Chapter 19 - A Certain Chef Apprentice POV (part 2)

I feel heartache when I saw how thin she was.

She looks surprised when she heard my words. "It's alright. Thank you um…, what should I call you?"

She fidgeted and asked me about my identity.

"Right, I'm Winslow Aquarea. I'm a chef apprentice who just started working here. Nice to know you, my lady."

I introduced myself with a smile so she could eat her food with ease.

As I saw her start to eat quietly, I continued with my work.

"I'm sorry for adding more work." She suddenly said.

"Don't worry about it, my lady. What do you think about that soup taste? Do you have any opinions?" I answered her.

"Why do you ask me this question?"

She looked at me with a doubtful gaze.

That's right. Why do I feel like I have to ask her this question?

She is younger than my siblings.

How could she know about it?

"I'm sorry if I act rude or ask a strange thing to you. But my lady seems to be smarter than the other so I think you will have an idea for improving the taste of this soup..."

I try to make an excuse but the more I try to trick her the more embarrassed I became.

I feel like an idiot right now.

But an unexpected answer came from my lady's mouth.

"Haa..., alright, alright. I will help you but please don't let anyone know about it. I need to hide my talent to survive in this house. If they found out about it, they would try to kill me."

I don't know why she said that.

"Is that because you are an illegitimate child?"

I can't understand. How they've treated her before until she was able to say such things?

So I asked her the possible reason that I can think of.

"That's right. They never thought of me as a human. They didn't even try to remind me of dinner time after the tutor punished me and hit me for being stupid."

She started to say that while pouting like an angry child but it looks strange because of her expressionless face.

No, she was really angry.

But her attitude is just too cute.

But when I heard about what happened to her, I feel like my blood was drained from my body.

A chilling sensation is creeping into my body.

I felt scared that the kind servants in this mansion are doing something like that and acting normally and happily without feeling guilty.

Is she telling me the truth?

"I never thought that they would be doing something like that." My voice is trembling.

I don't know what should I have told her if what she told me was real.

"It's alright. Thank you, brother Winslow."

I could see her forcing herself to smile.

"I am sorry." I feels sad when I thought she had been in such hardships.

She was troubled by my words.

"You don't have to be sorry for me because you didn't do anything wrong. If you want to help me, please hide the fact that I'm smarter than my peers. It's the only way to save my mother and me. So please don't let anyone know about it."

She looks so flustered and seems to try to cheer me up.

But her words are like a sharp knife stabbing at my heart.

I feel ashamed for thinking that I am unfortunate before.

After our parents died in the accident, and I need to find a job to raise my siblings, I have think that I am the unluckiest person in this world.

But...she hasn't lived even half of my siblings' lives.

But she had gone through such hardships.

I try to calm myself down to not make her worried.

"Alright, it would be our secret. If you need any help, you can find me here."

I could only caress her head like I used to do to my siblings.

I'm really surprised by her knowledge of cooking.

The more I talk to her, the more she relaxed.

And she started to tell me...or I think it's more like she's teaching me about what should I do to improve the taste of the foods.

I feel that I learned more from her than what I learned from the head chef.

It's making me more confused about how they treat her.

Why do they hate her when she has such talents?

She is even smarter than some no, most adults.

Even if she is an illegitimate child, how can they do that to her?

I didn't know if I have this feeling because I remembered about my siblings or because I started to take care of my siblings when they were around her age.

Those thoughts are making me want to help her.

I couldn't forget about how skinny she was.

She was only skin and bones.

My heart aches just from looking at her appearance.

After she went back to her room, I quickly finished my work.

When I arrived at my dorm room, my roommate is still awake.

He was someone who has worked in this mansion for five years.

I try to ask him about my lady identity.

"Do you know about a little kid around two years old that lives in this mansion?"

"Why do you ask about it?" He asked with doubtful tones.

"Actually I saw a kid walking in the mansion before and I just want to make sure that the kid was not a ghost. You know I'm not good with such things, right."

I try to make an excuse to not make any suspicious behaviour.

"Hahaha, did my story really scare you that much? Don't worry that thing is just a tool for this household. The Viscountess said that we must not treat her like a human because of her dirty blood." He laughed and said.

"Do you know, that thing mother is a descendant of the things from the Spirits Continent? It was trash that doesn't have any blessings from the Goddess. How can that be a person?"

I could see how he hates my lady and her mother from his words.

"Besides how dare that thrash do something like that to the Viscount and have that dirty thing? Do you know? That thrash trick and seduce the Viscount after being helped and accept as a maid in this mansion. You need to be careful too, don't get tricked by that thrash. You shouldn't bother by them." He continued and reassure me to not care about them.

"Thank you for telling me about that. It really helped me to ease my mind so I can get enough rest for tomorrow."

"Right, you don't need to worry about it because the Viscounts have separated it from each other. They won't be ganging to trick anyone in this mansion again."

She is still really young and being separated from her mother and the servants seem to abuse her. I remembered the scars on her feet.

I clenched my hands strongly so that he would not see any strange expression from me.

I never thought that they would have such thoughts.

Just because her mother is someone from the Spirits Continent, a person without blessings, it won't mean that they could do something like that.

I don't know if this story is true or not, but from how they treat them there must be something else.

Maybe it's also related to the temple teaching.

Although they told us to always be kind to every Goddess's creations, but they also told us to loathe the one that didn't have the Goddess's blessing.

It's a contradiction if we remember that the race in the Spirits Continent was also the Goddess's creation.

Even if they lost their blessing, why should we hate them?

After interacting with my lady, I could only think that she was someone who is being loved by the Goddess.

I might sympathize with her because she reminds me of my siblings.

***

When I wake up, I quickly tidy myself and go to the kitchen.

On my way to the kitchen, I saw a woman with similar black hair and eyes to my lady being abused by other servants.

I can't help her because my lady warned me to not try to help her or her mother. After all, they don't want me to involve them in their problems. However I thought about it, it's just really strange for them to be treated like this. Even though I feel really guilty for not helping them, I decided to run to the kitchen.

I quickly cleaned the kitchen and prepared the kitchen utilities for the Head Chef, my teacher so he can start his cooking when he arrives.

But still, the guilty feeling is reminded in my mind. I decided to tell myself to help them the next time they need my help.

...I am still unable to understand why they do such things to both of them.

I continue with my work and prepare the ingredients for my teacher.

When I prepared the ingredients, suddenly I remembered my lady's words.

'For me, a true chef is someone who pursues to create and improve the dishes until they are satisfied with everyone's tastes. But different people have different tastes so I only think of it as a dream. Besides I am someone who likes to eat rather than cook. How can I understand what a chef needs.'

Although she said it with a joking tone, but I think her words sound really ideal for me.

"...A food that can satisfy everyone." I unconsciously said it loud.

"What are you doing? Quickly prepare the ingredients for our Master dishes!" The head chef who just arrived in the kitchen shouted.

I quickly continue my work.

After we finished the breakfast, I tried to talk about refining the existing recipes to get a better taste.

But it turns out it makes me get scolded.