The Cooking Princess - Chapter 24

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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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The Princess Who Cooks

Episode 24

Chloe had just brought not only flounder sashimi, but also salmon and tuna sashimi.

While she was preparing the sashimi, Claude had finished all the potato salad, so she refilled a full plate of salad for him too.

In that brief moment, Claude was eating the salmon and tuna sashimi with a happy expression on his face.

“How is it?”

At Chloe’s question, Claude couldn’t bring himself to say it tasted bad and hesitated for a moment.

“Not bad.”

Even with that sullen face, Chloe smiled contentedly.

Claude snapped at her reaction, feeling annoyed.

“What’s with that expression?”

“Nothing. I’m just proud that you seem to like it.”

If it weren’t for his position as the villainous sub-male lead in the original story, she would have made him her foodie companion. What a shame.

With the Empress clearly intending to bind them together in engagement, she couldn’t get more involved with him.

‘But he did sincerely teach me swordsmanship.’

Whether his intention was to torment her or not, it was true that it had helped Chloe.

Even though he showed a hot-tempered and willful nature, he was still just a twelve-year-old child.

‘It would be wrong to ostracize such a child just because he’s a villain in the original story.’

After all, wasn’t Chloe herself the villainess of the original story?

Just as Chloe, who had grown up arrogant, had changed sufficiently thanks to her past life’s influence, Claude could change too.

She shouldn’t look at him through colored glasses.

Thinking this way, Chloe added as cheerfully as possible.

“Isn’t it incredibly delicious? To think they want to kill all of these just because they’re monsters – it’s such a huge loss.”

Claude hesitated a little, then nodded.

“For once you’re saying something that makes sense. So when are you going to start selling this?”

“Pardon?”

At Chloe’s bewildered attitude, Claude took a bite of flounder, chewed and swallowed it, then spoke again.

“If you’ve developed a dish, you should think about releasing it to the market.”

Even after he said that, Chloe still looked bewildered, so Claude glared at her with a somewhat angry expression.

“Don’t tell me you were planning to eat it all by yourself?”

“No, of course not.”

‘But wasn’t the perception level of monsters equivalent to cockroaches?’

Somehow interpreting Chloe’s reluctant expression, Claude ate some tuna belly and his eyes sparkled before he added:

“Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and bring it out.”

Having said that, he added as if something had occurred to him.

“Is it not ready yet?”

“It’s not that it’s not ready, but I’m worried whether other people will be able to accept monster food without resistance.”

At Chloe’s honest words, Claude answered without much interest.

“Ah, well, I suppose. But how do you make this? Do you just catch any monster and slice it up to get this taste?”

“Of course not. Even these monsters were carefully checked by a mage from our family to ensure they’re safe to eat.”

After that, Chloe roughly explained how to make sashimi.

When she told him that slicing sashimi required skill and that the knife techniques for sashimi were slightly different from general swordsmanship, Claude seemed to be pondering something.

“I’ll give you the right to distribute ingredients used for the Grand Duke’s meals.”

At this sudden statement that was practically an order, Chloe’s eyes widened.

“I’m telling you to take responsibility for my palate.”

‘Wait a minute. This would make the engagement a fait accompli, wouldn’t it?’

And since Claude couldn’t possibly be unaware of this, Chloe found herself asking in a disgusted voice.

“Are you proposing to me?”

“Who’s proposing to whom!”

Sure enough, when she brought up the proposal, Claude jumped up and got furiously angry.

Chloe gently provoked such a Claude.

“I am rather pretty.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Pretty, my foot. Did all the beauties freeze to death?”

Whether he was red from anger or actually from shyness, Chloe couldn’t tell, but feeling a pointless sense of defiance, she retorted sullenly.

“Then why is your face all red?”

“Don’t you think it might be because I’m angry?”

“Tch.”

How prickly.

If Claude would eat Chloe’s ‘monster cuisine’, it would naturally implant the image of a ‘luxury’ ingredient that didn’t exist before, so this was definitely a very good proposal.

But the problem was.

‘The problem is that the Empress, who’s trying to pair me with Claude, would be absolutely delighted.’

What should she do about this good opportunity she didn’t want to miss?

Chloe told Claude she would think about it a bit more, and Claude, who seemed like he would jump up and down asking how she dared reject his proposal, surprisingly nodded obediently and returned to his territory.

And exactly 30 minutes after Claude left, Prince Shuell arrived at the Garnet Estate.

***

“I’m really sorry for dropping by so suddenly, Princess.”

Shuell spoke in the most gentle manner and handed Chloe a small package as he continued.

“I thought the Princess might be surprised since I came without an appointment, so I prepared a gift.”

He treated Chloe with utmost courtesy.

“I hope you’ll accept it without feeling burdened.”

“Thank you so much, Your Highness.”

It was completely different from his half-brother who had barged in at dawn and started with verbal abuse.

Chloe set the received gift aside and focused on the main topic Shuell was bringing up.

Seeing that Chloe was ready to listen, he spoke to her again with a smiling face.

“Given the Grand Duke’s personality, he couldn’t have treated the Princess well, so I hurried my steps. I also had something to tell you.”

Chloe was a little surprised by Shuell’s words.

He was right.

Indeed, Claude had shown his hostility toward Chloe openly from their first meeting, and this time he had barged in at dawn claiming to teach swordsmanship and then made snide remarks to her.

As Chloe rolled her eyes in confusion, not knowing how to respond, Shuell continued in his still gentle tone.

“The thing is, the Imperial Palace’s head chef is planning to retire due to a long illness, and I was thinking of recommending the Princess or someone from the Princess’s household as the person to take charge of meals.”

“Pardon?”

To be able to take charge of the Imperial Palace’s meals?

This was undoubtedly much better conditions than Claude’s proposal!

‘With this!’

She could effectively promote ‘flounder’ as a luxury item without rumors of being engaged to Claude spreading.

But just one head chef leaving wasn’t enough reason for a prince to personally visit a count’s estate.

Perhaps sensing Chloe’s doubt, Shuell added in his extremely gentle tone.

“The Princess said that back then. That if it hadn’t been for me, the Princess would have had to prove her talent for much longer.”

After saying that, Shuell looked directly into Chloe’s eyes with those sparkling golden pupils and said:

“Since everyone else is just watching the Empress’s mood, it’s difficult for me to place people around me.”

So he meant for her to cook for him while becoming his closest confidant.

There was no reason to refuse this.

‘What I was worried about was Shuell treating me like a villainess like in the original story… Rather than maintaining an ambiguous distance, it might be better to become his closest confidant!’

But before that, she had to tell Shuell about Claude’s proposal first.

Chloe hesitated a little and confessed to Shuell that she had served monster cuisine to Claude, that she would continue cooking with monsters, and that she wanted to spread these ingredients widely.

‘It would be troublesome if I fed him monsters without notice and got entangled in accusations of insulting royalty.’

“So among the dishes I’ll be making in the future, there will be foods made from monsters. Wouldn’t that be problematic for you?”

Unlike with Claude, she brought it up rather cautiously.

Chloe also wanted to maintain as smooth a relationship as possible with the future male protagonist who could kill her.

Indeed, that statement seemed somewhat unexpected to Shuell as well, as he tilted his head and asked her back.

“Monsters?”

Shuel repeated the word, seeming to mull it over for a moment before speaking with apparent resolve.

“But the Princess’s judgment cannot be wrong, so take your time preparing.”

As he said this while looking at her with a sunlike smile, Chloe responded with an equally spirited smile.

“Yes! I absolutely won’t disappoint you.”

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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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