Chapter 07
Luciela swallowed as she looked over the kitchen equipment.
Fortunately, Cain had been telling the truth when he said that she had been examined by a doctor while she was unconscious. The sensation in her fingertips had returned.
“Let’s see…”
After washing her hands with the water that had been prepared, Luciela searched through the pile of kabocha pumpkins stacked in the corner of the kitchen and picked up one that was small but surprisingly heavy.
“I’ll make kabocha pumpkin soup.”
From that moment on, Luciela’s movements became swift.
She searched above and below the counters and found the pots and cutting board she needed.
In an instant, she removed the seeds from the kabocha and placed it in a steamer. At the same time, she sautéed onions in butter in a pan, drawing out their sweet aroma.
Sizzle—
At that very moment, Luciela took a deep breath and drew up the mana deep within her body.
“Buff.”
A small, translucent status window flickered before her eyes and disappeared.
Compared to the status window Mother could see, it was a cute little thing with only a handful of functions. But as someone who was only half-possessed, this was all Luciela could summon.
She still remembered how proud she had been when she first managed to activate it at the age of two.
[The ‘Buff (Peaceful Rest)’ skill is being cast.]
The target who consumes the cooked food immediately gains a mental stabilization effect and mana recovery effect. Due to the current state of mana depletion, the caster’s consciousness maintenance time is limited to ‘60 minutes.’
A warm, gentle energy flowed through her fingertips and seeped into the food.
Sixty minutes?
‘That’s shorter than usual.’
Luciela decided to hurry even more.
“Activate special function.”
The status window flashed once again.
[Special Eye Function: ‘Gourmet’s Milestone’ has been activated.]
Displays the optimal ingredients within the kitchen.
※Warning: Due to excessive mana consumption, consciousness maintenance time will be reduced by an additional ‘10 minutes.’
“Ten whole minutes? That’s pretty stingy.”
Luciela grumbled but continued cooking.
She moved through the kitchen as though it were her own home, fearlessly searching for and finding the ingredients she needed.
There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in the way she picked out only the freshest ingredients from among those the kitchen staff had yet to finish organizing.
Bubble, bubble—
She mashed the kabocha once it was sufficiently cooked, then poured rich milk and fresh cream into it.
The orange kabocha mixed with the white liquid, gradually transforming into a warm and vivid golden color.
As she carefully controlled the heat and gently stirred the bottom with a wooden spatula, the soup gradually developed a texture as smooth and dense as velvet.
At the same time, an intoxicating aroma began spreading throughout the kitchen.
“W-What is that?”
Several chefs, including the sous-chef, instinctively sniffed the air.
“Does kabocha soup normally smell this good?”
“We eat it all the time… Maybe we’re just hungry?”
“She picked the freshest heavy cream that came in today. The flavor is rich, too. It pairs perfectly with the kabocha…”
Cain, who had been watching from the side, also breathed in the soup’s aroma filling the air.
He swallowed hard and desperately tried to keep his expression stern.
Could a smell really feel warm?
Yet it was true.
The scent stimulating his nose right now was as comforting as a soft cotton blanket wrapped around his body on a cold day.
Meanwhile, Luciela glanced around before immediately finding a bottle of highly concentrated chicken stock bearing the label of the ‘Golden Olive Merchant Guild,’ the finest food merchant guild in the Empire, in the pantry.
She opened the lid without hesitation.
“H-How did she…?!”
Jerome muttered in bewilderment.
“That was a gift from the merchant guild. The Duke hasn’t even had a chance to taste it yet… It hasn’t even been released to the public!”
The other chefs nearby were equally shocked.
How could a mere little girl find the most expensive and precious ingredient as though she had a sixth sense for it?
Moreover, that stock was far more concentrated than ordinary chicken stock, making the correct amount extremely difficult to determine.
Even the sous-chef had yet to discover the proper ratio and had been repeatedly practicing with it.
Every time he used it, he ended up ruining the dish, and it had been giving him quite a headache.
Luciela’s effortless movements somehow pricked at their pride as chefs.
She took one sniff and, with a delighted expression as though she had just found what she was looking for, poured the chicken stock she hadn’t even measured into the soup.
It was an incredibly risky thing to do.
Yet Jerome instinctively knew.
Her measurement was perfect.
The moment the highly concentrated chicken stock from the Golden Olive Merchant Guild met that soup, the aroma rose to an entirely different level.
Jerome unconsciously swallowed.
Luciela smiled as she looked at the golden soup.
‘As expected, rich people’s kitchens really are different.’
She had managed to find chicken stock with almost exactly the same concentration as the kind she used to make with Mother.
She mixed several herbs together and added them to the soup.
With every additional ingredient, the depth of the aroma spreading throughout the kitchen increased.
Splash—
Finally, she pulled out the bottle she had been carrying in her pocket and sprinkled in a pinch of MSG.
“Gasp.”
Everyone in the kitchen took another deep breath.
When the chicken stock and MSG powder came together, the aroma in the air became almost violently intense.
“It’s almost done.”
Luciela put down the ladle she had been using to stir the soup for a moment and turned around to take the bread out of the oven.
That was when Jerome did something even he could hardly understand.
Overcome by the aroma of a dish that wasn’t even finished yet, he quietly approached the counter like a thief.
“…Hup.”
He scraped the soup clinging to the ladle with a spoon and dumped it into his mouth.
“W-Wait…!”
“Sous-Chef…!”
The other chefs didn’t even have time to stop him.
Jerome only realized what he had done after the soup had already gone down his throat.
But it was too late.
“…!”
The next moment, his eyes widened as though they were about to pop out.
The intense sweetness of the kabocha.
The rich flavor of butter gently enveloping his tongue.
The combination of herbs subtly enhancing the overall flavor.
And then…
“W-What is this? Is it because of the chicken stock…?”
It was as though the essence of thousands of chickens had been condensed into a single drop, pressing down on his tongue with incredible depth.
Then came an explosive burst of umami.
A flavor so dense and rich that it sent chills down his spine.
No.
Even if the chicken stock were extraordinary, it couldn’t possibly produce a flavor this incredible on its own.
Then was it because of that strange powder she had added halfway through?
He tasted the soup lingering in his mouth again.
This time, he noticed its astonishing texture.
Somehow, through precise control of heat and time, it flowed smoothly across his tongue like silk, yet every now and then, soft, fluffy chunks of kabocha filled his mouth.
The chunks maintained their shape, but the moment they touched his teeth, they melted like honey.
Jerome couldn’t bear to swallow them because he didn’t want any of the individual pieces to disappear. He treasured them in his mouth for as long as possible.
It was an incredible dish.
It perfectly fulfilled every expectation one could possibly have for kabocha soup while simultaneously containing a fresh shock unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
Jerome realized it clearly.
The essence of this soup wasn’t some magical ingredient.
It was Luciela’s ability to combine all those ingredients and transform them into a single dish.
This seemingly simple bowl of soup possessed a depth and grandeur that surpassed any dish he had ever known.
His pride as an award-winning chef of the Imperial Cooking Competition and a senior chef of the Imperial Kitchen collapsed with a single bite.
The surrounding chefs watched his reaction and began whispering.
“Sous-Chef, just how good is it…?”
One after another, they picked up spoons and crowded around the pot.
“A-Amazing…! How is this possible?”
“My goodness. It tastes like something is wrapping me up as warmly as a blanket.”
“If I could eat this soup for the rest of my life… I could die without a single regret.”
Jerome suddenly whipped his head toward Luciela.
She was holding a loaf of bread in one hand and staring at him with an utterly dumbfounded expression.
“You already tasted it?”
“……”
“What? I deliberately made plenty, but there’s only half left!”
“……”
“If you’ve eaten, could you move aside? I need to plate it.”
“You… How in the world did you make this?”
Luciela waved her hand as though shooing away flies, trying to get them out of the way, but Jerome desperately grabbed the hem of her dress.
“Hm?”
“Please. Teach me.”
There was even reverence in his eyes.
“Just once is enough. I want to make food like that with my own hands.”
Even though Luciela found him bothersome, she was secretly relieved.
Of course it would taste good.
‘But he didn’t notice the buff effect.’
Well, they were chefs, after all. They had probably focused on the taste and texture rather than the effects.
“…Did I pass?”
“Whether you pass or not doesn’t even matter! If a child like you could work in our kitchen…!”
Huh.
Luciela narrowed her eyes at Jerome’s attitude, which had changed as quickly as flipping over one’s palm.
“I never said I was going to employ this girl under you.”
Cain seemed to have similar thoughts. He raised a hand and separated Jerome from Luciela with a dry chuckle.
“I-I was arrogant, Lord Cain.”
Jerome lowered his head deeply and apologized. The other chefs also hesitantly bowed their heads.
“This wasn’t a test. I learned something instead. No, I desperately want to learn. How to use that stock, the nature of that powder you added earlier, how to use herbs that aren’t normally added to soup, precise heat control, and…”
Jerome pleaded for instruction with an emotional expression.
Luciela suddenly remembered Nigel back at the lord’s castle.
That bastard who had first thought about exploiting her by gaslighting her in every way imaginable.
Compared to him, Jerome was a fairly honest man.
She could even see genuine passion for cooking in him.
“Later. I’m a little busy right now.”
She poured the golden soup into a neat bowl and placed beside it the freshly baked bread, which was overflowing with the aroma of butter.
It was a perfect meal.
“Let’s go.”
She waved her hand several times, shooing away the bothersome chefs, then grabbed the sleeve of Cain, the only person in the kitchen who had managed to maintain his self-control.
“It looks excellent… Wait.”
Cain unconsciously smacked his lips as he looked down at the food, but then he noticed Luciela’s complexion and suddenly furrowed his brow.
Her face was as pale as it had been when he first found her in the forest.
“You don’t look well.”
“……”
“Are you in pain somewhere?”
He leaned forward and examined Luciela’s face.
She bit her lips tightly and shook her head.
“We have to go quickly. It can’t get cold.”
“……”
“Quickly.”
Luciela spoke firmly.
According to the status window, once an hour had passed—or rather, once several dozen minutes had passed—she wouldn’t even be able to remain standing anymore.
