Book 10: Chapter 6: The Method of ‘Third Secret (1/2)
Today, the kitchen in the Duke Rehnberg Household was extremely hectic. Not only was the daughter who had been attending a distant school returning home today, but the royal family was also staying here. And it was only the warm-up before the envoy who will be visiting by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Since the employees had to serve the guest the lavish dishes every day.
The atmosphere in the kitchen after the end of the first-night banquet was like having finished the arduous battle on the first day. Of course, there are still jobs to be done like cleaning up the party and making preparation for the next day.
”Lord Felix seemed to be pleased with the today night banquet. Please keep up the good work tomorrow.”
Peter, the servant who served the meal, announced those words after arriving in the kitchen, and all the chefs showed a relieved expression as they pat their chest. He then added in a plain tone to the latter.
”Also, Lady Eliane wants you to prepare some drink for His Highness Felix.”
”His Highness? Should we brought the wine with the highest quality?”
Peter shook his head at the chef's words and spoke to him with an expression like a faithful loyal servant.
”Prepare the ‘Third Secret'.”
A shocked expression appeared on the servants.
The Third Secret… it's a special drink made by mixing extracted fruits with strong liquor and aphrodisiac spices. It's a drink for a special occasion when the Duchess wants to invite his husband to spend the night.
”Our Young Lady has finally…”
”I see… Lady Eliane was…”
Each of the servants looked deeply moved as they prepared a special drink for their lovely young lady.
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In ceremonies and other formal occasions, the participants were not allowed to wear hats and other headgear except for the three things.
These were the crown of the king, the holy cap of the priest, and the hooded robe of the magician.
In the past, magic was a skill that was monopolized only by royalty and nobility, and both royalty and nobility wanted to keep the existence of magicians a secret. Therefore, until a long time ago, hiding their faces had become a formal attire for magicians.
Nowadays, its custom has become obsolete and many magicians tended to reveal their faces on formal occasions. But, many still regard that hiding their faces in the hooded robe is the true formal attire for magicians. This was also the reason Monica can hide her face at the ceremony.
But, even she wants to, it would look abnormal if she kept hiding her face at the banquet.
So Monica could only decline people's invitation to join and kept firmly standing on guard.
Even after Felix had invited her to eat together or Glenn volunteered to take turns on guard, Monica still stubbornly declined. And during the banquet, she kept standing on the edge near the wall alongside Nero.
”I-I'm worn out… my stomach… my stomach's rumbling… ugh…”
After returning back to her room, Monica flopped onto her bed, while Nero spread open the night snacks like bread and cheese which he had received on the table.
”It's just the first day, you know. If you were already this exhausted, how you can hold this from now on?”
Nero bit some cheese and said ‘oh! this cheese tastes good!' in a good mood. Goodness, whose fault do you think it is that I'm this tired? Looking back, half the cause was Nero's conduct manner.
Monica rolled on the bed, laying her body facing the ceiling before looking at Nero bitterly.
”Nero, I didn't know you have met His Highness before.”
”It's not important anyway. I only chatted with him for a while when I met him while delivering the Chilly Guy.”
”…just to make sure, he hasn't discovered my true identity, has he?”
”Of course! He also used a lizard to probe my identity, but I caught it with my fingers.”
”…a lizard?”
What did he mean by a lizard?
While Monica had some doubt, Nero put a slice of meat and chees between the bread and gnawed it before continuing to her.
”Hah hihahd has waher shirit ghay.”
”…Nero, swallow your food before talking.”
While Monica expressing her exasperation, a knock suddenly came from the door.
Wondering who's coming at this hour.
”Lady Everett. I'm sorry for interrupting your rest at this hour. May I have your time for a while?”
The sound coming behind the door was Felix's voice.
Panicked, Monica turned her gaze to Nero. The latter gulped his food and returned her gaze.
”What do you want? Want me to shoo him away?”
”I can't turn him away. At the very least… please keep your manner in check so as not to be rude to him.”
Replying to her with ‘alright, alright' in a sloppy tone, Nero opened the door after checking Monica has put her hood on.
Contrary to the expectation, Felix standing in the hallway was not in his nightwear, but in his usual clothes with fewer ornaments, hanging a big basket in his arm.
Felix was a bit surprised after he found the one who opened the door was Nero.
”Are you staying together with Lady, Mr. Alexander?”
”Of course. I'm her attendant. More importantly, what do you want for visiting her at this hour?”
Looking at Nero raised his chin threateningly, Felix held out his basket hanging in his hand.
Bottles of drinks, a small enamel pot, and a fruitcake were contained in it.
”I haven't seen Lady Everett join the banquet activity and saw her eat anything afterward, so I asked the servants in the kitchen to make some night snack for her.”
Nero's eyes sparkled instantly.
”What a good guy are you. Come in.”
Nero replied without asking for Monica's consent. Since the girl herself didn't plan to drive her guest away, Monica had prepared a chair for Felix while at it.
After thanking her for the gesture and sitting on the chair, Felix's eyes widened after looking at the bread unfolded on the table.
”Oh, you had your night snack already? I guess I've done unnecessary things.”
”You came at the right time, the meat and cheese were not enough for my fill. What is inside the jar?”
”They told me it was extracted fruits juice.”
Without waiting for Felix's answer, Nero opened the lid of the bottle and directly gulped down the contents into his mouth.
”This is good. I can taste some spices mixed in. I suppose it's some spices meant for adults. The sense of a hot feeling rising inside my gut felt so good.”
”I heard there's no alcoholic content mixed in, only extracted fruits juice though…”
Tilting in puzzled, Felix opened the lid of the pot. Inside, the hot soup with mist billowing out.
”Lady Everett, how about having some warm soup?”
After pondering for a while, Monica nodded.
Her stomach was already rumbling, and she didn't know if she can finish her bread up, maybe she could at least manage to drink some soup.
The soup was made by simmering root vegetables, grinding them, and mixing them with milk to make the soup thicker. One sip of the soup had brought her a sense of relief from the gentle sweetness of the vegetables.
While Monica was huffing and puffing as she sipped her soup, Nero was gobbling up his fruitcake and his eyes were sparkling.
”What the hell is this? This is so good. The taste of alcohol is superb.”
”The alcohol is made from fruit soaked in its region's famous distillate. By the way, what is your relationship with Lady Everett?”
Nero clutched a fruitcake in both hands and answered with a mouthful of food.
”Her attendant.”
”Your appearance had suggested you more like her parent than her disciple. Are you perhaps her relative… or her lover?”
Monica couldn't help but sput out her soup.
Trembling as he covered her mouth with her hand, Nero was laughing heartily in response.
”No way! She's not my type anyway.”
After all, Nero prefers ‘females with a sexy tail.'
But Felix seemed not convinced with Nero's answer. Logically, if a man and woman were staying together in one room, either both of them was a lover or family.
”You know, I was her familiar… no, what is again? Um…”
After searching for the right word to replace the ‘familiar, Nero hit his palm with a cupped hand.
”Right! I'm her lowly servant!”
Monica pulled down the edge of her hood and shook her head desperately.