Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride

Book 1: A Girl in Another World - Chapter 11

Quinn

When I stirred awake, it was to the feeling of a pair of arms wrapped tightly around my middle and gentle, feathery stroking of my head. I knew who the arms belonged to. Maria! She had snuggled next to me in bed last night after I had finished with hers and Liam's health checks. As for the hand that was stroking my head...

I fluttered my eyes open to see Elizabeth sitting on the side of the bed, a soft smile on her face as she gazed at me.

"Mother," I said.

"Good morning," she said and then leaned down to kiss me on the forehead.

Wow! That was... nice. I hadn't had that sort of kiss for so long, since I had been in my early teens, in fact. It brought memories, pleasant ones, for sure.

"Morning," I said.

Maria stirred then and muttered, "Morning, Aunty Beth. Morning, Quinn."

Morning," I said as I removed her arms from me. "I'm hungry."

Elizabeth stood, and turning on her heel, she headed toward the kitchen area. She said, "Liam should be back with freshly baked bread soon. And I'm about to—"

"Don't!" I said quickly.

Elizabeth shifted her gaze to me, looking perplexed.

"Please... don't make any soup," I said. After all, I've had it with rock-hard rye bread and bland soup. "Let me cook."

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Maria said, "You can cook, Quinn?"

I chuckled. "I'm considered quite a good one, you know. Mom and Dad taught me since I was small. I've always had an interest in food because it's part of science, and cooking is food science."

Not to mention I had worked part-time in a fancy family-run buffet restaurant during my university years as both a kitchen assistant and waitress, not at the same time of course. As a kitchen assistant, I'd pitch in to cook, mostly the Asian dishes, when they were short on staff. I especially liked the pho station. It was so easy since everything was already prepared, and I simply had to add the rice noodles, soup, meat, and herbs for them before handing them the bowl of goodness and deliciousness.

Thinking about that made me crave a bowl of pho. Not just that, in fact, but every type of food that came in a buffet. Ah, the seafood, the meats, the international dishes—Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian, Mexican, and more—and the desserts. My mouth started watering, and it was so damn early in the morning.

For now, however, I'd just have to settle for something simpler. We'd do a buffet when we had a better house to live in. Eating something so luxurious in a dilapidated cottage just didn't feel right.

Out of bed, I did a bit of a stretch, and it was then Liam opened the door and walked in. He headed straight to the kitchen area and placed the loaf of bread on the table. "Should I get the cheese?" he asked.

Elizabeth said, "Quinn is cooking us breakfast today."

Liam turned to me with raised brows. "You can cook, Quinn? And what will you make?"

"She said she's quite an excellent one," Maria supplied.

Good. I had said good, not excellent.

I winked at him. "You wait and see." I came over and cleared the table. "Now then," I said.

Maria must be interested because she came toddling over, and before long, all three people waited expectantly for me to begin.

Smirking, I gathered the utensils—a wooden cutting board, a jug made of tin, and two small wooden bowls we used for soup. Then I summoned my magic circle and started creating the ingredients I needed. Of course, I could always create the already cooked food, but that'd be no fun. I loved cooking, and the smell during the process made it even better, especially when one was hungry.