The Villainess Doesn't Want To Fall In Love

Chapter III: The Perfect Pair Part 2

The first time she stepped into the kitchen was when she was twelve. She said she wanted to bake a mango pie. The chefs were shocked and thought she was only fooling around so they tried to stop her. To their surprise, she actually baked a mango pie and it tasted delicious. It became a favorite refreshment of Chester.

That incident happened again and she came up with a new recipe. She cooked spaghetti with lots of meatballs, tomato sauce, and cheese. The Marquis, the Marchioness, and Jefferson almost vomited when they ate it. It was so sweet and weird for their palate. Jefferson even scolded her for making fun of such cuisine but she didn't mind it at all. Fortunately, Chester liked it the same way he liked the mango pie. It became his favorite too. She would always cook spaghetti during his birthday celebrations.

You're a Filipino now, Chester, she grinned and even thought of introducing the kid to Jollibee-a famous fast food bee icon of the country in her past life.

If anyone asks her what's the most interesting place in the mansion, she would automatically say 'the kitchen'. She grew fond of baking and cooking, she even introduced new foods to them. She was even entitled as a 'food genius' for inventing new cuisines that would taste weird at first but eventually taste better the more you repeat eating them.

Those were just imitations of the food she knew in her past life though and she couldn't blame the others if her cooking didn't suit their palate.

If anything, she owed her cooking skills to her past self who worked as a cook in a neighborhood carenderia. Her recipe was famous and well-appreciated by regular customers. As for her other job, she applied as a cashier in a small bakery. But the store lacked workers so instead of being a cashier, she was tasked to make breads and pastries instead. That's how she learned the art of baking.

The problem is, that cooking in this world has been difficult for her since she lacks the right resources. She only knew how to cook foods from her previous life and each recipe she came up with requires the ingredients which happened to be rare to acquire here. It was just pure luck that she reincarnated as a daughter of a noble but it was still not enough.

"Alright, it's done," she joyfully exclaimed after thirty minutes of waiting and served the food on the plate. It was smoky and hot. It felt like heaven the moment she smelled the aroma coming from it. As she thrust the fork into the tenderness of the meat, some juices escaped to the surface. She blew the smoke and when the meat's heat faded, she carefully took a bite.

"This..." She halted and stared at the food. She couldn't help but shed a tear as her eyesight started to become blurry. "This tastes like home."

The chefs looked at each other, confused at their lady's overreaction. They also tasted her dish and no artists in this era could draw the expressions on their faces. It tasted strange to them but they didn't dislike it. They were confused.

"It's salty and sour, then there's the kick of sweetness and a little bit of spiciness. How come those contradicting flavors were perfectly balanced? How in the world did you make this, Lady Clarish?" The old chef fired some questions, curiosity was evident on his face. Among the two chefs, he was the most skeptical.

"It has a distinct taste, it's way very different from the one I made," the lady chef said as she took another bite. The male chef agreed with a nod.

"We need rice for this," Reina then exclaimed and roamed her eyes around the kitchen. "Do we have it here?"

"Rice?" the old chef looked at the other chefs to confirm if they understood what she meant but they only shook their heads.

"Yes, rice. Something like tiny white seeds." She scratched the back of her neck and smiled. "It looked like wheat when they were harvested."