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

She grew up watching her grandmother’s hands cooking every day, so she understood it perfectly even if he said the measures were ambiguous. However, others lamented that their meals did not taste the same even after doing what her grandmother taught them.

“Now, minced garlic in moderation…”

‘In moderation.’ Did the habit come out again? Anyway, like grandmother, like granddaughter.

“Why are you adding garlic now? They are usually stir-fried with meat or, at the latest, they do not add broth when boiling.”

“Yes, it usually is. But for me, adding garlic later than the step written in the recipe suits my taste better.”

Well, actually, she accidentally forgot a few times and put it in late. It felt like the taste of garlic was alive and the taste was rich.

“By the way, Mr. Harold has built his career for a long time and graduated from the academy at the top of his class. To think he was trying to learn from me, who was insignificant. You look great.”

“It’s nothing. Oh, I admit I’m cool.”

She misunderstood because of the nerve war on the first day. He thought that she had tarnished his reputation and narrowed his position in the Grand Duke’s family, so he might hate her and mistreat her. But to break his pride and ask her for help? It was really surprising and delightful.

‘I must be a person with a big bowl.’

On the other hand, she was ashamed that her bowl, which was misunderstood, seemed too small. Anyway, it’s cool to see them not being complacent and constantly looking for things they were lacking in and trying to improve.

“I, too, should imitate Mr. Harold and continue to hone my skills.”

Not just cooking, but magic. Anyway, she guessed she would have to live there as a witch.

“I don’t think Miss Hazel needs that at all.”

Mr. Harold waved his hand over the pot, smelled the beef stew, and was impressed.

“Ah, wouldn’t it just be that the taste of my cuisine suits the taste of the people of the Grand Duke’s family?”

“It suits my taste too.”

“really? I’m happy.”

Other cooks, who were busy preparing dinner in the kitchen, also helped Mr. Harold. When compliments poured in saying that it was delicious, she was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do.

“It is not empty talk at all. Every day, the chefs have a heated competition over what is left of what they make for the meal.”

As if to prove Harold’s words, she could hear the conversation of the chefs preparing the dessert from across the kitchen.

“How much of the stew will remain… ”

“The chef did the same, so there will be less competition today.”

“From now on, let’s set the order fairly.”

Order for the next time?

Everyone seemed too serious to be a joke or an exaggerated statement of politeness. Then she thought something was strange.

Originally, she tended to cook quite a bit, perhaps inheriting the habits from her grandmother, who boasts 45 years of experience in a white house. But for some reason, after going there, her cooking skills got better.

When she was living in Korea, she couldn’t even cook carrot cake or stew, and she just read the cookbook and followed it. Before coming to the grand duke’s family, she had little to do to treat others, so she thought it was just for her taste. But she never thought it would fit in the mouths of so many people.

‘That’s interesting. Do I have abilities that I don’t even know about?’

Maybe it’s a witch’s basic ability. She had no way of knowing.

When she lowered the pot from the stove, it was already time for the Bible class to end. She was about to leave the service to the servants, but Mr. Harold greeted me.

“You worked hard today too, Ms. Hazel.”

Following him, the people in the kitchen also greeted her one by one.

How friendly everyone was. The first few days, the workers avoided her, but now everyone was polite and kind.

‘Except for two people.’

So, did everyone know that she was not evil now? Truth also prevailed.

* * *

“Hmm… ”

As Harold snorted in disbelief, the cook who was pouring the witch’s stew into Turin asked,

“Why is that?”

It smelled different. The stew in his pot and the witch’s stew smelled distinctly different.

After tasting each of the two stews, Harold opened his eyes wide.

“The taste is different.”

“Yeah? It can’t be.”

However, the chef who tasted it had no choice but to agree.

“This is nonsense. Same ingredients, same quantity, same order. Even though they are cooked side by side, how can the taste be so different?”

All the people who stopped preparing the meal and tasted it bit by bit tilted their heads, saying that it was nonsense. Even when they were told to taste which dish belonged to them without telling them which dish belonged to them, everyone recognized at one bite that it belonged to the witch.

“The chef’s stew is also delicious, but…”

The butler who stopped by to serve the prepared dish tasted it and commented.

“Nanny’s stew has a bit more flavor to it.”

“Ah! you’re right. My dish is missing something. What is that something?”

“That is… I’m not familiar with cooking, so I don’t really know.”

Even the experts in cooking did not know. All the cooks put their heads together. However, no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with an ingredient that would taste like this.

During the long discussion, a young assistant cook muttered out of nowhere.

“Did she really add drugs?”

A few eyes flickered among the people who snorted, saying it was speculation.

* * *

Tic. Tic.

The sound of fingertips tapping on the table echoed through the quiet dining room. The maid and her servants glanced impatiently at the Grand Duke, who sat alone at the table. The mouth-watering smell continued to leak from the soup turin placed in front of him.

“Right now…”

The Grand Duke, who had a serious expression on his face, was about to call a nearby servant and instruct him to do something.

The dining room door opened wide, and the Grand Prince and the Grand Princess entered holding the witch’s hand. Both children were rubbing their eyes as if they were sleepy.

“Why are you so late?”

Elliot asked the witch to seat Luca. The witch turned to the old clock in the corner of her dining room and tilted her head.

“Didn’t His Highness come three minutes early? By the way, Your Highness is coming very early these days.”

“… Harold.”

Elliot pretended not to hear the witch’s sharp words and nodded his head to Harold, who stood beside her. With that as a signal, the servants began to move around busily and serve meals.

In the meantime, Elliot cast his eyes on the sleepy faces.

“You had been working hard since morning, so you two are sleepy even after taking a nap.”

After lightly scolding her for doing field work, Luna, who rubbed her eyes, replied sullenly.

“I mean, it’s not like that. The Bible class is so so so…”

Luna echoed the word ‘too’ until Elliot told her to stop.

“It was boring.”

“There was no fun. We have to write a lot.”

“He is a teacher specially sent by the Holy Father for you two. How busy he is…”

Elliot, who was about to preach a sermon saying that they should appreciate taking religious lessons from a high-ranking priest, changed the topic.

“… Let’s start with dinner.”

Putting aside the plate on which various dishes were placed little by little, he had a taste of stew first. Only then did he realize. There was a reason the two of them ate Harold’s stew.

Of course, Harold’s stew was also excellent. Whenever a rare party was held at the Grand Duke’s residence, guests praised Harold’s cooking in unison. To the point where socialites even begged Elliot to throw more parties, he had a skill that rivaled any other chef in the empire. So Harold’s stew was never tasteless, just different.

The chef’s cuisine was a splendid feast with a variety of flavors. Then the witch’s cooking could be compared to a warm fireplace to greet those who return from her eyes in the cold winter. A taste that melts the frozen body and mind together.

Elliot was so absorbed in the stew that he forgot his siblings were at the same table. After cleaning his stew plate, he came to his senses.

‘Why are these guys quiet?’

Normally, it would have been enough to make an annoying slurp sound when eating stew or a clang sound when dropping a spoon, but it was strangely quiet.

Fortunately, the children sat quietly in their seats. But he couldn’t understand why they kept glancing at him and exchanging glances with each other while eating.

The children’s quiet but suspicious behavior continued throughout the meal.

When he lifted the spoon, the two followed suit, and when he set it down, they dropped it.

‘Are you copying me now?’

He picked up a fork to check. When he poked a fork into the grilled Brussels sprouts placed in the corner of the plate, the children followed suit. It’s definitely a vegetable that the two of them hate terribly.

‘Then try this too.’

Elliot’s eyes widened as he took a bite of her Brussels sprouts without hesitation.

‘Wait, do you copy this too?’

Luna and Luca narrowed their eyes and glared at each other, and just as Luna put her cabbage into her mouth first, Luca brought her fork to her mouth as well.

“Eww…”

Of course, Luca put down his fork after eating half of it, but in Elliot’s eyes, that was a huge improvement. He looked at his siblings with a curious gaze, the servants were looking at the children like that.

“Whoops, I won.”

Elliot narrowed his eyes as Luna suddenly broke the silence and laughed.

‘Win? What are these guys doing?’

“Shh!”

When the witch watching from behind them warned her, Luna huffed and shut her mouth. Soon the suspicious purple eyes moved from Luna to the witch.

After dinner, Elliot was dazed.

His younger siblings tasted food they wouldn’t normally touch, and they rarely spilled their meal and never knocked their water glass over. Never had a meal been so peaceful since these guys were big enough to sit at the table.

‘It’s suspiciously peaceful…’

Elliot, who had been watching his younger siblings eat their pumpkin pie for dessert, got up quietly from his seat and called the witch to a corner of the dining room.

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