After leaving Jutia-san, I paid a visit to Ein-san to discuss the tea party. Of course, I made sure to lead with the promise that if I ended up presenting any new tea leaves at the event, I would give her some as a gift as well.
"I see. I had heard the news from Chrome-sama as well, but as you suspected, Kaito-sama, it would be unthinkable for a maid like myself to attend as a guest... and even more so to sit at the same table as my master, Chrome-sama."
"That makes sense."
"And while you likely anticipated that I would want to participate as part of the waitstaff... setting aside a behind-the-scenes role like I played at your housewarming party, serving at a tea party hosted by the master is a prestigious and honorable duty for a maid. It is the star role. As an outsider, I have no intention of committing the barbarism of stealing the stage where the house's own maids are meant to shine."
Is serving at a tea party considered a dream job in the Maid World? I didn’t quite follow the logic, but since I never understand anything related to maids anyway, I decided it was best to just let it go.
In any case, it seemed Ein-san had no intention of participating as part of the staff either.
"If the Maid Power of the staff at your home were not up to the standard required to serve Chrome-sama, I might have intervened. However, a maid as exceptional as Illness should have no problem whatsoever. Honestly, if her skills were not sufficient, the duty could fall to no one but myself or Shaltier."
"I see... Well, in any case, it looks like you won't be attending, Ein-san."
"Indeed. Rather, I am nothing but grateful for your consideration in offering me the tea leaves. Since this is the first tea party you are hosting, Nebula-sama will surely prepare leaves befitting the occasion, and I am already looking forward to them."
"I haven't actually thought that far ahead yet, so I'll be figuring that out as I go."
Once our exchange regarding the tea party was over, Ein-san mentioned she wasn't in any particular hurry, so we continued chatting.
"Come to think of it, Chrome-sama possessed a mysterious seasoning," she noted.
"Oh, she made that using the Star Powder Generator she received from Tiana-san."
"She seemed to be looking forward to it immensely. For the past few days, she has been taking out new seasonings at fixed times and happily testing them on Baby Castellas."
It looked like she had already begun her quest to explore the possibilities of the Baby Castella... At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if she brought over a batch made with Star Powder in the near future.
That Star Powder really did seem to produce an incredible range of flavors. I had tried using it myself and ended up with a very spicy seasoning. It tasted like it would be delicious on something like curry, and I'd been meaning to try it out, but... I rarely had the opportunity to eat curry.
There were almost no curry shops in the Kingdom of Sinfonia. It seemed they existed in the Hydra Kingdom, so I wanted to visit one eventually, but bringing your own seasoning might be rude. It might be better to just ask Alice to make some for me.
"...Tea from a bouquet?"
"Well, technically it might not have been black tea, but the taste was similar. It uses a technology unique to that otherworld called Atomic Conversion. It looked like it would be difficult to reproduce."
"I should expect nothing less from an otherworld; it sounds like a remarkable item. Speaking of which, regarding otherworld tea, Shaltier previously brewed a tea with a mysterious flavor for me."
"A mysterious flavor?"
"Yes, she called it Dark Tea, or Pu-erh Tea. It was a very deep-colored brew... I imagine the fermentation process was quite different."
"Ah, Pu-erh tea... I've never tried it, but I know the name."
Was it a Chinese tea? I’d only ever had oolong tea myself, but I’d heard there were many varieties, and that must have been one of them.
Judging by Ein-san's reaction, perhaps because it didn't fall into the category of black tea, she viewed it as a curious otherworld novelty rather than something she desperately wanted for herself. Even with the bouquet tea earlier, she seemed intrigued but wasn't exactly begging for a sample. Her intense passion really was reserved for black tea.
"Kaito-sama, to change the subject significantly... if you haven't had lunch yet, would you like to eat here?"
"Are you sure? Then I'll take you up on that offer."
"Would curry be acceptable?"
"Oh, I was actually just thinking... Wait, how did you know?"
"Sensing what another desires is a basic requirement for a maid... Hmmm."
I expected her to follow up with her usual Maid Universal Theory, but for some reason, she trailed off and took on a thoughtful expression.
"...When it is someone I love, I can tell what they want just by looking at their face."
With a mischievous smile and a light wink, she went off to prepare the curry.
Serious-senpai: "...This one has a pretty high Affection Level too..."