I Became a Food Developer in Another World-Chapter 104 - : Air Fryer (3)

The Emperor sitting on the throne, Julius II, bore a striking resemblance to the Third Prince.

Clear blue eyes that reveal the soul and dazzling platinum hair.

Despite his old age, he was a handsome man who must have been very good-looking in his youth.

"I am honored to meet the Great Sun of the Empire."

"The greetings are unnecessary; I already know who you are. You all stay outside."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Emperor, who gestured to stop the bowing, waved his hand to send the knights outside.

At that part, Aria and I were quite surprised.

Not accepting the bow was one thing, but assigning all the other knights except the escort was unexpected.

"They said you hated formalities, and it seems to be true."

Before entering the audience chamber, the most common thing I heard was that the Emperor did not place much importance on etiquette.

As if to support this, the audience room displayed items like traditional Korean sweets and processed foods that common people would use at home.

It seemed like the Emperor's own strategy to create a friendly image.

However.

"It's nice and cool."

The Emperor, who had taken off his jacket from the magic refrigerator and put it on, gave us a refreshing smile.

We awkwardly smiled back at the smile that seemed to be asking for agreement, as if saying, "What do you think, am I doing well?"

Should I point this out or not? I hesitated for a moment, but...

'It won't work.'

Even if the Emperor was wrong, it was the duty of the courtier in charge of royal etiquette to point it out and correct it, and it was against etiquette for the visitor to do so.

You must not embarrass the Emperor.

By the way.

'Did I do something wrong?'

The Emperor's expression as he looked at me was subtly displeased. His eyes seem to be somewhat displeased.

I entered the audience chamber, wondering if I had made some mistake, but there was nothing specific I could point to.

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Receiving unjust looks without knowing the reason, the Emperor finally spoke.

"Do you know why I have called you?"

"There are a few guesses, but I haven't heard the exact reason."

There was a suspicion.

With the emergence of the Cryostones, the Empire was experiencing an unprecedented cultural revolution.

As fresh produce became more widely available, diets that primarily consisted of preserved foods were shifting to include more fresh items.

Due to the Beast Cards, the relationship with the Fioré Kingdom has improved recently.

So I thought the Emperor called me for this reason as well...

"My children have been talking about you."

"...."

An entirely unexpected remark came out.

"...Are you talking about my story?"

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about it."

"...."

The first thing that came to mind was the First Princess.

The First Princess, who loved having tea time, was also well-known in high society.

Since there were quite a few projects we were working on together, it was highly likely that she had talked about me to the Emperor.

Or maybe the Third Prince, who has been visiting our White Tower frequently these days.

"Christina praised you a lot, saying that if it weren't for you, she would have struggled to clear the Monster Forest."

"...."

I was secretly surprised.

I only thought it would be the First Princess or the Third Prince, so I never even considered the Second Princess.

Since the Second Princess was not one to speak easily, I've never thought of her talking about me to the Emperor.

But she even went so far as to compliment me.

The fact that the Second Princess, who is stingy with compliments, praised me to the Emperor was nothing short of astonishing.

"It was the first time that she praised someone to me."

"It is an honor."

"And it was also the first time she made a personal request."

"...."

'Why are there so many firsts?'

It was not difficult to guess how much their father-daughter conversations had been disconnected until now.

No wonder the gaze directed at me was not kind.

After a long time, when her daughter came over and started talking, it wasn't a conversation between a father and daughter but rather her praising someone else, of course he couldn't help but get annoyed.

Even I was taken aback when I heard it.

By the way.

"If it's a personal request..."

"The dual role position of the military commander is prohibited by regulations."

"You are referring to the Cultural Invasion Department."

The Emperor nodded.

"Originally, we were going to hand over that role to the Ministry of Magic, but we decided to keep the department at the request of the Second Princess. They said it was a department that was absolutely necessary. It was the first time that kid had insisted so strongly with me."

'It's another first.'

At this point, I was curious about what wasn't the first time anymore.

For reference, speaking of the Cultural Invasion Department, abbreviated as CID, the only fixed members were the Second Princess and me.

I was originally a consultant, not a department member, but at some point, I came to my senses and found myself as a department member.

'Whether it's a consultant or a department member, the work doesn't change.'

My main job was to alleviate the boredom of the Second Princess and chat with her.

Besides, the Third Prince used to come in occasionally, but recently he got hooked on card games and has become a ghost member.

But.

"Leon too."

"Yes?"

"He said the same thing as Christina."

Not a ghost member, but someone scheming behind the scenes?

"They said that to prevent places with bad omens like the Fioré Kingdom in advance, we shouldn't leave that role to the Ministry of Magic."

The 'somens' claimed by the Third Prince were often ambiguous or excessive.

Most of the conspiracy theories that spread throughout the Empire can usually be traced back to the Third Prince.

However, it was also true that sometimes those gut feelings turned out to be right, making them hard to ignore...

If you make about ten claims, then two or three of them will turn out to be true.

'That's a pretty good hit rate.'

It was truly remarkable to get three out of ten major national issues right.

Since this Third Prince argued for the necessity of the Cultural Invasion Department, the Emperor must have felt uneasy as well.

"I occasionally heard stories from the eldest, but now your name is coming up even from the other children, so I'm curious."

The Emperor stared at me intently.

"How does the one who bewitched my children look? I called you to see your face."

"Has your curiosity been satisfied?"

"No, after seeing it, I'm even more curious."

The Emperor asked as if he was truly curious.

"How on earth did you manage to win over that picky second child?"

'...So you called me to ask about this.'

The Emperor called me because he wanted to have a 'consultation' with their estranged father and daughter relationship.

You were asking me about the secret to seducing the Second Princess.

Aria also looked at me as if she was curious.

The two people were staring, but I had nothing to say.

Actually, I wanted to ask.

'...Why did you go and praise me to the Emperor when you never praised me before?'

The mischievous laughter of the Second Princess came to mind.

A bitter smile formed on his face, as if to say, "Go ahead, give it a try."

"It seems that she were impressed by how the Cornel kingdom was opened without shedding any blood."

Thus, in the game orchestrated by the Second Princess, we exchanged stories with the Emperor that were neither a formal audience nor a father-daughter consultation.

Occasionally, political discussions would come up, but nothing special was said.

I only knew that when bad things were said about the Church, a smile would appear on the Emperor's lips.

But I couldn't focus on all those stories.

'...I wish someone would close the door.'

The door of Magic Refrigerator, which was wide open, kept bothering me.

Seeing Aria glance at Magic Refrigerator, it seemed she had the same thoughts as I did.

Of course, even Aria must have seen someone using a magic refrigerator for storing clothes for the first time.

"I've heard of something called a wardrobe, but..."

This was the first time seeing it with my own eyes.

That too, in this otherworld.

However, the Emperor's antics did not end there.

Beast Card and Summer Hunt, among other trending things, he reviewed them all at least once, and in the end, what was bound to happen finally happened.

"This is the frozen food that's trending these days, right?"

Frozen chicken, Golden Honey Combo, was placed on the Emperor's plate.

"Frozen chicken, what a fascinating idea."

It seems you don't know why it's trending.

It was always difficult for the Emperor, who usually ate comfortably, to deduce the reason behind the popularity of frozen chicken.

Even the frozen chicken was cooked directly by the chef.

And then 'fork' and 'knife' appeared.

'...Please.'

I hoped it wouldn't be the case, but the Emperor did not disappoint expectations and elegantly sliced the chicken leg like a steak.

Of course, there was no way I would get fired.

"Beer and chicken go well together, they say."

Have you heard that 'chimaek' is trending? Beer also made an appearance without fail.

You poured Guinness beer into a wine glass, swirled it around, savored the aroma, and then drank it.

'...I want to get out quickly.'

If I stayed any longer, I felt like I would unknowingly make a mistake, so I couldn't let my guard down for a moment.

It was a very burdensome situation in a different sense.

However, contrary to my wishes, the Emperor showed interest in the items I brought.

"What is that?"

"It's called an air fryer."

"Air fryer?"

"It is a device that cooks food using hot air instead of fire."

"Are you saying we don't need a fire?"

"Yes, just put the contents inside and wait, and it will be cooked with hot air."

Knowing that the Emperor was interested in the air fryer, I spoke.

"Would you like to see it in action?"

"Let's do that."

"Understood."

With the Emperor's permission, I received the frozen chicken brought by the chef and cooked it in the air fryer.

And after about 10 minutes, the Emperor's eyes lit up upon seeing the freshly cooked chicken.

"Oh, how fascinating."

As expected, it was a good reaction.

Even an Emperor who doesn't cook himself would find the idea of cooking without fire quite novel.

However, I underestimated the "Emperor's reaction."

─Since it's something I use, you all should try using it too.

─This is something I use that came from the White Tower...

─How have you been? Here's a gift from me...

The Emperor, who usually liked to subtly show off his commoner side, didn't miss the opportunity and sent air fryers as gifts to everyone around him, including servants, officials, the Magic Tower, the military, the academy, and noble families.

"...What do you mean by giving it?"

The upper class who received the Emperor's gift had to deeply ponder its meaning.

It was the moment when those who used to leave their food to the chef suddenly had to use the air fryer out of obligation.

***

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