Chapter 172
“Is that so?”
Alice’s contemplation ceased at the news of Kylus’s return. She rose from her seat and approached the terrace.
Looking down through the window, she saw Kylus just stepping out of the carriage.
“That’s a relief. He came early today.”
A little past 6 PM.
After checking the clock, Alice murmured softly and gazed with sympathetic eyes at Kylus entering the mansion.
With good reason—lately, Kylus had been returning from the imperial palace almost after midnight.
Moreover, the day before yesterday was a holiday, yet he had gone to the palace before Alice even woke up, saying he needed to look into matters regarding the reinvestigation of the First Prince’s poisoning case.
And again, he had returned past midnight.
So for three days, Alice had seen Kylus’s face only twice.
Even then, they had merely exchanged brief greetings before Kylus immediately left the duchy again.
Although Kylus had always been busy since becoming the Empire’s Commander-in-Chief, he seemed to have gained some leeway after the Third Prince’s knight brigade was reorganized…
But these days, it was like they had gone back to the beginning.
No, he seemed even busier than before.
And the person who had contributed to making him so busy was none other than Alice.
The reinvestigation of the poisoning case had begun because she had saved the First Prince.
In the midst of all this, Kylus was also keeping an eye on the Empress’s Palace and Hasis Winston to protect her…
‘Hmm, the more I think about it, it seems like he’s so busy without a moment to breathe not just partly because of me, but entirely because of me.’
‘No. It’s not like I initiated all these events just for my own benefit.’
Alice put aside her thoughts as her heart grew heavy.
‘Making Kylus suffer like this, how can I apologize?’
Such fragile, timid thoughts worthy of a melodramatic heroine were too contrary to Alice’s hasty personality.
She also detested the frustration of just worrying without taking action.
Find a solution when there’s a problem.
Find a way to help when worried.
That was Alice—a person with a very practical nature.
And anyway, she had already found a solution to the issue of the Empress’s Palace, which was causing Kylus the most difficulty.
If things proceeded as planned… the Dark Specter would likely be annihilated before long.
When that happened, they could naturally reveal all the deeds committed by the Empress and ensure she received appropriate punishment.
Naturally, Hasis Winston’s head would roll too.
Alice turned to Aileen, her eyes now filled with vigor instead of sympathy.
“Aileen, did you tell the kitchen about the ingredients I asked to be purchased?”
“Yes. The chef said he has prepared all the ingredients and asked you to let him know whenever you want any dish.”
Alice’s golden eyes sparkled with satisfaction at Aileen’s answer.
Having found a solution to the problem, it was now time to alleviate Kylus’s fatigue.
“Then let’s go to the kitchen now.”
“…You want to go to the kitchen personally, my lady?”
As Aileen asked with a slightly bewildered face, Alice smiled smoothly.
“Yes. Because I’m going to cook personally.”
Click, click—
The cheerful sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor leading to Duke Dearrut’s office.
Hmm~
Even a merry humming.
A joyful face that didn’t match the torrential rain still pouring outside the window.
It was none other than Alice.
Alice was in as good a mood as she appeared.
Because she had perfectly created what she wanted in the kitchen.
‘I hope Kylus will enjoy eating it.’
Indeed, Alice was now on her way to the office, carrying rejuvenating food she had personally made for Kylus.
But Alice’s excitement evaporated the moment she arrived at the office.
“My lady, I regret to inform you that the Duke is not in his office at the moment.”
“What?”
Kylus wasn’t there?
‘After I put so much effort into making this.’
‘The person who’s supposed to eat this isn’t even here.’
‘Was I in the kitchen that long? I was there for about an hour, but…’
‘Where did he go again in this torrential rain?’
Alice’s face was about to crumple as she turned her head toward the window, when the servant continued.
“He’s currently taking a bath… If you come back in about 20 minutes, you should be able to meet him, my lady.”
Alice paused and asked.
“…He didn’t leave the mansion?”
“No. I heard he was taking a bath because his clothes were completely soaked in the downpour.”
At the servant’s answer, Alice’s darkened face brightened again. ‘So he didn’t leave the mansion again. That’s a relief.’
Relieved, Alice smiled faintly and looked at Aileen standing behind her.
More precisely, she was looking at the silver tray Aileen was holding, covered with a dome lid.
‘Hmm, it would be a bit troublesome to take this back and come again…’
Alice said to the servant.
“Then I’ll wait inside until the Duke arrives. Please tell him I’m waiting in his office.”
Normally, no one could enter the Duke’s office without the head of the family’s permission, but the servant merely hesitated briefly before opening the office door for Alice.
This was because all the household staff already knew that the Duke deeply cherished his wife.
Besides, Kylus had previously instructed the butler not to prevent the Duchess from touching or going anywhere in the mansion.
So the office was no exception.
Alice carefully entered Kylus’s office.
Though she had unintentionally visited his bedroom several times, she had only been to his office once.
This was the second time.
Alice smiled at the subtle scent of Kylus that permeated the office.
And after looking at the neatly organized desk and bookshelves, befitting his perfectionist personality, she turned toward the sofa in the inner part of the office.
It was a space for important conversations with vassals or for brief rests.
Alice said to Aileen.
“Aileen, put that on the table over there.”
“Yes.”
After Aileen set down the tray and left the office, Alice approached the table.
She slightly lifted the dome lid covering the silver tray.
Immediately, the warm heat from inside along with a delicious aroma stimulated Alice’s nose.
The scent from her past life that she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Indeed, the food she had made wasn’t simply food from this world.
It was a recipe from the world Han Soo-yeon had lived in—a world that didn’t exist here.
It was galbi-jjim, Korean braised short ribs.
Though it seemed a bit random, Alice had decided to make galbi-jjim two days ago.
For Kylus who was so busy they couldn’t even have a face-to-face meal, Alice wanted to do something for him.
Something to ease his fatigue.
Something special she could do entirely with her own abilities, without borrowing the power of a deity through holy power.
That’s when she recalled the cooking skills of her past life as Han Soo-yeon.
Although in her past life she had only worked as an unpaid assistant before meeting an unfortunate death in a kitchen fire explosion…
Han Soo-yeon had been a cook with certifications in Korean, Chinese, Western, and Japanese cuisines.
She had to start as an assistant due to academic connections, regional connections, and money, but her cooking was so good it was a waste to keep her as just an assistant.
Of course, the higher-ups blinded by academia, regionalism, and money had shown no interest in her cooking skills.
Anyway, ending the depressing story of her past life here, Alice decided to utilize her cooking skills from her previous life.
Since Kylus already knew she wasn’t originally from this world, there was no awkwardness in bringing out her secret weapon from her past life.
Thus, galbi-jjim was selected as the rejuvenating menu.
It was one of the dishes she was most confident in making, and it was easy to prepare with ingredients available here.
Of course, there was one regrettable aspect.
The lack of white rice, which formed a perfect combination with galbi-jjim.
This world didn’t have diverse grains. The staple food was bread made from wheat.
So, inevitably, she had baked bread as softly as possible, like sandwich bread.
“…It’s unfortunate, but can’t be helped.”
After checking the well-sliced bread, Alice closed the dome lid with a satisfied smile.
To keep the food warm until Kylus arrived.
And as she was about to sit on the sofa for the remaining time, she approached the desk in the office.
Surprisingly, the bookshelf had more books on humanities than on tactics or swordsmanship.
But she didn’t readily reach for them.
[On Justice as Spoken by Humans] [What Is True Noblesse Oblige]
Just looking at the book titles already made her head throb.
Alice had never been particularly fond of books.
Starting one of those books would probably take a month to finish.
Alice was quite satisfied just browsing and turned away without regret.
To Kylus’s well-organized desk.
And there she spotted a noticeable parchment on the desk.
It was almost rolled up, but the title wasn’t fully covered.
[Dearrut Duchy’s Collateral…]
Alice reached for the parchment as if entranced.
When she unrolled it, a family tree detailing the collateral bloodlines of the Dearrut Duchy came into view.
It was quite extensive and detailed, from Sienna’s family, the Meltains who were cousins, to eighth cousins.
And several names on the family tree were circled.
Below them were small notes.
“Has a chronic illness but is intelligent and patient…?”
“…Hasty temperament but decisive and from a knightly background.”
The small notes beneath the names described the characteristics and personalities of those individuals.
“Hmm, is he recruiting more vassals?”
It felt like a resume one would look at before appointing someone to an important position.
Alice then noticed another parchment beside the one she had touched.
Unlike this one, it was tightly rolled and tied with a string, completely hiding its contents.
Strangely, Alice couldn’t take her eyes off that parchment.
A feeling that she absolutely had to open it.
Alice rolled up the family tree parchment and, making a sound, “Hmm,” as if pretending nothing was amiss, reached out and grabbed the parchment that had been drawing her attention.
But just before untying the string around the parchment, Alice’s reason spoke.
“No. I shouldn’t. It’s wrong to peek at someone else’s things without permission…”
Though this seemed like an odd thing to say for someone who had already entered an unoccupied office alone and examined a family tree.
Still, with her last shred of conscience, Alice was about to put down the parchment.
If only a word hadn’t faintly shown through a small hole.
“Yu…”
But just as she had barely read one character with narrowed eyes, the office door suddenly flung open.
