HCYPBTKIRWO Chapter 16

"Witch, where are you going?"

Looking back, a man as tall and as young as the archduke was coming out of a door holding a roll of parchment.

‘Black hair and gray eyes? He looks familiar. Wait, he's the man who took my cake and kicked Daisy out.’

Standing blankly, the man approached me and talked to me. It was a threatening tone.

"Didn't you hear that you shouldn't walk around by yourself?”

"Yes, I was told to only go around the area I was assigned to and only visit areas that were necessary for work."

When I told him the cook called me and the servant had left without guiding me, the man sighed and spoke.

"I'll guide you."

He must be busy seeing all the papers in his hand. Besides, his face said it was annoying, but looking at the directions he was giving, it seemed like he was actually a very compassionate person.

"My name is Hazel."

"I know."

I looked at the long sword and uniform from the man and continued to talk.

"The knight’s name is..."

"Daniel. I'm the captain of the Guard and vice general of the Knights of Blaine."

"Oh, I see. Nice to meet you. I'm the new nanny.”

The man muttered bluntly, saying, "Who doesn't know that?" and threw a sharp look at me.

"Get rid of those unreasonably friendly words and just speak straight."

"Yes, Daniel."

The man's forehead crumpled.

“‘Sir’ Daniel. I'm not the kind of person you can dare to call by name.”

"Ah yes. ‘Sir’ Daniel.”

Even though I called him whatever he wanted, his eyes were not happy.

“Have you worked with the archduke for a long time?”

“I’m the person who has served the archduke closer than anyone else for the longest time. So it's best not to think about doing anything stupid. I will always be watching.”

“Yes, yes.”

I smiled happily and nodded. He was a man who served his superior faithfully. He's a bit picky, but he seemed like a good person, right?

Then, Sir Daniel's face suddenly turned harsh.

What? I gladly said yes, so why are you offended?

***

The kitchen was also strictly guarded.

“Raise your arms up.”

The waitress standing in front of the kitchen door gave instructions in a hard tone and examined my side with both hands.

Next to me was a male knight rummaging through the pockets of Sir Daniel's uniform. Even the archduke's closest aides seemed to be no exception. The knight who searched opened the kitchen door only after confirming that all I had was things in part of the working rules.

Through the wide open door, the sound of knives, bubbling, chewing, and cooking of food poured into the hallway.

I couldn't keep my mouth shut when I saw dozens of people busy moving in the kitchen, which was much larger than the nanny's bedroom.

'Are so many people preparing a dinner for just three people?'

But come to think of it, there are mouths of servants. There would be hundreds of people working for the archduke, so it was not unreasonable to need dozens of people to prepare the meal.

While someone was shouting something to the people who seemed to be assistants, a middle-aged man stopped when our eyes met.

“Ah, that person…?”

The man asked not me, but Sir Daniel, who stood two steps away from me, about me.

“That’s right, Harold. Did you ask to see the nanny?"

The sound of a dozen knives stopped at the word ‘nanny’. All hands stopped and looked at me in amazement, and only then did they start to move again after Harold’s yelling.

“That’s it.”

Mr. Harold, who came all the way in front of me, folded his arms as if he didn't want to, and after a while, he went straight to business.

“I asked Her Highness and His Highness to have dinner with His Excellency, and they told him to ask the new nanny.”

It was a voice that sounded like it was disapproving.

“The chestnuts, no. For the Prince and Princess, if you cut the food into small pieces and mix them well with their favorite ingredients, they can eat them all, right?"

I gave him a tip, but somehow his expression worsened.

“So, beef stew with water that is usually served on the table of common people?”

“Yes, you know. They really like beef stew.”

“…”

The chef's expression became even more unfamiliar, so he gave a curious look to Sir Daniel who was standing next to him.

Are you holding back your laughter?

"So what's for dinner tonight, Harold?"

As Sir Daniel walked into the kitchen, I followed along and rolled up my sleeves.

"Then can I see if it will suit the taste of the children?"

An unknown soup was in the boiling pot. There was no answer, so I looked up, and the chef's face was as red as an autumn apple.

'Are you mad?'

On the way to the kitchen, a diploma from the culinary academy with the name Harold hung there.

It must have hurt his pride to receive advice from a witch who was not an expert, but…

I couldn't even taste the dinner menu, so I wondered how I could ask for help, but the chef pointed to the empty counter. It was a voice telling me to create a separate menu for children.

'That's a good idea too.'

I soon forgot about the exhilarating coldness and started making dinner for the kids.

On the last day, I wanted to make beef stew that the children couldn't eat, but I didn't have enough time. Dinner time was only 20 minutes later.

‘What should I do… Ah!'

A good idea came to my mind, and I snapped my fingers. As soon as a bundle of plump sausages fell on the chopping board in front of me, the chief cook and Sir Daniel looked at me in amazement.

“Where did you get this from now?”

Sir Daniel asked, pointing his finger at the sausage.

“At home.”

Sir Daniel's eyes sharpened at my answer.

It was just seasoned pork and beef.

“Miss Hazel, no outside ingredients may be brought into the kitchen without inspection. Have you read the working rules?"

“Was there a rule like that?”

I took the rule book out of my apron pocket and flipped through the pages again.

I didn’t see anything like that though. As I looked through the book again, the answer was no.

“Ah… It was not among the rules given to the nanny.”

“Right.”

As I closed the rule book and put it in my pocket, Sir Daniel placed his palm on his forehead.

“Miss Hazel, please make sure that outside ingredients go through inspection before bringing them into the kitchen.”

"Yes I will."

The chef, who had disappeared for a while, brought a vial of clear liquid. Sir Daniel poured the liquid into a small test tube and cut my sausage into small pieces.

'What?'

I immediately watched the bubbles boil.

I know what that is. It's a drug for poison testing.

I've seen it in the witch's book and medicine cabinet in the hut.

The evil witch must have had many enemies. It wasn't enough to put a security guard on the hut, so she made a living by making a lot of reagents for testing poison.

Seeing that the archduke also had reagents, it seemed that he had many enemies. So, in front of the main room door, they did a body search with belongings. He was afraid someone would poison the food.

By the way, every time you test for poison in this huge mansion, you'll need a lot of reagents...

“Are there any wizards in the duchy? An alchemist or something."

Sir Daniel was quick-witted. He jumped around answering the questions and only spoke what was needed.

"The reagents are supplied by the Wizards Association."

“Then it’s expensive, isn’t it?”

What a rip-off.

Once, I was lonely, so I joined the Wizard Association and tried to hang out with wizards. However, from membership fees to annual membership fees, it was required. It wasn't a wizard, it was an association of merchants.

"I have a lot at home."

"Never mind. We only get food ingredients or reagents from reliable sources."

Sir Daniel, who confirmed that the reagent did not turn turquoise even after the sausage melted, nodded.

"It's not poisonous."

But I couldn't clean up the reagent bottle. It was because spaghetti noodles fell into an empty pot and they immediately tested it again.

"Please check this out too."

When the test was over, the noodles were cut in half so that the children could eat them and put in boiling water.

While the noodles were being cooked, carrots and onions were minced and sausages were cut into bite-sized pieces, but the chef kept talking to me.

“Where does the meat, noodles, and sausage come from?”

“I bought the meat at the village butcher, and I made the noodles myself.”

"Hmm… We only receive meat from the best farms recognized by the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts… It's definitely the finest."

"Wow, is that so? That's amazing."

I was distracted by pouring ingredients into the pan.

I didn't know if I properly responded to the cook. I added belatedly because I was afraid he'd be embarrassed again.

"I make my own sausages. This is made of the meat that I bought to feed the kids last time."

But why is he watching my cooking from the side and I’m not allowed to see his cooking? The menu wasn't special then.

"Are you ready for dinner?"

“…”

"Yes, the noodles are all cooked."

I tilted my head, pulling out the cooked noodles so that a small seam was left in the middle. There will be nothing for the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts graduate to learn from me.

Sir Daniel said he would do a poison test again after cooking, so what are you doing when you don't have to monitor me?

'Wow, that was close.’

Sausage tomato spaghetti was completed under the strict surveillance of the two men.

The servants came in and took it out of the kitchen, piling it like a mountain on a large serving plate.

A tight procession of soldiers followed the procession of servants carrying out mouth-watering dishes.

‘Is it because someone might poison it between here and the dining room? Wow, this is crazy.'

Following the procession entering a door, I almost shouted.

‘Chestnuts!’

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