Chapter 19
Chapter 19
“A Cod dish.”
“Rejected.”
“Lobster.”
“…I have the recipe, but the grade doesn’t match. Rejected.”
“…Turkey?”
Instead of answering, I kept my mouth shut.
Isiel threw out various main ingredients, and I repeatedly rejected them.
The reason was simple.
The only recipes I could make were around C grade among the ones I had.
So when he suddenly mentioned things like grilled lobster, which corresponded to an A grade recipe, I had no choice but to reject it.
“I can make fried chicken for you.”
I can make K-style chicken.
But that’s probably not what he wants.
“There’s a lot you can’t do.”
“That’s because I’m Irina Seike, not a chef.”
I sadly flipped through my C grade recipes, including the fish-shaped bread recipe, while making a sobbing sound.
“Do you want to fill your stomach, or do you just want to eat something delicious?”
“Anything delicious.”
“Shall I bake some scones?”
“Yes!”
And so, I ended up baking scones.
I floated the recipe in the air and prepared the ingredients step by step.
Isiel, curious about something, stuck close to me, examining each ingredient and striking up a conversation.
Worried that he might be shocked seeing me cook and refuse to eat, I slowly prepared the dough.
Isiel brought a chair and sat behind me, chattering about various things to prevent boredom.
Things like rumors from the Empire, or fields he’s interested in lately.
“At the academy, there was a cooking class among the liberal arts courses.”
“That’s unexpected?”
“Actually, it was a class for female students, but I couldn’t resist taking it.”
I glanced at Isiel and then roughly chopped corn and lemon, putting them directly into the dough bowl.
Then, following the recipe, I started stirring thirty times to the right.
“That reminds me, Cassis took the class too.”
“Cassis as well?”
“Yeah. I dragged him to sign up for the class together.”
I recalled the image of Cassis Luwin.
If you remove some of the devastation and fatigue from the current Cassis… he would be the cold but somewhat tender Grand Duke of the North.
Add to that the kindness of the violet knight I met once…
“Did Cassis cook too?”
“Of course. He could probably skillfully bake scones by himself.”
“Really?”
The thought of Cassis fumbling around, making dough and baking cookies made me laugh.
It really doesn’t suit him.
“The Cassis during the academy days was quite different from now.”
“How was he different?”
“A typical young noble. Arrogant, but it was so natural that you couldn’t hate him, someone you would look up to and admire.”
I listened to his words attentively as I put the dough in the oven.
Following the recipe, I set the time and temperature and turned around.
Isiel was sitting on the chair, leaning his arms loosely on the table, resting his chin on them.
As if recalling a distant past, his face looked somewhat dreamy, and I slightly closed my mouth.
“Well, people say that now, with his calm demeanor, he has his own kind of beauty.”
He seemed a bit bitter.
But as if trying to shake off that feeling, he let out a deep sigh, “Whew!” and got up from his seat.
“Well, Cassis is still my friend anyway.”
“……”
“Please take good care of him, Irina.”
I quietly looked at the blond beauty.
When our eyes met, he smiled, closing his eyes.
As the momentary silence was about to become awkward, the oven rang with a ‘ding!’.
A delicious smell filled the kitchen.
Isiel marveled, and I took out the scones I had baked and placed them on a wire rack.
No sooner had I said that they needed to cool down that Isiel snapped his fingers and instantly cooled the scones.
“Can I eat now?”
“Your magic is amazing.”
He took a bite of a scone and quietly marveled.
“I find myself more amazed by Irina’s cooking skills than by magic.”
I just smiled in response.
* * *
I set aside a few scones for poor Cassis.
Isiel kept eating scones and praising them.
“Irina, I’ll pay all the penalty fees. Come to our house.”
Ignoring Isiel’s nonsense, I placed the scones on a plate.
I’ll tell them to serve it to Cassis with matching tea.
[SYSTEM | ‘Find a Chef for Orsha Palace (Grand Duke Luwin’s Mansion)!’ Quest (4) Progress. (1/30)]
Unfortunately, Isiel was the only person in the North who had tasted my cooking, so there were about twenty-nine people left.
Even if Cassis and Roen ate these scones, it would only be three people.
It seemed I needed to make easy-to-eat cookies and distribute them to the staff.
After checking the recipe for the D grade ‘Looks Somewhat Clumsy But Tastes A grade! Chocolate Chip Cookies!’, I turned my head sharply towards Isiel and grinned.
“What?”
“Are you very busy right now?”
“No?”
And so, I headed to the market with Isiel to buy ingredients for the ‘Somewhat Clumsy But Tasty Chocolate Chip Cookies’.
* * *
Isiel guided me quite skillfully through Leknes, the central city of Luwin.
Perhaps noticing my curious gaze, he explained that he had been coming and going as if it were his own home since his academy days.
He pounded his chest, saying he was practically an honorary resident of Leknes at this point.
“I had a period of wandering.”
“So even the heir of Lemiere goes through a phase of wandering.”
“Well, it’s probably good for someone who grew up perfectly to wander a bit image-wise.”
He spoke with a slightly disgusted tone.
He seemed light and bright, but it looks like he has his own hardships too.
The market in the white and beautiful city had a slightly different atmosphere from Seike’s, but it was still bustling and enjoyable to look around.
“Is it very different from the atmosphere in the South?”
“Well, the South is warmer, and it’s a place where crops are directly harvested.”
While buying various ingredients one by one, Isiel told me quite a lot of stories.
For instance, about the chef they haven’t been able to properly find for years, or how his uncle’s interference went beyond ruining the business to ruining Luwin’s way of life.
I spoke while choosing fresh onions to put in the chocolate chip cookies.
“The current chef seems to be the Marquis’s pawn, anyone can see that.”
“I’m surprised by Lady Seike’s information network.”
Isiel continued talking while picking fresh carrots next to me, saying he wanted to eat carrot rapées.
“That’s right. Anyone can see he’s the Marquis’s man, but…”
He sounded a bit regretful.
Even I can see that the chef is the Marquis’s pawn, so how could Cassis not know?
Both Isiel and I know.
That the current Cassis is extremely tired.
He was so helpless that he couldn’t move a finger even when faced with an enemy determined to harm him, chasing him right up to his chin.
Isiel paid for the two fresh onions I picked and the two carrots that were clearly an impulse purchase, then moved on to the next store.
The next ingredient we need to buy is apples.
The recipe says ‘five apple peels’, so one should be enough.
“So what’s your real intention?”
“Are you doubting me?”
“Wouldn’t it be strange not to?”
Ignoring Isiel’s questioning about why I came to Luwin, I looked around the market.
Holding an apple, two sweet potatoes, and four potatoes, I looked up at Isiel.
Isiel chuckled and naturally paid for them.
As I hugged the paper box filled with precious crops to my chest, Isiel sighed and took it, saying he would carry it.
“Let’s just say it just came to my mind.”
I guess he remembered how I was frantically struggling with the imminent repayment date.
“And also to save the world while we’re at it.”
Some people have life-and-death battles with demon lords and save the world through tremendous wars.
I think saving the world by paying off debts seems like an easy way out.
I just smiled at Isiel, who was following me with a face full of question marks, not understanding what I said.
“So, Mr. Honorary Resident of Leknes.”
“Yes, did you call me?”
“How can I make money? From the perspective of the Lemiere heir.”
At my words, he looked around the market.
Then he laughed gently, “Haha.”
He’s quite a person with an easy laugh.
“I wondered why you suddenly wanted to go to the market, so market research was also a purpose.”
“That’s right.”
“Well. If I knew something, wouldn’t I have told Cassis directly?”
“I wonder.”
“And the fact that Cassis chose you, of all people, makes me think he might have wanted a breakthrough like Seike wine.”
Aiming for mid-range products between well-made, consistent high-end products and low-end products.
That was Seike’s method.
“Is that so?”
“So, I don’t think anything that might come from the head of an old-fashioned person like me or Cassis would be very efficient.”
We finished our shopping, which felt like a light stroll, and decided to return to the mansion.
As we were returning to where we had tied up the horses, Isiel pointed somewhere and said, “Oh!”
“Have you been to that glass greenhouse over there?”
A small glass greenhouse could be seen where he was pointing.
It was located a bit away from the center of Leknes, surrounded by trees with bare branches.
It looked like it would be buried in greenery when summer comes.
As soon as I saw the greenhouse, I remembered the greenhouse invitation that the maid, Betty, had given me a few days ago.
I shook my head and said,
“No.”
“That’s a place you can only go with an invitation, and it seems getting an invitation is a bit tricky.”
“I’ve heard that. Have you ever been there, Isiel?”
At my question, Isiel smiled softly and said,
“No, because I don’t have an invitation. If I get one, want to go together?”
So even the heir of the great ducal family can’t go because he doesn’t have an invitation.
“Actually, I have an invitation. I’ll give it to you when we get back to the mansion.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“Huh?”
I saw a tall man next to the glass greenhouse.
There’s only one person with such black hair and tall stature.
I quickly called out to him.
“Cassis!”
“…Cassis is here too.”
