The Daughter of Evil - Volume 4 - Chapter 2.14

chapter 2, section 1-hometown of misgivings; scene 4
Praefacio of Blue, page 62-65

♣ Yukina ~The Country of Marlon, “Freezis Estate/Dining Hall”~

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The seven person banquet between the entire Freezis Family (including myself), Germaine, and Gumillia, was held in a gentle atmosphere from start to finish.

I hadn’t eaten in my home in a long time. Luxurious meals managed by veteran cooks from our time living in Elphegort were lined up on the table.

Thick slices of roast beef, stiff baked potatoes–and the cooking of the vegetable garnished pudding was exquisite too.

It seemed our guests were also quite satisfied with the food. Germaine in particular was chowing down so heartily that it was hard to believe she’d been nauseous earlier.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever eaten it, but this Marlon cooking is just delicious.”

As Germaine expressed her opinion, my father made a sarcastic laugh, shoulders shaking a little and looking somewhat proud.

“I’m glad for the praise, but I think the dinners in our home are a little bit different from proper Marlon cuisine. If pushed, I’d have to say with the seasoning and such that it’s closer to Elphegort cooking.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Indeed. If you’d like to sample real Marlon food, you should try out a nearby bar when you get the chance…Though I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Dad quietly laughed again.

Generally speaking there was a lot of Marlon traditional cooking that was light on the flavor. My parents, both being raised in Marlon, were able to accept that–but I and my brother had lived in Elphegort since we were young, and so it was a little wearisome …to be plain it was extremely unappetizing. I simply couldn’t eat out while I was in Marlon.

After Germaine drank up her sherry, my father advised, “It’s getting late tonight, and Kyle isn’t here. You’re probably tired from your trip. We have some guest rooms prepared, so feel free to rest here. We’ll have a more in depth conversation about things tomorrow.”

“That would be greatly appreciated.” Germaine set her knife and fork on the table. “Today we were attacked by pirates, and then chased by a giant octopus, terrible stuff.”

This time Mom and Dad set their knife and fork down. Or rather, they didn’t set them down so much as dropped them.

“Pirates…and a giant octopus!?”

Germaine continued, oblivious to my parents’ unrest. “It was pretty difficult~ Any more of that and we’d be dead at sea…”

“Yukina…and Shaw…were put in such danger…”

Dad started to tear up again. Mom’s hand was trembling.

I could tell this wasn’t going anywhere good. I quickly cut off the conversation.

“W-well, how about we leave the rest of the story for tomorrow!”

“Y-yeah! Didn’t you say so yourself, Dad? Everyone’s tired!”

With Shaw’s backing, we somehow managed to calm things down.

If I told my parents the events of my journey in full, they were liable to faint.

I would spend a bit of time spacing out the tales of my travels.