“It’s almost afternoon.” Rurunez

Rurunez-san muttered around the time I’d gathered plenty of data from the experiments conducted.

“It’s that time already? In that case, let’s end the experiments here today. Everyone has to eat too.” Ryouma

“Very well.” Rurunez

At that, she informed everyone that it was time to end the experiments for the day.

I went to check how the cleanup of the scene was doing, and it was then that I noticed that the madam looked rather sad.

“Are you alright, Madam?” Ryouma

“Ryouma-kun? Oh, it’s nothing. I’m not really troubled or anything.” Elize

When I called out to her, she responded in the same tone as usual.

It didn’t seem like she was trying to hide that she was feeling bad.

Was I mistaken?

“You seemed sad, so I thought you might have been feeling unwell.” Ryouma

“Oh, my. Really? …Thank you. But it’s nothing special. It’s just that the lunch after this is…” Elize

Lunch?

I wasn’t expecting to hear her talk about lunch, so I ended up showing a befuddled look on my face.

The madam laughed and said.

“You know that winter – especially the start of the end of the year- is when the socializing season of the nobles begin, right? During this period there are a lot of parties, ranging from small to big, and there are also plenty of opportunities to have a meal with others. But to be frank, the food at these parties are really bad.” Elize

“…Come to think of it.” Ryouma

I think it was a long while back, though it shouldn’t have been a year just yet, when I held a party to celebrate the opening of my store.

“You said the same thing then. Something about noble cuisine being nothing but something to throw money at and the food doesn’t taste good.” Ryouma

I still remember when they praised my food so much and I thought they normally ate delicious food, only for me to find out that it was the opposite. But then again, the food I’ve been eating since coming to this mansion of theirs has always been delicious. I dare say the food even felt luxurious, but…

“Food meant for parties are different. There are those who eat such food regularly under the idea that such food is the food of a true noble, but I, no, we don’t share that way of thinking. And we eat normal food. The food to be served also varies depending on who the guest is.” Elize

I see. It would probably be better to think of noble cuisine as a completely different kind of food.

“Given the timing that you’re talking about this, I take it that this means that you have to eat this party cuisine this afternoon?” Ryouma