Episode 19
“Huh, huh?”
“Let’s go.”
I smiled and put out my hand.
“To where? Maybe the kitchen?”
“Yes.”
Rona cocked her head because she didn’t understand my answer.
“Why do you want to go there?”
“I want to meet Jean in person.”
Rona’s voice went up in pitch all of a sudden.
“The Chef?”
“Yes, why?”
I didn’t understand how Rona reacted.
Rona’s face showed a fear that was hard to describe.
Why is she acting that way?
“I can’t?”
I asked Rona, who looked like she had seen a ghost, in a careful way.
“It’s not that you can’t do it, but… well, anyway…”
“Well?”
“The head cook hates it when people come into the kitchen. I haven’t gone back there since I heard that he’s working there.”
I didn’t know what sound she heard that made her so scared, like a squirrel meeting a snake.
“Well, I guess so. He is very proud of what he does.”
Even if he was a peacock that flew high in the sky, the kitchen was a special place for him. Even the mansion’s butler couldn’t walk in without a reason.
Because the kitchen was a special place where the head chef was in charge.
In a noble house where wealth and power were mixed, everyone wanted to serve their guests unique and rare dishes.
Because of this, it wasn’t easy to find the head cook when you needed them.
Jean was a cook from another country who was hired for a high salary.
His cooking skills were thought to be top-notch because Camilla, who was very picky, liked what he made.Well, her ladyship has said that his cooking skills are so good that they are “outstanding,” but I’m a little scared.
Jean was born in a place known for its gourmet food, and he could cook meals from more than 20 countries.
So, it was said that he knew how to make a lot of different dishes with valuable seafood, meat, veggies, and other foods.
“Well, even the housekeeper, Greta, doesn’t go in there.”
“Greta too?”
Greta is the Shadow Master in this house.
Almost everything Greta said was the same as what Camilla said, so no one was brave enough to go against her. I didn’t either….Greta was kind of creepy.
The first time I met her, I couldn’t help but bow my head because she looked intimidating.
Even Greta had a hard time getting into the kitchen.
This was pretty fascinating.
“I want to go in even more now.”
I want to go where I’m not allowed to go. Isn’t that a typical trait of a character whose life is going to end soon in a book?
“Greta can’t even enter, Jean must be quite strict.”
“Yes, they say that he’s crazy about cooking.”
Rona nodded like a broken doll.
Since he spent most of his time in the kitchen, it was hard to see his face from the outside.
Even though I ate the food he cooked every day, I had never even had a real talk with him.
Even when he briefly came out for a break, I had only seen him from afar.
I only remembered his big, hairy face, which was on a big body.
“Besides, the kitchen isn’t a very interesting place to go.”
“Why?”
Doesn’t the kitchen serve as a place to cook? Does being the Duchess have to do something with not needing to go there?
“It’s not a pleasant place.”
Why wouldn’t it be a good place if a cook who is hard to find works there?
I thought about the kitchen of a five-star hotel where I once worked as a kitchen helper for a short time.
Clean countertops and dishes and food tools that are neatly put away. Everything was spotless and well-run.
Of course, when it was busy, it was like a war.
Even more chaos would be in the place where meals are made in this big house.
“Well, I know it isn’t a very fancy place.”
I gave Rona a nod and looked at her.
“But if you tell me I can’t go, I want to go even more.”
“What kinds of…”
She sounded like she was going to say that it was silly, but I just smiled back.
Now that I think about it, I can think of a good reason to go.
The person in charge of food at the Ifrit Ducal House, the head cook, was the person who knew the most about Amoide’s meals.
He was one of the most important people who might have had something to do with Amoide’s death.
“Let’s go.”
Rona unwillingly took the lead when I asked her to.
—
“Cough, cough? Is this the kitchen?”
As soon as I walked into the kitchen, I coughed hard.
The kitchen in the ducal house was very different from what I had thought it would be like.
“Yes… cough.”
Rona answered shortly and coughed as well.
The downstairs was where the kitchen was. I found it harder and harder to breathe as I went down the stairs.
There was a lot of smoke in the kitchen.
Ventilation was a must in a place where cooking, steaming, and frying were done every day, but the setting didn’t seem very good.
The windows were small, and being in the basement made it hard to get fresh air in.
“Is this how it is everywhere?”
“I’d say so, cough!”
The kitchens where food was made were usually as far away from the main building as possible, in a quiet place where food smells and smoke wouldn’t reach.
Still, since I was a Duchess, I didn’t have any chances to cook.
Since I got married and moved into the ducal house, I’ve never even had to go into the kitchen.
So it made sense that I didn’t know what the kitchen looked like.
Still, this was a surprise.
Since I was in the kitchen of the ducal house, the cooking smoke made it hard for me to see what was in front of me. My nose hurt, and my head was spinning.
“Who’s out there?”
Through the thick smoke, a deep male voice could be heard.
“Ahhh!”
Rona yelled and turned to look behind me.
I turned around, and when I did, I saw something dark through the smoke.
“Ahhh!”
I, too, started to scream. There stood a man who looked like a bear.
The man looked at us and screamed at us, then slowly raised his hand.
Something flashed briefly in the smoke.
—
“What on earth is that?”
In his hand was a sharp knife with a blue blade.
It didn’t look like a kitchen knife because it was too big, strong, and sharp.
“Ah! Aaah!”
Rona yelled and took a step back.
I was just as surprised, but Rona’s screams stopped me from doing the same.
“My lady, my lady!”
Rona ran up to me with a pale face and I gave her a hug.
Through the smoke, we could see two bright eyes watching us.
“…Jean?”
I called out his name with care.
Expecting it to be Jean.
It has to be Jean, that’s a given. No, it’s not Jean, so it must be scary.
“Ugh.”
“Who are you?”
A deep, low sound could be heard. It looked like the other person was also very careful.
“I, I am…”
What do you think? For a moment, I couldn’t think of anything. The woman who runs this big house! Duchess Ifrit.
“She is the Lady of the House!”
Rona, who was holding on to me, yelled.
“Hey, that guy is carrying a knife!”
That idea kept going around and around in my head, but I couldn’t say it.
“What did you say?”
When Rona spoke, the other person again blinked his eyes.
It seemed like it couldn’t be true, like we had to be lying.
“Rona is right, Jean.”
I just barely pulled away from Rona, who was so close to choking me with her hug.
“I wanted to come over and see.”
Jean seemed suspicious and looked me over from head to toe.
When he looked at me, I felt like he was thinking about making me lunch.
“…Is that the truth?”
Most of the time, cooking maids and servants were in charge of serving the food.
As the name suggests, the head chef’s main job was to cook in the kitchen.
So it was only natural that they didn’t know each other’s faces, even though they lived in the same mansion.
“Why are you here, though?”
When Jean was shocked to see the duchess in the kitchen, he gave her a very wary look.
Well, I would also think it was strange. The duchess herself going into the kitchen.
“Um… well, I came to see Jean, of course.”
“Me?”
He seemed to be as aware as he could be.
With his big bear-like body and a kitchen knife in his hand, he gave off a very scary vibe.
I tried to smile when I saw that he had so much energy that it could scare someone away.
“Jean.”
I pointed to the right hand of Jean.
“Could you please put the knife down…?”
“Ah.”
Jean finally noticed that he was holding a heavy cooking knife and put it down on the cutting board.
Just putting down the knife made a big difference.
“Ah… but.”
In an instant, the smile was gone.
“Why did you come here?”
Then I remembered why I had come to see them.
“Ah Jean…”
—
“Hmm….”
Amoide’s meal plan for the past month was on the table.
I looked through the paper with a serious face. It had everything from breakfast to snacks, as well as lunch, and dinner.
The hard working chef who cooked for Amoide stood next to me with a tense face, not sure what was going on.
I thought that someone as big as a bear would have a fiery rage, but he seemed to care a lot about other people.
I looked at the meal plan that Jean gave me.
Most of the time, the lunch plan included food that was good for people who had to stay in bed for a long time.
“Jean, it looks like you are really good at cooking.”
Soups, bread, and vegetable dishes that are easy to process and don’t weigh you down, etc.
Nothing was wrong with the meal plan itself. Besides one thing.
