Volume 1 Chapter 13 Lydia - The Angry Hamburger For 20 People
The same curse that was eating away at Sir Ciel is also affecting the mages of Saintwise.
It's so sad that they are innocent, yet their boss turned out to be a heartless person.
It's similar to me, who ended up lost just because my father and fiancé were cheaters.
In my case, I was actually wandering around on purpose, though.
"If it's just making hamburgers..."
If that's the case, then it's fine, since it's the same as always.
Whether my hamburgers can break the curse or not is another story, but if it's just about making them...
Being expected or relied on is──probably nice.
Ideally, cute girls and kids would eat my cooking and say, "It's delicious," but I think guys can just eat mud balls or something. Still...
"...It's fine, but..."
"Ms. Lydia, thank you. ...I'm sorry for forcing you to come here. To be honest, I was a bit anxious. I wanted to ask for your help, but I thought you would refuse if I asked you to come to the palace."
Sir Ciel smiled, looking somewhat relieved, and suddenly became shy.
If you think being shy suddenly makes the crime of kidnapping okay, you're very mistaken.
"That's true...! I never wanted to come to the castle again...! My clothes are all torn now. To kidnap me on our first meeting and ruin my clothes, I really have to question that...!"
I really do have to question that.
I'm feeling really angry and I asked, "I can use the kitchen and ingredients however I want, right?"
My clothes are torn in places, and a button from my blouse has come off, so about half of my chest is showing.
But since I usually wear clothes that cover my skin as much as possible, I think it's okay as long as it's just a little cooler.
Dresses and the outfits of female priests show way more skin, so it shouldn't be a big deal.
I don't want to waste time changing.
Let's quickly make the hamburger and go home. That sounds good.
I'm worried about the mages from Saintwise who are suffering from the curse, but I really don't want to run into Sir Stefan or Mr. Francois if I stay too long in the castle.
How can I show my face in front of those 2?
No matter how I think about it, I feel like a complete loser... well, I've already lost, but there was never a moment when I was winning.
It feels like I'd just be a loser who reluctantly shows up in front of them.
That's not what I want. I was finally living quietly and peacefully, and I absolutely hate this.
"I will definitely buy new clothes and return them. How about we go to the town next time? If there are any clothes or accessories that Ms. Lydia likes, I'll buy anything for you."
Sir Ciel said while watching me with a smile as I started cooking.
I feel like he's definitely keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't escape.
"I shouldn't go out with a man who isn't my boyfriend, Sir Ciel...! I can imagine that you and Mr. Lucian are really popular with the ladies, but I won't be fooled...!"
"Lucian is right, but I don't think that's true..."
Sir Ciel said with a troubled look. It's a lie, right? He's good-looking.
I looked around the kitchen.
It's bigger than the priest's kitchen, but it's similar in design.
There are 4 burners, and the pots and pans are bigger than the ones I use.
I rummaged through the refrigerator.
There are chunks of pork and beef.
There are onions, eggs, breadcrumbs, and a variety of spices too.
"Wow, there's beef! It's expensive, isn't it? Beef is high-class. Saintwise is rich..."
"Please use it as you like. Even if the ingredients are different, as long as it's the hamburger you make, I believe it will have the power to break the curse."
Sir Ciel is sitting elegantly on a round stool at the workbench, crossing his legs.
For a moment, I thought about asking him to help, but he said he can't cook.
Plus, having him too close isn't good for my mental health.
"Sir Ciel, how many hamburgers should I make?"
"Even though the symptoms haven't shown yet, I think all the soldiers stationed in the castle are cursed, so please make enough for 20 people."
"Twenty people, got it...!"
I pumped myself up.
I lifted a meat grinder, a bit bigger than the one in my dining room, from the shelf and carried it to the workbench.
On the way, Sir Ciel stood up and helped me carry it.
"I'll carry the heavy stuff. That's about all I can do, so just let me know."
"Ah, thank you..."
So kind.
He's really kind.
She's a woman's enemy.
I glared at Sir Ciel. A man who is too considerate, kind, and good-looking is definitely a woman's enemy.
The face of Mr. Lucian, making a peace sign and winking, popped into my mind.
"...Men are the worst..."
Anyway, Sir Ciel is probably being adored by the maids in the castle, for sure.
I placed a chunk of beef on a large cutting board and chopped it with a meat cleaver, making a loud thud.
I'm going to make hamburgers using a lot of beef, which I usually don't buy because it's expensive.
Just being able to use ingredients I normally can't is exciting.
I started putting the chopped beef into the meat grinder.
"Ugh, just being in the castle brings back bad memories... Sir Stefan... I mean, His Highness, was so kind when we just got engaged... I was full of dreams and hopes about marriage back then... so sad."
As I cranked the handle of the meat grinder, the beef turned into minced meat and came out from the grinder's opening.
The minced meat piled up in the white tray I set at the entrance.
After all, the most fun part is when I'm grinding the meat.
"Ms. Lydia, ...do you have feelings for His Highness?"
While watching me, Sir Ciel asked.
"Sir Ciel, ...please prepare 2 frying pans on the stove. Any will do."
"Understood."
"And... I don't like His Highness or anything. ...He was only kind to me until Francois met him. He was nice for about 6 months after our engagement was decided when I was 13..."
"Six months, huh?"
While placing a frying pan on the stove, Sir Ciel answers.
That's right. For about 6 months, he was kind.
At that time, I was 13, and Mr. Stefan was 16.
Even though there was only a 3-year age difference, he looked so mature, and since I was treated like I didn't exist in the priest's family, I was really happy to be treated kindly by someone for the first time, so I quickly became attached to Mr. Stefan.
He seemed very sincere, and I hoped I could have a happy marriage.
But that was just an illusion.
Before I knew it, I had become like an accessory to Francois, and while I thought it was understandable, I continued my school life seriously, and when I graduated, I was broken off from my engagement.
"Francois met the prince at the debut party. It seems like the prince got close to Francois. It's cheating. Men are cheating animals... I've reached the truth of the world."
"So, Ms. Lydia has reached a truth about the world that I couldn't reach even after ten years of research."
I put finely chopped onions, ground beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, seasonings, and spices into a bowl and started kneading with anger.
The result of reaching the truth of the world is being kidnapped, having my clothes torn, and being forced to make hamburgers──it's too much.
This world is not kind to me.
Maybe tomorrow, to cheer myself up, I should buy some cute plates. I think I'd like floral or animal patterns.
"That's right...! After all, guys like bright and cute girls... I'm just a loser... a worthless person... Just thinking that Sir Stefan is somewhere in the palace makes me feel so angry and full of hatred... I wish he could just trip over nothing... or get his fingers caught in a door and hurt himself..."
I kneaded the meat with my anger, tossing the chunks of ground meat back and forth like a game of catch.
Before I knew it, I had made enough hamburger mix for 20 people.
Since Sir Ciel might say something scary again, like wishing for a curse or destruction, I decided to make my curse more specific.
Yeah, being specific is better. It would be a problem if my curse really worked and Sir Stefan ended up cursed with death.
"Next, I'll just cook them slowly, and then the sick people can eat them... Oh, right. Let's season it with grated daikon and soy sauce. It's better when it's refreshing."
Nodding to myself, I warmed up the frying pan that Sir Ciel had prepared.
I added the extra fat I trimmed from the meat into the pan, letting the oil spread around.
"Sir Ciel, I have a favor to ask."
"Please, go ahead. I'll do anything I can."
"The teleportation magic, the one from earlier... You can use it without any problems if it's just you, right?"
"Yes. If it's just me, there's no problem."
"Then, could you go to the kitchen in the cafeteria and get some soy sauce for me? It's on the spice shelf. It's in a bottle with a black liquid... The label says soy sauce."
I looked around quickly and saw some alcohol, sugar, and honey. All I needed was soy sauce.
If I mixed it with grated daikon, I could make a sweet and savory soy sauce.
The kids don't really like grated daikon, but the adventurers and mercenaries love it because it's refreshing.
I can't help but wonder why I have to cook according to the tastes of those adventurers and mercenaries...!
But since I'm getting paid to cook, I want to serve something delicious.
By the way, the grated daikon sauce is a recipe I learned from the peddler Tsukuyomi, who sells soy sauce.
She said it was tasty, so I'm pretty confident about it.
"...I understand."
"Um, I won't run away now that I've come this far... I promise I won't leave the hamburgers before they're done...! Rice is important...!"
"...Ms. Lydia, you're so kind. I'm not suspicious at all. ...Please wait a moment."
Sir Ciel said that and then disappeared in an instant with a shining magic circle that appeared at his feet.
I felt a bit anxious, wondering if Sir Ciel knew where the soy sauce was, but I focused on cooking the hamburgers.
I used 2 large frying pans to cook enough for 20 people, splitting it into 2 batches.
I cooked them on high heat until they were browned, then covered them and turned the heat down to let them steam.
The sound of sizzling meat and the delicious aroma filled the air.
"Ms. Lydia, is this okay? It says soy sauce on it."
"Yes! Thank you!"
While I was steaming the hamburgers, I grated a lot of daikon radish with a grater. Just then, Sir Ciel came back.
Grating is nice. It's fun to grate daikon radish, almost as much as making minced meat.
Now that the daikon radish is ready, I opened the lid of the frying pan to check the hamburgers.
The red color of the minced meat has deepened as it steamed.
I flipped them over to give them a nice sear, turned up the heat, and let them sizzle.
"Sir Ciel, please prepare the plates, for 20 people."
"Yes. Understood."
When Sir Ciel snapped his fingers, 20 plates floated from the shelf and lined up on the workbench.
Wow, that's amazing. Magic is great.
I mean, I don't really need to use magic to prepare the plates, but I still feel a bit envious.
I think there aren't many people who can do things as skillfully as Sir Ciel.
I carefully placed the nicely browned hamburgers onto the plates.
Sir Ciel took the plates with the hamburgers and arranged them on the workbench, which was really helpful.
I feel a bit sorry for making such a talented mage help with cooking, though.
I added some sake, soy sauce, water, honey, and a little sugar to the empty frying pan where the hamburgers were cooked and let it simmer.
In the meantime, I squeezed the grated daikon radish and placed it on the hamburgers.
The beef hamburgers look really delicious. Of course, pork hamburgers are tasty too, but there's a different kind of luxury that comes with beef.
The people living in the south district rarely get to eat beef, so making hamburgers with it is really luxurious.
It's kind of making me angry.
I poured the thick soy sauce over the hamburger as a finishing touch.
"I'm done! Lydia's Angry Hamburger, 20 servings!"
"...You are angry, Ms. Lydia."
"Of course! I was kidnapped and forced to make hamburgers, so it's an Angry Hamburger...!"
"I'm sorry. ...But, even though you're angry, you look surprisingly cute."
"I'm not the kind of girl who gets easily swayed just because you called me cute...!"
"──Ms. Lydia, thank you. This will surely help my subordinates."
Sir Ciel bowed deeply to me, who was on guard.
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