Chapter 15: 15. Smoothie
Peoni’s eyes widened in disbelief. The kitchen was fully equipped; there were even many things she had only just discovered.
The girl had once worked at a bakery and a pastry shop owned by nobility, so she loved baking.
After Kaileon gave her some delicious pastries, she became curious about how to make them all.
And here they were, in Kaileon’s fully equipped kitchen. It happened to be late afternoon. Kai was also feeling overwhelmed by all the lessons Keith had taught him. Kai needed something sweet, tasty, and refreshing because the weather was getting hotter and hotter.
"Do you know anything about brownies?" Kai asked Peoni and Lily. At that moment, Lily just wanted to help; she had never baked before, unlike Peoni.
The two girls looked at each other with confused expressions.
"Do you mean brown cake?" Peoni asked.
Kai fell silent afterward; he’d forgotten that she didn’t yet know what the real world was like out there.
"So, from your time working at the bakery and pastry shop, what kinds of cakes do you know they sell, and what kind of customers usually come there?" Kai asked enthusiastically.
Peoni thought for a moment, "Hmm, usually there are sponge cakes made from flour, sugar, and eggs. There are also cookies, and then... Most of the customers who come are wealthy people, or servants of the nobility, I’ve never seen a cake like the one you gave us earlier. How can that cake taste so sweet? The sweetness is just right, and there’s a cheesy flavor too. I didn’t know cheese could be made into a cake," said Peoni.
Kai nodded, then he took out a bar of chocolate, cut it into small pieces, and shared it with Peoni and Lily. Both of them looked puzzled at the chocolate.
"Eat it, like this..." Kai ate the chocolate first, followed by the two maids.
"This tastes unique! It’s bitter and sweet, but strangely, the combination tastes really good!" said Lily with a happy expression.
Seeing their positive reactions, Kai gathered the ingredients to make chocolate cake or brownies.
Kai then explained how to make them to the girls. Just as Kai had expected, Peoni quickly grasped the process. Lily needed a few explanations, but she also understood it well.
"We can use an oven or a steamer. So you can tell the difference, we’ll bake some and steam the rest," said Kaileon.
They followed their young master’s instructions.
"While we wait for the brownies to finish, let’s make smoothies too—oh, smoothies are... um, like fruit that’s frozen in the freezer then— yeah, Lily?" Kai stopped explaining when Lily suddenly raised her hand.
"What’s a freezer?" Lily asked.
Kai chuckled; he’d forgotten that his maids were two people who didn’t know much about many things—not even from their own world—but they knew a lot about the market.
Kai pointed to the refrigerator he’d bought, showing them the freezer inside.
He explained what a freezer was to them. And they understood; they thought it was like magic that could freeze anything. They said only certain people could possess ice magic.
Kai then took out the fruits he had frozen in the freezer, such as bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and mangoes. He froze them all to achieve a thick, cold texture like ice cream.
After that, he took out other ingredients like milk, honey, and Chopper.
For the power, Kai used a box-shaped device that looked like an outlet. The device drew power from light magic. Kai didn’t know how it was made, but he was certain the device came from the magic tower. Strangely, it was among the discarded items.
Yet it was incredibly useful to Kai.
The two maids screamed as Kai turned on the blender, holding it steady so the contents wouldn’t spill everywhere. They believed the device could go haywire, so they were terrified.
But once the blueberry, strawberry, and mango smoothies were ready, they were amazed.
Each smoothie was poured into a large bowl. At first, Kai had only intended to serve them from that large bowl, but he changed his mind when Keith arrived and said that Justine and Luca were coming to visit again.
Kai found it strange that Justine was allowed to meet him just like that. So, Kai had to remain cautious.
"I heard you’re providing food and drinks for the workers here? Why are you doing that?" Luca asked.
At that moment, they were eating the smoothies while sitting on the house’s porch, looking directly at the lake and the nearly finished walking path. In addition to the walking path, the park benches had also been installed.
Kai even gave them food and pastries to take home, so they could share them with their families.
"That’s right, I also gave them food, so their families at home could
enjoy a good meal too," said Kai.
Justine and Luca exchanged glances, their expressions strange and puzzling. This made Kai very suspicious, but that was before he heard what they were saying.
"It’s unusual for a noble to be so kind to commoners. People at the castle are talking about what you’ve been doing. I think someone has come to spy on you, Brother Kaileon," said Justine, sounding very worried.
Kai himself immediately smiled upon hearing this, "Let them talk about me. I’ll make them regret not wanting to be my servants back then."
After that, Luca spoke again, saying something that got Kai thinking.
"I heard you got two new maids from the orphanage, right? The maids at the castle are talking about it. They say the maids here are really ugly, but when I looked just now, they were fine—not as bad as they’re making them out to be."
Justine nudged Luca’s side, "Shh! Don’t say that to Kaileon!"
"Why? That’s exactly what I heard..." Luca asked, confused.
"I mean, you don’t need to mention the part that insults Kaileon’s maids, right? Insulting his servants is the same as insulting his master," Justine replied.
Luca immediately turned to Kai with a guilty expression.
"Oh, I didn’t mean it that way, Kaileon, I’m sorry..."
Kai smiled broadly, then chuckled softly.
"Haha, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m fine. Actually, since I didn’t know what was happening at the castle, that really helped me... don’t worry, I’ll make both my maids beautiful. So they won’t be able to insult anyone anymore. Is there anything else you know? Just tell me."
Justine and Luca exchanged glances again. Then Justine began to speak.
"I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this or not, but my mother has gone to the kingdom; she said she’s looking for a fiancée for you. Your fiancée will come here and live here later."
Oh, that was something Kai had never heard before. If he had to have a fiancée.
Kai turned to Keith, who was watching them from behind while sipping his smoothie.
"Keith, is that true?" Kai asked.
But even Keith’s eyes widened in shock at Justine’s words.
"I’ve only just heard about this myself, young master. I’ll go see the Duke immediately to ask for an explanation."
Kai nodded, "Yes, go right away, Keith, I’m very worried."
Kai didn’t know what the Duchess was thinking—a fiancé? While Kaileon was recovering? It seemed the Duchess was absolutely serious.
