Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 48
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 48
“Good heavens, can meat really be this tender?”
“It’s too delicious! How am I supposed to eat anything else now?”
Of course, everyone spoke in one voice, exclaiming how good it was.
A roaring success!
Alex’s face, which had been comparatively calm since he knew the flavors, flushed red all the way to the crown of his head.
“Th-thank you. Everyone.”
It seemed this was the first time he had received such high praise from so many different people.
Lion watched the scene with satisfaction, then sliced into a piece of meat brimming with pink juices, dipped it deep into the amber sauce, and pushed it into his mouth.
“Mm.”
Meat really was the answer.
The sheer satisfaction the moment it entered his mouth was on a different level.
When he chewed the thick chunk of meat, the juices burst out, mingling with the sauce and endlessly stimulating his palate.
The crisp, savory seared surface and the chewy interior blended in perfect harmony.
To think a single bite could deliver this much bliss!
It was almost a shame Rickshel couldn’t eat it.
Lion, still chewing, raised a thumb toward Alex.
“…! Thank you, Young Master!”
“But is it truly all right for you to share this with us?”
Lion swallowed every last bit of food before casually tossing out a reply.
“You know that saying about being careful around people who buy you beef?”
“Pardon?”
“I believe I’ve heard it. It means not to accept rare or expensive food without suspicion, doesn’t it?”
“That’s right. And right now, this meat is beef.”
“I see… Pardon?”
The servants’ faces went pale.
Even if it had been a simple grilled meat, they wouldn’t have been able to refuse a request—and on top of that, a dish made by Alex, the finest chef in the empire, was something you couldn’t eat even for a thousand gold.
After all, he was the head chef of House Asteri.
Then what on earth was he about to ask of them…
“As you all know, Rickshel doesn’t really take proper care of his meals.”
“Th-that’s true.”
Not only did he not take care of his meals—more often than not, he refused them even when they were offered.
He hadn’t even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet and should have been eating plenty, but he wouldn’t touch anything until his own work was finished, which was a constant source of worry for the servants.
Though they weren’t present here, some servants had even struggled with Rickshel’s capriciousness and fastidiousness.
“It might be a nuisance, and it might be hard to understand, but… please look after him well.”
“O-of course. We will do our utmost to take care of the Young Master. That is the mission of every servant who entered this mansion, after all.”
“I know. But I don’t think I’ve ever said it out loud. And I’m grateful that you’ve looked after him so well even without me having to say it.”
“Young Master… Hnk!”
The servants’ hearts swelled with emotion.
To understand their feelings like this, and to go so far as to provide such delicious food while asking them to look after his younger brother.
‘He might well feel wronged about falling behind in the succession competition…!’
‘He doesn’t mind it at all—that’s truly admirable.’
‘Honestly, if it were me, I’d have been quite full of complaints.’
They were almost ashamed of the concerns they’d harbored just moments ago.
[The people who shared the meal have realized the warmth of the food!]
[Cooking experience increased by 30%.]
[Cooking Proficiency has reached Apprentice Lv. 7.]
[A new recipe has been unlocked.]
[You can now create ‘Memory Dish.’]
The moment he leveled up, a flood of information poured into Lion’s mind.
But… this was a little different from the recipes he had awakened so far.
‘Memory Dish, huh.’
This was… an ability that allowed Lion to reproduce dishes he had eaten during special experiences.
In other words, he could now recreate the premium sirloin dinner he had just eaten to some extent, based on the good memories of sharing it with Head Chef Alex and the servants.
Of course, he wouldn’t be able to produce a dish of the same grade as Alex’s right away.
Just like when someone newly living on their own for the first time tries to cook and the food doesn’t taste like what their mom or dad used to make.
But—
If he made it once and awakened the skill, and then practiced?
The completeness of the flavor would gradually rise.
That would give him the palate to discern what was missing and which spices had been added more, and…
‘Wait, if that’s the case?’
Couldn’t he make the nostalgic foods he had enjoyed before his possession right here as well?
Korean food!
‘If I pull it off, I could even make it for my family.’
While Lion smiled in satisfaction and explored the new feature.
The servants scraped every last bit of sauce from their plates and reached a firm resolution.
“Young Master. As it happens, there is still a portion left for the Young Master. I think it would be better to escort him out here rather than have him eat in his room!”
“That’s right! It’s cooled a little, but if we pop it in the oven for a bit, it’ll be warm again.”
“I’ll go and escort him!”
“Huh?”
Lion, who had failed to read the shift in their mood for a moment, asked back in bewilderment.
Why were they suddenly so full of energy?
Ah, because they ate meat.
“Then may I ask that of you? I’ll make my own preparations in the meantime.”
“Yes!”
“Leave it to us. We’ll be sure to earn that beef!”
The servants clenched their fists with faces full of fervor.
And as if catching the good energy, Alex also sprang to his feet.
“Young Master. I will work even harder from now on! If you ever need me, please call on me at any time. I will burn this body of mine and do my very…”
“Ah, perfect timing. Alex. Could you lend me the kitchen?”
“Pardon? N-not me, but the kitchen?”
“Yeah. I thought I’d make some dessert for Rickshel.”
“…”
Alex stared at Lion.
He was clearly someone deeply knowledgeable about cooking and food, yet he occasionally said bewildering things like this.
‘Surely he knows desserts don’t just pop out of thin air?’
Desserts, surprisingly, required considerable effort to make.
Even a cake, one of the most common desserts, required you to mix and bake the sponge and whip the cream.
You could make it in advance, of course, but it was hard to change the composition.
Chocolate or fruit—you could change what was inside, but it still couldn’t escape the framework of a cake.
The same went for other desserts.
“It’s fine. This is a dessert you can make quickly.”
Lion waved his hand as if to say not to worry.
“There’s no need for a knife, so it’s not dangerous either.”
“I see. Then what I can help with…”
“You worked hard making the meal, so get some good rest.”
“…Understood.”
So kind, yet so firm.
Alex had no choice but to withdraw.
“…But what kind of dessert is he making?”
* * *
“It’s a new feature, so I ought to try it out.”
Lion commandeered the kitchen the moment the meal was over.
He even put on the apron hanging neatly and brought out the ingredients he had thought of in advance.
Flour and rice flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon powder, and nuts.
Lastly, oil as well.
“This one’s hard to dislike.”
The dessert Lion had prepared was…
hotteok.
Yes—the piping-hot hotteok pressed flat on a food truck’s griddle in winter.
The glutinous rice hotteok you folded halfway into a paper cup and blew on, huffing and puffing.
A chewy, sweet flavor with no detractors among young or old, men or women.
It might be a little unfamiliar, but since the kid ate sweet potatoes so well, he’d be satisfied with this too.
Lion started with the dough right away.
Two and a half cups of flour. And half a cup of glutinous rice flour. Lastly, yeast.
‘I could skip the yeast, but…’
Still, it tastes better with it in, so why not.
Anyway, it would take quite a while for the servants to coax and soothe Rickshel, bring him to the dining hall, and get him to eat.
Lion’s hands moved without hesitation.
Into the finely sifted flour and glutinous rice flour, he added the yeast dissolved in warm water and mixed.
When the dough began to develop some elasticity, he added a thin stream of cooking oil.
‘The hotteok truck owner told me it’s tastier this way.’
He’d said the dough turns out chewier.
In fact, Lion remembered it being delicious even when he made it alone at home after hearing that.
Of course, back then, he’d had no yeast or glutinous rice flour, so it just turned into flour-and-sugar lumps.
Around the time Lion had more or less finished the dough, Alex came back into the kitchen.
“Young Master Rickshel has arrived, and I came to reheat the meal.”
“Oh-ho. He actually came?”
“Well… he came because you said it was the First Young Master who had asked! Haha.”
“Really? If I use it too often, it won’t work, so I’ll save it for occasionally.”
The kid was subtly… no, quite perceptive, so if he overused it, it wouldn’t work at all.
“Yes. Understood. But… Hm?”
Alex stared at the fermenting dough.
It was too sticky to call bread dough, yet also hard to call something else—a lump of flour in an ambiguous state.
It strangely seemed to have some elasticity, but…
‘…Ah, well. He did make cookies, so it’ll be fine.’
Alex decided to trust Lion.
He judged that someone who cherished his younger brother so much wouldn’t possibly make something inedible.
In truth, the beef had placed a filter over his eyes, but Alex didn’t notice and left with the fully reheated food.
Lion immediately prepared the hotteok filling.
Actually, the filling was far easier than the dough.
Brown sugar and cinnamon, and nuts to taste. Just add them on top—and you were done.
“If the cinnamon flavor’s too strong, that’s a matter of personal preference too…”
He added roughly 6 spoonfuls of sugar and half a spoonful of cinnamon powder, then pulled out various nuts he spotted in the kitchen and ground them up appropriately.
Once all the ingredients were mixed together in one place, it distinctly gave off the feel of hotteok filling.
“Good.”
The dough had finished fermenting just in time, so now, shall I get started in earnest?
Lion pressed the dough firmly to release the air once, then tore off a handful.
Streeetch— Plop!
“The dough seems to have come out well.”
Now all he had to do was wrap the filling well and not let it burst while frying.
Lion carefully placed the prepared filling inside the hotteok.
If you put in too little filling, the taste would obviously be bland, but if you greedily overstuffed it, the filling would all leak out before you could even close the dough, and it would be a disaster.
“Good.”
Still, thanks to having raised his cooking talent so far, he could fill a hotteok without the insides bursting.
He sealed the dough neatly, shaped them round and round into several lumps, and…
Tsiiiizz!
He began frying the hotteok in a pan generously coated with oil.
You needed a borderline excessive amount of oil for hotteok to get crispy and cook fast.
Sizzle sizzle!
Soon the hotteok was cooking with a delicious sound.
‘You have to press down firmly after one side is cooked somewhat.’
If the dough’s not cooked and you’re not careful, it’ll burst.
Lion flipped the dough and pressed down firmly with a spatula.
This is where the charm of using a proper press comes in, so it was a little disappointing not to have one.
‘I’ll ask Mudu to make me one later.’
He’d commissioned cookie cutters when he went out earlier, so he could just place another order when he picked them up.
“Still, the shape’s not bad, is it?”
Lion continued frying and pressing the hotteok repeatedly.
While the shapes were a bit sloppy at first, after making three or four, they turned out well—round and flat.
Right around when Lion was transferring the hotteok onto a plate…
“Young Master. The Young Master has finished his meal. If the dessert isn’t finished yet… H-oh.”
Alex, who had returned to the kitchen, tilted his head at the sight of the hotteok.
“Ah, perfect timing.”
It was understandable for him to be curious since it was likely a shape he’d never seen in his life.