"H-huh?" Both Anastasia and Martha muttered, dumbfounded.
"Seems like you gals had a fun trip~," the butler, Sebas, comnted playfully.
However, before either of them could respond, Bella suddenly stepped forward, grasping both of their hands in a tight grip!
"B-Bella?!" Both of them uttered in unison, surprised by the maid's sudden burst of emotion.
"Thank the Gods! Thank the heavens! I'm so glad you two are okay..." She sniffled, tears running down her cheeks as she continued to shower gratitude upon the divine forces of this world.
In turn, both Anastasia and Martha fell silent, taken aback. They exchanged glances, trying to make sense of what had just happened—why they had witnessed sothing so divine... and why Bella was this emotional.
Anastasia hesitantly turned to the smiling butler.
"...Sir Sebas...?"
"Yes, my lady?"
"...What just happened?"
"Well... to put it simply: you two were intoxicated."
"I-Intoxicated?!" She gasped, utterly taken aback. "H-How?! I did not consu any sort of alcohol or the like...!"
"Are you certain that you didn't?" He shot back with an apologetic smile. His eyes shifted to the side, and both Anastasia and Martha followed his gaze...
The glowing pot of chowder.
Both of them fell silent as a snippet of mory from before their "trip" to Mushroom Heaven finally returned to their minds... and eventually, they turned their gazes toward Bella.
The maid, who had been wiping her tears just monts ago, suddenly stiffened as their attention landed on her.
"H-huh...?! U-uhm... w-why are you guys looking at like that...?"
"Bella..." Martha asked gently, "...what exactly did you put in the chowder?"
The maid jolted, panicking from the supposed accusation!
"H-huh?! I-I didn't put anything weird in it!" she vehently denied, waving her hands in a panic. "I only used the basic ingredients...! U-uhm, like vegetables, the roux, a bit of dried herbs, a splash of wine vinegar... and also! The Gold Shrine Mushroom!"
Another silence ensued after the maid's outburst.
Anastasia and Martha exchanged glances once again, still confused. They knew Bella wouldn't put anything suspicious in their food—she had cooked a fine al with even monster at just last night, after all...
But then—
"My mistake," Sebas suddenly interjected.
The three of them turned to him, startled.
"Mistake...?" Anastasia narrowed her eyes, suspicious of his sudden confession. "...Why are you apologizing? What did you do...?"
Instead of answering imdiately, Sebas shifted his gaze back to Bella.
"Miss Maid, I'm truly sorry for my mistake in not telling you in advance, but... I want to know first: how much Gold Shrine Mushroom did you put in the chowder?"
Bella flinched again at the sudden question directed at her.
"U-uhm... I... I think... five? Maybe six? Uh..." She swallowed, pausing for a mont as her anxiety kicked in, "...maybe a little more...?"
Again and again, another silence.
"Wait, wait, wait," Martha cut in, her expression a mix of shock and disbelief. "You're telling ... you put that many in?!"
Bella shrank back slightly. "W-was that too much...?"
Anastasia, too, was stunned.
"Bella... do you have any idea how rare and expensive Gold Shrine Mushrooms are?" the mistress asked, her tone laced with disbelief.
"I-I know!" Bella nodded frantically. "But I found a lot of them in Sir Sebas's storage, and... I thought they would make the chowder taste better...! A-and I wanted to make sothing nice for you two after all that stress lately..."
Sebas let out a hum. "Well, that makes sense."
"...What makes sense?" Martha asked sharply, her suspicion sharpening.
Sebas gave a dry chuckle, his apologetic smile remaining.
"Well... Gold Shrine Mushrooms have psychedelic effects."
The three of them blinked.
"...What?" Anastasia frowned.
"A... psy-what?" Martha tried to echo.
Bella herself tilted her head, utterly lost.
The three of them were still not used to his usual strange, alien terms, which made Sebas let out a sigh.
"...Basically, the mushroom has hallucinogenic properties."
Anastasia and Martha stiffened, while Bella's face paled.
"Wait..." Anastasia muttered, a sense of foreboding creeping in. "Hallucinogenic? As in... it causes hallucinations?"
"Yup."
"The Gold Shrine Mushroom can cause hallucinations...? I have never heard of this..." Anastasia murmured, her confusion rising ever more. "I've eaten one before but have never experienced such hallucinatory effects that you speak of..."
"Well, my lady, they're usually safe to eat... if consud in small amounts."
"A-a small amount...?!"
"The recomnded portion is one to two mushrooms at most. Any more than that, and well... let's just say it becos a very different experience."
Anastasia pursed her lips, then asked, "Then... why is this knowledge not common?"
"It's a rare ingredient, after all," he explained, letting out another chuckle. "Almost no one ever gets their hands on even one—let alone enough to experience the side effects."
"Then how do you know all this, Sir Butler...?" The knight inquired, her glare sharpening along with her suspicion.
Sebas smiled knowingly. "...Because I experienced it myself~."
The three of them blinked again, staring incredulously at him. The butler simply chuckled as a nostalgic glint appeared in his eyes.
"A long ti ago... I happened to consu a bit too much of it myself." He rubbed his chin in recollection. "Ah, I still rember it clearly... I caused a bit of mayhem in this place~."
Eventually... both Anastasia and Martha let out a tired sigh.
They couldn't believe that they'd just experienced sothing so ridiculous—this early in the morning, no less.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I really didn't an for this to happen...!" Bella cried, repeatedly bowing her head in frantic remorse before rushing back to the cooking table. "I-I'll cook another breakfast right away!"
"You know, Miss Maid... we can still save this 'Divine' Chowder," Sebas mused with an amused chuckle. "You could just dilute it into a soup or sothing~. That would lessen the hallucination effect."
"T-that would be terrible, Sir Sebas...!"
"Hahaha~. Well, either way, I'll leave it to your hands. Now then..."
He was about to leave...
"...And where do you think you're going?" Martha asked, her voice sharp with suspicion.
Her piercing gaze only earned a small grin from the butler.
"I was about to make the wall~."
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