Adelheid Chapter 5 Part 2: Otherworldly Food

The days of the Providence Era calendar were split into fourteen months and further split into four weeks a month.

The fourteenth months were the: Month of Light, Early Water Month, Middle Water Month, Late Water Month, Early Wind Month, Middle Wind Month, Late Wind Month, Early Fire Month, Middle Fire Month, Late Fire Month, Early Earth Month, Middle Earth Month, Late Earth Month, and the Month of Darkness.

The days of the week were split into seven days: the day of void, Voiday, the day of light, Lightday, the day of fire, Fireday, the day of wind, Winday, the day of water, Waterday, the day of earth, Earthday, the day of darkness, Darkday. Each day represented one of the Six Pillar Gods, except Voiday, which represented the being known as the Beginning.

By tradition, Voiday was a day of rest, and as such, Adelheid had no lessons or training for the day. As she such, her Voidays were spent on self-study on knowledge or aura training, but not this day. Instead, Adelheid wanted to go to the kitchen.

"Take me to the kitchen," Adelheid ordered, causing Sofia to show a surprised expression.

"Your Highness, the kitchen is..." Sofia wanted to say dirty, but how could she say the place where they cooked food was dirty? "The kitchen is unsuitable for a person of your status."

"It's fine. I'm not that delicate." Adelheid said with no concern. ‘I have lived in rat and roach-infested apartments before, what is a little blood in the kitchen worth?’

"But..." Sofia's mind sorted through numerous information and rumors she had of the kitchen, trying to find a reason to persuade her lady. She could state the truth that the kitchen was full of grisly scenes from the meat used as ingredients, but Sofia thought better of it. What if she scared the seventh princess to the point that she refused to eat the food from the kitchen?

Finally, the black-haired maid recalled a certain rumor concerning the kitchen. "Your Highness, the kitchen is haunted!"

Adelheid tilted her head, "Haunted?"

"Yes, haunted," Sofia emphasized, doing her best not to stare at the princess. "People say that during the night, certain noises could be heard in the kitchen. Some even say that it's the ghost of a female chef who was executed for presenting a disgusting cake to the imperial family of yore."

Sofia lowered her voice as it took on a ghastly vibe. "The ghost would appear at random without warning in the kitchen. All those who heard the ghost's voice claim it to be a hideous screech, like a banshee's. Anyone who tries to see the true face of the ghost would mysteriously faint only to awaken the next day without having seen anything."

At this moment, Matilda spoke up. "Oh! I heard it too! Doesn't the ghost only appear in the middle of the night, though?"

The corner of Sofia's eyes began to twitch as she turned around and glared at her incompetent teammate. ‘The princess doesn't need to know that! Why are you pulling my leg when I'm trying to stop the princess from going to that foul place?’

"So, there's no problem then," Adelheid said. She didn't really believe the story.

Ghost did exist in Veles, officially called wights or specters. They were the souls of the departed weighed down by negative emotions from when they were alive, preventing them from returning to the embrace of the gods. And these monsters were challenging to deal with as no normal physical attack, even bolstered by aura, was effective against them.

However, if such a monster roamed the palace kitchens, Adelheid doubted that it would last long. This was the imperial palace of the Vuldar Empire, the core of the nation. How could the emperor be willing to allow a rogue specter to exist within the palace?

Adelheid was firm in her decision. Nothing Sofia said could change the seventh princess's mind.

Matilda just shrugged, wondering why Sofia was so adamantly against bringing the princess to the kitchen. The kitchen was a great place, full of food. Maybe I can sneak a bite?

Although it was an area that Adelheid had yet to visit, with Maltida and Sofia as guides, the three soon arrived.

Inside the kitchen, it was a far cry from the previous night when Sofia and Matilda visited. Senior chefs were shouting orders at chefs who were shouting at apprentice chefs who apprentice chefs who were shouting at the servants and so on. Unfinished and finished dishes could be seen laying about, the aroma of numerous stews intermixed in the air, and the sound of knives striking the cutting board could be heard.

But most apparent to Adelheid was the scent of blood that wafted into her nose. The seventh princess zeroed at the corner of the kitchen where pots of blood could be seen sitting, along with the discarded organs of various livestock. She even saw some blood dishes being prepared such as blood sausage or bloody egg soup. Adelheid recalled that she was never interested in such dishes before, but now, she had an urge to sample them.

Seeing the seventh princess staring at the gruesome corner, Sofia softly whispered into her ear. "Do you want to leave, Your Highness?"

Breaking out of her thoughts, Adelheid shook her head. "No need. I wanted to ask one of the cooks to make something for me, but I guess that's not possible."

‘That's it?’ Sofia thought. Of course, that was it. The black-haired maid wondered what else her highness could have come to the kitchen for. It wasn't like her highness would personally cook. Although, Sofia wondered why Adelheid couldn't just send word of the dish she wanted.

"Oooh, you can ask Mister Koch then," Matilda said. She recalled the night a month ago where the apprentice chef had asked to meet Adelheid. Wasn't this the perfect chance?

"I don't want to disturb his work." Adelheid had personal reasons for coming to the kitchen, but she didn't want to disrupt the operation of the kitchen for petty reasons. The only reason she wanted to go to the kitchen was to eat some breaded cutlet. Whenever she felt down or stressed, Adelheid would splurge on food and ate until she felt like exploding.

For the path month, All Adelheid could think of was learning magic and setting up the foundation for her future faction, but since Abrecht hadn’t found a magic teacher for her, her mood went lower and lower with each day.

"That's right," Matilda said, realizing that everyone was busy and that it would be good to disrupt the chefs. They had to feed almost everyone in the palace, after all.

"I'm sure it won't be a problem. Your Highness, as a princess, the cooks should be delighted to make some time for you." Sofia confidently said. There were only four members of the imperial family in the palace, and their orders should be accommodated as much as possible.

Adelheid stayed silent and considered it a moment before nodding. She really wanted to eat breaded cutlet now, but since breaded cutlets wasn’t a dish that existed, she had to find a cook to learn the recipe. Just going by the recipe or written instructions would introduce too many variables since the dish hadn’t been invented yet.

"Great!" Matilda smiled and went to look for Koch, but a hand pulled her back. "What's wrong?"

"You were going to look for Mister Koch, weren't you?" Sofia asked, more of a conclusion than a question.

Matilda nodded, and Sofia sighed. "Before going to Mister Koch, we should inform the head chef first. If Mister Koch suddenly disappeared, it would ruin the order. I'll do it."

Sofia soon disappeared into the sea of servants, with not a hint nor hide of her seen. Adelheid and Matilda waited by the kitchen entrance. Naturally, the two weren't standing in the middle of the kitchen but by the entrance. Numerous servants could be seen going in and out of the kitchen, careful not to bump in Adelheid or Matilda.

The servants didn't recognize who Adelheid was, but anyone with a maid in the palace was someone they couldn't afford to offend, so they made sure not to bump into the doll-like girl accidentally. If they commit some grave mistake, getting fired would be considered a light punishment.

As the servants continuously passed, the fragrance of the dishes entered Matilda's nose and caused her to start drooling. She had already eaten breakfast, but she could not resist the temptation of the freshly finished delicacies passing by her. Soon, her stomach began to grumble, causing Adelheid to shoot her a look. Matilda embarrassedly rubbed the back of her head.

"Your Highness!" Sofia called out as she returned with an elderly chef and Koch in tow.

The elderly man seemed to be in his sixties with grey hair and beard. He had a pristine white uniform without a speck of grime on it, making it stand out in the bustle of the kitchen. "Greetings, Your Highness. This one is Wolfgang, the head chef of the kitchen."

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Seventh Princess Adelheid von Vuldar," Adelheid introduced herself with a nod of her head, although she was sure that Sofia had already explained to Wolfgang her identity. "Do you know why I am here?"

Head Chef Wolfgang was secretly surprised at how graceful the seventh princess was for one so young. He could even see a hint of Albrecht's shadow in her. "Miss Avery has already explained. It would be Apprentice Chef Koch's honor to serve you.

"It is my honor to serve you, Your Highness." Koch bowed. His face was taut as he tried to reign in his ecstasy. Even so, he couldn’t stop his body from trembling.

Adelheid just raised an eyebrow, wondering if Koch had been scared. ‘I don't look scary, or is he afraid of making a mistake and being punished for it?’

"It is my honor to serve you, Your Highness." Koch bowed. His face was taut as he tried to reign in his ecstasy. Even his body trembled.

Adelheid just raised an eyebrow, wondering if Koch had been scared. ‘I don't look scary, or is he afraid of making a mistake and being punished for it?’

The seventh princess nodded. Before she could say her request, the head chef had given them a private kitchen to use. Although it was called a private kitchen, it was closer to a side kitchen connected to the main kitchen.

"Waah!" Matilda let out a shout of excitement. She turned around to look at Adelheid with shining eyes. "So what are you going to have Mister Koch make, Your Highness?"

Sofia sighed at Matilda's exuberance while Koch had a look of anticipation on his face.

"Breaded pork cutlet," Adelheid said without a moment’s hesitation. Beef wasn't considered upper-class meat but rather something for the lower-class as the meat from the animal was often tough and chewy. Not that she planned to use beef, but it still disappointed her. Many dishes in her brain could not be realized if the beef wasn't high-quality enough.No noble would willingly service beef. As for chicken? There was no chicken, only peasants, so Adelheid chose the most popular pork.

"Breaded pork cutlet?" Koch and Matilda repeated in confusion. ‘Is that pork stuffed in a loaf of bread, a specialized sandwich?’

"Can Your Highness explain what type of food it is? Forgive me for my lack of knowledge." Koch said as he bowed in apology, but his eyes contained excitement. This was his ticket to being raised to a real chef and not an apprentice chef!

Adelheid explained how to prepare a pork cutlet. The concept was simple enough, but Koch had to gather the necessary ingredients first, and some of them he didn't have, such as bread crumbs.

The bread made in the palace was freshly baked every day, and leftovers were given to the cooks to take home to their families. And if they were still leftovers, they were donated to the orphanages in the capital. So the stale bread needed to make bread crumbs didn't exist.

Koch was even prepared to make a trip out of the palace to the bakeries of Midgard to see if they had some stale bread, but Adelheid stopped him. It wasn't like they exactly needed stale bread to make bread crumbs. The process was just a bit more troublesome, though not as troublesome as buying stale bread from a bakery.

Under Adelheid's instructions, Koch sliced some bread and baked them within an oven to dry them out.

The ovens weren’t normal ovens, but magic tools constructed by mages, fueled by magic crystals, and resembled the modern ovens from Adelheid's memories. The only difference was that each oven only had one temperature setting, making them less versatile than the one from Earth.

After the bread was brought out of the oven, Koch minced them as much as possible to create bread crumbs. Compared to the bread crumbs in Adelheid's mind, they were coarser but still usable.

The meat chosen for the breaded cutlet was pork tenderloin. Adelheid instructed Koch to slice it to about two centimeters thick. Since there were four people present and it would feel weird to eat alone, Adelheid had Koch cut the whole tenderloin.

Next, Koch pounded each slice of pork as flat as possible with the bottom end of a skillet. Before thinly coating it with flour, Adelheid had Koch liberally rub salt and pepper, a spice once worth its weight in gold and only available to the wealthy class, into the meat.

To make the bread crumbs adhere to the pork, Koch cracked some eggs and mixed the yolk and white with a wooden whisk. Koch dipped the whole flour-coated pork into the egg mixture and then placed it atop the plate of bread crumbs prepared earlier. Pouring more breadcrumbs atop, Koch covered the meat fully.

Koch had wanted to do the same with the others, but the seventh princess stopped him, telling him that the first one was a test run. Nodding his head, Koch brought out a wide steel pot that was about thirty centimeters tall. The apprentice chef poured cooking oil into it and began to heat it up.

Adelheid didn't know what temperature the oil was, so to make sure it was the right temperature had Koch drop a few bread crumbs into it. Seeing them rise up, Adelheid had Koch gently drop the breaded cutlet into the oil. From there, it was easy, cooking it for about one to two minutes on each side until it was golden brown.

The breaded pork cutlet was brought out with tongs and laid atop a wire rack to cool. The still-hot meat still sizzled and popped from the residual heat.

Matilda "oohed" and "awed" at the finished product. Her body was restless as she observed it from every angle, her gestures all saying that she wanted to eat the unknown dish without waiting. Adelheid considered letting the flaxen-haired maid eat it and burn her tongue to teach her a lesson but thought better of it.

After two minutes, Koch sliced the breaded pork cutlet into two-centimeter pieces. Just as Matilda reached out with her pork to take a piece, Adelheid stopped her. "Mister Koch, prepare some lemon slices as well."

"Lemon?" Koch said, confused. "Your Highness, you don't need to worry about cleaning now. The servants will take care of it."

"Cleaning?" Adelheid repeated, confused by Koch's words.

As it turned out, lemon wasn't seen as an edible fruit in the eyes of many. The yellow fruit's flavor was too sour, making it difficult to eat. Only commoners left with no choice would willingly consume the acidic fruit. Instead, it was used as a cleaning agent for the same acidic properties.

"Just do it," Adelheid ordered.

Koch did so. Despite his misgivings, he wasn't about to disobey an imperial princess for a slice of lemon.

With a plate of sliced lemon brought out, Adelheid used her fingers to squeeze the lemon juice atop the breaded pork cutlet, much to the shock of her two maids. Sofia quickly brought out a handkerchief and wiped the splattered lemon juice on the seventh princess's hand.

Matilda, on the other hand, screamed in shock at her lady's actions. As a glutton, Matilda tried everything, and she had bitten in a whole lemon as a child. Because of this, she carried a slight trauma towards lemons.

"It's fine," Adelheid said as she waved Sofia's hand away. Without waiting, she used a fork to bring a piece of cutlet onto the plate Koch had prepared for her. "What are you waiting for? Everyone try some."

Without waiting for anyone else and against Sofia's aghast expression, Adelheid took a bite and smiled. The smile was especially dazzling considering how little the seventh princess changed her expression and made every dazed for a second.

Seeing the seventh princess enjoy the meat with lemon juices atop, the remaining three people looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finally, Koch gathered his courage and ate a piece and was stunned.

The slice of breaded pork cutlet wasn't sour at all. When Koch first bit in the cutlet, he first experienced the outer coating of the breaded coating, crisp and crunchy. Next was the soft and juicy meat. Although it was slightly overcooked, the coating made sure that the juices didn't leak out much. Coupled with salt and pepper, it was positively divine.

The dish was simple and easy to make, compared to the other complicated dishes the kitchen made, but despite that, it was as delicious as the other dishes that used far more ingredients and took more time. It only needed a bit of extra care, such as herbs and spices, and the taste would improve even more!

Koch took a few more bites and finally realized what the lemon was used for. The slight sour acidity complemented the heavy taste and oily texture of the breaded pork cutlet perfectly, making it easier to eat. Koch reached for another piece.

Seeing Koch eating with such gusto, Sofia and Matilda shared a look. To Adelheid's surprise, Sofia grabbed a piece before Matilda the glutton.

Sofia took a bite and then chewed. Suddenly, she took another bite and another. Like a starving wolf, the black-haired maid devoured her piece of cutlet in less than five seconds before immediately reaching for another piece.

Matilda finally couldn't wait any longer upon seeing how the usually stern Sofia was giving rave reviews. Of course, Sofia didn't say anything, but the expression on her face was enough. Seeing as there was only one piece left, Matilda infused aura into her arm and snatched it.

Still looking at it warily, Matilda hesitantly sniffed it and smelled the faint scent of lemon. Biting the bullet, Matilda scrunched her eyes and took a large bite out of the breaded pork cutlet. Her eyes opened in amazement.

Matilda devoured it even faster than Sofia and immediately reached for another piece. Only to realize that in her excitement, she forgot that she had taken the last one. The flaxen-haired maid turned towards Koch with a pitiful look.

Koch, in turn, turned towards Adelheid as if asking for permission. Adelheid nodded. She had initially planned to make mayonnaise or some other easily made sauce such as marinara, but seeing the eager looks, gave the apprentice chef permission to cook more.

Full of enthusiasm, Koch breaded all the prepared slices of pork tenderloin at once. Once they were breaded, he began to cook several at a time. Not long after, they were several plates of steaming breaded pork cutlet with slices of lemon on the side.

"Oof, I can't eat another bite," Matilda said as her body was absorbed into the plush chair as she rubbed her belly. Sofia didn't comment on Matilda's breach of conduct as she, too, was lazily lying on a chair. She had also overeaten to the point that she felt like throwing up.

Adelheid watched all this while trying to suppress the twitch on her face. The two of them had gorged on the breaded pork cutlet to the point of bursting, and after the three returned to the princess's room, they all laid down to digest the food. However, Adelheid also ate enough to the point of bursting, but her school expression revealed nothing.

Seriously, the two maids acted as if they've been starved by her.

Shaking her head, Adelheid walked towards the window and gazed outside. She had pretty much explored the whole palace except for a few places, such as the forbidden seventh floor, but she had been forbidden from leaving the palace.

Adelheid wondered what the streets of Midgard were like. The seventh princess's eyes sharpened. Right now, her daily life was controlled by her father, and even when she wanted to learn magic, she had to get his permission first.

Adelheid's hand began to fiddle with the brooch around her neck. A giant red stone was inlaid atop the ornament and exuded a soft red light. According to her father, the brooch was a magic item used to drain excess mana. If she did not wear it, then the excess mana in her body would gradually destroy her body.

In fact, when Adelheid was asleep for three years, a magic circle had been inscribed under her bed for that very purpose. Just thinking about the possible dangers made the seventh princess's heartbeat quicken. Although left unsaid, Adelheid could read between the lines. If not controlled properly, her mana could literally kill her. It was also another reason why she wanted to learn magic. ‘I already felt what it was like not to control my own life and death. Being at the mercy of my own body is unacceptable.’