The Cooking Princess - Chapter 38

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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 38

 

As soon as his cup was filled, the Emperor quickly drained the chestnut latte again and said.

 

“Sweet and savory, this is truly delicious. Who would have thought one could find such joy in food.”

 

The Emperor’s eyes sparkled brightly.

 

“You’ve raised your daughter very well, Count.”

 

“You flatter me.”

 

Though he seemed to be trying not to show it too much to maintain his dignity, everyone could tell that the Emperor was extremely excited.

 

‘As expected!’

 

The chestnut latte that Chloe had introduced for the first time seemed to have completely won the Emperor’s heart.

 

“Actually, the reason I summoned the Duchess wasn’t anything special – I called you to apologize for Claude’s reckless behavior. And I also wanted to try the Duchess’s cooking that the Prince praised so highly.”

 

Chloe was inwardly surprised by such a perfectly reasonable explanation.

 

‘From how he lets Claude and the Empress run wild, I thought the Emperor wasn’t quite normal either.’

 

However, she couldn’t let her guard down. The Emperor’s eyes after his apology were sharp as if examining Chloe’s reaction, so she quickly bowed her head and accepted the Emperor’s apology.

 

“I believe that matter has already been completely resolved. Your Majesty showed decisive action, after all.”

 

At Chloe’s words, the Emperor burst into hearty laughter as if very satisfied, then added:

 

“With the Count’s heir being so wise, the future of the Garnet Domain looks bright.”

 

“You flatter me, Your Majesty.”

 

Having finished his apology, the Emperor said that since things had come to this, he would thoroughly enjoy the food the Duchess had made, and savored the remaining dishes to his heart’s content.

 

While he didn’t spare praise for the cooking, his sharp gaze remained fixed on Chloe the entire time, making her feel as if she couldn’t tell whether the food was going into her mouth or her nose.

 

‘Everything’s fine, but why is he staring at me so persistently?’

 

As if to prove he was Claude’s father, the way he looked at Chloe felt somehow unsettling.

 

The Emperor stared at Chloe persistently until the meal ended, but didn’t do anything beyond that.

 

***

 

Even after returning from the Imperial Palace, Chloe remained busy.

 

She continued going in and out of the temple to do volunteer work and maintained her friendship with Shurya.

 

And naturally, she didn’t stop cooking either.

 

‘I shouldn’t get cocky just because I’ve improved a few simple dishes.’

 

Having improved potatoes, she now wanted to do something about meat.

 

However, there was the problem of lacking far too much time and know-how to breed cattle to her taste like in the 21st century.

 

Then the only thing left was chicken.

 

But Chloe hadn’t seen a single chicken since her reincarnation.

 

In this world, people truly only ate four-legged beasts like cattle and pigs, plus some freshwater fish, while the whereabouts of various poultry remained mysterious.

 

‘Have the people here really only eaten mammals? Are birds not considered food ingredients at all?’

 

She had discovered roasted small birds that commoners ate, but they too were only catching small birds due to protein deficiency, not eating flightless birds.

 

Most importantly, the nobles were busy dismissing small birds as food that commoners ate.

 

So Chloe gathered people, described what chickens looked like, and promised generous rewards to anyone who could find them.

 

But no one could find any!

 

Eventually, Chloe once again approached Eshir, who seemed to know more than she did, and asked.

 

At Chloe’s description, Eshir answered with a reluctant expression.

 

“…If I had to categorize it, that would also be a monster.”

 

‘I knew Eshir would have an answer if I asked!’

 

She thought this and her eyes lit up for a moment, but then her expression twisted strangely in bewilderment.

 

‘Why is everything delicious forbidden in this world?’

 

She had reasonable suspicions that anything even slightly strange-looking was classified as a monster.

 

“Flightless birds are considered ominous in themselves. Anything outside the normal range gets treated as a monster.”

 

Chloe’s expression twisted as she realized her guess was correct.

 

It seemed that since this place ‘actually’ had aggressive and powerful creatures called monsters, anything even slightly unusual was genuinely classified as a monster.

 

Bewildered, Chloe asked Eshir again.

 

“But monsters are ultimately creatures that use magic or… some kind of special and evil power, right?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

At Eshir’s nonchalant answer, Chloe was at a loss for a moment before asking again.

 

“But then isn’t the standard too strict? From what you’re saying, it sounds like you’re classifying even ordinary animals that aren’t monsters as monsters.”

 

At those words, Eshir narrowed her eyes slightly.

 

“That’s right. Basically, monsters are defined as creatures that use evil magic to harm other living beings.”

 

“Then,”

 

“But how could we distinguish each one individually? It takes time to distinguish them, and hiring mages is expensive.”

 

“Ah.”

 

There, Chloe understood completely.

 

In the end, it was a matter of money.

 

‘In 21st century Korea terms, it would be like making soldiers do chick sexing work during an urgent war situation.’

 

In this era with conflicts occurring in various regions, mages wouldn’t have had time to go around distinguishing creatures.

 

“Then let’s go find some right away!”

 

At those words, Pierre, who had been learning under Chloe, turned pale.

 

“Th-then you don’t mean…?”

 

“Yes. I’m saying let’s go find monsters and identify them.”

 

Pierre Letter, heir to House of Count Blair, who had been quietly listening to Chloe and Eshir’s conversation, asked with undisguised bewilderment:

 

“But since you’re the only heir to the Garnet Family, couldn’t you rest a little?”

 

At those words, Chloe answered seriously.

 

“What are you talking about, Pierre. Because I’m the heir to the Garnet Family, I can’t rest even more.”

 

Having said that, Chloe shrugged her shoulders triumphantly and even added:

 

“I need to make the Garnet Family even more prosperous!”

 

At Chloe’s declaration that was confident beyond just spirited, the color drained from Pierre’s face.

 

He could see a future of being dragged to other regions and forced into labor.

 

But since he had been sent to Chloe for heir training, he couldn’t express any more complaints.

 

Pierre’s complexion worsened further, having spent a long time farming potatoes and being forced to taste earthy potatoes.

 

‘I wish someone would spare me.’

 

He wished someone would stop the Duchess. Eshir, seemingly satisfied that she wasn’t the only victim, definitively decided that Pierre would naturally come along too.

 

“The Count’s son is coming too, right?”

 

“Of course!”

 

Chloe quickly packed her things and sent a servant to her father to convey her plans.

 

Upon hearing the news, the Count held his forehead but had decided to support his daughter, so after brief consideration, he gathered the documents he needed to handle and prepared.

 

Thus, the four including Chloe once again headed north where monsters were most abundant, this time to catch chickens.

 

And not long after, they discovered chickens in the forest!

 

Chloe realized why they had failed to find chickens and returned empty-handed when they had come nearby to catch sea monsters before.

 

“It’s quite a high altitude region.”

 

Though it was said to be an area where monsters appeared, the chickens were only making loud noises and staying alert as if to warn of intruders, but hadn’t taken any particular action yet.

 

Chloe looked at the ‘chickens’ called monsters with reluctant eyes and thought.

 

‘Ah. I think I understand why chickens were called monsters.’

 

What was there wasn’t the ordinary chickens that remained in Chloe’s memory. They were enormous in size and had a fierce appearance as if they would start fighting at any moment.

 

‘They look like Brazilian fighting cocks.’

 

The wild chickens that were extremely wary of humans were larger than small children.

 

What this meant was that these ‘chickens’ were significantly larger than the still-young Eshir, Chloe, and Pierre.

 

Though scary, they would have that much more meat!

 

Having thought that far, Chloe looked at the chicken that was glaring at her menacingly and was much larger than herself, licked her lips, and said:

 

“It looks delicious.”

 

At Chloe’s words that came out without going through her brain, Eshir quickly criticized her.

 

“Are you in your right mind?”

 

“I’m completely in my right mind.”

 

As she spoke, Chloe drew one of the swords she had brought from home.

 

Before she could even prepare to attack, a chicken lunged at Chloe with a loud squawk!

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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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