-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: My Enemy Sister Cherishes Me
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"I can't allow that."
Chris said, looking troubled. I glanced back at Sion, who was quietly following me, giving him a look that pleaded for help, but he remained as still as ever.
"Why not?"
"Because it seems like you'd eat everything you make, My Lady..."
He was, surprisingly, not an easy opponent. I thought his loyalty was solely to me, but it turned out his devotion to Theon was even greater.
Well, come to think of it, Theon was the one who directly promoted him to Head Chef. Why didn't I think of that?
But I couldn't back down.
"I'm making it for other people."
"Excuse me? A-are you serious?"
Seeing innocent Chris waver, I knew I had him and pressed on.
Sion, oblivious to my true intentions, seemed to believe my words were true, nodding along in agreement.
"Of course."
I tried to imitate Vittori's expression, smiling brightly. Perhaps my childish appearance helped, as Chris's eyes wavered even more intensely.
"Excuse me, but... who exactly are you making it for?"
If I just named anyone, I doubted he'd let me into the kitchen.
"Jena, and the maids from my room, and Theon, and Sion..."
It wasn't a lie. If I made a lot and distributed it, then secretly took some for myself, my alibi would be perfect.
"And who else?"
And who else?
Caught off guard by the unexpected follow-up question, I blurted out the name of the most terrifying person I could think of.
"My sister, Callista...?"
"Then you must go in!"
Only after saying it did I wonder if I'd spoken out of turn, but Chris's suddenly cooperative attitude made me sigh in relief.
"You're welcome to use anything in the kitchen. Do you know how to do it?"
"Hmm..."
I replied vaguely, then shook my head.
"You don't need to worry. As it happens, there's a talented young assistant temporarily in the kitchen."
"An assistant?"
My expression brightened even more. If a cook not much older than me could teach me, wouldn't it be easy?
"Yes, he's a young lad who shows up regularly after training. At first, I thought he must have done something to deserve punishment, so I only had him clean, but once he took the bandage off his arm, he started flying around the kitchen."
...Wait a minute, a bandage on his arm?
While many retainers lived in the Luperne Ducal House, there weren't many 'youngsters' who frequented the main mansion building.
Just a few young maids or pages, and occasionally the children retainers brought for educational purposes, and young boys and girls training to work for the family.
Among them, there was one person who had recently broken an arm.
"Alright, please go in. Knight, you too. Hey you, stop cleaning and attend to Lady Harper properly."
The moment Sion and I stepped into the kitchen, my eyes fell upon a boy with tanned skin and a sturdy build for his age.
My eyes widened when I saw him.
"...Louis?"
Louis Evans. Clarissa's nephew, who would spout venomous remarks at me every chance he got. He stood awkwardly, a mop in one hand and a cleaning bucket in the other.
Louis's eyes also widened in surprise when he saw me. He pointed at me with his index finger and stammered.
"U-uh...?"
But he quickly had to retract the arm he'd extended.
SMACK!
Because Sion's scabbard had struck the boy's back.
"AAAARGH!"
"That's rude to My Lady."
Sion said to him, as he shrieked, half-doubled over, just as I'd seen before.
Oh, I thought he was just timid, but he's actually quite good.
I was startled by his voice, the first time I'd heard it except for the day he was chosen as my escort knight.
He had said he was new to being an escort knight, but seeing how he handled Louis, it seemed Sion had done his homework. He raised the hand holding the scabbard again and spoke sternly.
"I'll count to three, so show some respect."
"B-but I didn't do anything!"
WHOOSH—SMACK!
As Louis jumped and cried out, this time the scabbard hit his leg.
"Ow! You said you'd count to three!"
"I counted in my head. Again, one, two..."
"M-My Lady, greetings!"
Louis bent one knee and bowed. It was hard to tell if he'd knelt intentionally or if he'd been knocked down by the blow.
I admired Sion inwardly. I thought he only followed me silently, but he clearly understood what needed to be done, didn't he?
Moreover, unlike the wooden sword Callista had wielded, Sion's beating seemed to only hurt Louis, not injure him.
Suddenly, I remembered that in my previous life, he was called the Emperor of the Underworld, a genius at organizing and managing his subordinates.
It was said he knew how to inflict eye-popping pain on wrongdoers without breaking a single bone.
"Apologize too."
Sion said stiffly.
"Huh?"
"I saw you being rude before, too. Apologize while we're here."
He glared at Louis as if asking what he was waiting for.
Sion's unexpected actions filled me with a growing mix of admiration and bewilderment.
He said he was good with children... did he mean he was good at disciplining them?
Could it be that he developed his knack for handling subordinates in his previous life that way?
"But I already got punished..."
WHOOSH—
"I'm sorry!"
Louis immediately knelt and prostrated himself. His voice, cracking from puberty, echoed loudly through the kitchen.
***
"Explain it properly."
I said again to Louis, whose eyes were swollen from crying.
"So... you mix the powders here, then add the eggs, and then..."
SMACK!
"Ow!"
"Explain it slowly."
Sion flicked his forehead, causing another bump to appear on Louis's head. He trembled his lips as if trying to hold back tears, then continued.
"F-first, mix all the powdered ingredients."
Louis's speed in following Sion's commands grew faster and faster. Even without me saying anything, he used polite language and didn't get frustrated even when he made mistakes.
The fact that he was Clarissa's nephew didn't bother me much.
That's because even within the Evans family, there were those who subtly avoided the ill-tempered Clarissa and aligned themselves elsewhere.
According to Theon's explanation a while ago, Louis was one of them.
Not long after arriving at the mansion, he had a harsh encounter with Callista, and ever since, he had refused Clarissa's errands, instead repeatedly undergoing training and punitive cleaning under Soyer's direction.
It was also Soyer who had him cook. He said it helped in the rehabilitation of boys who had gone astray, based on his experience.
There was no room for doubt. Especially since the cold Callista had let him stay, even after expelling the entire Evans family.
"Just mix it like this, so there are no lumps."
After receiving Sion's instruction a few times, his explanations had become quite easy to understand.
"Please use one of these."
Louis neatly arranged various colorful kitchen tools, then quietly stepped back a pace.
The ingredients were also spread out conveniently for me to handle.
It was, quite literally, an environment with a good teacher, a clean kitchen, and all the appropriate tools.
The problem was...
PWOOF.
"COUGH! COUGH!"
The problem was that my talent was far more meager than I'd thought.
"Oh, sorry."
The various powders, beautifully mixed in the bowl, flew in all directions the moment I swung the spatula.
Unfortunately, Louis, who had been standing in one of those 'directions,' ended up inhaling a mouthful of powder.
"Gah! I-I'm fine."
He patted his chest, answering in a way that tried his best not to upset me.
Sion's psychological training in such a short time must have been truly remarkable; it was almost tear-jerking to witness.
While I somehow mixed everything and waited for my creation to bake in the oven as he instructed, Louis also started busily making something beside me.
SWISH—WHISK—RATTLE—THUMP.
His hands, far more delicate than mine, moved swiftly between ingredients and tools.
"...What are you making?"
"Various chocolates. They require more technique than the brownies My Lady is making."
Indeed, colorful ingredients that weren't in my bowl kept popping up from various corners of the kitchen.
"You're good at this."
"...My Lady is good too."
Huh? What did I just hear?
I whipped my head around to look at Louis. He looked a little embarrassed, concentrating on his work.
I furrowed my brow and said to Sion.
"...Sion, could you step out for a moment?"
Sion, who had been watching us like a hawk, abruptly stood up and disappeared behind the kitchen door. Louis looked at me, his face full of tension.
"D-did I do something wrong...?"
"That's enough, stop it."
I sighed deeply and said.
"Huh?"
"You've already been punished enough, haven't you? I've never been hurt as much as you."
"What are you talking about...?"
"Stop trembling like that. It makes me uncomfortable too. And stop lying and pretending to be sorry, that's enough."
I spoke honestly. While watching him get hit a few times was quite satisfying, there's a limit, isn't there?
I was trying to seriously learn something, but it was annoying to have the kid teaching me constantly glancing at Sion with every word.
And telling me I was doing well, that kind of forced compliment actually hurt my pride more.
"W-well, saying you're good is indeed a lie, but..."
"Right."
I managed to keep a straight face as I replied. But now that I'd heard the truth, my pride was starting to sting again.
"...No."
He added something in a barely audible voice.
"What?"
"Sorry, no, I mean, my apology wasn't 'pretending'... I'm truly sorry for bothering you, My Lady."
Louis said, bowing his head deeply.
For a moment, I had to turn around to check if Sion was still there.
He's not there? That means...
Wow, Louis was actually sincere. He really must be sorry to me.
