74 – Ice Cream at the Limelight
“Ice cream, what kind of dessert is that?”
As expected of a girl, when Carter mentioned ice cream, Lvera immediately took notice, asking: “Is it made of ice?”
Carter signaled the servingmen to go to the kitchen and bring back the ice cream before giving an explanation to everyone: “Ice cream is a very delicious, cold delight. It is the kitchen"s specialty product prepared according to a unique recipe to relieve the summer heat and is an exceptional dessert. Master was the one to come up with this exceptional idea.”
“It sounds like some kind of cold cheese.” Madam Penélope was a bit aversed. “I don"t like cheese, it will make me nauseous for the entire afternoon.”
Levis shrugged his shoulders: “I also don"t like cheese, perhaps you can give me a gla.s.s of cold juice.”
“Ice cream is not cheese. Have a taste of it first. I believe that you will be charmed by ice cream, this enticing delicacy.” Said Liszt indifferently.
“You also study fine food?” Madam Marie asked with a smile, “A dessert personally made by an aristocrat, this I have to try.”
The count was originally just eating the roasted meat on his plate.
But when he heard Madam Marie"s words, his expression immediately became a bit gloomy and he said in a solemn tone: “Liszt, you have grown up and have been enfeoffed, the things that you should do consist of the development of the Flower Town and the acquisition on the glory of knights. Do not put your focus on food, that would be a breach of the aristocratic etiquette! The kitchen is a place for servants!”
The aristocrats would never enter the kitchen as that was where the lower cla.s.s stayed.
Liszt took a sip of the cold beer, not paying attention to the count"s scolding: “Sir Father, ice cream was just an idea of mine, and Mrs. Abby was the one who made it based on my idea. Besides, as an aristocrat, I just need to taste it and make suggestions accordingly.”
Next, he gave Madam Marie a smile: “In a moment, if you like it, then you can praise Mrs. Abby. She is a diligent cook.”
“With pleasure.” Smiled Madam Marie.
Following which, she lowered her head and proceeded to cut the seafood on her plate. The smile had quickly faded away.
In just a few sentences" time, the servingmen brought cups of colored ice cream atop plates, went behind each aristocrat in succession, and put the ice cream on the table.
The cups were of precious crystal. Crystal was an ore often produced along with dragons" gems. Crystal of some quality had magic power and could be made into lamps, crystal lacking in quality had no magic power and would often be made into a variety of crystal vessels. It was the symbol of status, power, and wealth of aristocracy.
There were twenty crystal goblets in the castle.
They were originally used in the banquet to hold red wine and now were being used to hold ice cream.
“Oh, so this is ice cream? It looks quite good and has quite the fragrant aroma.” Lvera picked up the cup of ice cream and carefully scrutinized it. There were three b.a.l.l.s in the cup.
One pink, one light yellow, and one light green.
There were also two small, purple wild fruits on the top.
She then looked at cup beside Levis. It also had three b.a.l.l.s, but the colors were different. They were light yellow, pink, and dark brown.
On the whole, there were only four colors: pink, light yellow, light green, and dark brown.
It was just that the arrangement of colors was different for each person"s cup.
Carter said elegantly: “Sirs, Madams, Young Masters, and Young Lady, there are four different kinds of flavor of ice cream. The pink b.a.l.l.s are strawberry-flavored, the light yellow b.a.l.l.s are bananflavored, the light green b.a.l.l.s are matchflavored, the dark brown b.a.l.l.s are chocolate-flavored. Different ice cream can be selected according to your preferences.”
“It"s very cold.” Captain Mickey picked up a cup carelessly and asked in curiosity, “Liszt, is it made of ice? If I remember correctly, there is no ice house in the Flower Town. Forgive my curiosity, but I don"t understand how this ice cream can be made.”
“There is indeed no ice house in the Flower Town, but that doesn"t mean that there is no ice.” Liszt looked at everyone"s inquisitive eyes. He didn"t conceal this from them, “I found a very small saltpeter mine in my fief. I remember reading in a knight novel that saltpeter could be used to make ice. Thus, the Flower Town has ice.”
“Saltpeter? Ice making?” The count looked at the increasingly unfamiliar Liszt and couldn"t help but ask, “Is this a method of wizards?”
“Wizards can make ice directly, but saltpeter-made ice is… a natural phenomenon. When dissolved in water, saltpeter can absorb heat, it turn, turning water into ice.”
“Can I see this magical saltpeter?”
“Of course you can, but unfortunately not today, it has been used up. The requirement for saltpeter is too great to turn just a bit of water into ice. The flower Town only has an extremely small saltpeter mine and all of it has been collected. No more than two buckets of ice can be made a day.”
Captain Mickey sighed: “That"s a pity.”
Lvera said straightforwardly: “Liszt, sell me a bucket worth of saltpeter!”
“Lvera, try the ice cream, see whether you like it.” Liszt stiffly changed the topic. This sister of his got too used to taking away his toys since little, so she was desirous of anything good that was of his.
Lvera took a look at Liszt.
This younger brother of hers. whom she bullied since little, had already grown to ignore her.
“Even if only two buckets of ice a day can be made, that is still quite terrific. The Tulip Castle cannot open the ice house everyday to take out ice. In summer, ice is more precious than gold coins.” Madam Marie turned to look at the count, “Dear, saltpeter may be worth investing. As you know, there are always a lot of aristocrats eyeing our ice house in the summer.”
The count scooped out an ice cream ball with a spoon and said without lifting his head: “Saltpeter is admittedly magical, but two buckets of ice a day are only enough for Liszt"s personal use. It is of little worth.”
Once he said that, he tried the chocolate-flavored ice cream. His eyes suddenly lit up: “It has a very unique taste.”
Levis gave his input: “It really is quite delicious. It is called ice cream? I like the strawberry-flavored one. Compared to the cold cheese, it has a rich flavor of milk, is not as sweet, and is softer. It melts in the mouth.”
“I prefer the matchflavored one.” Lvera had already eaten the light green matchflavored ice cream ball.
“It"s a good dessert, especially in the summer after a banquet.” Commented Captain Mickey.
The delicious ice cream conquered the taste buds of almost everyone present in a flash.
Only one person at the table shook their head; it was Madam Penélope: “Oh, I"m very sorry, but it doesn"t agree with me. It isn"t anything like food. Mr. Carter, bring me a gla.s.s of rock candy drink instead.”
“Grandmother, you don"t like it? I like it though. Mr. Carter, give me another cup of ice cream. I want the chocolate- and bananflavored ice cream.” Lytton had already finished his cup of ice cream.
……
Ice cream was just a dessert.
Liszt ‘invented" it just so that he could use it to relieve the heat of the summer. He could not drink beer all day long, but the same was not true for ice cream.
Anyway, at today"s banquet, the ice cream was at the limelight.
Apart from Madam Penélope and the not so keen about it Captain Mickey and the count, the rest had their taste buds subdued by ice cream.
The four large portions of ice cream Mrs. Abby made were eaten clean.
At last, the lunch banquet had ended with the delicious ice cream.
Carter straightened his back and lifted his chin as he busied himself directing the servants to clean up the mess; his nervousness was completely relieved. When he met the a.s.sistant butler, Silva, he said with a very bright smile: “Mr. Silva, Sir Cont be thanked for bringing food. The sirs and dames quite enjoyed the lunch banquet.”