Mushroom Master Mia, Summoned by the Forest
“Wow! Look, look, Miss Mia! The Libra King has an apron on!”
Miabel squealed with delight as soon as she walked into the kitchen. Her big, bright eyes were drawn to Sion. It was clear that Maniabel was still alive and well.
I swear, there are tis when I almost feel bad about Bel being my granddaughter. That girl is so embarrassing at tis…
This, of course, was coming from the person who had looked at Sion for the first ti in the previous tiline and said, “My! He is it! My Prince, Prince Sion! And he has a uniform on! Moons, is there anything else in the world that is more beautiful? No, there’s nothing.”
Maniabel Luna Tearmoon, et Mania Luna Tearmoon, who is your grandmother. Given how bad her mory was, however, this particular event had long since passed the point where she could no longer rember it.
Soon, a few more girls ca into the kitchen.
Chloe, Tiona, Liora, and even Lynsha had all arrived with the kind of excitent that usually happens right before a live idol show starts.
Keithwood said, “Now then, let’s start making the sandwiches we’ll eat for lunch today.”
Even though their fans were talking excitedly, the team got to work.
“As usual, I’ll be helping milord Sion. Could you please help Prince Abel, Lord Sapphias?”
“Of course I can. But what about the nu itself?” Sapphias asked, “What kind of sandwiches should we make?” as he crossed his arms and looked at the ingredients Keithwood had set out.
“Well… Let’s do the sa thing we did last ti to be safe. White sauce on grilled at. Oh, and since we already have them, why not add so fried eggs?” suggested Keithwood.
“That seems good. But there are a lot of girls here today, and they might prefer so with more vegetables.”
“Ah, I see. It’s true that a al made of just at can be pretty heavy. So, let’s make several different kinds. One has vegetables and fried eggs, and the other has at that has been grilled. Then, we’ll add a third choice with thin slices of smoked at on a bed of greens.”
Mia’s lips were pursed as she watched the two talk.
Hmm, not bad… I didn’t think Sapphias could keep up in a conversation about cooking with Keithwood. He’s very good for getting married. So, I’d better step up my ga!
She took a deep breath and said, “Are you sure you have enough hands there?” with a challenge in her tone. Since I don’t have anything to do, I might as well help—”
Her dangerous idea was shot down with a lot of hostility. Keithwood would usually have to deal with such dangers on his own, but this ti Sapphias was there to help. After both boys twitched at the ntion of her encroachnt, they didn’t look at each other for more than a second before launching a quick and coordinated attack.
Sapphias was the first one to attack.
“No, no, Your Majesty. We could never cause you so much trouble. Please feel free to stay where you are and keep watching us.”
Keithwood didn’t miss a beat and added the cross to Sapphias’s first punch.
“This is milord and Prince Abel’s chance to show you what they’ve made. Surely, you wouldn’t want to take away their chance to shine?”
“Is that right? Well, if that’s the case, I guess…”
Mia awkwardly scratched her head and went back to watching the royal cooking show as a spectator after the two people stopped her from getting closer.
“Okay, Prince Abel, let’s chop up these vegetables. Hey, wait. Curl your fingers on the hand you use to hold them. Yes, yes, just like that. You won’t cut yourself that way.”
Mia couldn’t help but stare as Sapphias taught Abel the basics of how to use a knife in a careful way.
“Huh…”
She stared at the two boys for a while, then she broke into a smile.
Oho ho, this is wonderful. Abel’s so adorable. I love how clumsy he is with the knife, but how hard he tries to use it right. Ah, it’s just too good!
She thought it was cute how hard he tried, and she liked watching him learn. That is, until she saw that his hand movents were getting faster and more practised.
W-Wait, is it just , or does it look like he’s better with the knife than I am now?
She was sorry she had seen. She couldn’t stop comparing herself to the others once she started thinking about it. Sion, being the perfect guy that he is, was kneading dough like a pro while the other girls looked at him.
She knew that would happen. What she didn’t expect was for Sapphias to be so skilled. He was also much better at cooking than she was.
In other words, Mia, who was very good in the kitchen… No, not just her, but all of the young, well-known won there…
We lost to the guys from the student council?!
She was shocked by this terrible news. The whole point of her making sandwiches was to show her marriageability.
So, sothing very big had gone wrong with her plans.
“Oh, I just thought of sothing. Why don’t we add more detail to the shape? Food should not only taste good but also look good. Last ti, we made them in the shape of horses. This ti, why don’t we try making them in the shape of mushrooms?”
Again, the dynamic duo moved quickly and cut her off before she could even finish her offer.
Keithwood said very quickly, “Don’t worry about it, Princess Mia.”
“But—”
“It’s not necessary.
“Everything is fine,” Sapphias said with an iron will.
Furthermore…
“Yeah, relax, Mia. I understand that you’re worried, but could you just let us handle this?”
Even her best friend Abel spoke out against her, so she had to give up. In the end, she had no choice but to sit there and watch the princes show off in the kitchen. She felt completely helpless after what happened.
I hate to say it, but it’s clear that they’re better than …
Sion was not like other people, so he did not count. Even though Abel wasn’t a genius, he was better at this than she was. Mia realised that she couldn’t cook as well as they did, so she tried very hard to co up with a way to make it look like she could.
She thought and thought, and finally ca to a simple conclusion: she had been doing this wrong the whole ti.
You’re right. Why did I do that?
I am not the Great Gastrono of the Empire; I am the Great Wisdom. I got too involved in all this talk about getting married. What should impress people about is how wise I am. In particular, my experience as a guide for mushrooms!
Since most of what she knew about mushrooms was about how to eat them, the difference seed a little off, but maybe so truths were better not known.
“That’s it! For the sake of my delicious mushroom stew, I’m going to hit this one out of the park! I’m going to look for mushrooms!”
Mia felt sothing stir inside her when she thought about how much better the boys would be as husbands. She didn’t know if her strong feeling was motivation or desperation, but it drove her back to her room, where she told her trusted maid, “Anne, get a change of clothes. No self-respecting mushroom master would wear a school uniform into the woods!”
“Right away, milady!”
Both Mia’s heart and body seed to be drawn deeper into the forest, as if by an invisible force.
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