“You told us it will be a dish made with fish, but all I see is rice wrapped with dried lettuce leaves.” Alvina commented, not able to see fish meat anywhere.
“Oh, the fish is inside the rice,” said Narias.
“Wow, really? So cool,” Flavia’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I had never thought of preparing food like that. That’s an awesome idea, partner.”
“Thanks. Well then, the rice balls on this plate contain raw fish and the plate that Jonathan brought in has fried fish in them,” Narias explained.
“Raw… fish?” Alvina covered her mouth with one hand, becoming confused.
The others had equally puzzled expressions on their faces as well.
“But… eating raw fish…” Emilia’s worries weren’t unfounded.
Narias understood it. Raw fish wasn’t something people would eat in this world, except for some beast humans, but even then, it was considered a low-quality food. After all, raw or poorly cooked food was something only poor people would eat.
“Yes, I understand your concerns. That’s why we’ve prepared the Moonfin Tuna Rice Balls with fried fish too.” Narias was more or less expecting the kind of reaction he got from everyone.
“Moonfin Tuna Rice Balls?” Ileena repeated the name of the dish as a question.
“Yes. It is made with the Moonfin Tuna. It is in season right now. As you know, the Moonfin Tuna is mostly active at night and we had a Full Moon phase only a few days ago, so there is plenty for sale in Marnas right now. I made sure to buy some really fresh Moonfin Tuna meat at the market. As the name suggests, the Moonfin Tuna Rice Balls are made by putting the fish meat inside the rice which then is rolled into a ball and wrapped with a seawe- ah, sorry, it is wrapped with a dried lettuce leaf. The rice needs to be cooked and cooled off before you add the fish inside of it, of course.” Narias explained how the dish was made, almost blurting something unnecessary again.
“I see. That is certainly a creative way to prepare a dish.” Alvina smiled, clapping her hands. “But what inspired you to make such a dish for us today, honey?”
“Well… when we were out with Layla today, we visited the Fish Ponds Park and… it made me remember the times when Layla and I would go to the city when I was little. At the time, Layla wanted to go feed the fish and… I was too grumpy and didn’t want to, so we wouldn’t go. When we were feeding the fish together today, I realized she really liked it and then… I remembered that fish dishes were her favorite too, so I… wanted to do something for her… as an apology and well…” the more Narias spoke, the more embarrassed he became until the redness on his face took over and it made Narias want to go hide somewhere.
“Aaah… that is so adorable,” Alvina’s eyes sparkled from tears gathering in them.
“Narias…” Layla touched her chest with one hand, overtaken by the emotions after hearing what Narias had just said.
“Aaa… so, anyway. Why don’t we… eat?” Narias suggested, feeling the pressure from all the stares.
“Ahm… ohm… nhaam… very… mhm… crunchy… on the outside…” Flavia instantly shoved one of the rice balls into her mouth from the plate that Jonathan served.
“Flavia…” Ileena shook her head.
“Wha… ahm… gulp… He said we can eat,” Flavia shrugged. “Hey, this tastes so good. I’ll take another one.”
“I’ll try one too,” Emilia reached for one as well, from Jonathan’s serving too.
Soon, almost everyone had a bite of the new food which Narias called Moonfin Tune Rice Balls, but Flavia called it Soo-Shee.
“Oh, my… Such an unusual taste. The lettuce leaf on the outside is crunchy, but the rice is so soft and creamy, and when I bite on the fried fish inside of it, which has a solid, dry texture, it makes such a wonderful balance.” Narias’s mom was definitely enjoying it.
“And thanks to the lettuce leaf around it, we can simply pick the rice balls with our hands too,” Ileena commented after picking up another rice ball.
“For sure. This would be a nice snack on the road,” Narias’s dad picked up two this time after he ate the first one.
“Mind your manners, dear.” Alvina reprimanded him, yet she reached for another rice ball from the same plate.
“What? They’re good,” Lorenard gave her a puzzled stare, making her chuckle.
As much as everyone enjoyed the new dish, the plate with the rice balls that had raw fish in it was basically untouched.
Of course. I’m not surprised. Raw fish is not something people would eat here. Oh well, more for me to enjoy. Narias thought in his head before reaching for the rice ball which had raw fish in it.
Just when he was about to take one, another hand almost touched his when Layla reached for a rice ball on the same plate. Narias raised his eyes to look at Layla who simply smiled at him. Narias smiled back without saying anything and proceeded to put a small rice ball into his mouth, with Layla doing the same. To everyone’s biggest surprise, Layla had a much more impactful reaction when she chewed on it.
“Mhmm… oh, aaahm…” Layla touched her cheek with one hand, savouring the unusual taste.
“Is something wrong, Layla?” Alvina and the others were curious to know.
“Oh, no. Not at all. Quite the contrary. The taste of the rice ball with the raw Moonfin Tuna in it is so delightful, I can’t even describe it. It has… such a soft and captivating taste that it tempts me to want to have more of it.” Layla’s explanation forced everyone to stop chew on their own rolls and turn to face her.
“Are you… talking about the raw fish, Layla?” Alvina asked, clearly taken aback by how descriptive Layla was.
“Yes. I know raw fish is not something people would normally eat, but it was Narias who prepared it, so I had to try it. However, I can’t believe what an enticing taste it has. The soft saltiness of the Moonfin Tuna bursts and overtakes the creamy sweetness of the rice. My mouth becomes watery with every additional chew which is absorbed by the crunchy lettuce leaf. I had never tasted anything so delicious.” Even if Layla hadn’t said anything, her sparkling face would’ve told how she felt about the taste. Needless to say, everyone forced themselves to swallow the rice balls they still had in their mouths and pick up one each from the plate with the raw fish in them.
“But are you sure about this, my love?” Lorenard wanted to stop his wife from eating raw fish for some reason.
“It’s ok. It’s only a small bite. Besides, it’s our son who prepared it,” Alvina responded before putting the rice roll into her mouth.
“Wooow!” And then emotions exploded from everyone at the same time.
“Is… is this really raw fish I am eating?” Emilia had both of her hands on her cheeks.
“No way…” Flavia exclaimed, lifting her head up, clapping both of her hands in front of her and holding them there. “How is this so good?”
“It definitely… ahmm… has a very… delicate taste…” Ileena was chewing slowly, trying to soak in the unusual taste.
“This can’t be right… ahm… nham… This has raw fish in it, right?” Lorenard couldn’t believe how much he enjoyed it himself.
“I… aah… such a lovely taste…” was all Alvina could say. Narias’s mom took a moment to enjoy the aftertaste even after she swallowed the food. “I can’t believe I just tasted a dish with raw fish in it. Do you mind telling us how you prepared it, Jonathan?”
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Talrone, but the rice balls with the raw fish were prepared by the Young Master. I prepared the ones with the fried fish in them,” Jonathan answered with a light bow.
“Ah, yes. I see…” Alvina giggled as if only now noticing that the rice balls on Jonathan’s serving were almost identical in size and shape while on Narias’s side… well, let’s just say Narias could use some additional practice making them. “Do you mind telling us how you prepared the dish to have such an unusually savory taste?”
“Of course, but how about you try one more rice ball with this sauce first?” Narias opened a bowl with a dark brown sauce in it.
“What is this sauce?” Ileena asked, being curious.
“Who cares? I’m going for it,” Flavia was the first one to dip the next rice ball with the raw fish in it into the bowl, then shoved it into her mouth. “Wooow! This is… mhmm… Mm… I want… more…” Flavia grabbed another roll before she even swallowed the one she had in her mouth.
“Hey, leave some for us too, Flavia.” Emilia reached for a rice ball herself before dipping it into the sauce. Her face was dressed in a sparkling frost from the delicious sensation of wondrous taste right after.
Everyone else followed Flavia’s and Emilia’s lead and were similarly blessed with the remarkable punch to their taste buds, experiencing phenomenal burst of mixed aftertaste from the Moonfin Tuna Rice Ball dipped into the mysterious brown sauce. Jonathan, the cook, wasn’t left behind as well. Narias invited him to have a taste too.
“This is… an absolutely unimaginable taste. What is this sauce and how did you make it?” Narias’s mom just had to know.
“The sauce was made by Jonathan, actually. I wouldn’t be able to make it,” Narias confessed.
“The Young Master gave me instructions on how the sauce would have to taste. To tell you the truth, it was a real challenge to make it, but Mr. Narias told me that the end result was to his satisfaction. I believe he wanted to call it… the Soiee Sauce.” Jonathan explained, feeling unsure if that was the correct way of saying it.
Aah… I guess that’s close enough. They don’t have Soy beans here anyway. Narias decided not to correct him.
“Soo-Shee with the Soiee Sauce. Hah, that sounds totally neat.” Flavia cheered before putting another rice ball with the raw fish inside her mouth. She dipped it inside the Soiee Sauce first, of course.
“So extravagant,” Alvina was about to do the same when Lorenard stopped her.
“Maybe… that’s enough?” Alvina’s husband touched her hand.
“What are you saying, dear? It’s only my fourth one,” Narias’s mom pouted her lips, feeling upset she couldn’t have any more.
“Ah, there’s still more left in the kitchen if you want,” Narias told them, seeing the plate with the raw fish becoming empty.
“That’s not it, son. You see, your mom is…” Lorenard threw one of his hands behind his head, his face catching some red.
“What do you mean, dad? Wait, don’t tell me you’re sick, mom?” Narias became really worried all of a sudden.
“Ah, no, not exactly.” His mom rested her hands in front of her dress, smiling warmly. “You see, dear, I am… expecting…”
“Wha…” Narias eyes became big and wide. “You… you’re pregnant?”
“Mhm…” Alvina nodded, covering her mouth with one hand with a chuckle.
“Whaaaa…” the other girls gasped, overcome by the biggest astonishment yet. Except Layla of course, because she knew Alvina was pregnant.
“Really? Wow… So… so, that means I will have a sister?” Narias asked, his body becoming overly excited, but he tried to contain it.
“Well, we don’t know that until the baby is born, but it is a possibility.” Alvina laughed after hearing Narias’s question.
“Oh, right. Hah…” Narias laughed awkwardly, not understanding why he assumed the baby will be a girl.
“Don’t you have enough girlfriends already, son?” Lorenard couldn’t miss an opportunity to tease his son.
“Daaad…” Narias frowned at him, not feeling amused by his dad’s bad joke.
“Oh dear…” that just made Alvina laugh again.
“Anyway, how… when… when did you find out?” Narias turned to his mom again.
“If our assumptions are correct, I’m about three months pregnant now.” She told him.
“Amazing. Congratulations, I’m so happy for you,” Narias went to give his mom a hug.
“Aaa… thank you, dear.” She embraced him with her own hug.
“Hah… I told you he’ll be happy to hear it.” Lorenard commented with the biggest grin on his face yet.
“Humph… took you long enough, daaad.” Narias threw a sarcastic stare at his dad.
“H… hey…” his dad frowned at him, making Alvina laugh again.
“Say, honey,” Alvina addressed her son. “I am still curious about one thing. Can you tell us how you came up with the idea to make such an unusual dish, and with the raw fish at that?”
“Well, aaa…” Narias scratched his cheek with one finger, thinking how to answer her. He was still standing right in front of his mom since he was hugging her just a moment ago. “I mean… I wanted to make it with the fried fish at first, but… I knew the fish becomes either dry or oily after you fry it, so… I thought I would do an experiment and see how it tastes. After all, it’s not like you can’t eat raw fish… in small amounts. The Moonfin Tuna’s meat has good amount of fat in it and is not smelly at all compared to other fish. I had a taste of it before preparing it and I liked how it tasted being raw. The only thing I added was some salt and let the meat rest for a good hour or so while I waited for the rice to cook and cool off. I wanted to wrap the rice balls in dried lettuce leaves, so we could eat it with our hands. If we were to use knife and fork, the rice balls would fall apart and that would make it taste different.”
“So, that’s how you did it,” Lorenard commented, holding his chin up.
“The Young Master’s creativity of making the Soo-Shee dish really astounded me. I had never seen, or tasted, such ingenuous dish. Not to mention, it was made with the raw fish, an ingredient which was always frowned upon by most cooks. I must say, this experience had opened my eyes to new possibilities of how one can take the most common ingredients and make an outstanding dish out of them. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Mr. Narias.” Jonathan bowed his head, feeling grateful he had a chance to learn how to create a new dish.
“Ah, it was nothing…” his gesture made Narias feel embarrassed.
“Hah, that’s Narias for you. He always comes up with all kinds of crazy ideas, don’t you, partner?” Flavia jumped on him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“F… Flavia!” Narias didn’t expect for that to happen, not that he was against her doing so.
“That’s not fair, Flavia. Ahem… thank you… for preparing Soo-Shee dish for us, Narias.” Ileena came closer and hugged his arm from the side.
“Yes… it was… absolutely lovely… the Soo-Shee dish you’ve made, that is.” Emilia came over and did the same from the other side.
“My, my…” Alvina touched her cheek with one hand, tilting her head to the side before throwing a glance at Layla.
Layla understood Alvina’s hint and, after coming closer, kissed Narias on the lips, leaning slightly forward which she didn’t actually need to do. There could’ve been many reasons why she did it, of course, but one of them could’ve been, because the dress she was wearing had a nice open decollete at the front. If Narias face was red before, then now it was burning red.
“Thank you, Narias.” Layla thanked him, his eyes still stuck on her open decollete.
“H… hey!” Ileena, Flavia and Emilia exclaimed all at once in protest, then instantly leaned to give Narias a kiss at wherever their lips landed on his face.
H… HEEEY! Narias felt like burning to crisps from embarrassment since his parents were seeing it all happen.
“My son… sob… I’m so proud of you… sob…” Lorenard had his arm cover his eyes, sobbing loudly again.
Niuniax
━━━━━━━━━
Thank you for reading. Leave a comment and favorite the chapter if you enjoyed it. Apologies in advance if you find a weird sounding phrase or a grammar error. These are draft chapters after all.
Read 10+ extra chapters on my Patreon (including the artwork not available anywhere else) – Extra Chapters on Patreon
━━━━━━━━━
Extra thanks to nonomo4 and Lynderyn for extra support and help.
“You told us it will be a dish made with fish, but all I see is rice wrapped with dried lettuce leaves.” Alvina commented, not able to see fish meat anywhere.
“Oh, the fish is inside the rice,” said Narias.
“Wow, really? So cool,” Flavia’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I had never thought of preparing food like that. That’s an awesome idea, partner.”
“Thanks. Well then, the rice balls on this plate contain raw fish and the plate that Jonathan brought in has fried fish in them,” Narias explained.
“Raw… fish?” Alvina covered her mouth with one hand, becoming confused.
The others had equally puzzled expressions on their faces as well.
“But… eating raw fish…” Emilia’s worries weren’t unfounded.
Narias understood it. Raw fish wasn’t something people would eat in this world, except for some beast humans, but even then, it was considered a low-quality food. After all, raw or poorly cooked food was something only poor people would eat.
“Yes, I understand your concerns. That’s why we’ve prepared the Moonfin Tuna Rice Balls with fried fish too.” Narias was more or less expecting the kind of reaction he got from everyone.
“Moonfin Tuna Rice Balls?” Ileena repeated the name of the dish as a question.
“Yes. It is made with the Moonfin Tuna. It is in season right now. As you know, the Moonfin Tuna is mostly active at night and we had a Full Moon phase only a few days ago, so there is plenty for sale in Marnas right now. I made sure to buy some really fresh Moonfin Tuna meat at the market. As the name suggests, the Moonfin Tuna Rice Balls are made by putting the fish meat inside the rice which then is rolled into a ball and wrapped with a seawe- ah, sorry, it is wrapped with a dried lettuce leaf. The rice needs to be cooked and cooled off before you add the fish inside of it, of course.” Narias explained how the dish was made, almost blurting something unnecessary again.
“I see. That is certainly a creative way to prepare a dish.” Alvina smiled, clapping her hands. “But what inspired you to make such a dish for us today, honey?”
“Well… when we were out with Layla today, we visited the Fish Ponds Park and… it made me remember the times when Layla and I would go to the city when I was little. At the time, Layla wanted to go feed the fish and… I was too grumpy and didn’t want to, so we wouldn’t go. When we were feeding the fish together today, I realized she really liked it and then… I remembered that fish dishes were her favorite too, so I… wanted to do something for her… as an apology and well…” the more Narias spoke, the more embarrassed he became until the redness on his face took over and it made Narias want to go hide somewhere.
“Aaah… that is so adorable,” Alvina’s eyes sparkled from tears gathering in them.
“Narias…” Layla touched her chest with one hand, overtaken by the emotions after hearing what Narias had just said.
“Aaa… so, anyway. Why don’t we… eat?” Narias suggested, feeling the pressure from all the stares.
“Ahm… ohm… nhaam… very… mhm… crunchy… on the outside…” Flavia instantly shoved one of the rice balls into her mouth from the plate that Jonathan served.
“Flavia…” Ileena shook her head.
“Wha… ahm… gulp… He said we can eat,” Flavia shrugged. “Hey, this tastes so good. I’ll take another one.”
“I’ll try one too,” Emilia reached for one as well, from Jonathan’s serving too.
Soon, almost everyone had a bite of the new food which Narias called Moonfin Tune Rice Balls, but Flavia called it Soo-Shee.
“Oh, my… Such an unusual taste. The lettuce leaf on the outside is crunchy, but the rice is so soft and creamy, and when I bite on the fried fish inside of it, which has a solid, dry texture, it makes such a wonderful balance.” Narias’s mom was definitely enjoying it.
“And thanks to the lettuce leaf around it, we can simply pick the rice balls with our hands too,” Ileena commented after picking up another rice ball.
“For sure. This would be a nice snack on the road,” Narias’s dad picked up two this time after he ate the first one.
“Mind your manners, dear.” Alvina reprimanded him, yet she reached for another rice ball from the same plate.
“What? They’re good,” Lorenard gave her a puzzled stare, making her chuckle.
As much as everyone enjoyed the new dish, the plate with the rice balls that had raw fish in it was basically untouched.
Of course. I’m not surprised. Raw fish is not something people would eat here. Oh well, more for me to enjoy. Narias thought in his head before reaching for the rice ball which had raw fish in it.
Just when he was about to take one, another hand almost touched his when Layla reached for a rice ball on the same plate. Narias raised his eyes to look at Layla who simply smiled at him. Narias smiled back without saying anything and proceeded to put a small rice ball into his mouth, with Layla doing the same. To everyone’s biggest surprise, Layla had a much more impactful reaction when she chewed on it.
“Mhmm… oh, aaahm…” Layla touched her cheek with one hand, savouring the unusual taste.
“Is something wrong, Layla?” Alvina and the others were curious to know.
“Oh, no. Not at all. Quite the contrary. The taste of the rice ball with the raw Moonfin Tuna in it is so delightful, I can’t even describe it. It has… such a soft and captivating taste that it tempts me to want to have more of it.” Layla’s explanation forced everyone to stop chew on their own rolls and turn to face her.
“Are you… talking about the raw fish, Layla?” Alvina asked, clearly taken aback by how descriptive Layla was.
“Yes. I know raw fish is not something people would normally eat, but it was Narias who prepared it, so I had to try it. However, I can’t believe what an enticing taste it has. The soft saltiness of the Moonfin Tuna bursts and overtakes the creamy sweetness of the rice. My mouth becomes watery with every additional chew which is absorbed by the crunchy lettuce leaf. I had never tasted anything so delicious.” Even if Layla hadn’t said anything, her sparkling face would’ve told how she felt about the taste. Needless to say, everyone forced themselves to swallow the rice balls they still had in their mouths and pick up one each from the plate with the raw fish in them.
“But are you sure about this, my love?” Lorenard wanted to stop his wife from eating raw fish for some reason.
“It’s ok. It’s only a small bite. Besides, it’s our son who prepared it,” Alvina responded before putting the rice roll into her mouth.
“Wooow!” And then emotions exploded from everyone at the same time.
“Is… is this really raw fish I am eating?” Emilia had both of her hands on her cheeks.
“No way…” Flavia exclaimed, lifting her head up, clapping both of her hands in front of her and holding them there. “How is this so good?”
“It definitely… ahmm… has a very… delicate taste…” Ileena was chewing slowly, trying to soak in the unusual taste.
“This can’t be right… ahm… nham… This has raw fish in it, right?” Lorenard couldn’t believe how much he enjoyed it himself.
“I… aah… such a lovely taste…” was all Alvina could say. Narias’s mom took a moment to enjoy the aftertaste even after she swallowed the food. “I can’t believe I just tasted a dish with raw fish in it. Do you mind telling us how you prepared it, Jonathan?”
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Talrone, but the rice balls with the raw fish were prepared by the Young Master. I prepared the ones with the fried fish in them,” Jonathan answered with a light bow.
“Ah, yes. I see…” Alvina giggled as if only now noticing that the rice balls on Jonathan’s serving were almost identical in size and shape while on Narias’s side… well, let’s just say Narias could use some additional practice making them. “Do you mind telling us how you prepared the dish to have such an unusually savory taste?”
“Of course, but how about you try one more rice ball with this sauce first?” Narias opened a bowl with a dark brown sauce in it.
“What is this sauce?” Ileena asked, being curious.
“Who cares? I’m going for it,” Flavia was the first one to dip the next rice ball with the raw fish in it into the bowl, then shoved it into her mouth. “Wooow! This is… mhmm… Mm… I want… more…” Flavia grabbed another roll before she even swallowed the one she had in her mouth.
“Hey, leave some for us too, Flavia.” Emilia reached for a rice ball herself before dipping it into the sauce. Her face was dressed in a sparkling frost from the delicious sensation of wondrous taste right after.
Everyone else followed Flavia’s and Emilia’s lead and were similarly blessed with the remarkable punch to their taste buds, experiencing phenomenal burst of mixed aftertaste from the Moonfin Tuna Rice Ball dipped into the mysterious brown sauce. Jonathan, the cook, wasn’t left behind as well. Narias invited him to have a taste too.
“This is… an absolutely unimaginable taste. What is this sauce and how did you make it?” Narias’s mom just had to know.
“The sauce was made by Jonathan, actually. I wouldn’t be able to make it,” Narias confessed.
“The Young Master gave me instructions on how the sauce would have to taste. To tell you the truth, it was a real challenge to make it, but Mr. Narias told me that the end result was to his satisfaction. I believe he wanted to call it… the Soiee Sauce.” Jonathan explained, feeling unsure if that was the correct way of saying it.
Aah… I guess that’s close enough. They don’t have Soy beans here anyway. Narias decided not to correct him.
“Soo-Shee with the Soiee Sauce. Hah, that sounds totally neat.” Flavia cheered before putting another rice ball with the raw fish inside her mouth. She dipped it inside the Soiee Sauce first, of course.
“So extravagant,” Alvina was about to do the same when Lorenard stopped her.
“Maybe… that’s enough?” Alvina’s husband touched her hand.
“What are you saying, dear? It’s only my fourth one,” Narias’s mom pouted her lips, feeling upset she couldn’t have any more.
“Ah, there’s still more left in the kitchen if you want,” Narias told them, seeing the plate with the raw fish becoming empty.
“That’s not it, son. You see, your mom is…” Lorenard threw one of his hands behind his head, his face catching some red.
“What do you mean, dad? Wait, don’t tell me you’re sick, mom?” Narias became really worried all of a sudden.
“Ah, no, not exactly.” His mom rested her hands in front of her dress, smiling warmly. “You see, dear, I am… expecting…”
“Wha…” Narias eyes became big and wide. “You… you’re pregnant?”
“Mhm…” Alvina nodded, covering her mouth with one hand with a chuckle.
“Whaaaa…” the other girls gasped, overcome by the biggest astonishment yet. Except Layla of course, because she knew Alvina was pregnant.
“Really? Wow… So… so, that means I will have a sister?” Narias asked, his body becoming overly excited, but he tried to contain it.
“Well, we don’t know that until the baby is born, but it is a possibility.” Alvina laughed after hearing Narias’s question.
“Oh, right. Hah…” Narias laughed awkwardly, not understanding why he assumed the baby will be a girl.
“Don’t you have enough girlfriends already, son?” Lorenard couldn’t miss an opportunity to tease his son.
“Daaad…” Narias frowned at him, not feeling amused by his dad’s bad joke.
“Oh dear…” that just made Alvina laugh again.
“Anyway, how… when… when did you find out?” Narias turned to his mom again.
“If our assumptions are correct, I’m about three months pregnant now.” She told him.
“Amazing. Congratulations, I’m so happy for you,” Narias went to give his mom a hug.
“Aaa… thank you, dear.” She embraced him with her own hug.
“Hah… I told you he’ll be happy to hear it.” Lorenard commented with the biggest grin on his face yet.
“Humph… took you long enough, daaad.” Narias threw a sarcastic stare at his dad.
“H… hey…” his dad frowned at him, making Alvina laugh again.
“Say, honey,” Alvina addressed her son. “I am still curious about one thing. Can you tell us how you came up with the idea to make such an unusual dish, and with the raw fish at that?”
“Well, aaa…” Narias scratched his cheek with one finger, thinking how to answer her. He was still standing right in front of his mom since he was hugging her just a moment ago. “I mean… I wanted to make it with the fried fish at first, but… I knew the fish becomes either dry or oily after you fry it, so… I thought I would do an experiment and see how it tastes. After all, it’s not like you can’t eat raw fish… in small amounts. The Moonfin Tuna’s meat has good amount of fat in it and is not smelly at all compared to other fish. I had a taste of it before preparing it and I liked how it tasted being raw. The only thing I added was some salt and let the meat rest for a good hour or so while I waited for the rice to cook and cool off. I wanted to wrap the rice balls in dried lettuce leaves, so we could eat it with our hands. If we were to use knife and fork, the rice balls would fall apart and that would make it taste different.”
“So, that’s how you did it,” Lorenard commented, holding his chin up.
“The Young Master’s creativity of making the Soo-Shee dish really astounded me. I had never seen, or tasted, such ingenuous dish. Not to mention, it was made with the raw fish, an ingredient which was always frowned upon by most cooks. I must say, this experience had opened my eyes to new possibilities of how one can take the most common ingredients and make an outstanding dish out of them. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Mr. Narias.” Jonathan bowed his head, feeling grateful he had a chance to learn how to create a new dish.
“Ah, it was nothing…” his gesture made Narias feel embarrassed.
“Hah, that’s Narias for you. He always comes up with all kinds of crazy ideas, don’t you, partner?” Flavia jumped on him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“F… Flavia!” Narias didn’t expect for that to happen, not that he was against her doing so.
“That’s not fair, Flavia. Ahem… thank you… for preparing Soo-Shee dish for us, Narias.” Ileena came closer and hugged his arm from the side.
“Yes… it was… absolutely lovely… the Soo-Shee dish you’ve made, that is.” Emilia came over and did the same from the other side.
“My, my…” Alvina touched her cheek with one hand, tilting her head to the side before throwing a glance at Layla.
Layla understood Alvina’s hint and, after coming closer, kissed Narias on the lips, leaning slightly forward which she didn’t actually need to do. There could’ve been many reasons why she did it, of course, but one of them could’ve been, because the dress she was wearing had a nice open decollete at the front. If Narias face was red before, then now it was burning red.
“Thank you, Narias.” Layla thanked him, his eyes still stuck on her open decollete.
“H… hey!” Ileena, Flavia and Emilia exclaimed all at once in protest, then instantly leaned to give Narias a kiss at wherever their lips landed on his face.
H… HEEEY! Narias felt like burning to crisps from embarrassment since his parents were seeing it all happen.
“My son… sob… I’m so proud of you… sob…” Lorenard had his arm cover his eyes, sobbing loudly again.
Niuniax
━━━━━━━━━
Thank you for reading. Leave a comment and favorite the chapter if you enjoyed it. Apologies in advance if you find a weird sounding phrase or a grammar error. These are draft chapters after all.
Read 10+ extra chapters on my Patreon (including the artwork not available anywhere else) – Extra Chapters on Patreon
━━━━━━━━━
Extra thanks to nonomo4 and Lynderyn for extra support and help.
