NOVEL WEB Ch43 - Dinner at the Castle
Chapter 43: Dinner at the Castle
(From Fenrir’s perspective)
It’s been around 100 years since I last visited this castle.
A nostalgic feeling fills me, something I didn’t experience back then.
I walk down the hallway with El and the others. The feel of the carpet underfoot, the length of the corridor, the temperature inside the castle—everything seems oddly familiar. I’m surprised.
It almost feels like memories from when I was human are resurfacing, I ponder absentmindedly.
“El, look, the faces of all the past kings look alike,” El says, gazing at the portraits hanging in the hallway.
The people in the paintings do indeed look similar, but… I try to recall my memories. However, I can’t quite remember anything from 300 years ago.
My silence makes El tilt her head. Oops.
“Royal families tend to resemble one another. They all inherit platinum hair and ice-blue eyes,” Prince Christopher explains, stepping in to save me.
That was helpful. El glances at me.
“Is there a portrait of Fenrir when you were a prince?” she asks.
What?
“Of course, there is!”
There is? What? I wasn’t supposed to have been a king, though…
“Yay! I want to see it!”
With her hand still holding mine, El raises her arms in excitement, pulling me into a matching pose. Once again… it’s embarrassing.
My face feels hot, and my ears react involuntarily.
The royals surrounding us let out suppressed gasps.
“Settle down, royalty. I appreciate your effort to contain your reactions, but it’s honestly a little creepy.”
And Glare, too. Proud unicorn, please stop kneeling and praying, I beg you.
Though, seeing El’s bashful smile makes everything seem fine.
“There is a portrait of Fenrir in the grand hall,” Prince Christopher says.
“Lead the way,” I reply.
“Yes, and the preparations for the meal are also complete.”
“We’ve been standing around for a while. The food might be cold by now…”
“Don’t worry. I can reheat it with my fire magic,” the prince says confidently.
The prince is truly versatile.
As we enter the grand hall, the flag of the Felsnow Kingdom is displayed prominently—blue fabric embroidered with white snow.
Portraits of past princesses who served as vessels for me line the walls. At the end, there’s a portrait of a young man, almost like a beautiful boy with platinum hair and strong-looking ice-blue eyes. His delicate features could be mistaken for a princess.
Though he resembles my current form, this prince seems rather ordinary in comparison.
Now that I think about it, El’s face has also grown a little more radiant since she started carrying my magical power, so I must have undergone a similar transformation.
“Wow, what a beautiful person!” El exclaims.
“Thank you for this great honor,” Glare adds in reverence.
“Alright, stop worshipping the portrait,” I think to myself, feeling embarrassed.
“They say that back then, there was no princess with a strong aptitude for ice magic. Therefore, the prince with the greatest magical prowess volunteered to serve as Fenrir’s vessel. He grew his hair out over the course of a year, donned the princess’s attire, and disappeared into the magic circle. This is how the story is told,” the king’s voice echoes across the hall.
Everyone listens quietly.
Below the portrait, the prince’s name is inscribed.
“Safirael Lea Sielphon,” El reads aloud, causing my heart to skip a beat.
Though the name of this vanished prince no longer holds any power, and I hadn’t even remembered it until now, it sounds sweet to my ears.
I gently pat El’s mischievous, smiling head.
I understand, royal family and Glare. El’s adorably radiant face is irresistible. Let me join you in being smitten by her.
My precious daughter is too cute—it’s almost overwhelming. Actually, no, it’s not a problem at all.
I resolve to protect that smile forever.
“Reheat the food,” I command.
At my request, the prince’s magic causes steam to rise from the dishes.
“It must have been difficult to prepare all this food on such short notice. Thank you for the warm welcome.”
“We are truly honored to have you here, Fenrir. We simply did what we wished to do. Thank you for making the effort to come,” the king replies sincerely.
I can feel the king’s genuine gratitude. It’s a pleasant atmosphere as the meal begins.
“Please enjoy your meal.”
The spread includes red soup with a rich consistency, marinated winter cabbage, a dense butter cake, charcoal-infused gray bread, and small plates of summer fruits preserved in wine and honey. Many other delicacies line the table as well.
We talk as we eat, sharing news about the snowy mountains while the kingdom updates us on the city.
This must be what they mean by a “warm meal.”
My body remembers proper table manners, and I effortlessly handle the knife and fork. Glare, on the other hand, studied ahead of time from a book.
El displays her Japanese table manners, which seem to be almost identical to the local customs, much to her relief.
“It’s very delicious,” El says, making everyone smile warmly.
As I observe the family eating together happily, I notice a brief, fleeting sadness on El’s face.
El is forever separated from the family she spent 20 years with from childhood.
I realize that I must provide her with something even greater from now on, as I have decided to cherish her.
I strengthen my resolve.
“El,” I call out. El turns her head, her silver hair swaying.
“Let me guess your favorite dish. The pound cake with cream cheese,” I say.
“Ah, correct,” she responds.
“See? I’ve been watching you closely when you eat,” I add.
El looked especially happy when she ate the pound cake.
When I offered her my portion, her eyes sparkled.
Although her tail hasn’t grown yet, her animal ears were visibly twitching with excitement.
The kingdom’s people are utterly defeated by her cuteness. It’s pitiful.
El took a bite of the cake and exclaimed in a higher voice than usual, “Thank you, Fenrir!”
And now I am defeated as well.
There is no one in the world who can resist El’s cuteness. All we can do is bask in the pleasant sense of camaraderie.
“Here’s the dessert,” the server announces, bringing out tree fruits, one for each of us.
“How should I eat this?” El wonders aloud as everyone watches her. Suddenly, the fruit splits open by itself.
“…What?”
“This…?”
Everyone is speechless.
“Chocolate cake, shortcake, Mont Blanc, souffle cheesecake, strawberry mousse…” El cautiously explains as she points to the different layers of dessert inside each fruit.
The inside is layered with cream and fluffy fruit-like textures. Fruit… or should I say, cake?
“This fairy tree has undergone an incredible evolution!” I marvel.
“Thank you, El, for transforming it into a high-calorie emergency food source with your magic,” says Princess Michele, who blushes with excitement. Clearly, she has a sweet tooth.
“Well, let’s dig in,” El says, and everyone eagerly takes a bite.
It’s the best dish of the night, causing everyone to swoon with delight.
After taking a break in another room, we headed to the room where the monster was reported to be.
The mages had set up a barrier and all looked pale and exhausted.
“You can rest now. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Lord Fenrir…!”
When I spoke, the mages relaxed their shoulders as if the strings had been cut and finally stopped their magic supply. They were clearly quite fatigued.
“You’ve done well.”
“Such kind words are undeserved…!”
They bowed repeatedly.
Princess Michela thanked me for my words of encouragement to her subordinates, which made a wry smile appear on my face.
“Even though this is an unprecedented situation, it’s a monster brought from the snowy mountains. I feel that I should have been able to manage it better.”
“Fenrir? You taught us to help each other in times of trouble, remember?”
El encouraged me by patting my shoulder. Indeed…
I’m truly glad it’s her.
“Now then.”
We examined the monster together with El.
“I still think this monster must have been a vacuum cleaner that transformed into a monster.”
“Ah, right. It was a machine for cleaning rooms.”
I sharpened my senses and observed the monster. Hmm…
“I don’t sense any life force. It shouldn’t move again.”
“Oh, that’s a relief! …But it’s really, really shattered…”
“Yes… It’s been crushed to bits. El, you did well to identify it as a vacuum cleaner.”
When El and I looked back at Princess Michela, she gazed back at us with a strong, confident smile.
Her smile was more intense than usual, probably to reassure us. She’s quite impressive.
“‘Eternal Ice Binding’”
I covered the monster with ice that would never melt.
I had confirmed that using magic in this room was permissible.
That’s done. I’ve achieved the primary goal of coming to the castle.
“Princess Michela, if it’s alright, could you teach me the ultimate magic used to attack this monster?”
“Of course!”
“El!?”
“Lady El!?”
“Princess!?”
We were taken aback when they began discussing this unexpected plan, and we called out to El in surprise.
Has Princess Michela’s temperament affected her!? No, no, no, no, no…!
“Sorry for surprising you. Well, there’s a chance that more monsters might appear in the future, right? And we might encounter other threats. I want to be prepared by being able to use the power given by Orb and Tito.”
“Oh, I see. You were thinking about what might come next in the snowy mountains. I apologize for the surprise.”
“Yes, that’s it. I thought it would be good to learn the effective attack methods from Michela that were used to defeat the monster.”
El and I looked back at the monster.
It was in shattered pieces, thoroughly demolished.
“……”
“……Too powerful?”
“Let’s go, Lady El! There’s still some time before the evening festival starts. Since there’s a knight training ground, let’s have a lesson in ice magic! I’ll do my best to teach you!”
“Uh, okay!? Th-thank you…!”
Princess Michela quickly pushed El’s back, leading her away.
Exchanging glances, El and I sighed in resignation and decided to follow them.
As we walked down the corridor and glanced at the room before the great hall, I noticed that the prince in the portrait looked even happier than before.