right, my lady? Never mind the taste, isn’t this so much fun?”
“Yes, it’s so fun!”
The taste was third-rate indeed, but the very act of shopping was most enjoyable . Using money for the first time, eating foods I had never seen before, the freedom of not having to be so polite .
I was swayed by the joy that all of those things brought, and hurried Leon on .
“Now, Leon . Let’s go to the next one . To the next!”
“…Alright . ”
I ordered him in the way I would usually order a servant . He smiled wryly as if he had no choice but to obey .
“Is there anything in particular that you want to eat?”
“Anything that’s not sweet . ”
“Hmm… Okay, then let’s go over to the street then . ”
I had just experienced the crudest sweetness . I wanted to enjoy a different flavor now . Having heard this thought of mine, Leon began to lead the way .
“The street? Is there none in the plaza?”
“There
/>
“There are drinks and sweets sold at the stalls here, but there isn’t much proper food . Now that I think of it, I wonder why . ”
“It is because you can not get a permit to have a stall that uses fire in such a crowded area as the plaza . It would be quite the disaster if there happened to be an outbreak in so dense a place . Stalls that use fire to cook are only allowed on the larger streets and they must maintain a certain distance from other stalls . ”
“Ahh . ”
Leon had apparently not known the reason, so he was interested as much as I was .
“Well, I’m sure there are plenty of successful stalls that don’t use fire either way . But we might as well go down a street that has more variety . ”
“Yes . That’s true . Let’s do that! You sure know a lot, Mariwa . ”
“I suppose so . I don’t have any personal interest in it… But there have been several occasions where I had to accompany someone here who was much like a combination of you and Mishuli and then multiplied by two . So I learned about this place, naturally . ”
“I and Mishuli combined and multiplied… What? Was this person a goddess or something?”
“You must keep your ego in check, my lady . ”
It was clear as day that combing a genius like myself with an angel like Mishuli and multiplying it would result in a Goddess . But Mariwa used her free hand to flick me on the forehead .
It hurt a little .
As I glared at Mariwa with hatred, Leon, who was
who was staring at our little interaction, butted in .
“Nobles have wet nurses do they not? Is that what Mariwa is to you?”
“Huh?”
What an irrelevant question . My wet nurse had secretly sold my late mother’s possessions and had her family and house destroyed as a result . Such were my memories of when I was two, and as far as I was aware, it was the angriest my father had ever been in his life .
“Does it look that way to you?”
“It does… But I guess I was wrong . ”
Now that I think of it, it’s not that odd an assumption given our difference in age . However, there was a reason that she would not be hired as a wet nurse .
“No, she’s my private teacher . Mariwa’s never been married, so I don’t think it’s possible for her to be a wet nurse . ”
“My lady . ”
Usually, people who have experienced raising a child were hired as wet nurses . Mariwa was Miss Toinette, not Mrs . Toinette and would never be hired as a wet nurse .
That was the reason I said what I said, but I was immediately interrupted .
“I will have you know, that it was not as if I could not get married . It is only that I did not get married . ”
“Ah, yes . ”
I felt a mysterious pressure from Mariwa’s declaration and I ended up nodding a lot more good-naturedly than I had intended .
There was no ulterior motive behind it, to begin with, but clearly, this subject was dangerous . I knew this by instinct, and so I quickly turned to Leon in order to change the subject
change the subject .
Leon too seemed to have caught the danger signal, but he looked away from me as if to avoid any further attention .
…He had some nerve considering he was the one who brought it up .
Fine .
I would implicate him thoroughly .
“Mariwa . Leon is asking in his heart, why you never got married . It’s for future reference . ”
“What!?”
He shouts and looks towards me, but it is too late for him . At my false accusation, Mariwa turned a gaze towards Leon, that was much too diabolical for a nine-year-old to experience .
“…Very well then . I will tell you in detail, why I did not marry, why this thing called love is so foolish and why this thing called marriage is of no use to me . ”
It worked . I was quite satisfied with how shaken Leon was, but Mariwa’s breast was burning with a much bigger fire than I had imagined .
“You must listen as well, my lady . I shall tell you just how much the current institution of marriage limits women regardless of status . I will explain all of this to you along with an academic viewpoint that will be worth listening to . ”
“Eh . ”
It was too late for me when I realized that the spark I had lit were now falling down on my own head .
Mariwa’s eyes stared at me so steadily that it looked as if she had been drinking . Of course, this meant it was not exactly the kind of atmosphere where I could easily blurt something like ‘well, I have a fiance’, which Mariwa already knew about anyway .
Chapter end
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