The Girl Who Was Forced by Her Stepsister to Marry the Cursed Duke - CH 5

Chapter 5: Let’s Cook the Octopus!

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“Amazing… What a splendid kitchen…”

I couldn’t stop myself from leaking out a squeak of wonder. The duchal household had a lot of 『magical tool』that even a menial servant was allowed to use. What surprised me the most was this faucet that could produce clean water when you applied enough pressure on the faucet.

Back in my parent’s house, I had to fetch water from the well every morning. It was one of the hardest chores I had to do.

In here, just the fact that we were exempted from the task of fetching water already saved a considerable amount of hassle when we had to cook or do the laundry. Moreover, you couldn’t compare the ingredients and the seasoning they had here with my parent’s house.

To my surprise, they said they didn’t want to bother with meals so they allowed me to use everything in here to cook my meals. I could eat three meals a day and they provided such a splendid kitchen for me. I thought my eyes would pop out of the socket from how surprised I was when I heard that.

M-My dream of having three meals a day is going to come true….!! Since they already took all the trouble to provide for me like this, I will cook up a delicious meal by using this octopus!!

From the arrays of cooking utensils they had, I grabbed a kitchen knife. I stabbed the octopus in the area between its eyes. The energetic octopus instantly turned pale white.

Without wasting much time, I then proceeded to wash the slime off the octopus by using a stream of clean water produced by the magic faucet. I flipped the octopus over, revealing its innards. I removed its guts and ink sac before I rubbed it all nice and even with salt.

Back in my parent’s house, we only had cheap salt. Those cheap salt was mixed with a little bit of sand while in here, they had a high quality salt. The salt was pure white in colour. It felt a little bit of a waste to use such a high quality salt for my meal.

After I finished rinsing off the slime and the remnants of the duke’s skin(?) from the octopus, even this octopus, that had been struggling so vigorously before, finally ceased from moving.

This octopus, that I procured from the duke’s right hand himself, its body was about the size of a grown man’s fist. If I included the length of its tentacles, the octopus’s length could reach up to my elbow. I gently hit the octopus with a radish to break the fibres apart and tenderise the meat. Then I submerged the whole thing in boiling hot water.

The octopus, which used to be whitish-grey in colour, quickly turned into glossy red colour. Its eight legs also curled inward, making a ball-like shape.

This boiled octopus was no different than a normal boiled octopus. I could hardly believe this octopus had actually sprung forward from the duke’s skin.

Cautiously, I took a bite of its leg.

“……….. Delicious….”

The flavour of this piping hot octopus burst and overflowed in my mouth. The salty taste was perfectly balanced, further enhancing my appetite.

Because I had thoroughly knocked it with radish, the meat was tender and chewy. It wasn’t too chewy to the point it was hard to bite into. The glossy red skin also gave off a slightly crispy texture.

Yes… Yes… This is… Pretty good… The more you bite into it, the more octopus juice bursts in your mouth… I’ve only boiled it but it already tastes good.

Without realising it, I had completely eaten one of its legs.

『W-what are you doing?』

The automata, Bhadra, who had been helping me in the kitchen, asked.

I think judging from the tone of her(?) voice, she(?) was surprised but… Well I guess since she(?) was a high quality automata, she(?) was capable of having and expressing emotions as well.

“Yes, I’m just tasting it to see if I’ve boiled it well and if it’s tasty or not.”

『……………… I…. I see?』

“I mean, since we’re going to serve this to the duke, it has to be delicious, right….?”

『Bu-bo-ba-bbbzzzz-bbbbzzzz-ssshhhh-bzzzz!!!』

Suddenly after hearing my answer, the automata, Bhadra-san,  let out a series of weird sounds. It was as if someone accidentally spilled water into a pot of hot oil.

“E-excuse me? Are you alright??”

『My apologies….There was a slight trouble with my audio…. Ah… My lady, by eating a creature born from a curse…. Didn’t you consider that there might be a risk of the curse affecting the master might affect you as well?』

…..So I might’ve turned into a blue-black creature like the duke and started growing seafood out of my body too?

If that was the case then I could easily procure fresh seafood at all times. At any rate, I didn’t have any other place to live anyway… If by any chance I were cursed too, my appearance might’ve become a little bit too exceptional but I might be able to get along better with the duke as a fellow cursed person.

“I think… I might be happier if that was the case…?”

I muttered.

Instead of giving me any verbal response, the automata only blinked her glowing red eyes.