A Feast of Canola

"It's so nice and cool outside! The view is gorgeous too. I never would have seen any of this cooped up in the castle!"

Princess Yupe undid her hair and let the blowing breeze wash over her entire body.

Her long red hair, a hallmark of royalty, streamed in the wind.

Azu and Elza were cooling their flushed bodies in the breeze as well.

The sight of the three of them combined with the yellow of the canola fields was a scene beautiful enough to preserve in a painting.

"Bwah!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry."

"It's fine."

Princess Yupe's hair had blown right into Azu's face.

What was she doing?

"Sightseeing is all well and good, but we are technically here on official business. Queen Tianis sent us."

"I know, I know. Can't a girl have a little fun? Do you two always put up with this kind of nagging?"

"He lets us do pretty much what we want. That's just him being a worrywart."

"I actually like it, though… Knowing he's always looking out for us."

Three women gathered together and the chatter never stops… how did that saying go?

Perhaps because Princess Yupe was even more talkative and freewheeling than Finn or Alexia, keeping things under control was turning out to be quite the challenge.

"It would be perfect if the flowers smelled nice too… but that's the one thing that doesn't work out."

"Ah, yeah. There's a kind of weird smell."

Azu and Princess Yupe leaned in close to the canola blossoms.

Following suit and taking a sniff confirmed it: a distinctly peculiar aroma.

"Ha ha ha. The scent of canola can be off-putting if you're not used to it. But it disappears once you cook it, and strangely enough, the flower nectar doesn't carry the smell at all."

"Huh. Oh, is that why you heated the seeds in the pot before pressing? The oil didn't smell bad at all."

"Well, there are various reasons. But I'm afraid those are trade secrets."

"Aw, too bad."

"By way of apology, please accept this."

The representative produced a new bottle.

Its contents were darker than the rapeseed oil and much more viscous.

When he uncorked it, the trapped fragrance wafted out.

It was like a more concentrated version of the rapeseed oil's subtle sweetness…

Ah. He knew what this was.

"Could that be honey?"

"Right you are. We've set up an apiary using beehives. The bees handle pollination efficiently without us having to do a thing."

"I got it! Did you know what it was, Yohane?"

"Well, I do run a shop. We carry canola honey in the store, so I recognized it immediately. But the color on this one is better than what we stock."

"Darn. I thought I was the first to figure it out."

She pouted, but her eyes stayed fixed on the honey.

Women loved sweets. Princess Yupe was no exception.

"The color is likely this good because the canola itself is so healthy. Please, taste it for yourselves."

Wooden spoons were passed around.

Apparently the idea was to dip them straight into the bottle.

"I'll go first, if no one minds."

"Please, go ahead."

"Well then, don't mind if I do."

Had she ever shown restraint? The thought crossed his mind, but he kept it to himself.

That much social awareness he had.

Princess Yupe dipped her spoon into the bottle, and it sank slowly into the honey.

"The honey I know is much runnier. This is completely different."

She pulled the spoon out, and a thick glob clung to it like taffy.

Cupping her free hand beneath it to catch any drips, she brought it to her mouth.

The taste was… obvious just from her expression.

Her eyes had gone slightly vacant.

"Here, you all have some too. I'll take whatever's left."

"Then I'll have some."

She'd clearly been interested.

Azu slid her spoon in, scooped out a dollop, and popped it into her mouth.

"It's sweet! It's really sweet, Master! Elza-san, you too!"

"All right, all right."

The honey was thick.

Between that and the small bottle, there wasn't much left.

He and Elza exchanged a wry smile and split the remainder between them.

… Sweet. A perfect sweetness.

Any sweeter and it would have been too much. The balance was exquisite.

The aroma that bloomed in his mouth was wonderful too. Better than any honey he'd ever tasted.

Top-grade, without a doubt.

"Is there any honey among the processed goods Luido ships to the capital?"

"Yes, during spring and summer. Thankfully it's become popular enough that we're booked out for quite a while."

"I can see why it would sell. You could turn a profit on honey alone."

"What!? I was going to buy some when we got back to the capital. There's none left even for souvenirs?"

"Not to worry. I've kept enough aside for a young lady who enjoys it as much as you clearly do. We don't ship everything."

"Yay! Thank you, sir."

She was positively beaming now that honey had been secured.

"Are you sure? This honey would fetch a high price."

"It's fine. We keep the price reasonable, and honey is just a byproduct, after all."

If the canola fields tripled in size, the honey yield would triple too.

Even at a "reasonable" price, a single jar had to go for at least one silver coin. Maybe two.

They could build a honey mansion at that rate.

It stung that the distribution was locked into an exclusive deal with that trading company.

He wanted to sell this honey too. It would be a guaranteed moneymaker.

"How long do the canola fields last?"

"Harvesting has already started. We begin in earnest tomorrow."

"I'd like to try helping out. Would that be all right?"

She looked up at me with pleading, puppy-dog eyes.

Tame by Princess Yupe's usual standards, though.

"There's no danger, and if the representative is fine with it, I don't see a problem. But pretty as canola is, harvesting it is pretty tough work, fair warning."

"Perfect exercise. So, Representative, may I pitch in?"

"Of course, of course! Extra hands are always welcome. You've worked up a sweat in the pressing facility today though, so how about tomorrow?"

"Sure!"

"Then why don't we head back to my house for lunch? My treat."

Refusing a meal after all this hospitality would have been rude.

And he was curious about the local food. They'd take him up on it.

The alternative was just hard bread stuffed with bacon and cheese anyway.

"Thank you. We'd love to."

"Please. We've got more food here than we know what to do with."

The representative laughed heartily as he led them back to his house.

"I'm excited! Think we'll get to eat those canola buds he mentioned?"

"Might be."

"It's all gone…"

"Azu-chan, I know you liked it, but that spoon has no flavor left on it."

Elza was gently reasoning with Azu.

Maybe he should stock honey at home.

Back at the representative's house, a housekeeper had already prepared a meal and was waiting for them.

The menu was canola everything.

Stems and leaves stir-fried in oil. Buds prepared as an ohitashi side dish.

There was even a pasta tossed with canola.

And that wasn't all.

The star of the show was deep-fried canola fritters.

A pot full of oil sizzled and crackled as batch after batch emerged golden and crisp.

A lavish use of oil. The kind of thing only a place that produced it could get away with.

"I figured young folks would want some meat, so we've slaughtered a few chickens as well. They're old hens that stopped laying, but deep-fried, they're delicious."

"Deep-frying in this much oil must make them incredible… The best we can usually manage is shallow frying."

A mountain of fried chicken landed on the table with a thud.

This was the bounty of Luido.

"Just eating this feels like it'd make you healthier. I'm usually not big on vegetables, but…"

Princess Yupe plucked a canola fritter and popped it in her mouth.

Terrible table manners. The crispy crunch was impossibly appetizing.

"I could learn to like them."