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

Sadly, the dining room was not in the mood for a welcome reunion at all.

To the left, of a long table that seemed unlikely to fall even with her forward roll, Luna sat with her arms crossed. Opposite her, Luca was staring sullenly at his empty plate. The Archduke said something to the children in a disgruntled voice, but the moment their eyes met, he stopped talking.

‘What is the problem?’

The Archduke looked at her and tilted his head. She didn’t know why he even frowned slightly.

‘Can’t I come into the restaurant? There was no rule like that.’

He didn’t say to get out, fortunately. The Grand Duke let out a deep sigh and turned his gaze to the chef standing next to him, so she stood quietly in the corner. Seeing that he did not tell the children that she had come, it seemed that they would only greet me after dinner.

‘Well, if they knew I was here, they might not eat and do other things…’

But as she guessed it wasn’t just her cooking that they gave to the children. Countless dishes were placed on the large table. The spaghetti she made was cooling down in the corner at the far end of the table far from the children.

‘They have to eat it while it’s warm.’

The servants took small portions of everything except her most ugly-looking dish and put it in front of the children. She wanted to go and give the kids spaghetti to try, but the atmosphere was too heavy for her to intervene.

‘Can they eat in this atmosphere?’

To eat while gazing at the countless servants lined up on the wall of the restaurant like statues. What about that overbearingly large dining table?

‘I’ll pretend.’

It seems that the Grand Duke was not like that at all. He spoke to the servant standing nearby and pointed to the dish at the other end of the table. It was the spaghetti she made.

‘What? Why? That’s for the kids.’

The servant put some of it on a plate and took it to the Grand Duke. She watched with bewildered eyes as the Archduke ate her spaghetti first, ahead of others.

‘Should I eat it first to check the poison?’

They’ve already done the poison test. It was unfair. Anyway, how did he know that spaghetti was made by her? Of course, compared to other dishes on the table, the question was quick answered. Only the plating of that spaghetti was so simple that it could not be compared to other fancy dishes.

The Grand Duke took a bite of the spaghetti that the servant had given him, neatly rolling it up with a fork. She couldn’t see how calmly he was eating, or how much he was chewing on me from afar.

The grand duke, who sat with his back straight on a high-backed table chair, silently watched his younger siblings sitting on his left and right. Both of them just rummaged through the food on their plates with their forks. Occasionally, even the things that go into their mouth were cut into small pieces before they ate them.

“Give that to the Grand Princess and the Grand Prince.”

‘Finally!’

She cheered inwardly. He couldn’t have heard it because she screamed inwardly, but why did the Archduke throw a sharp gaze at her for a moment?

“A little for me too.”

When the servant who had given the children spaghetti came back to the side, the Grand Duke held out his empty plate.

“A little more. No, more.”

Just like a moment ago, he continued to ask the servant for one more spoonful, and in the end he nodded his head only after he had filled his plate.

‘Look at it. It’s delicious. If it’s delicious, honestly say it’s delicious.’

The children’s reaction was as expected. Neither looked at the other dishes and ate only the spaghetti she made.

“Give me more!”

“More, more!”

‘So cute!’

“… Me too.”

‘Heh, that’s not very cute.’

Even though there were carrots and onions, the children kept shouting ‘more!’ and the servants glanced at her in disbelief. And unfortunately, the face of the chef gradually turned gray.

‘Sorry. I’m not trying to take your job away.’

She was not a cook, she was a babysitter. And a temporary nanny, not a permanent one.

“Luna, don’t make a sound. Luca, shut up and chew.”

The Grand Duke nagged the children throughout the meal. But why was the nagging person’s expression so bright? A soft smile spread across his face, which had been hardened just as he started eating. Before long, the servants removed the main dishes and began serving desserts.

“Harold, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a satisfying meal.”

As Luna gave her compliments with a graceful nod, the chef standing by her table bowed his head.

“Thank you, Grand Princess. But the dish you just ate was not made by me.”

‘Me! That’s what I did!’

“Is that so? Then I should reward the person who cooked this dish with gold.”

‘No, you don’t have to give anything to me.’

“From now on, my meals will be prepared by this cook.”

She was in favor of that too, but Luna used that kind of old-girl tone of voice. She couldn’t adapt to it.

“Me too, me too, me too.”

“Luca.”

The Archduke cautioned him as Luca raised his dessert fork in the air and stirred his body.

Anyway, when was the Grand Duke going to tell them she was there? When would she be able to say hello?

‘I can’t wait anymore. They are almost done with the meal…’

The moment the servants came in with the desserts, a good idea came to them. Raspberry pie, cheesecake, macaroons with thick vanilla filling, and colorful cookies. The children gulped down their mouths as they saw the desserts on the table.

“Both of you, you deserve dessert because you ate well today.”

When the Archduke’s permission was granted, the servants put small plates of various desserts bit by bit and placed them in front of the children.

“In exchange, as given, only one plate…”

The moment she flicked her index finger from afar, the Grand Duke stopped talking but he didn’t look at her fingers. Because his eyes didn’t leave Luna’s plate.

A cookie rose between macaron and raspberry pie. 

All the servants gathered in the dining room looked at her with their mouths wide open. Only then did the Grand Duke cast a disapproving look at her.

‘Why? I was examined.’

She informed the grand duke with her mouth, and he let out a deep sigh. Sir Daniel sighed like that when he was asked to inspect the cookies in the kitchen.

Even if she couldn’t make the carrot cake because she didn’t have time, she wanted to give them the cookies she baked.

“This… It’s Hazel’s cookie!”

Luna shouted as Cookie, a sweet wearing a tall hat, swung a broom made of marzipan.

“Hazel is here!”

“Where? Where?”

The children looked around the dining room and jumped from their chairs when they met eyes with her in the corner.

“Hazel!”

Luna, who had a sullen expression in front of the table, ran to her with a smile. Her eyes sparkled and she smiled so brightly that she had never seen her even in the cabin.

“Hey, hey! I really wanted to see you!”

Even in that short moment when Luca ran up, he was already starting to cry.

As she squatted down and spread her arms, the children jumped into them one by one. She hugged them both at once and rubbed her cheeks against their chubby cheeks.

“I missed you so so much too!”

As she poured kisses on the cheeks of the children who put their small hands around her neck, a shout came from behind the table.

“Lunabel. Luca. You haven’t finished eating yet. Sit down right now. If you don’t sit down within 10 seconds, I’m sure there won’t be dessert today.”

‘Gee, that doesn’t work.’

“Come on, chestnuts. Shouldn’t you listen?”

As the children were being brought to the table, Madame Valeria hurriedly approached the Grand Duke and bowed down to her.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry. I kept telling her not to call them that, but…”

‘Oh right. I was so excited I forgot.’

The Grand Duke shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.

“It’s okay. I know you can’t communicate.”

What the! What was he talking about in front of the kids? Perhaps the Grand Duke was in dire need of etiquette education.

* * *

“It looks normal, but… ”

After the Grand Duke’s meal service was over, the servants gathered in the kitchen in twos and threes. Empty plates were piled on the counter, but everyone was looking at the big pan, not the dishwasher.

The thing in the fan was the witch’s spaghetti.

It was left after Sir Daniel said he was doing a poison test. There was nothing left on the serving plate, so this one spoon was the last. There was only one reason why everyone ran here.

‘I’ll have to try the witch’s spaghetti!’

They wondered what kind of taste it was, so it captivated the taste buds of the fussy nobles at once. It was most shocking that the Grand Prince and the Grand Princess ate carrots, but it was no less surprising that the always-so-cool Grand Duke asked for more several times.

First, the sous chef mustered up the courage to pick up a fork and roll up the spaghetti.

“Hey, what if there’s some potion or something?”

“There is no poison.”

It was the moment when they were about to poke the sausage on the end of a fork and put it in their mouth.

Bang!

The kitchen door opened violently. The expression of the chef who came inside was unusual, and the moment he met the eyes of the sous chef, he became stern.

“Uh…”

“Bring that here.”

Oops, the fork was stolen before he could go near the chef.

As Harold put the spaghetti into his mouth without hesitation, his eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.

“Damn it!”

The long chef’s hat, like the pride of the chef, was horribly crumpled and thrown to the floor. The Imperial Academy diploma felt the same way.

“It was an obvious way!”

It was a recipe for ordinary people who were crude and unsophisticated. It made him want to take another bite even though he was upset. He had no choice but to admit that he had lost.

How can spaghetti with sauce, made with boiling water rather than wine or broth, taste so savory?

“I need to know what the secret is.”

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