Episode 135. Daily Life (9)

“Did you eat breakfast?”

“No.”

At my reply that I hadn’t, Winnie smiled as if delighted.

“You absolutely have to eat breakfast! Especially a man who uses his body, you know.”

No. Then why are you nagging, though? Winnie seems happy even while nagging. She led me as I was and sat me down on the neatly made bed. Turning around, Winnie rummaged through things, pulling out a ladle from somewhere.

“I guess I have no choice but to make it for you!”

“…You know how to cook?”

“How many years do you think I’ve lived here alone…!”

Hmm, true. Winnie is the only one living in this Mountberne mansion. She doesn’t use servants either, so if she doesn’t do all the housework herself, there’s no one to do it for her. Eating, cleaning, laundry… come to think of it, the laundry is collected by a maid and done for her, right…? Then the meals….

‘She seems so confident…’

Rather than confidence, it feels like she’s filled with enthusiasm. There’s no need to nitpick when she’s moving around so excitedly. I left the breakfast to Winnie and looked around the room, which was much cleaner than before.

It was surprising that the bed, which was always messy, was made. The floor, which was cluttered with various tools and books, was also spotless. I opened the window to ventilate, and Winnie, wearing an apron, was taking out ingredients in front of the cutting board.

I wonder if there’s anything I can help with. The pot is already on. It doesn’t seem like I need to move anything heavy… I thought about helping with the knife work, but,

Seuk- seuk-

With each smooth movement of her hand, the skins of the vegetables were peeled,

Tak tak tak tak-

The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board echoed in an instant. It sounded like she had cut a lot, the regular sound coming without interruption. I guess I don’t need to help. As I watched her from behind, the sound stopped, as if she had finished cutting. And then, with a plop- all the prepared ingredients were thrown into the boiling pot.

“Heum, heum.”

Winnie hummed lightly as she stirred with the ladle. That figure from behind was really hard to resist. I quietly approached from behind and put my arms under her armpits.

“What are you making?”

“Eut, that tickles….”

I moved my arms further down, gently holding the lower part of Winnie’s belly as if supporting it. It was still small enough to fit in one hand, though. It’s still hard to tell from the outside, but it was definitely the time when something solid was starting to emerge.

“It’s dangerous to do this in front of the fire….”

“I’m not a child. So, what are you making?”

“This? Euhm, well, just soup…?”

…Soup? Is it what I think it is? The consistency is a bit off for soup…. It looks like it would be better to throw everything away and start over to make something proper, but I’m not brave enough to say that while looking at Winnie, who is focused with shining eyes.

“I’ll make you something delicious.”

“Uh, uh. Okay.”

Saying that, I watched Winnie put in salt or not. It wouldn’t be any different from plain water with that amount. She certainly seemed skilled at lighting the fire and putting on the big pot. But she seems very clumsy when it comes to the most important part. Maybe it’s because everything she seems skilled at is similar to what she’s done when making medicine. Well, she wouldn’t put salt in when making medicine, though.

“Eum, I’ll put this in…”

“How many times have you made this?”

“…Quite a few, no, a little bit? It’ll be delicious! Don’t worry.”

She should at least hide the recipe paper sticking out of her apron pocket. But seeing her look at it a few times, it seems like she hasn’t made it at all. With the thought of accepting whatever result comes out, I buried my face in Winnie’s neck and turned my gaze away. Well, she wouldn’t make something I can’t eat, right?

“Lastly, even this… Heok!”

And looking slightly at the pot at Winnie’s voice, I couldn’t help but doubt what I had just thought. It’s something I can eat… right…? The color looked a bit clear until just now, but I don’t know what she put in last, but the color is a bit…. Eum…. Looking at Winnie’s expression, it seems like I’m not the only one who thinks so.

“…Wow, it’s done!”

“…Wow, it’s done!”

“…Wow.”

Clap clap.

Winnie’s face turned even redder at Edward’s bland reaction. No, I’m really not teasing… I guess I am.

Click-

I can’t give him something like this. I made such a confident promise to make him something delicious, I can’t give him this! Winnie closed the lid of the pot. Edward looked at her with a smile as if asking why, but Winnie was too distracted to answer him.

“…Let’s go eat at the castle.”

“Why?”

“No, I think I should leave that for a bit. Let it sit? It needs to sit.”

What do you mean, let it sit. I need to throw it all away while Edward isn’t looking. I need to research it again.

“Did you put something weird in it?”

“No! I only put in good ingredients….”

There are a few things missing, but it’s because Edward came suddenly. The vegetables I used are all fine, normal ingredients. No, they were ingredients. The cooking process is a bit… hoo…. Especially the last thing I put in was hard to find, so I couldn’t use it for practice, so I put it in for the first time today….

“A little, at the end, I put in a medicinal herb for your health, but….”

“Oh, my.”

After making an interjection with an unknown meaning, Edward lifted her up. With Winnie in his arms from behind, he supported her buttocks with one arm, then turned half a circle and put her down behind him. He removed her from the structure where she was between the pot and Edward.

“Ah, no….”

“What do you mean, no? You worked hard to make it. It won’t kill me to eat it.”

“That’s true, but….”

What if I get sick from eating it?

“I’d rather try it myself….”

“Uh-uh. No. You should only eat good things.”

“…Are you saying what I made isn’t good?”

“….”

Hooroop-

Without answering, Edward tasted the soup. He made a subtle? ambiguous expression, smacked his lips a few times, frowned once, and then asked Winnie.

“Didn’t you put in milk?”

“It spoils easily, so I don’t usually have milk unless I bring it on purpose….”

No, I mean, if you were going to come when everything was ready, why did you come so early…? Actually, it was mostly her fault for being too enthusiastic when she wasn’t ready, but Winnie was just too disappointed that she had ruined it.

Hooroop-

“Stop eating….”

“No. It’s edible.”

“Really?”

“….”

Without continuing to answer, Edward silently ate the soup (self-proclaimed). Even when Winnie told him to stop eating in the middle, he didn’t listen. It wasn’t a large amount, but after emptying the pot, Edward said,

“It’s like medicine, it’s good.”

Hearing those words, Winnie said, not knowing what to do.

“…I’ll make you something really delicious next time.”

“No, really, it tastes similar to the medicine you made me last time.”

“…It’ll be good for your body.”

While Edward was comforting Winnie like that. There was a knock on Winnie’s door.

Knock knock-

“Young Lord Mountberne-nim. I’ve brought your meal….”

“Uh…?”

“….”

Nyam.

“You should have told me if you were bringing me food.”

“…I forgot.”

I knew it. There’s no way she’d only entrust me with the laundry. If you don’t do one thing, you don’t want to do anything else, that’s how people’s minds work. How could she only cook herself? I’m glad I only made a little because I was going to eat it quickly, if there was a lot, I would have been too full to eat this.

It was fortunate that it was Daria’s job to bring Winnie breakfast, just like with the laundry. It would have been a disaster if it was another maid…. I wondered why she didn’t wait for an answer and just barged in, but Winnie said that Daria usually just opens the door and comes in because Winnie is often sleeping. Anyway, thanks to Daria, I was able to have breakfast with two servings of sandwiches. Sitting side by side on the bed, I quickly ate my share….

“Here.”

At that time, Winnie held out one of the two pieces of her share to me. She hasn’t even eaten the other one she’s eating yet.

“I can’t eat both of them, it’s too much….”

“You’re pregnant, too.”

“I don’t eat that much yet?”

It’s not polite to refuse if she keeps offering. Winnie gave it to me. I’m not taking it away, am I? I don’t think I’ll have time to train this morning anyway, so it’s okay to eat a little full. While I was eating the other piece, Winnie came down in front of me.

“Um, Edward.”

“Yeah?”

In front of me, in a demure kneeling position, Winnie came closer to me little by little.

“I want to eat something other than sandwiches….”