Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Defending the Kitchen Staff
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I put on the most sullen expression I could manage and answered.
"I didn't eat anything this morning. Jus' ......"
"Yes, please speak."
"At night... tummy was hungry. Sneaked down to the kitchen and ate somethin', but it smelled all funky ......"
"Lord Leopoldt, it seems the young lady has eaten some spoiled food."
Dad, who had been listening to the physician's swift report, reached out and touched my forehead.
My stomach didn't hurt at all, but after all that wailing and sobbing, my forehead was damp with sweat.
Dad gently stroked my sweaty brow, not minding the discomfort, then pushed out an icy voice.
"We don't know if it's just spoiled... or poisoned."
...Dad really doesn't trust the duke's household people one bit.
I'd known it all along, but it still hit me fresh every time I was reminded.
Dad's hand lifted from my forehead.
"Walter, round up every last kitchen servant."
"Yes, sir."
"Peter, take the knights and tear the kitchen apart. Don't miss a single suspicious thing."
"Got it."
"Kira, surround the annex. Report even a single rat coming or going."
"Yes, sir."
The knights scattered with crisp efficiency at Dad's orders.
It didn't take long before they returned, carrying boxes of vegetables and fruits reeking of rot.
"The kitchen staff say the supplies Marquis Shuleman brought this time were generally in poor condition overall, so that's why......"
Dad's face showed almost no patience left.
Peter squeezed his eyes shut tight, then opened them, spitting out words laced with fury.
"And they picked out the lowest-grade stuff to send to the annex, the private soldiers' training grounds, and the border regions."
What?
The annex, fine, whatever. Everyone knew Uncle hated us.
'But they already shipped crap like this to the borderlands?'
These were vegetables already so rotten they were leaking juice.
By the time they reached the border, they wouldn't even resemble anything edible.
I clenched my fists under the covers. Trash bastards.
And after pulling this stunt, they dared to subtly pick a fight with our dad, then pin the blame and tweak the contract terms however they wanted?
They wouldn't die alone, that was for sure.
But first, they could answer for bringing this garbage here.
Playing sick had been the right call.
'I was sure if I said I was sick, Dad would tear through the kitchen.'
Dad glared sharply at the ingredients the knights had uncovered, then flashed a mocking smile.
"Pack it up and follow me."
"Where to?"
"To His Grace."
Yes!
I clapped silently inside as I saw Dad off, then buried my face in the pillow, pretending to groan in pain to hide my grin.
The condition of the food supplies Marquis Shuleman had brought was reported straight to Grandpa that very day.
With Dad taking charge personally, the impact was tremendous!
"Young lady, is your tummy feeling better now?"
"Yeah. All good now."
"Thank goodness. You have no idea how worried we were. Those awful jerks, feeding garbage like that to our precious young lady!"
Betty spat curses and punched the air.
Her antics were so funny and cute that I giggled, and the nurse sitting beside me pulled me into a tight hug.
"His Grace the Duke was furious. So this won't happen again."
"Grandpa got super mad?"
"Oh, yes. They say his shouts echoed all the way down the hall."
It wasn't just that I'd gotten sick from the food...
What really set him off was that they'd planned to send this crap to the private soldiers and even the borderlands.
Feeding garbage ingredients to soldiers risking their lives on the front lines.
What the hell had Uncle been thinking?
"Nurse, is it true that when the young lord was summoned to the office and came out, blood was pouring from his forehead?"
"That's what I heard. Apparently, His Grace hurled an inkstone at him, demanding where the huge procurement funds had gone when all he bought was trash."
"And the young lord just took it?"
"He tried making excuses, saying it spoiled in the heat and it wasn't malice from the southern faction, then got kicked out."
"But Nurse, how do you know so much about the main house gossip?"
Betty asked with a sly grin, and the nurse's cheeks flushed bright red.
Huh? That's suspicious.
Even quiet Laura was smiling faintly, so it felt like something was going on that only I didn't know about.
"W-well, just... I happened to hear it from someone who knows the ins and outs there."
"That's weird. Someone saw you with Secretary Oliver together."
"Betty!"
Grandpa had several secretaries. Oliver was the youngest one, right?
No way, were they dating?
Well, it had been seven or eight years since Nurse lost her husband and child to illness the same year, so it was about time for her to start dating again.
I'd never spoken to this Oliver secretary personally, but from hanging around Grandpa's office, he seemed nice enough.
"Nurse, getting married soon?"
"No, young lady. With Mr. Oliver, it's just... we found out we're from the same hometown and exchanged greetings a few times."
"For just a few greetings, he sure blushes a ton every time he sees you."
"Betty!"
In the end, the conversation wrapped up with Betty getting scolded again.
It was a hundred—no, a thousand times too bad for our sweet Nurse, but if she and Grandpa's secretary were hitting it off, that was an unexpected boon.
Oliver would feed her all sorts of info to impress her.
Not state secrets, of course, but even just quick updates on how Grandpa chewed out Uncle would make dealing with things way easier.
I swallowed a laugh and changed the subject.
"Did Dad get mad too?"
"He's personally inspecting every bit of the supplies Marquis Shuleman brought, by order of the Duke. And..."
"And?"
"He's firing all the kitchen staff?"
What?!
I bolted upright in bed at that.
This wasn't the kitchen staff's fault. They hadn't fed me anything.
I'd clearly said I snuck and ate it myself!
To figure out what was going on, I dashed straight to the kitchen.
I could hear Nurse and Betty hurrying after me.
As expected, the kitchen was like a funeral parlor.
They'd keep the current staff on until new hires were selected, but vicious knights loomed behind them, radiating killing intent.
They shadowed them even when pulling out fruit.
Watched like hawks with eyes blazing while they prepped vegetables.
One young servant bringing eggs suddenly got their basket inspected and was on the verge of tears.
'This is unbearable.'
The annex kitchen staff had been sent from the main duke's house after the previous ones were booted, so they were all wary of us.
They were polite, but not friendly or warm at all.
But that didn't mean they deserved to get unfairly fired.
"Young lady's here!"
"Young Lady Mariella!"
The knights spotted me and bent at right angles, bellowing greetings.
I covered my face to stifle the wave of embarrassment.
Don't act all scary and murderous, then suddenly turn polite just for me.
Anyone would think you were gangsters, not knights...
Once I'd tamped down the shame, I dropped my hand from my face and stepped into the kitchen.
"Whatcha all doing?"
"Keeping an eye on these guys!"
"Why?"
"'Cause they almost fed you rotten crap like that."
A faint look of injustice flickered across the kitchen staff's faces.
But the knights scared them too much; no one dared speak up.
Even though they hadn't fed me directly, word was the direct-line young lady got sick from kitchen food.
So they figured they couldn't dodge responsibility.
They looked a bit wronged, but also resigned.
I scanned them, then boldly contradicted Peter.
"No!"
All eyes turned to me.