~Chapter 10~
Elkaian thought.
‘For her to go this far… it means the knights have seen sincerity in her.’
After a brief moment of thought, Elkaian dismissed the knights and servants. Then, he turned to Delfina and asked,
“What is this proposal you wish to make?”
Elkaian’s gaze was sharp.
Delfina felt the intensity of his gaze and spoke up.
“Please pretend to love me during the engagement period.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to escape from House Lycaeon.”
Elkaian looked at Delfina in shock. He hadn’t expected her to say she wanted to escape from House Lycaeon.
Delfina continued.
“Once the North is stable, you can break off our engagement if you wish. But this engagement needs to proceed smoothly so that we can be somewhat free from the Emperor’s surveillance.”
Elkaian tilted his head.
He couldn’t understand why Delfina was making this proposal to him.
“I don’t see the connection between escaping from House Lycaeon and pretending to love me.”
Delfina answered firmly.
“Even if you don’t marry me, the Emperor will send someone else. Either way, you must marry someone from one of the noble families in the capital, right?”
“……”
“In that case, it would be better for you to marry me, who wants to help you.”
“By betraying him, what do you gain?”
“Freedom and revenge.”
Delfina said this with a faint smile.
“I want to open a restaurant one day. But as long as I remain in House Lycaeon, I’ll always be a pawn that the Duke can use.”
“……”
“The Grand Duke isn’t on the best terms with House Lycaeon either. You support the First Prince, right? And you’ll inevitably be aligned with the capital’s nobility, which supports the Second Prince. My uncle is a key figure in the nobility faction.”
Elkaian stared at Delfina in shock.
“I’ll help you defeat my uncle for the sake of my freedom. I’ll be more helpful than you might think.”
Only then did Elkaian begin to understand Delfina’s words.
However, he still felt perplexed. He had investigated her to some extent before she came to the North.
He had heard that, despite being mistreated in her family, she had been obedient to the Duke of Lycaeon.
‘Did she hide her true feelings from the Duke?’
It was unclear.
But Delfina’s words about wanting to open a restaurant seemed genuine.
The excitement in her eyes when she said it was undeniable.
“Before I take the food to my mother, I will taste it first. And there is a condition.”
“What condition?”
“The Grand Duke has excellent chefs. The meal we just ate was their work.”
Elkaian spoke with a serious expression.
“You need to earn their approval.”
Delfina’s face stiffened. Elkaian’s condition was quite natural.
The head chef at the Grand Duke’s castle oversaw all the cooking.
No chef could make food fit for the Grand Duchess without his approval.
Receiving the head chef’s approval wasn’t something Delfina could easily achieve just by deciding to.
But it was something she had to do.
Delfina nodded her head firmly toward Elkaian.
“I will earn his approval. Thank you for trusting me.”
Elkaian looked at her with a strange expression.
Walton, the head chef of the Grand Duke’s castle, stood before the future Grand Duchess.
‘She’s from House Lycaeon, you say?’
He felt a sense of displeasure.
Delfina had volunteered to cook for the Grand Duchess, who had been unable to eat.
Walton had also been working hard on this very problem.
For the past few months, he had barely slept, trying to create something that the Grand Duchess could eat.
‘I’ve never heard of a lady from House Lycaeon cooking before.’
The moment she said she was going to try what he hadn’t been able to do, his pride was hurt.
‘Does she think cooking is easy just because she wants to try?’
He had encountered several young noblewomen from the North who tried to meddle in his kitchen.
‘Is she just bored and wants to cook?’
Regardless, the fact that Delfina was willing to step forward and try cooking irritated him. But he couldn’t say anything to her face. That’s what the barrier of status did.
No matter how unfairly he was treated, he had to keep quiet.
Whether she knew this or not, Delfina smiled faintly.
Delfina spoke to Walton.
“Hello, Chef.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Walton.”
Delfina nodded and immediately grabbed a kitchen knife.
Then, she asked Walton.
“Is there a dish you’d like to eat?”
“Pardon?”
“The Grand Duke said that you need to approve of my cooking.”
“……”
“In order to serve my cooking to the Grand Duchess, I need your approval.”
“You need my approval?”
“Yes. And if I am to cook for the Grand Duchess, I will need your help.”
“Help…?”
“In order to receive help, I must first earn your approval.”
In her past life, Delfina had done various part-time jobs.
One of those was in a restaurant, and from her experience, she knew that working in a kitchen was all about collaboration.
Walton’s eyes seemed to light up with fire.
He looked at Delfina and asked.
“Do you think a House Lycaeon lady can satisfy me?”
Receiving Walton’s approval would certainly not be easy.
But Delfina was determined.
She would make a dish that would impress him and earn his help.
Of course, she couldn’t take too long.
The Grand Duchess was starving, and Delfina couldn’t stand to see anyone skipping meals.
<Earn Walton’s Approval!>
Walton is a very picky gourmet.
To satisfy him, you must prepare at least a C-rank dish.
Reward: Walton’s favor.
Assistance from the outstanding chef Walton.
The cooks in the castle will start to recognize you.
Failure: Walton’s disappointment.
Walton will no longer trust you.
“I’d like to eat a delicious omelette.”
An omelette.
At first, it seemed like a simple dish.
But the problem was Walton’s addition.
‘Delicious’ omelette.
She had to make an omelette with simple ingredients, but it had to taste good enough for him to approve.
After a few attempts at cooking, Delfina realized that the more complicated the recipe, the higher the rating.
‘I need to get a C-rank. That’s a level I’ve never achieved before.’
It was difficult to get a C-rank just by sticking to the basics.
But Walton was asking her to show her basic skills.
Delfina nodded.
Delfina began preparing the omelette.
She cracked the eggs, added salt for seasoning, and whisked them well.
After straining the egg mixture several times, she turned on the heat.
Delfina looked at the frying pan.
It was quite similar to the frying pans in her past life.
‘Magical engineering is so convenient.’
Though the science and technology were lower than in her previous life, the magic engineering in this world was highly developed.
She greased the pan with butter and poured the egg mixture in.
The sound of sizzling filled the air.
The egg mixture slowly began to cook.
Delfina stirred the eggs gently.
Her movements were familiar.
She had made omelettes to the point of exhaustion in her past life, but this felt like the first time since her reincarnation.
Since the environment was different, she had to pay more attention.
‘Timing is crucial.’
Delfina added cheese on top of the soft eggs as they neared half-cooked.
Alex, watching her movements, couldn’t help but salivate.
The rich smell of the eggs and cheese made his mouth water.
‘How delicious will that be?’
Alex had been assigned to guard Delfina by Elkaian, and he was quite satisfied with that task.
