Chapter 69: Chicken Pepper Rice
Chapter 69: Chicken Pepper Rice
Ely's POV:
Linda stared at the fluffy-looking rice I cooked in the pot.
"This is rice?" she looked at me while I began frying some garlic and a few more aromatics in another
pan. "This looks different from the slop we feed to our livestock."
I then asked her to add some sliced chicken and the mushrooms as well while I stir the garlic and
onions and a small cube of butter. The sizzle of the deep pan resembling a wok made me lick my lips
as I added the soy sauce I obtained from an Exotic Land seller near the port.
I added the smoked chili flakes and some searched coarse pepper smoked with nut wood as my mind
added the rice little by little until the pristine white grains turned light brown. I finished it off by adding
my pepper and folded some mozzarella cheese into it and added some dried parsley.
"Milady. Is that even edible?" She then sniffed the buttery smell and swallowed. "It smells amazing in
contrast to its appearance."
I scooped a few of it into the bowl and gave it to Linda to try after garnishing it with some more parsley.
Thanks to my fire mana's assistance, The bowl of chicken garlic fried rice has a good amount of heat
and the meat stayed plump and juicy.
"Try it and tell me if this is good enough."
My mind nodded and took a spoonful and ate it. She gasped and took another spoon while closing her
eyes in pleasure as she gobbled up the food.
" Mmmm! This is a flavor I have never tasted before. It was very smoky that the flavor deepens with
each bite, the pepper was incorporated well with the rice and it cheese oddly works to numb the spice
from the chili flakes." My mind sighed as if I have given her a gift. "This is truly an honor to sample your
food. milady."
"This will be our little secret then. We can serve this to Lady Baristani. I wonder if she would recognize
the rice in the rice bowl as I prepared a bowl for two just as the door to the kitchen opened and a maid
showed Lady Baristani inside.
I immediately told her to sit down and served her the bowl of rice and her expression was also
apprehension and reluctance because of the dark brown color of the grains. Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.
" I used an Exotic Land ingredient for this bowl. I called it chicken pepper rice." I grabbed a bowl and
took a bite out of it.
She saw that I was enjoying it and also started to eat and she looked at the grains that were plump and
glistening with the soy sauce and chicken.
"This...This is delicious! How can something so brown taste so good!" she ate faster and savored every
bite. "The chicken and the garlic melds so well together too! Is this stretchy thing cheese? It goes well
with it too."
After the bowls were empty. I explained to Lady Baristani that rice is a versatile food that can give
energy to the soldiers and will not spoil as easily as bread.
She then promised a hundred sacks of rice to the military camp as long as I write down recipes for it.
"I can write down a recipe for chicken rice porridge that all the soldiers would love. It is fairly easy to
prepare too." I smiled as Linda gave us cold glasses of peach iced tea that was brewed and cooled
yesterday.
"Lady Aisenburg. Do you think that maybe you can help me with this volunteer work? I swear that your
husband will not see you. We can disguise you as one of my maids who help me distribute the food
and you can teach the soldiers how to cook your dishes. I want it to be a success because I want my
father to grant me a boon."
"Call me Alaina or Ely. We have been friends since that day you helped me out at Lady Lorax's coffee
tasting party." I patted her hand. "I am intrigued. What boon does a daughter of a count need?"
"I..want him to send me to the Kalderos Culinary Institute for Higher Learning," she said slowly. "Ever
since I have spent time with you, I was fascinated by the world of food and...I wanted to learn how to
make beautiful sweets and cakes that you seem to create out of magic. Plus...my father might be in a
better mood once my charitable spirit reflects well on him."
I was touched as she drank her iced tea as her cheeks become pink.
"Have you ever cooked or baked before?" I asked her.
"Well. I sneak into the kitchen and then the head chef used to help me make cookies and simple
sweets for my parties. Nothing too fancy but I can say that I know more than most young ladies of the
ton."
I smiled at her honest answer. She was a very honest one and was not afraid to bare her soul to me.
"Lorelei." I used her first name and she looked up from her glass. "I would be happy to help you out."
"Really?"
"Yes. This is a good opportunity to raise the reputation of the House of Aisenburg if they knew that I am
helping out our soldiers."
"What about His Grace? Don't you want to see him? I heard that he has been more active in the siege
lately...."
The thought of Ezran clad in his military clothes and armor, his hand holding a wicked bloody blade and
his red eyes glowing from the heat of war made me long to see him even more.
"That too." I hid my blush by drinking the great of my tea. "When will you be able to get everything
ready?"
"We can leave in 5 days. I have already organized almost everything. Just bring yourself and one
trusted knight for protection if you want."
"And how many days till we reach the encampment?" I asked as I mentally made a list of what to bring.
"The rations team has received special permission from the Royal Palace to use the Warp Crystal Point
so we should get there in 2 days." Lorelei finished her tea with a soft sigh. "You have to teach me how
to make this cold iced tea. It is becoming my favorite."
I laughed and promised to teach her how to make it. I even went the extra mile and gifted her the same
peach tea blend I mixed up myself and wrote down the instructions.
Once I saw her off to her carriage, I summon Milford to my study. The Head Butler was surprised at first
but a strange smile spread across his face when I informed him that I would be doing some volunteer
work in 5 days.
"Very well, Your Grace. I see no problem since you have organized and approves the budget for the
household and the expenditure reports have been taken care of for this month very fast because of
your diligence."
He still seems in awe of how quickly I have settled the accounts and reports for the mansion. What he
was not aware of was that I do these things daily for my business back on Earth; the reports and
expenditures here were very different but it was simple once I got used to how they calculate things.
In this world, most ladies are not educated in complicated math, science, economy, or even politics
because they take "lady" appropriate lessons. I have skimmed through countless memories of Lady
Alaina's lessons on the violin, etiquette, and walking that made me feel so bored.
Thank God that this body is gifted in gracefulness and poise because I would scream if I had to re-take
lady classes on fans or...ugh etiquette.
"I have a few things I would like you to purchase for me." I gave him a small piece of paper and he
gave it a quick look before storing it in his front pocket. "Please inform Captain Niles to pick his very
best and discreet knight to accompany me to this volunteer work. He must not be recognized by my
husband so make sure it is someone my husband has not seen before. "
"Yes, Your Grace." he bowed, and at my dismissal, he left to carry out my orders.
I laid back and looked out the window. Somehow, the thought of seeing my husband after so many
months made me feel strange.
There was a mix of anticipation and restraint. It occurred to me that he loves war and since he is in a
place where he is comfortable. Maybe he is not thinking about me as much I think about him.
His letters stopped coming 2 months ago and that was when the strategy I advised him to use came to
fruition and he is pushing to end the war by getting more involved.
He did mention that he would be busy from then on in his last letter so I understood but I could not help
but worry...
And miss him.
"I won't disturb him. Just a glimpse of him and I would be content.." I prayed silently as I count the days
when I would see him again.