Chapter 2104: Date Plan Execution ㊵
Eris-san's chocolate shop certainly has a stylish vibe, and just looking around was enjoyable. Kaori-san also had a spark in her eyes and was happily looking at the products.
What was a bit unexpected was that Olivia-san seemed interested as well, examining the items quite seriously. Since becoming a regular at Kaori-san's shop, her taste buds seem to have become quite sharp, so her interest in food might have grown as well.
[Kaori-san, like I said earlier, don't hold back and buy whatever you like.]
[U- Unn, thank you. But, this place's amazing. For such a small assortment, this price…… it's overwhelming, like a high-end shop that exceeds my expectations. But at the same time, there are many things I wouldn’t usually see, so it's fun.]
[Fumu, Mizuhara Kaori, are the items here considered expensive?]
[Eh? Ah, I see, Olivia-sama might not be very familiar with chocolate. In terms of price, yes, it's geared toward nobles, so it's pricey. But I imagine the quality is really good too……]
For Olivia-san, chocolate itself was something fresh, and she nodded thoughtfully at Kaori-san's words. I had a feeling that since Olivia-san is very serious by nature, she might later buy regular chocolate and compare the tastes.
As I was thinking about that, Eris-san came over holding a beautiful silver tray. On the tray were bite-sized chocolates with skewers for easy eating.
[These are this month's new chocolates. Would you like to try them?]
[Thank you. Do you release new products every month?][Yes, our customers are mostly the wealthy, and they tend to prefer new things. While we do keep a regular menu, we also offer products that change each month. These chocolates are one of them. It has a citrus fruit essence added, giving it a refreshing taste.]
Eris-san feels very smart, so I imagined she must have a well-thought-out sales strategy. As I admired her explanation, I tasted the chocolate, and inside was a jelly with an orange-like flavor. The refreshing taste was wonderful.
[……I see, so it's set with a liquid that has a slight sourness from the fruit juice. This is my first time tasting chocolate like this, but given the sweetness of the contents, the chocolate itself has a more subdued sweetness…… is that correct?]
[Yes, that's right. As expected of Founder-sama, you have sharp taste buds. As you said, we used bitter chocolate for this.]
As Kaori-san mentioned, Olivia-san's sense of taste is quite sharp. She can easily detect the differences in miso soup's miso or guess secret ingredients.
It’s evident that her interest in food has deepened. Right now, she wasn’t just eating the chocolate but seemed to be studying and savoring it seriously. However, I couldn’t quite understand why she kept glancing over my way from time to time……
Kaito's guess was, in some ways, correct, and in some ways, wrong. Indeed, Olivia was seriously savoring the chocolate and considering the ingredients, making various reflections in her mind.
However, that wasn’t because she had a strong interest in food.
(Miyama Kaito-sama seemed to have a pleased expression when eating this chocolate. I can infer that the flavor was to his liking, but it’s still difficult to determine if he prefers chocolates with a more subdued sweetness or if he likes those with fruit juice. It would be ideal to prepare something that suits Miyama Kaito-sama's tastes and invite him to tea like I did before…… Uuu, w- what shameful thoughts, these are…… But, Miyama Kaito-sama did say he would love we have tea again if there was another opportunity, so I think I should prepare such a gathering once more. It would probably be good to pair the chocolate with the right drink as well…… When I return to the Cathedral, I should order some books to study. And then, I can receive Miyama Kaito-sama's prai——— W- What worldly thoughts are these!? Kuh, how shallow have I become, expecting something in return…… Uuu, these worldly thoughts just……)
Yes, Olivia was completely absorbed in thinking about Kaito, and the reason she became interested in chocolate in the first place was because Kaito had mentioned he liked it.
Her small wish was simply to prepare chocolate and enjoy tea with Kaito again. Of course, Kaito would gladly accept an invitation to tea even without chocolate being involved, but perhaps due to her overly serious nature, Olivia found it difficult to take action without some pretext to justify it.
Thus, the current situation was, in a way, an opportunity for her, and she kept glancing at Kaito while thinking about how best to invite him.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Olivia is completely unaware because she believes it's all from her devotion, but the flags have already been set up perfectly, with her brimming with this "I love Kaito" aura.]