She Became The Devil’s Stepmother Who’s About To Be Killed - Chapter 26 – No, Ma’am!

“Isn’t this a plant from the Demon World?”

“Ah…”

I see… I uncovered the reason why herbs were not used in food. But after finding such good herbs I wouldn’t be able to eat food again!

“Will I ever be punished for eating this?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Is it toxic?”

“It’s not really poisonous.”

“I see.”

The corners of my mouth rose spontaneously. Good, good. Discovering ingredients to cook deliciously. It was a loss to not use ingredients that will appeal to your taste buds instead of spices because of your preconceived notions.

“Oh, and about Theo. The only reason why Theo’s meals management were so strict is because there had been an assassination attempt using poison before, right?”

I questioned indifferently and looked at the two with my face covered with the teacup. Schumann’s finger on his thigh tapped the hem of his pants as if thinking hard, and Ellie braced her waist with an embarrassed expression and straightened her posture.

‘Does that mean it’s hard to tell me the truth?’ But those expressions and gestures mean that indeed, there was an assassination attempt. Damn cruel Imperialists.

Well, I didn’t intend to talk about past poisoning attempts. I placed the teacup on the table and spoke indifferently.

“I don’t believe in the saying that eating poison builds tolerance in our body.”

“…?”

“As long as poison enters, our organs will inevitably be damaged.”

“…”

A suspicious look appeared in Schumann’s eyes. Ellie leaned down and waited for my next word.

“I suspect Theo may have liver or kidney damage. Usually, when poisoning occurs, don’t the liver and kidneys, which are responsible for detoxification, fail first? I think that’s why he’s a picky eater.”

“It is certainly true.”

“According to the records of the laundry maid, he often has accidents while sleeping.”

This time healer Schumann answered.

“Yes, his kidneys are a little weak.”

“So, I want to create a diet that will reinforce him. And, I’m curious, why couldn’t he recover with your skills as a healer?”

“Ah… I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it as deeply as Her Highness the Grand Duchess did.”

“Your job is healing, not perfect recovery.”

At those words, Schumann bit his lower lip as if his pride had been hurt a little.

Oh no. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just want to discuss Theo’s health problems.”

“Not at all. I’ll try a little harder. In fact, I should have paid close attention to that part. Thank you for giving me a challenge.”

Why are you saying that? Could it be that Theodor was poisoned and has a palate problem? I was curious about a lot of these things. No. First, let’s start with delicious food. Kids eat it all the time if it tastes good.

My Minor was the basics of food and nutrition, and it was the moment to apply those studies to my life almost 10 years after graduating. Of course, I wanted to pass the entrance exam and obtain a certificate for Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Western food in the Department of Food and Nutrition, so I slept less all through college, ate only triangular kimbap and bowl noodles, and cut down on mealtime. Even so, I barely managed to get Korean and Western food licenses. And for Japanese food, I reached the level of my favorite ramen and sushi, and Chinese food was to the level of mimicking zha jiang mian,* sweet and sour pork, and chili shrimp. The time has come for my closeted certificates to shine! Save the Empire, save Alfred, and save me!

I don’t know if it will go well. There will be trial and error, I have to start slowly.

* * * 

In the kitchen of Saios annex.

Bubble bubble~ It was the sound of water distilling. I filled a pot with about 20 liters of lime water halfway. The steamer was not here yet, so I turned a bowl made of magic stone, said to have strong heat resistance, put it in the bottom of the pot, and placed a round glass bowl on it.

“This is the Ice mana stone you ordered.”

Next to me, court engineer Arden politely placed a mana stone on the pot lid. Engineer Arden was summoned by Sophia. This was after I explained to her while watching the water droplets condensing on the surface of a cold glass of water, that in order to make distilled water, hot air and cold air must form a film between each other to achieve a condensing effect. ‘Now that you have added the Ice mana stone, the hot steam will condense on the lid of the cold pot to make distilled water, right?’ If that happened, lime water would naturally remain on the bottom of the pot, and Theodor will be able to drink clean water. And next to Arden was the chef Lucio. His jaw was about to pop out.

It bothered me, but what can I do? Until my sidekick demon Curtis develops an ion water purifier, I had to use Shlezen’s manpower as much as possible. Until then, even if it is troublesome, there was no choice but to appease them and unfold the feast of primitive technology.

I put not only water but also dianthus flowers in the pot. Dianthus flowers are also called ‘Seokjukhwa,’ meaning bamboo flowers grown on rocks. Once upon a time, there was a strong merchant, and when he heard that there was a stone spirit that tormented people at night in the village, he went up the mountain. He fired his arrow at the stone with all his might, but the arrow was lodged deep in the rock and did not fall out. After that, a flower with nodes like bamboo bloomed from that stone. And it is said that people called it ‘Seokjuk’ because it resembles a bamboo blooming on a rock.

This ‘Seokjuk’ was good for the kidneys. On my morning walk, I found a colony of pale pink dianthus. However, it cannot be fed blindly just because it looked similar, but later it was confirmed from Schumann and Ellie that it was non-toxic and contained ingredients similar to the flower in my world. Rather than bland distilled water, the pale pink flower water from dianthus will be pretty to look at and will taste slightly bitter and sweet, so it will be different. When I was in college, my minor was food and nutrition, so I could be sure because I carried all the things that were good for the body to a chemistry lab and analyzed the ingredients.

‘Drink a lot and be healthy. My Theodor.’

“How did you think of this method?”

Arden asked while silently staring at the pot without daring to look at me.

“The Owen family has a large merchant guild. I heard that when drinking water runs out on the trade ship, they do this.”

“Oh, I see.”

“How can you use this method to make a container for a large amount of distilled water?”

“I think it can be possible?”

“That’s great.”

At my praise, Arden politely bowed his head as if it was nothing.

‘Now, Theodor can drink sweet and healthy water to his heart’s content instead of fermented wine. Of course, the castle servants, too.’

A hum came out of nowhere.

“Madam, I brought what you said.”

In response to the servant’s modest report, I issued the next orders to Sophia, Arden, and Lucio.

“Is that right? You did a good job. Sophia will come with a few glasses of water and an empty glass. You guys go with her.”

I opened the kitchen window and went out to the backyard. The servants put a large beer barrel cart in the corner of the yard.

“I greet the Grand Duchess.”

“You did a great job.”

I greeted and quickly opened the lid.

“No, Ma’am!”

Lucio’s face was distorted in reaction to my actions. Of course. It was not enough to have the beer keg, which was supposed to be in a cool underground place, to be dragged to the ground where the sun was pouring. I also wanted to open the lid, of course he would think I was crazy. Either way, I had to check first.

Shaaa~ Carbonic acid hit the tip of my nose. Its name is carbon dioxide. This was the second source of fresh water I was looking for. Maybe if you hit it at this level, the gas layer will be about 30 centimeters, right?

“Phew…”

Displeased, Lucio let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky.

‘How dare you show off how unpleasant you feel?’

“Lucio.”

“Yeah.”

[tl/n: Lucio is replying way too rude for a chef who’s talking with his master]

‘Oho, are you being sarcastic now?’

“It’s hard because you have a lot of work to clean out the kitchen as I said? Do you want to build your brachial* muscles by wiping the washed dishes with a dry cloth?”

“Hiiik!”

Lucio quickly tucked both lips inward, and put his head close to his chest that didn’t fit his large size.

“How do you…”

Although I was in the annex, Sophia provided me eyes and ears everywhere. This was because there were many servants and maids from the Shlezen orphanage working in the castle.

‘If I do this, you will be constantly concerned about kitchen hygiene.’

“You have suffered so much, so I should give you a small reward.”

Hearing my words, he immediately lifted his neck in expectation.

“Mmmh, it’s not financial.”

A look of disappointment was evident immediately.

‘Wow, so simple.’

However, Arden and Sophia’s eyes shone like stars in a dark night.

“Empty cups and water glasses.”

Sophia rushed to me. I placed the empty cup on the surface of the boiling beer, and poured the cup of lime water from a height of 25 centimeters into the empty glass below. Then, the empty glass filled with water was placed again on the surface of the beer and the same operation was repeated several times. Then, at some point, bubbles began to rise from the water.

“Ah…”

Arden was amazed.

‘This gentleman, what are you admiring already?’

Now, Lucio and his servants also showed interest and bowed their heads to appreciate. Just as expected. Sophia grabbed two glasses and copied me. Finally, my cup was full of refreshing carbonated bubbles. And under the glass of water, the cloudy lime water showed. I divided the carbonated water into two glasses equally, adjusting the slope so that the lime did not mix, and offered it to Arden and Lucio.

“This, why?” Lucio asked, confused.

“Drink it.”

As soon as I spoke, Arden took it and drank it at once. And then his eyes grew as wide as a fire lamp,

“Khaaah! The tingling taste.”

He put down the glass and smacked his lips together. At that time, Lucio also quickly took the cup that I had brought out and drank it quickly.

“Wow.”

And he looked at me as if he had tasted the new world. It was a natural reaction because it tasted like a new world that exploded in the mouth and went over the esophagus.

“Madam, I’m done.”

Sophia cheered and tried to drink it right away.

“Sophia, servants first.”

“Yes? Ah yes.”

There was a sign of embarrassment and disappointment, but Sophia did as I said. She gave it away to all the servants. As they drank the soda water, the servants’ eyes became round.

“Arden. When acid is added to limestone, this gas is produced. Then you can make soda water without using beer like this, is it possible?”

“I’ll think it out.”

“Think?”

“No. I’ll make it possible.”

“Great.”

“Lucio. When Arden completes distilled water, use it to cook. When carbonated water is complete, add soda water and distilled water in addition to wine and beer as drinks.”

“Is there any possibility?”

Having tasted the new world, Lucio shook his head.

“And to the Great Prince, distilled water should be provided rather than carbonated water.”

“Yep. I’ll take your order.”

Unlike before, Lucio showed politeness out of respect and trust.

“By the way, how did Her Highness know about this?”

“There are many books in the Marquis family.”

Since nobles show off their prestige by collecting expensive and precious books, this would be enough. However,

“I know that alchemy-related books are forbidden.”

“Ah… Aren’t classics okay?”

“That’s true.”

‘Whew, I guess it worked.’ I just remembered a phrase from a book that Cordelia had been looking for when she was looking for mana stone-related materials.

“I will make it and report it as soon as possible.”

Arden bowed his head, and Lucio greeted politely and left.

“As expected, Madam is the master of discovery.”

Sophia’s eyes lit up as she finally tried to bring the foamy carbonated water to her mouth.

“Sophia. Should we bring some to the knights who protect us?”

For a moment, she seemed to have tears in her eyes, but I must have seen something wrong.

——

Zha Jiang Mian Zha jiang mian is a Beijing cuisine dish consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with a mixture of fried minced pork with fermented soybean paste.

Brachial The brachialis, also known as the Teichmann muscle, is a muscle in the upper arm that flexes the elbow.