How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending

Shrugging my shoulders as I indicated I understood, I gestured with a glance toward the other side of the plaza and spoke.

“The people will be thriving at any moment now. Please focus on the event, Your Excellency.”

“A public meal in front of the estate residents is quite awkward.”

Just as I had declared to the peasants, we were in the midst of hosting an event where ‘His Excellency the Grand Duke and I will personally teach you how to eat the batatas root and directly show you how to draw out God’s blessing from this devil’s fruit.’

Before long, guided by the servants, the estate residents began to throng into the plaza. Countless gazes mixed with curiosity and fear soon turned toward us.

“Is this not the scent of lard? It seems they intend to use pig fat. Will it be a bit different if that thing called batatas is fried in lard?”

“Even if they do, that taste will just be that taste, how could it change all that much? Whether it is batatas or whatever, it was just astringent and sour, an utterly inedible taste.”

The murmuring of the people grew louder and louder. On one side of the plaza, a brass pot was firmly fixed atop the cold stone floor while firewood was being burned underneath. Inside the pot, lard that had been made from pig fat was bubbling and melting down, shedding a translucent oil.

Before long, the kitchen servants assisting the chef brought a mountain of thinly sliced potatoes and plunged them into the pot. The potato pieces, half-submerged in the oil, began to fry while making a sizzling sound inside the boiling lard. The deep and savory aroma coming from the meat fat and the uniquely sweet scent of the potato filled the entire plaza in an instant.

“What is this smell…? Is that really the batatas?”

“Since the highborn individuals say it is so, it must be so. But it really makes one’s mouth water, the smell is completely different from the ones rationed out previously.”

Even during that time, Tristan and I continuously tasted the french fries previously cooked by the Grand Ducal Castle’s chef. Because it was not easy to obtain soybean oil or corn oil, we used the lard that could at least be procured, but it tasted far more savory and appetizing than the french fries in my memory. Then again, potatoes fried in meat fat was a combination where it was impossible for it to taste bad.

On one side, the servants of the Grand Ducal Castle continuously fried up piping hot Hezekia Fries, and in the center of the plaza, the Grand Ducal couple was in the middle of sampling the batatas dish. It was a spectacle where anyone’s interest could not help but be moved. Expectation welled up more and more in the eyes of the estate residents.

Before long, steaming french fries were completed. The golden-brown cooked batatas were piled up rapidly inside baskets lined with cloth. The savory aroma grew a layer deeper. Even I, who was already familiar with french fries, took a deep breath.

“Line up, we will ration out one basket per household!”

As the attendant of the Grand Ducal Castle shouted at the top of his lungs, a small commotion arose in the plaza. The estate residents, who had already been swallowing their saliva while glancing back and forth between me and Tristan, rushed toward the cauldron and lined up in a long queue. At the prompting of the people who seemed anxious, the servants of the Grand Ducal Castle hurriedly began the distribution.

“Ah, it is hot. No, but…”

A boy who hurriedly picked up a piece of fried batatas and snapped it down opened his eyes roundly. And then, picking up another piece, he blew on it and pushed it into his mouth once more.

“No way. Father, is this really the batatas?”

“……So it seems. How can it be this crispy……”

“The outside is crispy and the inside is moist. It is my first time eating something this savory and sweet.”

The plaza gained vitality in an instant. The chefs and kitchen assistants sweated without being able to leave the fireside, and the servants filled the baskets without rest. The debut stage of Hezekia Fries was a success.

Since I had shown them the cooking method, I should distribute the batatas that can be cultivated starting tomorrow. Now, even if I do not particularly recommend it, they will step forward first to plant the batatas.

By the way……

‘Since it is a tasting event, I conducted it like this, but we cannot continue to use expensive lard. I wonder if there is an alternative oil. We cannot grow olive trees in this cold place either.’

I fell into thought while picking at and eating the french fries. But it really is a taste that calls for beer. If it is alcohol, there is the strong grain liquor imported from the Northern Continent, and there is also the fruit wine that the Belforte nobles enjoy drinking, but when it comes to french fries, it is definitely beer.

Since Hezekia also engages in barley farming, it seemed it would be good to try producing a decent beer taking this opportunity. Until now, we were too busy just scraping by to even think about something like beer. When there was not even food to fill our bellies, there was no way we would have the luxury to brew alcohol…… Why do the rims of my eyes keep welling……