ITK C422: One’s Devoted Wife

Mermaid Queen Mahi.

Wife of His Majesty Nagus and mother to Prince Arowana and Platy.
Despite her esteemed status, she has a vigorous mind and body, an elegant and ladylike demeanor, and is independent and strong.

Queen Mahi is most concerned about Puffer and Prince Arowana’s marriage, which is the current issue.

Since ancient times, in-law conflict has been an integral part of marriages, and this couple’s case is no exception.

In short, they can’t get married unless Queen Mahi gives them permission.
Since most of the other obstacles have been eliminated, this is the last hurdle.

The queen is the final boss, so to speak.
Because of her, the marriage has been delayed for almost a year.

We’ve got to do something about it.
So, we decided to help…

---

“Welcome, Mom!”

Queen Mahi and King Nagus have come to our farm for the first time.

It would’ve been nice if they could come sooner, though…

“Well, that’s just how a king and queen’s life is. We can’t leave our nation on a whim, especially when our destination is on land.”
“Ahem, ahem!”

They already drank the humanizing potion to change their lower bodies’ into two human legs.
This is a procedure that allows mermaids to operate on land, just like with Platy and the other mermaids with us.

“I always wondered what kind of a fun place this would be since Arowana comes here almost every day. It’s as lovely as I imagined,” says Queen Mahi as she looks around.

She seems impressed by the rural landscape that spreads all over the place.
As someone who has poured their heart and soul into developing this land, I’m glad she’s pleased with the scenery.

“Ahhhhhhhem!”

King Nagus looks excited, too.

“I wish you could’ve invited me sooner if I had known this place was marvelous… Ah, considering the situation, it still would’ve been difficult for us to visit.”
“But we’ve put all the rebels in jail or stripped them of their positions, right? No one can complain anymore!” says Platy. “Anyway, Mom! I asked you to come here today for a special favor!”
“Oh? How unusual of you to do that, my dear. What is it?”

They started engaging in a mother-and-daughter conversation.

“You’ve always been able to do everything on your own, so you rarely had to beg for favors. It was a blessing in a way that you didn’t need much caring for, but as your mother, that also made me lonely…”
“Forget about that, Mom! What I wanted to ask from you is…”

Dudun.
[Please approve of Arowana and Puffer’s marriage!]

“…”

Crap, Queen Mahi’s expression changed from cheerful to cold in an instant!

“I was wondering why you had invited me to come here on land…”
“Shouldn’t it be fine by now? My dumb brother and my Yankee sister-in-law’s marriage is already a done deal. All they need is your consent to get married, and that’s that. Watching them suffer being stuck in limbo for so long has become monotonous for me, so why don’t you let them move on to the next step?”
“I can’t do that.”

Queen Mahi remains obstinate, as I expected.

“Their marriage is different from the common people. Arowana is the future king—he will have to take over everything in the Mermaid Kingdom after Darling. Shouldering such a responsibility means his wife needs to be prepared for that. I can’t allow her to get married before she is ready!”
“But is that what you really think?”
“…I just don’t want my precious son to be taken away by another woman.”
“I knew it.”

The reason for stopping their marriage was more sentimental than expected.
Everyone had already sensed that, though.

We understand how she feels as a parent, and that’s why we didn’t dare interfere, but it’s about time this stops.

“I have a secret plan to get you to open up, Mom!”
“Oh, my, Platy. You’re up to something, after all.”

As I expected from her mother, the queen knows what Platy is thinking.
And she dares to take her up on the challenge?

“I want you to eat this! Come on, Puffer!”
“If you would be so kind…”

Here comes Puffer, the fiancée in question, shaking like a puppy.
She offers a plateful of something…

“Vegetables?”

Cucumbers, eggplants, radishes, carrots, etc., were cut into small bite-sized pieces.

“You’ll know what I mean when you eat this! How well Puffer deserves to be Arowana’s wife!”
“I agree being a good cook is the first requirement for a good wife. Are you saying you prepared this?”
“That is indeed correct, Your Majesty…!”

Puffer is so scared that her character has completely changed.
She has bitter memories of being beaten to a pulp in a fight before, so I guess her mother-in-law is now like her natural enemy.

“I understand what you mean, but do you think you can change my mind with just this? These are just chopped vegetables; I doubt this qualifies as cooking.”
“Just try it! You’ll know afterward!”

The queen’s daughter pushes her into tasting plain-cut vegetables.

“Ahem, ahem!”

Meanwhile, King Nagus is amusing himself by sumo wrestling with our orcs and goblins.

“…Oh?!”

The queen’s eyes widen as soon as she tastes the vegetables.

“These are not just any chopped vegetables! Their texture and taste are totally different from those of raw vegetables!”
“See! These vegetables were pickled by Puffer with all her heart and soul!”

Yes.
The vegetables that Queen Mahi had weren’t just any vegetable.
They were pickled to perfection!

“Puffer is in charge of the fermentation department on our farm! Of all the fermented foods, pickles are the one she does best! It’s my brother’s favorite food, after all!”

Pickled vegetables are made in brine and fermented rice bran.

The bran bed can rot if left alone for too long, which is why it must be stirred at regular intervals.
In some cases, this must be done every day.

Because of the difficulty of maintaining such a bed, people relate having a good bran bed to being a good wife.

“Her pickles are first class! She uses her knowledge of witchcraft to make the best bedding and stirs it daily to keep it fresh! Even when she was accompanying Arowana on his pilgrimage, she’d come back here and stir it once every day!”

The perseverance not to disrupt that routine all so that her future husband, Prince Arowana, can enjoy the delicious pickles.

“It’s the taste of these pickles that proves Puffer will make a good wife!”

Huh? Wait…

I know it. I’ve seen this before.
It’s from a cooking manga I used to read in my world. The problematic antagonist turns over a new leaf from the food’s divine taste!

No matter how twisted and demonic the character may be, once they are served a dish paired with some dialogue from the protagonist, their personality makes a complete 180.
They turn into an angelic person and reconcile with the main character as if the conflict had never existed in the first place!

I didn’t expect Platy to use such a method!
Her ingenuity is stupefying!

“Hm, it is as you say… a woman who can cook such a wonderful meal would make a great wife!”
“Oh?”

Is Queen Mahi convinced?

“But this is still not enough!”
“Aaaaahhhh!”

Drats! It’s not as easy as cooking mangas make it seem!
It’s impossible to change someone’s mind with just one dish!

“I agree that Puffer, who can make such delicious pickles, would make a good wife. Arowana must be a very lucky man to be married to her.”
“T-Then why?”
“Don’t forget. Arowana will become Mermaid King. His wife can’t be just anyone, either. As Mermaid Queen, she must take on a more important role.”

The weight of responsibility imposed on a mere married woman and a queen is different.
No one dared to object to this fact.

“Hence, I will put you through a final ordeal. If you pass, I will fully approve of your marriage. A woman doesn’t go back on her words.”

Oh!
If Puffer clears the queen’s task, she and Prince Arowana can get married!

Now, what does this final ordeal entail?

“…Let’s see. You’ve proven your qualifications to be a good wife by pickling. Show me that you’re more than capable of being a queen as well.”

Queen Mahi declares in high spirits, “Go and make the queen special pickles! Once I’ve deemed it acceptable, I will accept that you are fit to be the next queen!”

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