HowDeadTL: SS14 The Crown Prince and His Guard Knights - 'Can the Light of Knowledge Illuminate the Unknown'

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The Duke's Daughter Goes Her Own Way

[The Crown Prince and His Guard Knights - 'Can the Light of Knowledge Illuminate the unknown?']

Translated by: ME

Author's note:

Thanks to everyone's patronage, I have been able to successfully publish the book.

As a promotional activity to commemorate the publication (laughs), I'll be sporadically updating with some extra, side-story type content.

I hope you enjoy it.

And of course, those of you thinking, [Hah? I've got no intention of buying any book!] are also very welcome.

Let's all enjoy this together!

This is an epilogue to the short story that was a bonus for the e-book.

***

[Norman.]

When I called his name, Norman, the head of Ellie's guard knights, replied with a short, [Yes.]

[…Why… are you giving this… to me?]

There was an object on my office desk, one that Norman had just brought in.

Resting on a beautiful, pure white plate—arranged to look the part, probably by the castle chef—were two cookies. The presentation was lovely, garnished with a small amount of fruit, but the presence of the impossibly plain, perfectly square cookie in the center was overwhelming.

More importantly… why were there two of them…?

[It would be inexcusable to the young mistress if only we partook of this honor,] Norman said with a perfectly stern expression…

But for some reason, I could hear a voice that shouldn't be audible.

It said, ['I felt it would be unfair for only us to be burdened with this.']

[It seems there are two…]

[Please, do not concern yourself with that detail.]

Of course I'm going to be concerned!

[…Noel.]

[We have already partaken. Those are for you, Your Highness.]

His reply was too quick.

I glanced at the other guard knight, Stein, standing in the corner of the room. Stein spoke up, [Permission to speak?]

After I granted it, Stein opened his mouth with great gravity.

[The truth is, I have a temporomandibular joint disorder.… I managed last time, and this time as well, but it made eating the next day quite difficult…]

[…I see.]

I genuinely felt a little sorry for him.… Not that it was my fault. But I still felt somehow responsible.

[My apologies.]

As Stein bowed his head, I found myself saying, [No, my apologies.] I probably didn't need to apologize, but a profound sense of guilt got the better of me.

Then, I looked at Norman in front of me. Norman, his stern expression unbroken, said,

[I have already partaken of three.]

Hearing this, I saw Stein, in the corner of the room, mouth the words [Incredible!] without making a sound.

That really was incredible. If he could eat three, surely he could manage two more.

[My quota has been sufficiently met.]

I didn't mind his decisive tone, but using the word 'quota' was a bit much.… Not that I couldn't understand the sentiment—I felt exactly the same way.

[Therefore, please, you must take these, Your Highness. Lady Elizabeth would likely be pleased.]

Right.

These cookies, far too plain for such a beautiful plate, were made by Ellie's own hand.

The other day, she seemed to be doing something in the chemistry lab; this cookie was the substance synthesized there.

And so my 'quota'… is two, it seems.

Earlier, Stein said that 'eating the next day was difficult.' What that implied was that this batch, too, boasted a hardness unbefitting of food.

And…

[I have a question for all three of you.… Does it… actually have any flavor?]

At my words, Stein silently averted his eyes.… An answer more than sufficient.

From Noel behind me, there was no reaction at all. I suppose that meant, [You can figure it out for yourself…]

And as for Norman, he closed his eyes once, let out a sigh that sounded like a deep breath, and slowly opened them.

[I believe… one may possibly sense a faint, vague, barely-there suggestion of a flavor… that might be presumed to be wheat.]

That was an incredibly ambiguous answer.

I wish he wouldn't say such an ambiguous thing with such a stern, straight face. It left me at a loss for how to react.

Honestly, the very act of asking 'does it have any flavor?' instead of 'is it good or bad?' when inquiring about food is strange in itself.

But when it comes to Ellie's cookies, you're forced to ask that very question.

Still, Norman ate three of them? That's some admirable grit.

[It's impressive you managed to eat three of those.]

When I said it, Norman let out another breath.

[I broke them into fine pieces and boiled them in a soup. It became a sort of featureless gruel, but it was better than having no flavor at all.]

Stein was making a face that said, [Why didn't I think of that!]

…Could you please stop with the silent facial performances? I can't help but be distracted by them.

But, I see… Since it's originally made from wheat, boiling it in soup would probably turn it into something like porridge.

And since it's this hard, it would probably keep for a long time.

As Ellie once said, it might genuinely be perfect for military rations…

The only problem is that she's the only one who can make it.

…Well, I won't get anywhere just dawdling forever. I have to deal with the plate in front of me.

[…Let's get this over with.]

A sigh escaped me before I could even speak, but the three people here should understand how I feel.

I picked up one of the unnervingly perfect square cookies from the plate.

Just as I expected, it was far, far lighter than its appearance suggested. And transmitted to my fingertips was a solid, undeniable hardness.

I tried to break it into a bite-sized piece… I held it with both hands and applied force, but of course, it wasn't going to be that easy.

Hey, Ellie… seriously, what did you do to make it like this…?

Thinking that, I applied even more force. With a destructive *CRACK*, the cookie split in two.… Why must I hear a 'destructive crack' from simply breaking a cookie…?

Normally, it should make a light, crisp sound, like a *snap*…

More importantly, that was hard…

While not as bad as the last batch, it possessed a hardness utterly unbefitting of a cookie…

…Do I really have to eat this?… More fundamentally, is this thing even okay to categorize as 'food'…?

With no other choice, I tossed one of the broken pieces into my mouth.

…It has no flavor.

The texture wasn't like the smooth, ceramic-like substance from last time; this one had a grittier, more cookie-like feel. But it's hard. And it has no taste.

While it's closer to a cookie than the last batch, the road to it becoming what I know as a cookie is still very long.

It's progress, but only a single step forward on a very long journey.

…Until this becomes the cookie I know, just how much of this hard, flavorless *thing* will I have to eat…?

According to Norman, this cookie was created by Ellie together with two of the Academy's lecturers: one in chemistry and one in physics.

Couldn't these minds, among the finest in the world, whom our country is so proud of, somehow transform this into the cookie I know?

But according to Norman, [The ingredients and method are exactly those of a standard cookie.]

So how does it end up like this…?

This is already entering the realm of the occult, isn't it?

However, the power of scholarship has always shone a light on various occult phenomena around the world, exposing their true nature for all to see.

I'm sure that one day, this 'thing Ellie insists on calling a cookie' will also become a normal, crisp and soft, sweet, buttery, and delicious confection.

…Or rather, it *has* to, or I'm the one who will suffer…

I clung to that hope, but it would be several decades later that I would learn, through personal experience, that 'such a day would never come.'

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