The Villainess's Exclusive Maid Is Too Good at Her Job - Chapter 39

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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 39

“Have there been any changes to the ingredients this month? A change in origin or supplier?”
“Well, I don’t think there have been any particular changes like that.”
“Would it be possible to see last month’s menu as well?”
“Ah, yes! I have that!”
The Head Chef, his displeasure shifting to cooperation, hurried off and returned with last month’s menu.
The Head Chef, Janet, and Kendrick.
The three of them huddled together, comparing the two menus side by side.
‘His condition began deteriorating around this time.’
Yet the food consumed that day couldn’t be blamed as the culprit.
Just as with Joanna’s case, there was a possibility that something problematic had accumulated in his body.
Cream stew.
Roasted sweet potato with butter.
Blueberry yogurt.
Croissant.
And….
The Head Chef, methodically scanning the menu, murmured quietly.
“I can’t quite figure it out. This month’s meals seem to be mostly soft and easy to digest….”
Soft and easy to digest?
Ah, now that he mentioned it.
“…!”
Janet’s eyes sparkled as she found what she’d been searching for.
Found it.
The difference between last month and this month.
“Wait, could it be….”
Janet posed her suspicion to the Head Chef. Upon hearing the question, his eyes widened and he nodded vigorously.
“Yes! That’s it! But, could that be the problem? The ingredients were certainly fresh, and it’s harder to find foods that don’t contain it, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. It’s hard to find foods without it. That’s why Jeron has been consistently complaining of stomach pain.”
Jeron had been frail since birth, or so he’d been told. Therefore, his reaction would naturally be more severe than others born with the same constitution.
***

Joanna’s eyes widened as she listened to Janet’s account of what had transpired in Jeron’s Room.
“Is that truly the case? Really….”
She glanced down at the sleeping Jeron before continuing in a hushed voice.
“Dairy products are the culprit?”
“Yes. It’s commonly called lactose intolerance. It’s a condition where the body cannot digest foods containing lactose, like dairy products, and suffers adverse reactions.”
She explained that while it typically manifests in people of Eastern descent, there were rare cases among Westerners who inherited the condition as well.
It appeared Jeron was one of those rare cases.
“Is it a serious illness?”
“No. It’s not the sort of thing that would be fatal. However, since Jeron’s constitution is rather delicate to begin with, his symptoms appear to have manifested more severely than usual.”
“…I see. Still, I’m relieved it’s not serious.”
Joanna pressed a hand to her chest and collapsed into a chair.
“I was so worried he might have contracted some grave illness that I made quite a fuss. It seems Jeron was equally frightened that he might be suffering from something severe.”
She exhaled a long sigh and buried her face in her hands.
“I feel like such a fool.”
“There’s no need to be so hard on yourself. It’s perfectly understandable.”
Joanna bowed her head in gratitude at Janet’s reassurance.
But that moment of relief was short-lived.
“But who is this person…?”
Joanna looked up at Theo with a puzzled expression, and Janet held her breath.
‘Surely we haven’t been discovered?’
While the other servants might have overlooked his presence, Joanna was one of those who oversaw Jeron’s Annex.
She would certainly have noticed the presence of an unfamiliar doctor.
“Ah, well….”
“He is Doctor Faydin’s assistant. When he heard that Jeron had fallen ill, the Doctor sent him to check on you. He said to come and see how you were doing out of concern.”
“Ah, Doctor Faydin’s….”
Joanna nodded and accepted the explanation readily.
‘What? Is she really just letting this go?’
Theo, reading the bewilderment on Janet’s face, whispered softly to her.
“The Doctor employs a great many assistants. He cycles through them so frequently that even he probably doesn’t know how many he has.”
“My goodness. What a terrible employer.”
“Though thanks to that, I’ve survived.”
As the two of them murmured to each other, Joanna posed another question.
“Did this gentleman also help with Jeron’s matter?”
“That’s right. He helped me investigate the cause by going to the Kitchen with me.”
“My, I’m truly grateful. I’ll be sure to send my thanks to Doctor Faydin.”
Kendrick smiled silently and gave a slight bow.
Janet rolled her eyes at him and whispered.
“Is that really alright?”
“The Doctor is so scatterbrained that he’ll simply accept it as is.”
Janet nodded at Theo’s words.
If that’s what Theo says, then that must be it.
“Still, this is quite the predicament. If you can’t consume dairy products, the range of foods available to you will shrink considerably.”
Joanna sighed, her voice tinged with concern.
Certainly, finding foods without dairy products was no simple task.
Milk, cheese, cream, yogurt—
These were among the most common ingredients used in countless dishes.
“Still, now that we know the cause, I should avoid it as much as possible. Thank you for your help.”
“It’s not certain yet, though.”
It was genuine, not mere modesty.
After all, we hadn’t conclusively determined that dairy was the culprit. For now, I would need to adjust the diet and observe the results over time.
“If dairy products do turn out to be the problem, there are countermeasures we can take.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Janet answered with confidence.

***

My memories from my past life weren’t particularly vivid. Yet certain moments remained crystalline in my mind.
For instance, the shameless antics of the master I once served.
‘Why do such memories remain so clear?’
Did rage burn them into my mind so deeply?
The next day, I gathered my notes and made my way to Jeron’s Annex.
Kendrick accompanied me once again.
“Since we started together, we should see it through to the end.”
That was roughly his reasoning.
I didn’t mind having Kendrick by my side, so it made no difference to me.
However.
“Oh! There you are again, maid!”
I hadn’t anticipated this person’s arrival.
Oscar was at Jeron’s Annex.
“I came to visit again, and I heard the most interesting news—that you’ve discovered the cause of Jeron’s illness?”
“Not exactly the cause, per se—”
“Still, that’s quite impressive! And I heard that today you’re going to tell us about a substitute for milk?”
“It’s nothing grand enough to warrant such interest.”
“Come now, don’t worry, maid. I’ll just take a little interest.”
That’s not what I meant at all.
…Never mind. I give up.
I smiled awkwardly and opened the notebook I’d prepared.
The Head Chef was the first to show interest.
I could see his eyes moving busily as he fixed his gaze upon the open pages.
“Oh. A method like this…?”
At the Head Chef’s exclamation, the others eagerly examined the notebook.
‘It’s really not that impressive.’
While my lips trembled with embarrassment, my eyes suddenly locked with Kendrick’s.
He widened his eyes with a smile and made a small clapping gesture.
Janet’s cheeks flushed as she blinked.
And there existed a gaze watching the two of them with keen interest.
‘Hmm.’
Golden eyes swept rapidly across the two figures. The corners of his mouth, already curved in a smile, lifted even deeper.

A moment later.
Those who had examined the notebook looked at Janet with sparkling eyes.
“My goodness, how did you ever come up with such a method?!”
“Right? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Indeed. I have studied many dishes for Jeron, but I have never encountered a recipe like this. Milk made from oats!”
What Janet had written in the notebook was a method for making oat milk.
“It’s truly remarkable. It’s like alchemy.”
“No, no. It’s not quite so grand. After all, the composition differs from actual milk….”
“But the taste is similar, is it not?”
“Well… yes, it is.”
Strictly speaking, the taste was different too. But it was sufficient to serve as a substitute for milk.
Watching the delighted faces around me, I recalled the memories from my past life that had made this possible.
In my previous life.
The executive I worked under was nothing short of a nightmare. He had parachuted into the company and behaved as though he owned the place, and he too suffered from lactose intolerance.
Being unusually particular about his health, he pestered his secretaries, demanding, “Find me alternative foods I can eat!”
And that wasn’t all.
He found an oat milk recipe from somewhere and demanded that I make it fresh for him, throwing his weight around like a tyrant.
As a mere subordinate in my past life, I had made homemade oat milk for that executive countless times.
‘…Thinking about it this way, it really does feel surreal that I’m in a novel world.’
More precisely, it felt like I had become ‘a person who transmigrated into a novel.’
Isn’t there a scene where the protagonist uses memories from their past life to create something, and everyone around them drops their jaws in astonishment?
I felt exactly like the protagonist in such a scene.

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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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