Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Since it’s difficult to pinpoint Amoide’s disease, various factors had to be considered, which was why, as harmless as they seemed, small creatures could pose a danger to Amoide as well.

My goodness.

“Th-that’s right. Even the smallest dangers could be detrimental to my husband’s health. I’m very well aware,” I said, laughing so that my tone would seem casual, but I ended up laughing too loudly.

“When I see that cat again, I’ll be sure not to let it go. It already stole one too many expensive fish.”

…So, that’s why the cat smelled fishy at times. Apart from the meat I often gave Noir, I could smell a fishy scent from him sometimes, I usually wondered where he could have possibly gotten some. My goodness!

“What will you do when you catch it?” I asked Jean.

“I’m not sure yet. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

An ominous image suddenly passed through my mind, and I shuddered at the very thought.

‘Bu-butterfly soup?!’

[ TL/N: It’s called ‘Butterfly soup,’ though it’s actually a kind of soup that’s made from extracting concentrate from cats. It supposedly heals arthritis, etc., but it’s more of a folk remedy rather than a common dish. Anyway, this isn’t scientifically proven pls don’t boil ur cats ㅠㅠ ]

“No, Jean! I forbid you from doing that!”

“From what?” Jean asked, looking at me once more like I had grown another head on my shoulders.

“E-even if that cat looks fat and lazy, it’s quick on its feet… It’ll be hard to catch, and you might get scratched. One wrong move and you might hurt your hand…”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry, Milady. I catch wild boars with my bare hands,” he replied as he gazed at his knife laying innocently by itself on the chopping board.

“…”

“You don’t believe me?” As his expression became increasingly grave, Jean appeared as though he would up and go catch wild boars this very minute.

“No, no. I believe you.” I took a glance at his arms, and sure enough, those were meant to catch bears, not just wild boars. Of course, I believed him.

“But, Milady, have you seen that cat before?”

“No,” I answered immediately. I couldn’t say that I’d been imagining that very cat’s belly just a few moments ago.

‘Still, Amoide never said anything about the cat! He also didn’t cough or anything!’ —was what I would’ve wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but I urgently tried to control my expression in front of Jean.

“Really, I believe in you, Jean. Of course, I do.” I reassured the large man again. It was quite disconcerting to see such a serious expression on his face. “I also look forward to the healthy dishes you’ll make.”

“There’s no room for error. I shall prepare only the best.”

“…May I know in advance what you’ll be cooking?” Worried, I asked this only to make sure there’s no cat soup on the menu.

“Oh, first I will…”

But instead of letting him continue, I couldn’t contain myself and immediately yelled, “Butterfly soup! Butterfly soup is absolutely forbidden! The health benefits are a hoax!”

“Butter— what?”

“That…that… the cat…” I stammered, but couldn’t continue saying it, so I just silently swallowed my words. Making sure he wasn’t getting any ideas, I made sure to warn Jean again.

That boiling pot gave me the creeps.

“Anyway, you can’t do that! You don’t know what kind of side effects you’d get out of it even if you think it’s a special ingredient!” After all, it’s just a myth that eating a flexible cat’s body was good for the joints! “So that butterfly soup, just don’t…”

“Butterfly soup?” Jean, still perplexed, frowned at the name of an unknown exotic dish. However, then, after thinking about it once more, his eyes widened as he spoke, “Butterfly…? Ahh. No way, you mean a cat?”

Jean guffawed, the vibrations of which shook the entire room. In between his wild laughter, he continued, “Who would boil a cat and serve it to their master?”

“Ri-right…?”

“I’m only going to scold the cat a little to make sure it never comes back again,” he explained, still laughing his head off in that underground kitchen. Taken aback by the volume, Rona and I held each other in a tight embrace.

When Jean finally settled down, I requested a few more things.

“Make two servings of the Duke’s meals from now on. Bring me the extra serving.”

Jean took out a notepad and diligently took down my instructions.

“What my husband eats is exactly what I will eat. Bring meals made from the exact same ingredients and recipe, and…Ah.” A bulb lit up above my head. “Of course, I’ll be eating my meals together with Amoide in his room.”

“Together… you say?” Jean’s mouth was wide open.

“It’s only natural for a couple to eat together, right? And we’ve been very close lately.”

If it was possible, Jean looked more surprised than before as I emphasized the word ‘we.’ Without thinking, he murmured, “It must be true if that’s what the maids keep whispering these days…”

As his voice faded, he covered his mouth with one hand as though he just realized what he said. I merely smiled surreptitiously at him. It’s amazing how the rumor had already reached this far, but I knew Rona’s loose lips had a big role in how fast it must have spread.

“I understand, Milady, but then you’ll be left with tasteless meals since I won’t season them normally.”

“I already know this, however, don’t you think it’d be nice to share meals between a couple like us?” I asked, then added with a hint of remorse, “Now that I think about it, I haven’t been good enough for Amoide lately.”

“Milady…” Even Jean’s rugged features were capable of showing a sympathetic expression.

“Although I don’t hold much power, I am still the mistress of this estate. Besides, Jean, isn’t this kitchen too old? And its location is too inconvenient as well.” Again, I put on the airs of a confident madam and brought up my fan to my face.

The kitchen that had only one window was heady with smoke and spices.

“You’re cooped up in a place like this while cooking so passionately, so obviously, you wouldn’t be able to think about much else,” I uttered, remembering Rona’s fear of the chef as she and I walked down the stairs a while ago. It’s no wonder the chef’s always hot-headed.

“One’s environment shapes an individual’s personality, after all.”

Exactly like the precious master of this house.

“What you say is true, Milady, but it’s the same with the other nobles I used to work for. Their houses were extravagant and well decorated, but the kitchen would always be hidden away like it’s an embarrassing place to see.” Jean said all this with a straight face, as if it weren’t a big deal, but listening to him made me reflect as well.

The food that came out of the kitchen was always delicious, always intricately placed in bowls and plates. As dishes would be served in the dining room, it would be pleasing to the senses whenever steam would rise from a heavenly aroma. And yet, if such an aroma would seep through the walls from the chef’s working environment and around the house, it was a different matter.

“No matter how much a kitchen is maintained, it’s impossible to stop the mixed scent of all kinds of food from escaping the room.”

“Nonetheless, Jean, it’s hard on you, too. If such a scent is kept inside just the kitchen, it’ll smell worse, and the heat would always be locked in here as well,” While eyeing the small window of this wide kitchen, I said. It’s shocking that they didn’t have proper ventilation here. “I’ll try to move the kitchen somewhere else.”

“…Pardon?”

“It will be as wide and as open as possible.”

Jean couldn’t say anything in response. This time, it was he and Rona who exchanged bewildered glances, wordlessly asking each other if what I said was possible.

“Then, that will be all for now. From tomorrow onwards, we will be in your care, Jean.”

I raised a hand to wave goodbye as he looked down and bowed with an indescribable expression on his face. At that, Rona and I left the premises.

“Milady, you were pretty cool just now!”

“Me?”

Rona stopped in place and crossed her arms in front of her chest, putting on a haughty scowl. “‘Are you forgetting who I am, Jean?’” she said, reciting what I had said earlier.

“…”

“‘I’ll try to move the kitchen someplace else.’”

“…”

“‘Although I don’t hold much power, I am still the mistress of this estate.’”

“…Stop it.”

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up.

“Ah, just stop it!” I yelled again, but she continued her one-woman show. To drown it all out, I just groaned to myself as I covered my reddened ears in embarrassment.

“Anyway, you were wonderful, Milady! I felt so frustrated ever since the beginning because you always looked like a wet chick, but…”

“A wet…” Without continuing the words, I imagined water continuously being poured over a pitiful chick that somehow had the same eyes as me.

Yes, that’s it. That’s exactly how I’d been living thus far.

“So, what do I look like now?”

“Um. An exceptional hawk?” Rona spread her arms wide and flapped them, pretending to be the very bird she mentioned. She looked so ridiculous that I laughed.

“It doesn’t look very cool, though. Well, it’s just for sur—” For survival, is what I wanted to say.

“Sur—what?” Rona urged me to continue with her sparkling eyes, though I only shook my head in return.

If I continued, I would have to say it was just ‘for survival—because I remembered my past life, because I know this was a world within a novel.’

“Why do you look so excited like this?”

“It’s because the Duchess seems to have changed a lot.”

“Really?”

Out of the blue, all the strength I had left in me vanished. It just occurred to me that many different things happened all in one day: I managed to get my mother-in-law’s permission to oversee my husband’s health, I took a walk with Amoide, and…

[ From now on, don’t do anything useless. ]

I remembered what Amoide said with his eyes trained directly on mine, with his arms wrapped around my waist, with the distance between us disappearing slowly—

“…”

Delicately, I raised both hands to cover my cheeks. They were strangely warm.