The Cooking Princess - Chapter 77

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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 77

Shuel, wearing a black tuxedo as his base, smiled as he faced Chloe directly.

“Shall we go then, Chloe.”

“Yes, Shuel.”

Since it was an engagement ceremony and not a wedding, their ceremony was conducted more simply than a wedding would have been.

Their engagement contract was read aloud by Saint Shurya, who congratulated them.

“I sincerely bless your future together.”

Shurya said this with a gentle smile, then instructed them to sign the engagement oath.

After quickly signing, Chloe somehow felt a slightly strange sentiment.

‘I feel a bit odd, like I’ve stolen the female protagonist’s partner.’

Strictly speaking, even getting engaged wasn’t something Chloe had actively wanted.

Moreover, Chloe had actually tried to arrange meetings between Shuel and Shurya several times,

and Shuel and Shurya had encountered each other several times without Chloe, yet seemed to have no particular feelings for each other.

Still, she resolved once more that if the female and male protagonists ever came to love each other someday, she would step aside without regret.

“What a fine picture.”

The Emperor, who had no way of knowing what Chloe was thinking, praised the engagement ceremony he had arranged.

Even after the engagement ceremony ended, Chloe remained at the Imperial Palace until late, coordinating various matters with Shuel, who was now her fiancé.

“Hmm. This should be enough. I’ll discuss the detailed arrangements with the Garnet Estate, so you should rest.”

“That would be convenient for me, but Shuel, you’re already busy with work.”

“Chloe will probably be busy with work too, having to hand things over to others. And since this engagement was so sudden, the people at the Garnet Estate, especially your parents, must have been very surprised, so I’d like to visit them separately.”

Chloe eventually nodded at Shuel’s considerate words.

Shuel offered to escort Chloe to her carriage, but Chloe declined the offer.

Shuel already looked very tired, and she didn’t want to make him even more exhausted.

She was walking through the quiet Imperial Palace Garden, heading toward the entrance, when

she encountered Claude with his ghostly face.

‘This bastard always approaches me when I’m alone.’

No matter how much his position had risen through various military achievements, it wasn’t easy to unilaterally defeat the legitimate Prince, so he seemed to avoid Shuel as much as possible except when his position was overwhelmingly superior.

‘He’s really cunning and pathetic, it makes me lose all the respect I had.’

At this typical display of being strong against the weak and weak against the strong, Chloe tried to hide her disgusted expression and asked.

“I greet Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

Claude arrogantly ignored Chloe’s greeting and only said what he wanted to say.

“Do you really have to become my enemy like this?”

Perhaps it was her imagination, but Claude’s face even looked a bit pale.

At this, Chloe blinked in confusion and examined Claude’s appearance.

As if he had rushed here in a hurry, his hair was unusually disheveled and his usually neatly tied necktie was somehow crooked.

What Claude was saying wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

Indeed, if Chloe became engaged to Shuel, she would become enemies with the Empress and Claude.

However.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. It wasn’t me who suggested the engagement, it was His Majesty the Emperor.”

Seeing Claude bite his lips tightly at those words, Chloe added.

“Since this isn’t an engagement I chose, shouldn’t you go speak to someone who can change it?”

Don’t come to her for nothing—if he had a problem, he should go argue with His Majesty the Emperor.

Since it was a valid point, Claude remained silent for a long time before spitting out one sentence.

“You’ll regret this.”

His voice and expression were chillingly frightening in a way she’d never seen before, making Chloe flinch involuntarily.

‘The original villain’s declaration that I’ll regret it is definitely quite scary.’

Now that she was engaged to Shuel, the Empress and Claude’s evil schemes would be beyond imagination.

Even when they considered Chloe a promising fiancée candidate, they didn’t treat her particularly well, and now she had become their rival’s fiancée.

‘They’re not really going to try to kill me and bury me, are they?’

Given Claude and the Empress’s character in the original work, they were more than capable of that.

Chloe felt an unnecessary anxiety and hurriedly returned to the Garnet Estate.

***

A few days later, Chloe was invited to dine with the Imperial family in her capacity as the Prince’s fiancée.

As the meal continued quietly, the Empress suddenly brought up an unexpected topic with a smiling face.

“Come to think of it, the Duchess has expertise in cooking.”

She really didn’t want to answer, but she couldn’t dare ignore an elder’s words, so Chloe responded half a beat slowly.

“…I’m still very lacking.”

When the Empress suddenly addressed Chloe during the meal, the Emperor didn’t hide his discomfort and asked the Empress.

“Empress, why are you suddenly asking about that?”

“I want to taste the cooking my daughter-in-law makes for me.”

Strictly speaking, even if Shuel and Chloe were to marry, the Empress wouldn’t be Chloe’s mother-in-law.

That would only be the case if the Empress rose to the position of Empress Consort, but the Empress Consort position had been vacant for a long time.

Chloe stopped eating and quietly listened to the conversation between the Empress and Emperor.

“I recall that Your Majesty the Empress already tasted Chloe’s cooking and praised it quite highly.”

Shuel came to her support, and the Emperor also backed him up.

“Don’t make strange complaints and just eat your meal, Empress.”

“Now that we’ve become an Imperial family, wouldn’t it be nice to be treated to the Duchess’s food as a commemoration?”

Chloe hadn’t married Shuel yet, so strictly speaking she wasn’t Imperial family, but it wasn’t appropriate to point that out in the current situation.

The Empress’s intention to find fault was obvious from her behavior.

“Her cooking should be served when she wants to serve it…”

“In any case, the Duchess is going to become Imperial family, so if she serves her cooking to the Imperial family, wouldn’t that be good for the Garnet Estate too?”

Even though the Empress had openly interrupted the Prince’s words, the Emperor had no intention of stopping her and just silently listened to what she said.

He was someone who did everything as he pleased, whether supporting his son or leaving him to be cornered.

“The Prince is going to be the Duchess’s husband, so how can he be so lacking in consideration?”

With the Emperor remaining silent, the Empress became even more triumphant and added this.

“Or is serving me food really so distasteful to you, Prince?”

If he said he disliked it here, Shuel would be branded as a narrow-minded person.

‘The Emperor doesn’t seem likely to help Shuel right now either.’

So Chloe handled it as conservatively as possible.

“Yes. I will serve a grand banquet to all the Imperial family members, Your Majesty the Empress.”

She said this calculating that if His Majesty the Emperor also attended, it could reduce the Empress’s evil schemes, and at her obedient acceptance, the Empress brightened and sneered.

“Oh my, indeed only a daughter-in-law thinks of her father-in-law.”

Though she was tired of the Empress’s attitude of criticizing her whether she did something or not, Chloe somehow managed to respond and returned to the Garnet Manor in an exhausted state.

***

Chloe began pondering what dishes to serve the Imperial family, listing the recipes she could make.

‘What should I really serve them.’

First, since it was for the Imperial table, single dishes wouldn’t do.

She had to teach others to make course meals and present an impressively grand table.

‘First, let me think about how many chickens we have left in our coop.’

Of course, there wouldn’t be a shortage of chickens.

The chickens in the Luzhiere Empire were basically ridiculously large in size… Thinking up to that point, Chloe’s eyes sparkled.

‘Wait, there’s no reason to worry.’

Her memories from her previous life naturally included knowledge about food that kings ate.

As the daughter of Baekbanjip and a chef herself, even though she hadn’t made it directly, she had opportunities to experience royal cuisine.

Though it was only once, the results of that experience remained intact in Chloe’s memory.

‘This is it!’

Chloe decided to prepare a royal feast.

She began mentally counting how many dishes needed aging or advance preparation.

‘The term “12-course royal meal” didn’t come about for nothing.’

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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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