Chapter 60

"…Brother…"

Prince Schuzel called out his name, imbued with various meanings. How much of Lina's disrespect would he tolerate... and why wouldn't he help make the ice confection... Probably eighty percent of it was the latter.

King Felix laughed even more deeply and interestingly in response.

"……………"

Iber and Taro, the brothers and the prime minister, remained silent. They should have scolded Lina, but the king himself seemed to allow it, and even appeared to enjoy it. Thus, they had no reason to reprimand her.

"Hey, what's salted chicken?"

Ignoring the atmosphere, Prince Egiedilus clung to Lina and asked.

"Roughly speaking, it's fried chicken seasoned with salt."

"Doesn't it get greasy when fried in oil?"

He furrowed his brow, perhaps recalling a meal. Indeed, the food in this world, whether meat or fish, was often greasy.

It felt more like cooking in oil rather than frying, resulting in a greasy and soggy texture. Even Lina had experienced indigestion from it.

"It doesn't get greasy? ... Well, the outside is crispy, and the chicken is juicy?"

*Swallow*

The sound of people swallowing saliva could be heard everywhere, as they instantly forgot about King Felix's presence. Meat was already allocated to the king, nobles, and soldiers, and commoners could only eat it once every three days if they were lucky.

Lina's cooking, however, was in a league of its own.

"Is it delicious?"

"Have any of the dishes I've made so far been bad?"

"... No."

"Right? ... This is super delicious?"

As Lina cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, the sound of swallowing saliva grew louder.

"... Really?"

"In my world... it's a very popular food, from children to adults?"

She liked it, and her family did too. She had never met anyone who disliked it. It was that popular.

Lina noticed that Prince Egiedilus was also swallowing saliva. Though he couldn't imagine it, he understood that it was a very delicious food.

"Eg, be careful, the oil might splatter, so stay a bit away."

After saying this, Prince Egiedilus took a few steps back.

Usually, she would measure the oil temperature by the bubbles from the chopsticks, but she didn't have chopsticks. She had to make do by lightly dipping flour into the oil to check the temperature, confirming it was just right.

Then, she coated the chicken with flour and dropped it into the hot oil.

*Fry*

As the frying began, the smell of the chicken frying in the oil started to waft through the air. It was the irresistible, delicious smell characteristic of fried food.

"... You coat it with flour before frying?"

Prince Schuzel, who had been standing beside her, asked, seemingly drawn by the smell and full of interest.

*Jump*

"Yes... that's right."

Lina answered, feeling a chill. She didn't want to be startled while using oil. What if the pot tipped over?

"……………"

Everyone was surprised by Prince Schuzel's appearance but kept their eyes fixed on Lina's cooking.

"Is it done?"

After a while, as Lina started transferring the fried chicken to a platter, Prince Egiedilus, with sparkling eyes, asked if it was ready.

"Not yet?"

She felt a warm feeling seeing such a cute Prince Egiedilus and increased the temperature of the oil in the pot.

"What? It's not done yet!!"

He seemed unable to wait.

"It's double-fried, you see?"

To make the coating crispy, double-frying was essential.

"Double-fried?"

"Yep. That way, the outside is crispy and the inside is juicy."

*Swallow*

The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard one after another.

... Huh?

It's a trivial matter, but...

I've only fried one piece of chicken, right?

Lina started to feel uneasy.

There were six pieces of chicken.

And there were many people with hungry eyes.

... Wait? Could this be a dangerous situation?

As the chicken was being fried, Lina began to feel a sense of danger.