How Can You Pay Back The Kindness I Raised With Obsession?

“Witch, where are you going?”

She turned around and saw a young man, as tall as the Archduke, coming out of a door holding a roll of parchment.

‘Black hair, gray eyes? It’s familiar… what? He is the man who took my cake and kicked Daisy out.’

A man strode towards her as she stood there blankly and started talking to him. It was a threatening tone.

“Didn’t you hear that you shouldn’t wander around the Grand Duke’s mansion?”

“Yes, I was told to visit only the areas assigned to me and only visit areas that are necessary for my work. Am I not doing that?”

When she told him that the chef had called and said that he was on his way to the kitchen, but the servant had left without giving directions, the man sighed.

“I will guide you.”

Seeing papers in his hands, he must be busy. Besides, it says ‘annoying’ on his face, but looking at how he gives directions, it seems that he is actually a very compassionate person.

“My name is Hazel.”

“I know.”

“Then…”

She took a look at the long sword hanging from the man’s side and the medal on his uniform before continuing.

“Your name is…”

“Daniel. I am the captain of the Guard and the vice-captain of the Blaine Knights.”

“Oh, I see. Nice to meet you. I am the new nanny.”

The man muttered curtly, “Who doesn’t know that?” and then he cast a piercing glance at her.

“Anyway, why am I your knight? Drop those impossibly friendly adjectives and sing it straight.”

“Yes, Daniel.”

The man’s forehead crumpled.

“Sir Daniel. I am not one you would dare to call by name.”

“Ah, yes. ‘Sir’ Daniel.”

Even though he called her whatever he wanted, his eyes were disapproving. The Grand Duke was there too. Like boss, like subordinate.

“Did you work with the Grand Duke for a long time?”

“I am the one who served the Grand Duke up close and longer than anyone else. So you’d better not think about doing anything stupid. I will always watch over you.”

“Yes, yes.”

She smiled happily and nodded. He was a man who served his superiors faithfully and faithfully. He’s a bit picky, but he seemed like a good person, right?

However, Sir Daniel’s face suddenly turned grim.

‘What? He readily said yes, so why be offended?’

* * *

The kitchen was also heavily guarded.

“Raise your arms up.”

The female knight standing in front of the kitchen door gave her an order in a firm tone and swept her side with both hands.

Next to her, a male knight was rummaging through the pockets of Sir Daniel’s uniform. It seems that even the closest aide to the Grand Duke was no exception.

The knight who inspected her opened the kitchen door only after confirming that all sheI had was her work manual. Beyond the wide open door, the sound of knives being cut, bubbling, sizzling, and cooking spilled into the hallway.

She couldn’t keep her mouth shut when she saw dozens of people busy in the kitchen, which was much larger than the nanny’s bedroom.

‘How many people are preparing dinner for only three people?’

But come to think of it, there were also workers’ mouths. Since the Grand Duchess would have hundreds of people working, it was not unreasonable that dozens of people were needed to prepare meals.

A middle-aged man who was shouting something at the people who seemed to be secondary in terms of category came out and stopped the moment his eyes met her.

“Ah, that person… ?”

The man asked about her, not to her, but to Sir Daniel, who stood two steps away from her.

“That’s right, Mr. Harold. You asked to see the nanny?”

The sound of dozens of knives stopped abruptly at her word, “nanny.” All of them stopped their hands and looked at her with startled eyes before Harold started to move after shouting.

“That’s it.”

Mr. Harold, who had come up to her, crossed his arms as if he was reluctant and lingered for a while before bringing up the matter.

“I asked about how to make dinner for His Highness and the princes, but Hir Highness told me to ask the new nanny.”

It was a voice that sounded disapproving.

“Chestnuts, no. Grand Prince and Grand Princess have many ingredients they hate, but if you chop them into small pieces and mix them well with their favorite ingredients, they’ll eat them all well, right?”

She gave him a tip, but why was his face in a bad mood?

“So, the beef stew that comes from the common people’s table?”

“Yes, you know. Those two really like beef stew.”

“…”

The chef’s expression became more serious, and he cast a puzzled look at Sir Daniel, who was standing next to him.

Are you holding back your laughter? He, who was looking at the chef with a strangely distorted face, hardened his expression and asked the chef.

“So what about tonight, Mr. Harold?”

As Sir Daniel moved into the kitchen, she followed him and rolled up her sleeves.

“Then can I take a look to see if it will suit the taste of children?”

Unidentified soup snooped over the bubbling pot when she asked. There was no answer, so she looked up and saw that the chef’s face was as red as an apple in autumn.

‘Are you angry?’

On the way to the kitchen, a diploma from a culinary academy with the name Harold written on it hung large. It must have hurt his pride a lot when he received advice from a witch who was not even an expert but…

“Didn’t His Highness ask you to ask?”

She wondered how to ask for help while not being able to taste the menu tonight, but the chef pointed to the empty countertop with his hand.

They told her to make a separate menu for children.

‘That’s a good idea too.’

Excited, she soon forgot the cold treatment and started making dinner for the children.

On the last day, she wanted to cook ground beef stew that the children couldn’t eat, but she didn’t have enough time. Dinner time was only 20 minutes later.

‘What should I do… ah!’

A good idea came to her mind and she clicked my fingers. Immediately a bundle of plump sausages landed on the cutting board in front of her, and the chef and Sir Daniel looked at her in amazement.

“Where did you get this from?”

Sir Daniel asked, pointing at the sausage.

“From home.”

Sir Daniel’s eyes sharpened at her answer. Not knowing what those things were he even wrinkled his brows.

‘Have you ever heard of pork and beef seasoned with spices?’

“Miss Hazel, you must not bring outside ingredients into the kitchen without inspection. Haven’t you read the work manual?”

“Isn’t there a rule like that?”

She took the work manual out of her apron pocket and flipped it through page by page. She didn’t see a rule like that, no before and no now.

“Ah, that’s it… It won’t be in the rules given to nannies.”

“Then I don’t know.”

She closed the work manual and put it in her pocket, but Sir Daniel touched his forehead with the palm of his hand.

“Miss Hazel, from now on, outside ingredients should be inspected before being brought into the kitchen.”

“Yes I understand.”

The chef, who had disappeared for a moment, brought a vial containing a clear liquid. Sir Daniel poured the liquid into a small test tube and cut up my sausage.

‘What?’

She clapped her hands as she watched the bubbles bubble up immediately. She knew that was a reagent for poison testing. She had seen it in the witch’s book and medicine cabinet in the hut.

The Wicked Witch must have had many enemies. It wasn’t enough to put a tight security on the cabin, so she made a lot of reagents for the poison test before living there.

Seeing that the Grand Duche also had reagents, it seems that there are many enemies. So she went through a belongings check and a body search in front of the kitchen door. They were afraid someone would poison the food.

By the way, every poison test in that gigantic mansion would require a ton of reagents…

“Are there wizards in the Grand Duke’s palace? An alchemist or something like that?”

Sir Daniel was quick-witted. He skipped a few questions to answer, perhaps realizing that he was talking about reagents.

“Reagents are supplied by the Wizards Association.”

“Isn’t it expensive then?”

It was a very hotbed of overcrowding.

Once, feeling lonely, she decided to join the Wizards’ Association and mingle with wizards and witches. However, they were asking for a membership fee, an annual fee, and a development fund. It was an association of merchants, not wizards.

“There are a lot of them in my house. I’ll give you some. I can just make it for free when you use them all.”

“Thanks but in the Grand Duke’s palace, ingredients and reagents are only supplied from reliable sources.”

It was like slicing a radish with a large kitchen knife.

Sir Daniel nodded his head, confirming that the reagent did not turn blue-green even after the sausage was all melted.

“There is no poison.”

But he couldn’t get rid of the reagent bottle. It was because she immediately bumped her hands again, and the spaghetti noodles fell into the empty pot.

“Please check this too.”

After the test, the noodles were split in half so that the children could eat them, and put them in boiling water.

While the noodles were cooking, she chopped the carrots and onions and cut the sausage into bite-sized pieces, but the chef kept talking to her.

“Where did the meat and noodles in sausage come from?”

“I bought the meat from the village butcher and made the noodles myself.”

“Hmm… We source meat only from the best farms recognized by the Imperial Culinary Academy… Unconditionally at the highest level.”

“Wow, is that so? Awesome.”

The olive oil drew a wave pattern, so she was busy pouring ingredients into the pan.

She didn’t know if she gave the chef a proper shout. She added a word belatedly, fearing that he would be embarrassed.

“I make the sausage myself. This is made with the meat I bought to feed the children the other day.”

But they didn’t let her see their cooking, so why were they watching her cooking? The menu was nothing special, though.

“Have you finished preparing dinner?”

“…”

“Oh, the noodles are done.”

She tilted her head as she scooped out the cooked noodles with a small core left in the middle. The Imperial Academy graduates won’t learn anything from her. Sir Daniel said he would do a poison test again after cooking, so there’s no need to keep an eye on her. What will they do when they won’t have to monitor her?

‘Wow, that was close.’

Sausage tomato spaghetti was completed under the strict supervision of the two men. The servants came in and carried the mountain of food on a large serving platter and out of the kitchen. The procession of servants carrying mouth-watering dishes was followed by a solemn procession of soldiers.

‘They’re afraid someone will get poisoned in the middle, huh? Wow, this is real madness.’

After following the procession and entering a door, she almost cried out.

‘Chestnuts!’

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