Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Kitchen Banter
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After that, the three of them prepared the vegetables.
Every time Karl called Enoch, he dragged it out with "you lowly priest," and each time, Enoch let out a sigh.
"What on earth is your relationship? Aren't you friends if you're this close?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Nah, definitely not friends."
Enoch and Karl denied it in unison. For a moment, their eyes met before they both whipped their heads away.
"Then, bad friends?"
"Lady, how about dropping the idea that this guy and I are equals? Despite appearances, I'm older than him."
"I get that, but you look older anyway."
"I look older..."
Rachel left Karl, who seemed struck by her words, and compared their faces.
She had wondered if they might be brothers given the talk of age, but their hair colors were completely different.
Enoch had silver hair, while Karl had red hair. If Enoch was a refined and elegant beauty, Karl was a flashy and intense handsome man.
*Cudas has a lot of redheads, they say.*
Hair color wasn't enough to pinpoint someone in Cudas, where red and brown hair were common. In the original story, the man who saved Rachel at the end had red hair, didn't he?
Even the king of Cudas had red hair, and most of his children did too—except for the third prince, Damian.
In any case, Rachel erased the hypothesis that Enoch and Karl were brothers from her mind as she looked at their vastly different hair colors.
*Above all, Enoch grew up in the temple, so he's an orphan. Yeah, they're bad friends—the kind who hate admitting it.*
Rachel came to a conclusion in her heart.
"Lady, that expression just now was really upsetting? You didn't jump to some weird conclusion on your own, did you?"
"No idea. Pumpkin's done!"
Rachel held out the prepared pumpkin. For some reason, the two men's expressions turned strange.
"Rachel, from now on, I'll handle the vegetables."
"Yeah, yeah. That sounds good."
"Wait, why?"
"Lady, your eyes aren't faulty, are they?"
Karl held out the vegetables he had prepared.
"You did a great job. So why?"
"It's not 'so why'! I told you to peel it, and you pared it down to finger-sized! Look at this pumpkin."
"The farmer who grew it would be furious."
Even Enoch said so. Rachel tilted her head at the shrunken pumpkin.
"Whatever. From now on, lowly priest, you're on vegetable duty."
"I'll do my best."
After that, they banned Rachel from cooking entirely. Karl gently nudged her toward the table, and Rachel pretended to resist as she sat in the chair. The corner of her mouth lifted upward once she was seated.
*Plan successful.*
In truth, Karl's previous cooking had been delicious. Enoch's looked like poison visually, but the taste and everything else were ordinary.
She had pretended incompetence just to taste their cooking, and it worked well.
*I've got years of solo living experience.*
Mostly ramen-based meals, sure, but she could cook. Especially vegetables and fruits—expensive as they were, she peeled them as thinly as possible.
And to her, Karl was exceptionally good at cooking.
"You're really good at cooking, Karl. Doesn't look like a first or second try."
"Indeed, very skilled. Hard to imagine you had the chance for this."
Somehow, thorns seemed to prick from Enoch's words.
Among nobles, the higher the status, the less they did housework.
Unless fallen nobility, most nobles didn't do laundry, cleaning, or cooking.
It was odd for Karl—who seemed of high enough status to exude refinement—to be so good at cooking.
"What's with all the curiosity? Anyone can cook. Especially you, lowly priest—are you meddling too much?"
"Drop that title..."
"I only used the one he said himself."
Enoch slammed the kitchen knife down on the onion. Karl smirked, clearly enjoying the provocation.
Rachel stared intently at Karl, fascinated by their dynamic, and Karl, feeling her gaze while prepping meat, turned to her.
"What?"
"Just curious. Enoch doesn't get annoyed easily."
"I watched over him a bit when he was young. So he's comfortable with me?"
"Not comfortable."
Enoch shot back instantly at Karl's words. Karl grinned at the sharp retort.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, lowly priest, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be at the temple?"
Karl asked again, not letting the "circumstances" excuse slide.
Enoch, having chopped the onion, looked at Rachel with watery eyes.
He was here to help Rachel. He hesitated to speak freely, worried it might harm her.
Seeing Enoch glance at Rachel, Karl switched targets.
"Should I ask you instead, Lady? Why are you here?"
Rachel met Karl's gaze steadily as the question turned to her.
"I had business in the capital. Staying here saves on lodging costs."
"Saves on lodging..."
Karl glanced at Enoch, who averted his eyes.
"Priests must live frugally."
"Frugally."
Karl's eyes narrowed as he looked at Enoch.
"Think of it like you cooking."
"That leaves me speechless."
"The water's boiling over!"
The pot on the fire, left unattended, boiled over. Karl hurriedly fanned the hearth.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to put out the fire!"
"Oh dear!"
Rachel groaned at his response. Fanning to extinguish a fire—it showed instantly how sheltered he was.
"Fanning makes the fire stronger."
Enoch grabbed his shoulder to stop him, then half-blocked the air intake to reduce the flames.
Karl looked at Enoch in wonder.
"Books don't cover this."
"Paper's expensive for such details. Unless it's an alchemist's book, probably not."
Rachel nodded. Books were very expensive because paper was. So books only included essentials.
It was natural for Cudas—with its poor treatment of natural sciences—to have few related texts.
What Rachel knew as common sense was advanced knowledge here.
Still, it was weird for a self-proclaimed scholar to not know this.
*Is he really a scholar? Doesn't he read foreign books besides local ones?*
As Rachel eyed him suspiciously, Karl laughed it off heartily.
"One boil-over doesn't ruin the dish. Don't glare like that."
He refocused on cooking.
Soon, the food was ready. Vegetable stew, same as before.
Enoch grilled thinly sliced smoked ham and grated lump cheese over it, sprinkling it lightly on top.
The other dish was thinly sliced lettuce and red cabbage tossed with lemon juice and some sauce—both looked bizarre.
"Grilled ham should be golden and appetizing, but why does this look like rotten meat crawling with maggots?"
Rachel nodded silently.
She knew from watching it was fine. But she couldn't fathom why it looked like that.
The salad dressing was a thick, yellowish goo—truly unappetizing.
Even so, Rachel set the bowls and plates, Karl ladled the stew, and Enoch served with tongs.
"Here, dig in!"
Enoch scooped stew into his mouth. His eyes widened briefly in surprise at Karl's skill, then returned to calm—but he was definitely shocked.
"How is it?"
"Delicious."
"Good!"
Only then did he pick up his spoon. Rachel recalled he had done the same before—watching others eat first.
"Have you never cooked alone before?"
Karl's hand twitched on his spoon. Rachel pressed further.
"You always watched others cook and tried it yourself today for the first time?"
"Was it obvious?"
The man grinned boyishly. Looking so playful yet caught, Rachel chuckled.
"You weren't confident in the taste, so you watched us eat first?"
"Haha."
Karl scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Who cares? It's delicious—that's what matters. Eat up!"
Karl piled more of Enoch's dishes onto Rachel's plate to defuse the situation.
"I'll let it slide because it's tasty."
"Yeah, yeah. Forgive me this once since it's good."
After that, only eating sounds filled the kitchen. Spoons clinking on plates, slurping stew, chewing ham, crunching cabbage. Conversation had dried up.
*For acquaintances, aren't they awfully distant?*
Watching the two men eat silently, Rachel spoke up.
"By the way, as a noble, you must have seen Prince Carion."
At her words, Karl—mid-bite—choked and coughed violently.
"You okay? No one's stealing it—eat slower."
Rachel offered a water glass and patted his back; Karl soon stopped coughing.
"Yeah. But what was that question?"
"Just, the crown prince passed away recently. As a top candidate for the throne, it's natural to be interested, right?"
"Did I mention that?"
Karl eyed her warily at her reply. Puzzled, she blinked.
"Mention what?"
"T-The crown prince's death."
"I saw the letter that came to Father with him."
"I see."
Karl relaxed with relief. Only then did Rachel realize she had seemed suspicious.
*Idiot. With the crown prince's poisoning covered up, asking outright is bound to raise flags. Too careless because he's Enoch's acquaintance.*
"So, have you met Prince Carion?"
"Yeah."
"What kind of person is he?"
Rachel had heard many rumors about Carion. Intelligent and scholarly, expected to lead wisely.
Meanwhile, third prince Damian—his rival for the throne—was famed for martial prowess. Aggressive and bold, many anticipated continental unification under him.
*But the third prince neglected his own people.*
As king, Damian pushed only for war. He purged loyal ministers, kept sycophants, and ignored their exploitation of citizens.
Flood damage hadn't healed, sparking frequent rebellions and deaths.
Decisively, he allied with the black sorcerer.
*The third prince must never become king. I hope the second prince lives up to the wise rumors.*
Rachel looked up, thinking that. Karl smiled awkwardly.
"Well, he likes books and is free-spirited."
"So you met Prince Carion in the library?"
"You could say that."
Enoch's shoulders shook as he listened.
He looked down, pretending to eat stew with his spoon, but he was clearly laughing.
"Enoch, what's up?"
"Nothing."
The pot was soon empty. Karl stood abruptly, as if waiting.
"Alright, I'm full—gotta go. Clean up!"
"Huh?"
Karl bolted straight for the window. Knowing what came next, Rachel didn't even look as she called out.
"Bye!"
"Out the window again!"
Enoch muttered in disbelief at Karl escaping through the window.