Chapter 13: The Uncrowned Queen of the Banquet

“I’d like to know what everyone used to do in the kitchen,” Xue La asked, like a commander.

After all, before her transmigration she had been an apprentice in a Western restaurant—one picks up that overbearing attitude from watching the manager enough.

As a lord of the Kingdom of Norsenia, even though Xue La’s mother had taken more than half the servants in a huff, there were still about three or four servants left in the kitchen, but they weren’t professional enough.

First to catch his eye were a pair of freckled farm sisters, plain-looking, whose abilities were limited to helping out in the kitchen, cutting fruits and vegetables, setting plates, and pouring wine.

Next was a simple baker, dark-skinned with thick arms—he had the skill to manage the oven and make bread and jam, but he still fell short of the level needed to prepare a full table of dishes.

Finally, one who could barely be called a cook: a scrawny old man blind in one eye, who knew how to roast meat and make soup.

But the most crucial head chef was the cook who had come as help when Xue La’s mother married in—like the absolute main force of an army.

Without him, a banquet couldn’t be held—and this was perhaps Countess Brian’s silent protest against her husband.

If you can’t get your daughter back, don’t expect to eat good food.

Although Count Brian was easygoing and didn’t care much about culinary pleasures, losing the ability to host guests would inevitably make him a laughingstock in noble social circles. Marriage among nobles!

Xue La sighed inwardly—she had returned, but reporting this good news to her mother, who was far away at her maiden home, would probably take some time.

Therefore, for this evening’s banquet, Xue La would have to take charge personally.

Being able to use her pre-transmigration experience in this life was like a fish in water!

Moreover, the more dishes she made, the more experience she would gain, and her panel level would skyrocket… How wonderful was that?

Of course, everything starts with the first step.

What fine dishes and drinks would be needed for this banquet to thank Laurence and his grandson Luo Yi?

***

In the end, Xue La settled on these—”I make the following deployment…”

Xue La raised her hand and began her first instruction as the lady of the house.

To thank the merchant, the must-make dish was Niers Stew, whose prototype was Provencal Stew, requiring carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, and thyme… It was a complex meal, and Xue La volunteered, tying on an apron to take charge.

But this stew was too plain; the banquet’s main course had to be a hearty dish—so she left it to that scrawny old man to make a delicious roasted lamb rack, which only needed a little herbs, salt, and pepper to be the greatest delicacy.

The appetizer was usually a clear vegetable soup. There was no rush for that; even without Xue La, they could manage.

Then came dessert, which the baker would prepare; making a delicious cake seemed like a good idea.

Then they would set out drinks from the cellar, and that would be everything.

The plan was set, but there were still some problems in execution: the flour stock was insufficient.

Huh?

A respectable lord, and his own kitchen didn’t have enough refined white flour?

Was this…

“Miss Xue La, please don’t be angry. Every year, the finest flour is shipped from various mills, but the rumors about the manticore have been circulating for so long that it can’t be delivered for now—the flour in this jar is from last year.”

“But we have other stock, my lady. Our estate doesn’t lack milk, eggs, and honey… these are all produced on the estate…”

“Oh?”

Xue La took that in.

“Good, then we have substitutes.”

If the stew was dedicated to Laurence, then the dessert was dedicated to Luo Yi.

This child probably hadn’t eaten many sweets since he was little.

The way he ate cookies in the cave—Xue La still remembered it.

Anyway, let’s get started!

Light the stove, move the big pot!

Xue La began her busy directing and cooking.

And her panel was slowly changing.

That small experience bar was finally filling up gradually as the dishes were completed.

The prototype of Niers Stew was Provencal Stew. The key to this dish was to simmer a delicious thick tomato sauce: mince garlic and sauté it in oil, then add peeled and seeded tomatoes and stir-fry continuously. As the tomatoes heated up and released water, they gradually turned into a thick sauce. Set it aside on the plate!

Then, slice carrots, cucumbers, and eggplant, place them on the cooked tomato sauce, and stack them gradually until a “flower” is formed in the center of the plate.

“Young lady, your skills… are they really this deft?”

The scrawny old man, while tending to his sizzling roasted lamb rack, occasionally glanced at Xue La.

“In my memory, Miss Xue La was just a simple little girl who would sneak into the kitchen to steal food.”

“The young lady is a very clever child. She learns just by looking, right?”

The pair of sisters giggled.

“The lady has always doted on her… maybe she’s been getting private lessons!”

The baker was still busy with what Xue La had instructed, mixing flour, eggs, and milk until it became a perfect batter—neither too thin nor too thick.

A dessert he had never made before?

Xue La arranged the plate of Niers Stew, then signaled the servants to send it to the oven to bake for twenty minutes.

Next came that mysterious dessert.

***

She made a lot of dishes, but it was all for leveling up!

Xue La wiped her sweat.

The moon rose in the calm autumn night, as if celebrating the relief of surviving the Manticore Crisis.

Under the flickering candlelight, the Linde family’s banquet finally began.

Luo Yi and his grandfather Roderick sat at the lowest end of the banquet—after all, they were just destitute tenant farmers working for the nobility, so their status was naturally far below everyone else at the table.

Count Brian Linde sat at the head of the long table, dressed in the most appropriate country gentleman’s attire, the white napkin on his chest making him look like a docile white dove.

Xue La sat at the second seat, but that seat had once belonged to her mother.

No help for it—when the lady of the house was absent, the lord’s daughter would temporarily fill in.

Next was the merchant Laurence—while Xue La prepared the dishes, he hadn’t been idle; he was busy in the estate cutting and removing the manticore’s valuable organs: the manticore’s wing membrane, the venom gland in its tail… all good stuff. The organs were in good condition, and he was willing to buy them at a high price!

Naturally, the count gave him a higher seat.

Finally, there were the incompetent knights under the count.

Criticism aside, the Linde family had to rely on these people, so the count could only do so much—he couldn’t exactly publicly order the knights to get lost just for the sake of Luo Yi’s innocence.

All he could do was lock up the biggest troublemaker, Kairos, and let the more obedient knights come in for the meal.

Their status was higher than Luo Yi and his grandfather. Only higher than them.

So they maintained a shred of remaining pride, just not daring to let it show.

They ignored them, as if nothing had happened.

This was what the “noble” knights did.

The first appetizer was a delicious clear vegetable soup placed before everyone, with a refreshing taste.

“Same old taste.”

Brian took a spoonful, and his sensitive tongue quickly understood in his heart.

“This dish is simple; the kitchen staff can make it.”

The second dish was the real highlight.

Blooming like a flower—Niers Stew!

Laurence’s face was full of surprise.

“This truly took Miss Xue La’s ingenious thought—have you seen it before in some cookbook…”

Xue La nodded and smiled.

She had changed into a pretty little green dress, which made her blue hair stand out even more.

Luo Yi lowered his head, only busy dipping his bread in the vegetable soup.

On one hand, because he was hungry. As the lowest-level tenant farmer, his daily life was to be companions with hunger—so he knew which wild vegetables and roots were edible and which were not…

That was why in the cave, he had…

‘Miss Xue La is very good to me,’ Luo Yi thought. ‘After all, cookies are such precious things… I ate them for the first time. Then, there was the bandaging after killing the manticore… and that hug…’

He lowered his head, not daring to look at Xue La, nor to acknowledge the blush on his face.

After all, a tenant farmer kid and a noble’s daughter…

He didn’t dare think about it.

But in the end, he raised his head—good heavens, the next dish was roasted lamb rack?

And it was roasted with salt and spices?

Where would an ordinary poor family ever get to eat this?

It was all because he had saved Miss Xue La!

Luo Yi’s heart felt warm, especially when he took that precious bite of meat.

This piece of meat was from the very end of the lamb rack—not very delicious, not worthy.

But what if he became someone worthy?

Legend had it that the Brave, that esteemed position, could even marry a princess!

‘If I become the Brave, I won’t marry anyone else—I’ll marry the good girl who helped and cared for me, Miss Xue La.’

Luo Yi swore in his heart.

And Xue La’s prepared surprises weren’t over yet.

The last dish, prepared for Luo Yi.

It was honey pancake!

A batter made from a small amount of flour, eggs, and milk, flipped a bit on the frying pan, turned into a soft brown cookie exuding a sweet aroma. After coming out of the pan, it was drizzled with a layer of honey!

So full of flavor!

Xue La knew Luo Yi couldn’t resist sweets, so she had chosen this.

Sweet, sweet… pancake.

However, there was one surprise that Xue La hadn’t prepared for.

The merchant Laurence suddenly raised his hand and spoke.

“Since Miss Xue La has such fine cooking skills, there’s a recipe that shouldn’t be wasted on a small merchant like me who wanders the world and never knows where his next meal will come from.”

Laurence shrugged and, with a bitter smile, offered a torn page of a recipe…