Chapter 269 Marquis and the Party
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The next morning, Marquis Rubal and his wife left their lodging and headed towards the venue they had in mind Shiown.
The venue was a newly built building next to a bakery, attracting guests from both inside and outside the frontier settlement with its luxurious dishes that were not usually available.
To create a sense of the extraordinary, the building was designed to look like a mansion, giving off an atmosphere that a party was being held inside.
However, this resulted in the glass-fronted bakery being squeezed between the mansions, creating a somewhat odd appearance.
From the outside, Neil’s mansion clearly stood out with its odd charm, but the visitors to Shiown paid no heed to this, their minds filled only with the thought of eating as they entered the building.
”Oh…”
”Well…”
Following these guests, Marquis Rubal and his wife entered the building, expressing their surprise at the scene that greeted them.
Typically, a nobleman’s party would feature various dishes spread across tables throughout the venue, but at Shiown, the areas for food and dining were completely separate.
Guests were first guided to a designated table, where they picked up a plate and then went to get their food.
A variety of dishes were neatly arranged to cover one entire wall, unlike ordinary parties where the presentation would be elaborate.
At Shiown, there was no such fuss, yet the dishes were not haphazardly placed; they were arranged neatly, leaving no unnecessary gaps.
(I heard this was modeled after a nobleman’s party, but aside from the food, it’s completely different. Well, the guests probably don’t know the real thing, so they won’t question it… but Duke Clement would be outraged if he knew about this.)
Imagining the outraged face of Duke Clement, a fellow gourmet, Marquis Rubal’s lips curled into a smile.
Both Duke Clement and Marquis Rubal were famous gourmets, but their values were fundamentally different.
Duke Clement prioritizes beauty and the elegance of nobility above all else, treating taste as a secondary concern.
On the other hand, Marquis Rubal places the utmost importance on flavor, with presentation taking a backseat.
Although both are gourmets, their interpretations of fine dining differ significantly, leading to a nearly disastrous compatibility between the two.
However, it’s not that they disregard everything else; it’s just that their priorities differ.
That’s why their compatibility is only a step away from being the worst.
”There’s quite a variety here, isn’t there? Really.”
”Yeah, that’s true.”
Marquis Rubal agrees with his wife, who can’t hide her confusion in front of the numerous dishes.
The reason for her bewilderment is that there’s no consistency among the dishes laid out before them.
One moment they see empire cuisine, then next to it is a dish from the kingdom, and beside that, a meal from the Theocracy──various national cuisines all mixed together.
At a noble’s party, there’s always a single theme, and it’s unheard of for dishes from different countries to be served all at once like this.
Even Marquis Rubal, who believes that the etiquette of nobility is only necessary to a minimal extent, has never broken that rule.
This shows just how unbelievable this situation is for nobles.
(A collection of dishes that I think are delicious──it’s like a dream concocted by a child who knows nothing of etiquette. How amusing.)
Enjoying the sight that could only happen at Shiown, which would never be seen at a noble’s party, he starts picking up dishes.
Thinking he might as well, he chooses bread from the empire, salad from the kingdom, and meat dishes from the Theocracy.
Just as he was about to return to the table with his first plate,
”Dad! Get that meat too!”
”Oh! Should I grab this and that too? They all look delicious! I’ll take about 5 pieces of this meat.”
”You guys eat meat every day, so make sure to grab some vegetables. The veggies from the frontier settlement are supposed to be really tasty, you know?”
”But you, Mom, are just grabbing sweets instead of vegetables!”
”Well, sweets are something you can’t have every day, so it’s fine, right?”
”Ha ha ha! Well, well, let’s not sweat the small stuff. Just enjoy the food however you like!”
As they interacted and each parent placed their own dishes on the plate, not minding if the sauce from the meat dish mixed with the salad dressing, Marquis Rubal was captivated by their carefree approach to the meal.
Then, he shifted his gaze to his own plate.
(What am I doing here, exactly?)
Carefully placing a leafy green on the plate to avoid staining it with sauce, and then setting the meat dish on top, he wondered what he was so concerned about.
Weren’t they here to purely enjoy the food, to forget about noble formalities and join a party where such etiquette wasn’t necessary?
They certainly didn’t come to eat elegantly just to impress the people around them.
(I can’t let this get to me, not with Duke Clement.)
Reflecting deeply, Marquis Rubal began to pile the food onto his beautifully arranged plate with a casual disregard.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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