The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 420



420 – On Repentance -3-

Another peaceful day at the Desmond manor.

-Caw!

-Caaaw…

Birds chirped brightly and a gentle summer breeze stirred, bringing a beautiful day to Desmond.

And.

“SHUT UP!!!!”

To Olivia as well.

“Hooohoom…”

Rosanna, about to head out for a stroll, peeked her head out at the racket coming from the kitchen. And, seeing the utter mess, her eyes began to tremble.

“What in the world…?”

Utensils were strewn haphazardly all over the kitchen.

“…”

The culprit who’d wreaked havoc in the kitchen blinked, eyes wide and innocent as she tilted her head at Rosanna.

“…What are you doing?”

“Hm?”

Olivia, holding a plate in her hand, grinned brightly at Rosanna. As if there could only be one reason to be in the kitchen, she said.

“Trying to cook.”

“…Cook?”

‘Cook.’

Rosanna clutched at her heart, hearing a word she never thought would escape Olivia’s lips.

-Mommy, I’m hungry.

-Where’s Ricardo?

-Gone to practice sword fighting with my brother.

-Not Mommy, *Mom*. And I’m busy right now, so if you’re hungry, go to the kitchen and grill some beef.

-Okay.

-You can do that, right?

-Okay.

Because Rosanna remembered Olivia being too lazy to cook herself, and just eating raw beef instead.

Recalling the bizarre behaviour Olivia had shown in her childhood, Rosanna cautiously spoke, watching Olivia examine the plate against the sunlight.

“Olivia?”

“Hm?”

“Hungry, eh?”

Thirty minutes ago she’d had lunch, but knowing Olivia, that glutton child, that behind-the-back-hungry thing, she said it anyway.

She too, in her young days, felt that never-ending hunger after meals.

Just as Rossana, the blesser of fine genes, was rolling up her sleeves to quell Olivia’s emptiness, Olivia shook her head, answering Rossana.

“Not hungry.”

Hearing her daughter’s reply, Rossana hung a giant question mark above her head and stared at Olivia.

“Then what are you doing in the kitchen? Not even hungry…”

“Said I was gonna cook.”

“So, why is my daughter cooking…”

The pupils in Rossana’s eyes started to slowly redden as she spoke. If it wasn’t to grab a snack, there was only one reason to be in the kitchen.

“You’re gonna make Dad and me dinner?”

Olivia nodded, a smile spreading across her face.

“Mommy, Daddy gonna eat.”

“Daughter, you’re not… mommy, you’re *momma.*”

“Uh-huh.”

“Really… you’ve grown up so much.”

“Uh-huh. I’m all grown up.”

Olivia, seeing Rossana’s eyes welling up, shooed her away, pushing her back. Couldn’t concentrate on cooking with her hovering.

“I’ll make dinner, so just wait. Okay?”

“Should Momma help?”

“No. I’ll do it.”

From noble mtl dot com

“Be careful with the fire.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Be careful with the knife.”

“Got it.”

“And… try not to break any dishes when you get frustrated.”

“Uh-huh.”

Rosanna, wiping away tears, showed Olivia where the utensils and ingredients were. She left the kitchen with a look full of worry.

“You sure you’ll be alright?”

“Uh-huh.”

“If you think you can’t do it alone, call Mom…!”

“Uh-huh.”

After Rosanna left.

Olivia, face serious, sat on her hams and blew a long breath of steam into the air.

“What to make…?”

Because she didn’t know what to do from here.

She’d been thinking about what to make for Ricardo when he came back. The thing about cooking for Mom and Dad was, truthfully, a lie.

“Hee-ing…”

She’d already said she would, so what could she do? Olivia figured, might as well practice cooking and make tonight’s dinner too.

Anyway, Ricardo could be back tomorrow, or maybe not for another ten days, but until he did return, she wanted to practice cooking hard so she could make him something.

Because he not only vanished after leaving behind that strange letter, but went and made me shed tears, too.

Olivia, wanting to repay even a little for that fool butler’s letter, was out here in the kitchen for just that reason.

‘Repentance’ wasn’t something you could do just in your heart, after all.

And to do that, first, cooking. Olivia, having decided to make a dish filled with sincerity rather than money, nodded her head and began rummaging through the cupboard. Because to cook, one must first prepare the equipment.

“Bear.”

-Bear?

“Let’s go over there.”

-Bear.

Olivia, taking out a kitchen knife from the cupboard, started twitching her eyebrows, blowing on the blade to check its sharpness.

“Hooo…”

She even held it up to the sunlight to check if it was well-honed. And even cut some of Gomtang-i’s fur to make sure, nodding her head.

-Bear?

“It’s super sharp.”

-Beeeaaar?

The kitchen knife was ready, and now, the pot.

“Go over there for me.”

Taking out a pot from the right corner, Olivia clenched her fist and started striking it down.

-Clang clang!

“Eep?!”

Olivia wore a satisfied smile at the hard pot.

Olivia, a pleased smile blooming, planted the pot atop her head. Too bothersome to move it, she figured wearing it was simply more efficient.

“Oof…!”

Finished preparing, Olivia hammered the pot on her head once more with a fist, then rolled up her sleeves.

-Clang!! Clang!!

Suddenly shorn of his fur, Gomtang, the dog, let out a languid yawn and moved as Olivia commanded.

“Eeeek…?”

He wondered what bizarre spectacle his kind mistress, the one who shared jerky, would unveil today.

A pot on her head, indeed.

“Hooohm…”

Gomtang found his mistress’s earnest expression, as she studied her book, particularly fascinating.

Olivia, holding a cookbook, pushed the pot slipping down past her eyes back up with the back of her hand, cheeks puffed out like plump dumplings.

Everything was ready, but she hadn’t decided what dish to make.

“What to make…?”

She’d intended to cook for Ricardo, but her mother caught her, and now she had to make enough for the whole family.

So, recipes like cake, for small portions, were scrapped.

She figured it’d be best to make a meat dish so many could eat, but with her disastrous cooking skills, cooking meat felt disrespectful to the meat itself, impossible.

What a person innately feels is faith in their own ability, but Olivia never trusted her cooking skills to begin with, so she’d given up on steak early on.

Besides, wasting meat was something only bad people did, and Olivia, having resolved to be a good person, couldn’t bring herself to waste meat.

[A Perfectly Maillardized Steak]

“This is dangerous.”

Olivia gave up on meat dishes from the start, unable to stand before the fire for long. If she made it, it would surely be a steak returned from hell.

“Hooom…”

The book held many recipes.

Western cuisine.

[Orc Meat Pasta.]

[Slime-Smothered Risotto]

[Lizard Barbecue, Good for Potency]

Eastern fare.

[Snake Liquor, Good for Energy]

[Orc Bone Broth Soup]

[Orc Tartare]

And tasteless weeds.

“This…”

Olivia folded the page containing the dishes she craved, a smile tugging at her lips. She’d beg Ricardo to make them when he returned.

“Ugh…?”

Having lost her mind searching only for things she wanted to eat, Olivia barely managed to regain her senses, swallowing the saliva pooling in her mouth with a gulp. She wasn’t doing the studying she should be, just toiling away at useless tasks.

“Hmmnya.”

She had to think.

A dish Ricardo would like, and one that was easy.

Avoiding dishes that required her to stand before the fire like steak, she pondered and deliberated over what food she could throw into a pot and have turn out delicious.

-Ricardo, what do you like best?

-I like you best, Miss.

-I know.

-Then that’s enough.

-Not that… I mean, what do you *want* to eat? We only ever eat what *I* want.

-Hmm…

Ricardo definitely said something.

“Eeeeeek.”

Olivia exhaled a deep breath at her stupid head, which couldn’t remember, and banged the pot she was wearing on her head. Because it felt like that would help her remember.

-Clang!

“Eeeeeek…!”

-Clang…

“Eeeek…”

-I’m a Bear…

“Bear?”

Olivia, with that word suddenly surfacing, looked down at Ggomtangyi, who was carrying her.

-Bear…?

-Bwaaan…

-Bear?

Ggomtangyi, feeling the destructive gaze of its owner, twitched its legs and began shaking its head fiercely. Whatever she was thinking, it was determined to show her that the answer she’d come up with was definitely wrong.

“Bear…”

-Gogo-bear…

“Bear soup?”

-Bear?

“Bear…meat?”

-Bear?!

“Beeeear…”

After staring at Gomtang-i for a good while, Olivia let out a ‘hmph’ and turned her head away. Ricardo had said Gomtang-i wasn’t for eating, so it definitely couldn’t be a dish related to ‘bear.’

Not bear, then… It felt like a food starting with the letter ‘G.’

With that keyword in mind, Olivia flipped through the cookbook, quickly searching for dishes that started with a ‘Gom’ sound.

[Braised Bear Meat.]

[Bear Soup.]

[Bear Barbeque.]

“Ew?”

-Bear?!”

The more she flipped, the more Gomtang-i seemed to break out in a cold sweat, so Olivia swallowed a bitter laugh and decided to change course, looking for an easier dish.

Which was, precisely.

[Curry.]

Olivia took out a pot, her eyes shining, and began to cook.

“To the right.”

With *Gomtang*, that is.

*

Same moment.

“Saintess.”

Alicia, a small smile playing on her lips, asked as I readied myself for the manor.

“Is there a dish you would like?”

“Hm?”

“For when you return, I thought to make it for you.”

“Ah…”

I returned a small smile.

“I favor *gomtang*, brewed thick with ox bones.”

For a long time, Olivia took ‘brewed’ as ‘bear’.