Chapter 20 - A Certain Chef Apprentice POV (part 3)

"How dare you said that to me!" The chef angrily shouted at me.

"I didn't mean to do anything that would give you trouble, Teacher." I tried to explain it.

"What do you mean when you said that you wanted to make a new recipe? Do you think it's something that a twelve years old kid like you could easily do?" The chef berated.

"I didn't mean to create a new recipe but to make the existing recipes to taste more delicious. I think some recipes need to get some revision to make them taste better." I continue to explain.

I want to try what my lady said. My feeling's telling me that what she told me last night is right.

"Have you thought about who would taste your experiments? Do you think that the other servants would help you?" The chef is getting angrier.

I lost my words.

How can I ask other people to test the foods that I will try to cook?

He is right, what if the things I made harm them?

But someone suddenly dismissed those negative thoughts.

"How about if I would volunteer myself as the taster?" My lady said it as loud as possible while raising her tiny right hand like an enthusiastic disciple.

Why does she do that?

Is she trying to help me? Or is she feels responsible because she told me that? My lady is too kind. Even though I couldn't do anything to help her.

"You!!!"

The chef angrily glared at her but suddenly he makes a suspicious, no it was a sinister smile.

"Of course, you can. OK, I'll let you use a bit of the ingredients. And you must remember that you could only give your cooking to her." He said to both of us.

For some reason, his smiling face became more sinister than when he was angry at me.

I'm looking at the strange and sinister expression of the head chef.

"Head chef, why do you let him do such a thing?" The assistant chef said with a surprised face.

I understand how he feels.

It must be because of my thoughtless idea.

Of course, you will be angry if you hear something like that from a child like me.

"You don't have to worry about that. He will only cook a small portion for himself and that thing. I think the Madam will also be happy because no one will get harmed by it. As a good adults, don't we need to support the children's creativity?" The head chef explains with a sinister smile on his face.

"How kind heart and great person you are! I will need to learn more from you to be able to help you with your work. I feel really embarrassed for my short-sighted thought." The assistant chef said with an embarrassed tone.

Listening to their conversations makes me feel disgusted.

I really don't understand why they treat her like that.

But my thought was stopped by her sudden question.

"Um..., Mister Head Chef, can you also let my mother to also try this brother cooking?"

I don't know what to say as I hear what my Lady trying to say with such a cute voice when she has her usual unchanging and expressionless face that looks like a doll.

I don't know if she knows about how expressionless her face is. Or is there anyone who tells her about it? I don't even know how to react. Besides it's complicated when I know that she acts like a cute and foolish child with that expressionless face to hide the fact that she was a genius.

My thought was interrupted by the head chef who seems to be thinking about what my lady asked.

"Hmm, you are right. He would be able to improve if he had at least one more taster to his foods. But I need to report it to the Madam first. She will be the one who will decide what will happen." The head chef said with a serious face but he didn't realize that his lips are twitching.

The head chef quickly leaves the kitchen to make a report to the Viscountess about it.

"Brother, can you let me have my breakfast?"

She suddenly asks me with a similar tone she use to ask the head chef before. Facing her seems to be an unchanging face I feel an extremely strange feeling. I could start to differentiate her mood from her tone because I have taken care of my younger siblings before.

But she only changes her tone like this when she is in front of the other. I really don't want to see her act like this often for some reason.

"Here, take this."

I give her, her breakfast while having too many things to ask her. Something related to how they were treating her or about how she could act like that or did she know she lack of expression?

"Thank you, Brother!"

She said while the tip of her lips raised a bit when I carefully look at her face. Is this related to how they are treating her? Or maybe she became expressionless because they keep bullying her or treating her like that?

I feel sad when I think about the cause of her expressionless face. It makes my heart ache as I thought if similar things happened to my younger siblings.

"Remember, you need to clean everything before I came back."

The assistant chef orders me and leaves the kitchen. Only both of us were left in the kitchen. I started to do my work while she ate silently.

After seeing her act like before I feel a bit awkward, especially in this kind of silence.

"I think I understand why you are acting like that." I decided to say something while doing my job.

She didn't answer my words as she continued eating. I feel sad as I try to emphasize with her condition. I have heard about her and her mother's condition from the others. I feel like something boiling inside me.

"I never thought that they would be so cruel to a little child like you." I continue my words.

The sound of her eating stop and I could hear her footsteps that getting closer to my direction. The closer she was to me, I feel more horrible. I decided to continue with my work and avoid myself to see her in my current state.

"They separated you from your mother and even treated both of you in the worst way possible that even someone who lives in the slums or slaves would never have..."

I could hear my voice is shaking because of my anger and my sadness for unable to do anything to help her. I could feel my eyes getting moist. I couldn't believe that the people in this mansion were able to do such things to her.

"Brother Winslow, why are you crying? Did they tell you to cut the onions?" She said with a bit of mocking.

"Do you think it's funny?" I glared at her because she seems to be unable to understand how inhumane their treatment of her was.

As I said it, she fold her hands in front of her chest as if she was angry and opened her mouth.

"I've known about how psycho and crazy they are and I think I just already used to it because it was how they acted from the time I was born. Rather than being depressed, I think it's better to trick them for my benefit."

She said as if she was sulking and angry at the people in this mansion. Her act lessens my chaotic feeling.

"Haa..., I never thought that I would learn something from a two-year-old child. And it surprisingly sounds like some sage's words that have lived for many years and are older than me." I sighed and said.

"Hehehe, how can I become older than you,"

I don't know why she act and said it like this with that tone. It was like she reassures me when I'm older than me. It saddened me to

"...You have it hard to live in this house. Even you are still the daughter of the Viscount." I said as I feel sad that I couldn't do anything to help her.

"Well..., you know that we can't choose where we want to be born, right? But the most important thing is to do what we are able to do to reach our goals and happiness. That's why you don't need to feel pity about me, Brother Winslow. I just do everything I can do right now and plan for my future. And that's why I also need your help." She continued with a similar tone that try to reassure me.

But her words really make me at ease. It was because she said I would be able to help her. I never thought that such words would lessen his guilty feeling.

"What are you going to make me to do for you?" I said to her as I feel lighter and I think that my expression is getting brighter as I see her tense body start to relax.

She really is too kind. I thought as I look at her.

"It's simple. I only want you to prepare some balance diet foods for me and my mother if they approve it. But please don't let the others taste the recipes that I will help you to make."

She began to speak with her usual tone. It makes me wonder about her previous act. But as I listen to her ideas, I feel surprised. She was talking about something that even the experience head chef was unable to do it.

"You want to help me to make a new recipe?! Are you sure it's going to be edible?"

"Don't worry about it. Please trust me." She put her hands on her waist and puff her chest like someone who was proud. But sadly she was expressionless or it would look cute.