CHAPTER 5 - Villainess' Baking Time

On the next day, many letters came to the Harrigan mansion. The letters were sent by the ladies of Althea's age. The contents were mostly to comfort her or to invite her to a tea party.

"Zoey, I won't go anywhere." Althea threw all the letters and stretched lazily on the bed.

"My Lady, why?" Zoey asked in confusion.

"Zoey, listen. I am the victim. And to gain more attention, I have to act more vulnerable. So, I will not attend these parties in the near future. Let that bastard Crown Prince and that fox woman face people's attention, first." Althea smirked.

"You'll appear lastly as the main character, My Lady?"

"Exactly. You are smart, Zoey!"

"My Lady is so cool!" Zoey clasped her hands in excitement.

"Of course. Ah…I want to bake something. Let's go to the kitchen." Althea said.

"My Lady never went to the kitchen even once. Are you sure?" Zoey asked.

"I have the talent, though. I can do it perfectly even without practice."

"Wow…My Lady!"

Althea and Zoey headed to the kitchen. Its location was near the knights' quarter and a bit far from the main building. They must walk through long corridors before arriving at the kitchen. Once they arrived, a kitchen maid noticed Althea's presence.

"My Lady, you are here."

"Oh my God, My Lady is here. Tell me what dish do you want, My Lady?" The chef asked as he clasped his hands.

"I am here to bake, Mr. Chef," Althea said.

"To bake? My Lady wants to bake?" The chef doubted his ears and asked again.

"Yes. Please prepare the baking equipment."

"A...as your command, My Lady."

The kitchen servants prepared the baking equipment right away. Some of the equipment was equipped with mana stones to support the work more effectively.

"Here is the baking equipment, My Lady."

"Thank you for the help, everyone. I'll make many so we can eat them together.“ Althea said kindly.

"My Lady is the best!"

Althea started her baking time excitedly. Many servants came to the kitchen and watched how professional she was in baking. Her movements were so smooth as if it was her expertise. All the servants who watched the scene were in disbelief.

Surely, it was Arein's skill. Baking was the hobby that encouraged her to start a Boutique and Dessert Café. Of course, baking any kind of cookies and cakes was as easy as selling peas to her. There were many dessert recipes from the 23rd century on her head.

"Wow, our Lady is so skill-full."

"You're right."

After she finished with the cookie dough, she sliced some chocolate and melted cheese bars into small pieces. She collected them and put them into two different bowls; one for chocolate pieces and one for melted cheese pieces.

Next, Althea made a small ball of cookie dough and organized them neatly on the long wooden table. When all the butter cookies dough had been divided into mini balls, Althea took one of the doughs. Then she put a mini chocolate bar inside the dough.

"Alright, I need more hands now. Anyone want to help?" Althea asked.

"I want to help, My Lady."

"Me too, me too."

"Also, me, My Lady."

With the help of some kitchen servants, it took thirty minutes only until the raw cookies with chocolate and melted cheese bar finished. And it took about one and a half hours to bake all of them.

"It's all done. Good job and thank you for the help, everyone." Althea said in satisfaction.

"Our Lady is very skill-full in baking!"

"My Lady, what is the name of this cookie?" Asked Zoey.

"Ah…all of you must be familiar with all crunchy cookies, right? This one isn't only crunchy cookies. Instead, these are chewy soft cookies. Come on, let's have a try." Althea said. The kitchen servants took some cookies.

"Hmm…it's so delicious, My Lady."

"The chocolate is melting inside the cookies!"

"The cheese is also melting! I never ate this kind of cookie before."

"Yes. You won't find this kind of cookie at any dessert shop. Soft cookie has a crunchy texture on the outside, but it is so soft and chewy on the inside." Althea explained.

"Oh my God, My Lady is truly a genius!"

"You all flatter me. My baking skill cannot be compared to Mr. chef." Althea said shyly and stared at the chef.

"Oh, My Lady. Your skill is far above mine. I mean it." The chef exclaimed.

"Alright, alright. I have packed some cookies here. This basket of cookies is for the servants to share. And these two, I will bring one of them for the knights and another one is for my father. I'll take my leave now, please enjoy the cookies." Althea said with a bright smile.

"Thank you, My Lady."

"Our Lady is an angel. Isn't she?"

"Yes. She is the angel of this mansion."

Althea and Zoey brought a basket full of soft cookies each. Both of them headed to the knights' quarter. The knights' quarter was just a hundred meters from the kitchen. From afar, Althea could hear the knights training sound.

CLANG CLANG

"Hello, Mr. knights."

Hearing Althea's voice, all the knights stopped their activities. They faced each other to find who would speak first to her. Finally, a big man in his late-forty approached her.

"Greetings My Lady, I am Vector, the Captain of Harrigan's knights."

"Hello, Captain Vector." Althea greeted him with a smile.

"What brings you here, My Lady?" He asked.

"Ah…I am here to give these cookies to the knights." Looking at the basket full of cookies, all the knights' faces turned bright and approached their captain.

"Greetings My Lady!" They greeted Althea in unison.

"Hello, everyone. I see all of you trained very hard. These are some cookies for you to share. I hope they suit your taste." Althea beamed. All the knights blushed to see her beautiful smile.

Althea handed the basket to Captain Vector. He, then, shares the cookies with all the knights. When they took their first bite, all of them fell into silence.

"M…My Lady, did you make them yourself?" One of the knights asked in teary eyes.

"Yes. Does it taste bad? This is my first time in baking, I am sorry if it tastes bad."

"No, no My Lady. The cookie's taste is soooo delicious. This is my first time eating this cookie." He answered excitedly as he bit the cookies more.

"Yes. This is the best cookie I ever ate." Some of the knights exclaimed

"Is that so? I am glad to hear that." Althea responded.

"My Lady, please give us more cookies like this in the future." Another knight said.

"You ungrateful knight. You dared to ask the Lady!" Scolded Captain Vector.

"That's fine, Captain Vector. I'll make more cookies for all of you in the future." Althea said warmly.

"Woahh…thank you, My Lady." All the knights exclaimed in joy.

Althea's eyes wandered around the training ground. Then, her sight caught to the archery bows' row on the left side of the training ground.

'A bow? It's been a while since I grabbed an archery bow in my past life. Come to think of it, should I try this one? Yes, I should!' She thought.