I Only Tried to Seduce the Villainess Sister Who Was Supposed to Kill Me - Chapter 62

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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62.

As expected, upon my entry into the palace, the Empress said she needed to fill the vacant servant positions and told Princess and me, who had received the oracle, to personally select and bring maids so we could feel at ease.

She seemed to think cleverly that we would feel reassured believing the maids we personally chose couldn’t become the Empress’s pawns, but unfortunately, neither Perioze’s Sister nor I were such naive young ladies.

Instead of going to the Empress’s Palace to select maids, Perioze’s Sister and I told the Empress to send us 10 candidates and we would choose five from among them.

Of course, we also planned to request that the Imperial Palace servants conduct counter-surveillance on the five we selected during our stay here.

“But won’t the Empress get angry if we say we’ll conduct counter-surveillance?”

“She’ll be furious. She might say, ‘How dare these young ones pull such cute tricks.'”

Perioze’s Sister suddenly mimicked the Empress, speaking with a venomous expression and downcast eyes.

“Wow, amazing! You really look like a villainess! Do it again, again!”

“…Sometimes I can’t tell if your reactions are compliments or insults.”

Perioze’s Sister said to me, slightly furrowing her brow.

“It’s definitely a compliment. How could I ever insult you, Sister?”

“You keep saying I’m wicked with such smooth words.”

“That’s not an insult, it’s a fact.”

“…”

“Anyway, won’t this make the Empress deliberately send more of her pawns?”

At my words, Perioze’s Sister raised the corners of her mouth.

That expression was so villainous I wanted to preserve it in a painting.

“Not a chance. If I were the Empress, I’d blatantly plant my people in response to us acting this way. And I’d bribe the Imperial Palace maids who are supposed to watch those maids.”

“…Ugh.”

My head started to throb slightly at the feeling of everything being interconnected like a food chain.

Seeing me like this, Perioze’s Sister smiled slyly and said,

“Anyway, don’t worry. During our stay here, our every move won’t be properly reported to the Empress.”

At Perioze’s Sister’s incredibly reassuring words, I nodded vigorously.

“Rather, turning the Chamberlain, Head Maid, and Head Chef away from the Empress is the more headache-inducing task.”

Perioze’s Sister added that replacing the maids managing this floor wouldn’t end the situation, then continued looking at me.

“What His Majesty investigated was correct – the Chamberlain’s son is indeed addicted to illegal gambling. And it’s also true that the Empress is providing him with money.”

At that moment, Perioze’s Sister’s eyes sparkled.

“You didn’t read anything about the Head Maid and Head Chef’s circumstances?”

“…Ah, no. It wasn’t mentioned separately. But if we dig, they probably joined hands with the Empress for similar reasons.”

“Yes, I think so too, but it seems His Majesty was caught by the Empress’s people while investigating the Chamberlain’s son. He didn’t create unnecessary trouble by killing on the spot, but since the person watching the Chamberlain’s son died, the Empress’s surveillance will definitely intensify.”

“Hmm, that makes sense…”

I nodded and pondered what we should do.

Then suddenly, I thought of a way to find out family circumstances without using people to investigate from behind, and told Perioze’s Sister.

“I’ll try investigating the Head Chef myself.”

“You will?”

“Yes. There’s an easy way to do it.”

I smiled brightly at Perioze’s Sister.

* * *

The method was simple.

Become close and make him spill his family circumstances directly from his mouth.

The Head Maid would be difficult since there’s no opportunity to sit leisurely and have conversations, but the Head Chef could converse throughout cooking in the kitchen, making it easy to exchange various stories.

I was quite sociable, and while not professional level, I was pretty good at cooking.

Nominally, it was about making food for the Princess.

The rumor about Perioze’s Sister and my unusual friendship had been spreading since our story appeared on the newspaper’s front page, so the Head Chef readily lent me the kitchen when I said I wanted to cook directly for Perioze’s Sister.

Being the Imperial Palace kitchen, he wouldn’t normally lend it so easily, but he seemed to think it was good for him too since he needed to report about me and Perioze’s Sister to the Empress.

“So, Head Chef, you’ve been cooking since before you even became an adult?”

I didn’t expect kitchen assistance, but since it was foreign cuisine and food never before presented in the Empire, I kept the Head Chef tied down by asking him to evaluate the cooking process and taste.

Of course, since it was foreign cuisine, I had sent away all other cooks, saying I didn’t want anyone but the Imperial Palace Head Chef to see this recipe.

The Head Chef stayed by my side with anticipation of directly encountering foreign cuisine and suspicion about how well a young commoner child could imitate food their grandmother made a few times in childhood.

“That’s right. The only thing that interested me then and now was cooking.”

I engaged him in friendly conversation from the start, showing appropriate praise and envious expressions so he could feel pride in his cooking, building him up.

Then, less than 10 minutes after we were alone together, he began spilling stories about his personal life.

I responded encouragingly while preparing the dish I was most confident about from my original world.

Though the worldview was different, places where people lived felt quite similar, so the food wasn’t that different either.

However, the food I was making was a spicy and sharp-tasting stew unseen in this world.

The stews here mostly used tomato sauce or cream sauce made with milk, so a spicy and salty stew flavored with hot pepper powder, black pepper, soy sauce, and seasonings would be food the Head Chef had never seen before.

The Head Chef watched intently as I made the red sauce with various ingredients, continuing his story.

“I became a formal chef right after my coming-of-age ceremony and entered the Imperial Palace. I worked at the Empress’s Palace for 5 years.”

At those words, my hands unconsciously stopped moving.

He was at the Empress’s Palace?

But I didn’t ask the Head Chef directly.

I didn’t want to let the Head Chef know I was concerned about that part.

“Oh, I see. They say talented people show their abilities from a young age. Then there’s no one in the Empire who cooks better than you, Head Chef?”

“I can’t say that’s necessarily true. I can just make food that best suits the current Emperor and Empress’s tastes.”

He thought highly of himself but had good objectivity about why he was excellent.

Surprised by this, I unconsciously stopped cooking and looked at the Head Chef.

When our eyes met, I quickly turned my head and asked awkwardly.

“Th-then is there a chef who makes food that best suits your taste, Head Chef?”

I hadn’t asked with any particular intention, but the Head Chef nodded as if it were obvious and answered.

“Of course. My daughter. My daughter is currently trying to get a formal chef certification because she wants to become an Imperial Palace chef.”

This is it…!

“Oh, so once she gets the formal chef certification, she can enter the Imperial Palace?”

“Not necessarily. But my daughter can.”

“Because you’re at the Imperial Palace, Head Chef?”

“What? That would be trouble. We have no power.”

“Ah, you said your daughter could do it.”

“Ah, that’s… But why are you so curious about everything? Perhaps…”

The Head Chef seemed puzzled, raising his eyebrows as he looked at me.

This is bad.

Not knowing how to handle this situation, I was about to say I asked because his daughter seemed so amazing.

But the Head Chef’s next words made me think I didn’t need to.

“Do you also dream of being a chef?”

“…Yes! Yes yes! I want to become a chef too!”

Chef my foot – I’d been making food since childhood and was the type who did everything well, so I just had the ability to make things decently, but cooking wasn’t even a hobby or specialty.

The only thing I could do enjoyably was killing monsters with dark magic.

But since the Head Chef seemed suspicious of me prying about his daughter, I nodded and answered yes to appear as harmless as possible.

The Head Chef looked at me with surprise, then soon shook his head while looking at the spicy stew floating with bright red chili oil that didn’t look very appetizing visually.

“Keep your dreams as dreams, Young Lady. You’re a servant of god who received an oracle, so you must work for god.”

“…Ahaha. You’ll think differently once you taste this?”

I didn’t particularly want to become a chef, but I also didn’t want him thinking I couldn’t cook, so I offered him the completed stew to taste.

The Head Chef hesitated briefly, then took a spoonful of the stew.

Instantly, the Head Chef’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.

See? It’s delicious, right?

I smiled brightly at the Head Chef.

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