A hollow laugh escaped at the end of my sentence. After all, it was amusing to have shouted that I wanted to eat chocolate in such a serious situation. In any case, I had achieved my intended goal, so I didn't care if he misunderstood or was sarcastic.
"You may sit down, Tower Master."
I sat Eon back down as he was about to get up with me.
"I’d like to take my time browsing and choosing. I’d also like to get a recommendation from the staff on which one would suit my taste best."
I hoped that the reason for my sudden excitement would appear to be the anticipation of being able to eat sweet chocolate. Fortunately, Eon did not seem to suspect anything.
"Buying everything you like is also an option."
Eon unfolded a newspaper on one side of the store as if telling me to look around to my heart's content, and added a remark.
“I want hot chocolate.”
"Are you saying you want to have hot chocolate?"
“Yes.”
Eon and hot chocolate. I turned the menu toward Eon so he could see it clearly.
"We also have black tea and herbal tea."
"Since I’ve come all the way to Charles’s store, I should have some hot chocolate."
I had no intention of arguing further since he said so. I walked to the counter to place my order.
Chocolates that looked sweet just by looking at them were on display in the glass showcase. The sweet aroma warmed my heart. However, naturally, the reason I stopped by here was not because of the chocolate.
I looked back at the table where Eon was sitting. I had just taken a seat furthest from the counter, using the excuse that I preferred the window seat. It was also a location where it was hard to expect quiet due to the sounds from outside and customers coming and going. There was no way the sounds from the cashier would reach Eon.
"Are you the owner by any chance?"
At my question, the person stirring the cream inside poked their head out.
“The owner is me.”
"Hello, owner. Thank you so much for making such a delicious dessert. The shop's antique style is also right up my alley."
It was an unexpected greeting, but there was no way to be offended. The owner burst into hearty laughter.
"Haha, thank you. The shop is a bit run-down, isn't it? It's because the building is old."
"Oh my, as expected, it is a shop with history and tradition?"
"It has been passed down through generations, you see. If you call it history, then so be it. Haha."
A look of pride spread across the owner's face.
An old building, a shop passed down through generations. I recalled the image of the real Sally tasting chocolate in little Eon's memories. It was clearly the reaction of someone trying such food for the first time.
"Did your ancestors perhaps introduce chocolate to Baynan for the first time?"
"Oh? You know! That's right. Charles is his name."
"Wow, Grandma, we're right. Then it must have been about a hundred years already?"
I dragged in a grandmother who didn't even exist. It was a question I tossed out casually, but I was so anxious that my mouth went dry. The more I talked to people to find information, the more I realized that Sally was a person from the past much further than I had initially expected.
"Oh, come on, what do you mean a hundred years? It's been over three hundred years."
"Three hundred years?"
"Haha. Our shop is probably the oldest in downtown Baynan. My grandfather rebuilt the building, but the location is exactly the same. Of course, the cooking secrets passed down through generations are also exactly the same."
It was surprising enough that a shop had remained intact for three hundred years, but what surprised me was something else. I clutched my pounding heart and checked the date once again.
"Then, when did your predecessor first make chocolate...?"
"It's about three hundred years old."
Three hundred years. That was before the empire was established. Although my knowledge of Baynan's history was limited, I could tell that this was when it was a principality.
'The timing doesn't work out..."
I shook my head to myself. It was absurd that a past from three hundred years ago was sleeping within the memories of a little kid who looked no older than ten.
I turned my head to look at Eon. Our eyes met, as he happened to be looking this way as well. Seeing his face, which seemed to ask if something was wrong, I raised my hand to signal that it was nothing. It felt that if I delayed any longer, Eon would become suspicious.
I took the hot chocolate and the bar of chocolate said to have been first introduced three hundred years ago and returned to the table. It was the very same thing Sally had eaten in the little boy's memory.
"Here. This is what the Tower Master ordered."
"That..."
Eon looked at what was placed in front of me with interest.
"They say this is the most historic menu here. I was recommended it."
Saying that, I glanced at Eon. If Eon existed in the world of the little boy's memories, he, too, would have lived for three hundred years.
However, his appearance looked like he was in his mid-twenties at best, or late twenties at most
'Even if it’s not eternal life, if it’s possible to delay death with magic.'
Suddenly, preservation magic came to mind. A magic that maintains the people and flowers in the exhibition hall exactly as they were when life first blossomed. However, that was a state no different from being dead. It was distinctly different from being alive without aging.
“Aren’t you eating it?”
Eon suddenly threw out a question.
"Huh? Oh, this one."
I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize the chocolate was melting in my mouth.
"You could say it's bitter compared to things like pralines or truffles, but isn't the slight bitterness actually the charm of a chocolate bar packed with cocoa like this?"
"Is it... charm...?"
Eon frowned as if he could not agree. That expression reminded me of little Eon, who used to force that bitter taste into his mouth and gag. Was that why? I cut off the bottom of the chocolate and handed it to Eon.
"Please give it a try."
Eon, who had been looking back and forth between me and it, put a piece in his mouth as if he had made a big decision.
"How is it?"
"...It's bitter."
Come to think of it, since he was drinking sweet hot chocolate, everything must taste bitter to Eon right now.
"But it’s not bitter enough to make me nauseous. Well, I guess it’s improved a lot."
This was truly... a remark that inevitably reminded me of little Eon once again. Trying hard not to tremble, I asked Eon.
"You are speaking as if it didn't taste good before."
"Right now, anyone would say it's delicious, but..."
Eon leaned over and whispered softly.
"The taste here was quite bad at first."
"If the owner heard this, he would be quite impressed. So, when was the first time?"
"When Uncle Charles first made chocolate?"
The moment I heard those words, it became difficult to maintain my composure any longer. Was the memory I saw from the past, three hundred years ago? Does that mean Eon has been alive from then until now?
"Th-that sounds like the Tower Master was alive when the chocolate was first made."
I was so flustered that I even stammered. Eon, who had been gazing at me intently, soon burst into laughter.
"Ahahaha, do you realize you're making an incredibly funny face right now?"
It was a rare burst of laughter for him.
"You look as if you’ve discovered a secret you can’t handle. Please put your hand down; you’re going to ruin your pretty fingernails if you keep doing that."
I put down the thumb I had been unconsciously biting. Eon was laughing so hard that everyone around us looked at us.
“Stop it.”
"Haha, I'm just kidding. It probably didn't taste good at first. That's the gist of it."
"You mean it was a lie?"
In an instant, my face felt hot, and I felt a fever rise.
"I didn't expect Miss Selinia to be this serious."
“Really?”
Aside from my rising fever, I couldn't fully trust what Eon said. Even if what he had said just moments ago was a joke, those actions, exactly like those of little Eon, were something that couldn't be intentionally mimicked.
I placed my hand on top of Eon's hand resting on the table. Only then did the smile vanish from his face. Meeting him straight in the eye, I asked once again.
"Tell me. Is it a lie that you tasted the first chocolate made by the late Charles?"
I was so desperate that I didn't even realize this forceful tone would offend Eon.
"Are you giving me an order?"
Since things had come to this, I couldn't back down. Besides, this wasn't a magic tower. There were easily dozens of onlookers. In a place like this, even Eon wouldn't be able to do anything to me right away.
"That's right. It's an order. So hurry up and answer me, Tower Master."
Eon's eyes wavered. I expected a red light filled with rage to rise soon, but instead, a sea-like blue shimmered in his eyes.
"That's right. You're correct."
I felt like I was frozen, holding his hand. Unable to say a word, I urged him to speak next with my eyes.
"But if you don't want to see our names in the headlines of tomorrow's morning newspaper, why don't we talk about this at the magic tower? Or at least in the carriage on the way back."
Only then did I realize that people's eyes were still on us. I quietly brought my hand back to its place.
"Okay. But you must keep your promise."
I gripped the remaining chocolate tightly and snapped it in half. Then, shoving one half into Eon's mouth, I stood up from my seat.
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