Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 45

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 45
Only by straightening out each finger one by one could she finally extract it.
At a glance, it looked like a perfectly ordinary mushroom, nearly identical to the edible hazelnut mushroom.
Erichi adjusted her glasses slightly and spoke.
“Oh my, it’s a Yellow Bundle Mushroom.”
“How did you know?”
“I studied the Mushroom Encyclopedia this morning.”
In a castle where even the books had long since been sold off, the library itself stood empty.
By sheer fortune, a single Mushroom Encyclopedia happened to be tucked into those barren shelves—so thick it could have served as a pillow.
Erichi had taken the book to research the mushrooms the knights would be digging up, and she’d already memorized it all?
Remarkable.
One had to admit her capability.
Just then, the Physician, summoned in haste, arrived.
“Poisoning! We must make him vomit it out!”
The Physician hurried to begin treatment.
But Gavin’s head kept tilting sideways.
“You must stay conscious! You cannot fall asleep!”
The Physician shouted while striking Gavin’s cheeks repeatedly.
Yet his face grew increasingly pallid, and his eyelids began to drift shut.
“There’s a risk of asphyxiation! Stay awake! Commander of the Knights!”
“Tch.”
Bridget exhaled sharply.
Or rather, it was too brief to call a sigh, too decisive to call a lament.
Then she drew a needle from her hair.
‘Why does she have a needle in her hair?’
No—she didn’t even know she’d been carrying it there.
Why in the world was she keeping a needle hidden in her hair?
Meanwhile, the way she wiped the needle’s point with her handkerchief was so graceful that one might have thought she was heading off to do some embroidery.
Jab.
“…!”
Jab!
Jab!
Jab!
Jab-jab-jab-jab-jab!
Bridget jabbed relentlessly at the tips of Gavin’s fingers.
All ten fingers, one after another, sparing not a single one.
Dark-red blood welled up and dripped down in droplets.
“Ugh…!”
Gavin’s eyes, which had been drifting shut, snapped open.
He writhed with a sharp cry of pain.
The agony had seized hold of his consciousness.
“…Though I must say, waking someone like that does seem to work……”
As the Physician muttered in bewilderment, Bridget paid no mind. She rolled Gavin onto his side and ruthlessly drove her heel down against his back.
At the same moment, he purged everything he had eaten.
Once, twice, three times.
Only when his stomach was empty did his ragged breathing finally settle somewhat.
The Physician examined Gavin’s condition once more and exhaled in relief.
“…The fact that he vomited was an act of divine grace. The poison came up before it fully spread through his system, so with a few days’ rest, he should recover. Had we left him as he was, it would have been truly perilous. I’ll prescribe a medicine for you—be certain to administer it to him at the proper times……”
“Haa.”
The entire castle exhaled in relief.
The servants’ eyes glistened with tears, and the knights sat down with legs suddenly weak beneath them.
I pressed a hand to my chest and looked toward Bridget.
Though the First Floor Hall was bright with lamplight, night remained night.
Strange shadows played across Bridget’s face.
I knew that expression.
It was the look she wore just before—the eerie, thin smile that flickered across her face the moment before she would scrape away at someone’s insides.
‘Surely, even Bridget wouldn’t say anything to Gavin right now?’
Not even Bridget would press someone fresh from the brink of death……
“You are absolutely pathetic. It’s enough to make one faint.”
“…!”
My prediction was completely off the mark!
“Who on earth picks up random things from the mountain and eats them? Even a three-year-old wouldn’t do that?”
One shot!
“Tsk, tsk. You grip that basket so tightly, yet you couldn’t be bothered to study mushrooms properly.”
Two shots!
“Sword or pen, indeed — but look at you, throwing all your effort into the former. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Three shots!
Gavin’s unconscious brow twitched slightly.
But it didn’t end there.
Bridget looked down at the slumped knights and spoke coldly.
“I’m putting the physician’s fee on your bill. Consider it a debt you’ll repay.”
“……!”
“Tsk, tsk. You should sell yourselves as slaves instead of gladiators!”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Bridget turned her head with a flourish and addressed me sweetly.
“Your Highness, please retire to your quarters. My heart breaks to see you robbed of sleep by these foolish subordinates.”
“…….”
I followed Bridget toward the sleeping quarters, marveling inwardly.
‘That’s the difference. The finest villains truly are in a league of their own.’
* * *
Two days later.
While Gavin remained immobilized, the knights ventured up the mountain and never came back down.
Instead, the Kitchen filled with mountains of mushrooms.
“Wow. Did they strip the entire mountain bare?”
As I marveled aloud, even Bridget’s chilling gaze softened somewhat.
One of the maids, surveying the vast heap of mushrooms, asked carefully.
“But how do we dry all of this? If we just leave it, it’ll spoil quickly. Should we spread it in the sun?”
“If you dry only in the sun, some parts dry and others don’t — you have to flip them constantly.”
“You should dry them in the shade too, alternating between sun and shadow. Pure sunlight will just shrivel them up.”
One maid spoke up, her eyes brightening.
“I heard something at the Market the other day — there’s a woman at the Western Farm who’s excellent at drying mushrooms! They say her dried mushrooms last a month longer than usual!”
“Then we should entrust all these to her. There’s simply too many…… though I suppose it’ll cost quite a bit…….”
Hearing their gloomy conversation, I asked with curiosity.
“You have to pay money to get mushrooms dried? And they only last a month longer?”
“Yes. In Gonete, there’s only one person who dries mushrooms that well, so all the wealthy noble families and large restaurants have her do their drying.”
At the maids’ words, I tilted my head.
‘They don’t know the Mushroom Roasting Technique here?’
I asked, and it was true.
This world had no knowledge of the Mushroom Roasting Technique yet.
Truthfully, I wouldn’t have known it myself if I hadn’t seen the video on my sickbed.
“Prepare a large pot for me. The bigger the better, like a cauldron.”
There was a technique to roasting mushrooms.
Controlling the flame was the critical part.
First, you completely dry a large pot to remove all moisture, then place it over a low flame.
Once the mushrooms are in, you must stir them continuously with a wooden spatula, rolling them gently.
You maintain the low flame and stir without pause — when the moisture from the mushrooms evaporates and the aroma rises, you reduce the heat further.
The maids wiped the sweat from their foreheads and followed my instructions diligently.
“Once they’re roasted like this, they’ll keep until next spring with no problem.”
Probably even longer, but we can see about that when the time comes.
By then, I might have far more money and could afford to buy mushrooms from other territories at a premium.
“Eating mushrooms in winter — I can’t remember the last time that happened!”
“It’s still autumn, though?”
“But you just said Her Highness would let us eat them?”
The maids bustled about eagerly, roasting the mushrooms and organizing them busily.
Of course, people in this world did know how to dry and preserve mushrooms.
But all they managed was spreading them in sun or shade until they became somewhat hardened — and mushrooms dried that way never lasted beyond a single season before spoiling.
Even if someone in this world knew the Mushroom Roasting Technique, it would surely be a Closely Guarded Secret, passed down through generations within their family.
A sense of quiet satisfaction settled over me.
* * *
The estate grew busier with each passing day.
Large eggs filled baskets daily, and the Copper Coins paid by produce merchants accumulated steadily in the strongbox.
My first priority was stocking the Food Storehouse.
If I didn’t fill it now, we could all starve come winter.
Fortunately, autumn was the cheapest season to lay in provisions.
I packed the storehouse to bursting with flour and barley flour, varieties of beans, root vegetables, sugar, salt, mint, ginger, spices, smoked ham, herring, and cod.
And I made certain to stock no small amount of dried fruit besides.
“Cheep! Cheep!”
“Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck!”
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The Chicken Coop was finally finished with its winter insulation work thanks to Gavin’s tireless efforts. The Stable received the same treatment.
I had been cornered by the maids, listening to what they had to say with utmost seriousness.
“You want to expand one section of the Kitchen?”
“Yes, my lady. We’re getting so much Milk every day—wouldn’t it be wonderful to make cheese?”
“We’re already making Butter, and it’s hardly labor-intensive, but making hard cheese would require quite a bit more space.”
“If we make it properly, we can store it and eat it for a long time—wouldn’t that be ideal?”
“Let’s do it.”
The maids sprang into action at once.
I suddenly looked up.
Even gazing at the vast ceiling, none of it felt real.
So this really is the Grand Duke’s House’s main seat, isn’t it?
The Grand Duke’s wife and her maids seriously discussing homemade cheese—this truly is the one Grand Duke’s House on the entire continent, right?
A hollow laugh escaped me, but truthfully, I felt quite pleased.
And well I should, since we were now absolutely certain not to starve through the winter.
Roasted mushrooms hung in strings from every beam, and a stew perpetually simmered in the hearth.
It was an abundance I could never have imagined when I first arrived at Gonete Castle.
My thoughts turned suddenly to Sherkan.
‘I wonder if Sherkan is eating well?’
He sent me handfuls of Gold Coins every month, yet I had no way of knowing what he was actually eating himself.
Lost in thought, I spotted Erichi gathering up the Ledger to leave. I quickly attached myself to him.
“Erichi.”
“Yes? Is there something you need?”
“It’s just… well…”
I hesitated before asking.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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