Chapter 21: 21. Cooking the firebird
Kai had been thinking about how to prepare meat so that it would taste good and stay fresh for several days. He couldn’t stop thinking about Peoni and Lily’s story about their orphanage and the children there.
Those children had to start working as young as seven, because the orphanage didn’t receive much money from the nobles who owned the estate. Of course, that was all Duke Arslan’s responsibility.
But, as Kai knew, Hendry left such matters to the Duchess.
Kai was certain the Duchess exploited the situation to extract money from the nobles and the wealthy. Meanwhile, the common people of Arslan were completely neglected.
This actually affected the state of Arslan itself. It was growing poorer by the day, with an unbalanced economy and skyrocketing prices.
Not to mention poor education and a lack of knowledge.
Currently, the Duke has been very busy since the war ended, as there is a great deal of work he must complete. Such as poor agriculture, high mortality rates, and so on.
The Duke, who until now had only known about power and warfare, and had always underestimated everything, was overwhelmed.
Especially since the Duchess is very skilled at manipulating everyone. The Duke’s position isn’t very strong compared to the Duchess’s.
So almost everyone in the castle sides with the Duchess; almost all the nobles are on her side. Therefore, the Duke can’t do anything to get rid of the Duchess until his position becomes stronger.
That’s why Kai chose to help the poor man. Not because he wants to be his successor, but because he wants to restore the Duke’s position, while also trying to teach him to be a good leader.
Well, Kai himself wasn’t particularly skilled; he’d never been a leader before. But he had experience as a commoner, having been in a lower position, so at least he knew what ordinary people wanted.
He was sure the people of Arslan were the same. They just wanted their lives to be better.
If the Duke wasn’t supported by the nobles and those greedy rich people, then the Duke at least needed the support of the common people.
"Why are you soaking all the meat in pineapple juice, young master?" Lily asked, confused.
Before preparing the spices, Kai had indeed blended the pineapple, then used it to marinate the meat that Lily, Peoni, Rose, and Daisy had already cut into small pieces.
"I’m only soaking it for a minute, just to make the meat more tender. To shorten the cooking time as well. Oh, right, we’re going to make rendang. While we wait for the meat, we’ll sauté the spices first in that large pan."
Kai then took out the ground rendang spice mix, an instant seasoning he’d bought from the supermarket. In addition to the instant seasoning, Kai also needed instant coconut milk, made from 100% pure coconut milk.
Rendang is a method of cooking meat with special spices, simmered over low heat for several hours.
But if the spices are sautéed in a little oil first, the cooking time can be shortened.
Everyone just stood silently watching Kai pour the instant spice mix into the large wok. None of them had any experience cooking like that. Especially the girls from the orphanage. But they watched closely and learned well.
Even Peoni and Lily alone learned a lot of cooking techniques from Kai and Keith.
The only one who could cook well was Keith, but he was currently meeting with Duke to discuss the firebird Kai had caught the night before.
Kai asked Peoni to help him sauté the seasoning, while the others were asked to prepare the meat. Kai gave them a few instructions, then went to meet Justine, Luca, and Laura, who were sitting quietly, waiting for everything to be finished.
"Are we going to eat that?" Justine asked.
"We can’t eat that for another hour, so for now, just eat this. I’m going to coat the firebird meat in flour and fry it—just a moment... I’ve already marinated the firebird meat in spices," Kai said.
The three of them fell silent again as Kai took out a bowl of marinated firebird meat from inside a large box called a refrigerator.
Using a smaller stove and a deep-fry pan, Kai fried the firebird meat after coating it with flour.
While frying, Kai watched Peoni and Lily stirring the rendang meat in the large pot.
After making sure they were doing it correctly, Kai returned to the floured, fried firebird meat. He didn’t forget to teach Rose and Daisy as well, so they could help him with the frying.
Once Rose and Daisy understood their tasks, Kai washed his hands, dried them with a paper towel, and then opened the rice cooker. He smiled upon seeing the perfectly cooked rice inside.
Unfortunately, Kai couldn’t introduce rice to the people of Arslan just yet. As a substitute for rice, Kai would give them delicious bread or boiled potatoes.
Kai’s goal in giving them the firebird rendang was to ensure the people of Arslan, especially the children at the orphanage, had better nutrition.
Oh, Kai had also prepared plenty of hard-boiled eggs to distribute to them later.
Eggs, huh... once the layer chicken farm is successful, Kai plans to set up another one at the orphanage, so the children there won’t have to work for others—they’ll just need to tend to the chicken coop.
But how could he take control of the orphanage away from Baroness Crech? The woman who was the Duchess’s right-hand woman.
It’s not that Kai doesn’t have a plan; he’s just worried about so many things.
"I want rice too! Please, give me some rice too."
Kai’s daydream was interrupted by Justine’s words. His younger brother, who was a little taller than him, smiled widely; he was already holding a plate, as was Luca beside him.
Kai smiled back, then nodded. He scooped rice onto Justine and Luca’s plates.
"Alright, wait there nicely," Kai said.
"Okay, Kaileon!" the two boys settled back into their chairs quietly.
Kai didn’t like the Duchess, but he liked his younger brother, Justine. Kai was just afraid that the Duchess might use that against him later to destroy Kaileon.
Kai didn’t care about the others, but the people of Arslan wouldn’t be able to survive much longer without him. He was certain of that.
Because many of the children in Arslan were slowly dying from starvation or from being too exhausted from work.
Suddenly, a plate was held out to him. When Kai turned his head, there was Laura, shyly offering him the plate.
"I w-want that too... please."
Kai gave a faint smile, then gave the girl some rice.
"Alright, let’s eat together, Laura."
***
Nathalia crumpled the letter she had received from someone acting as a spy to surveil Kaileon.
"He must be lying! There’s no way Kaileon could defeat two firebirds at once! Damn it! It must just be a coincidence or an exaggeration," the woman muttered.
She clenched her jaw, tossed the crumpled letter aside, then stood up from her bed.
She hurried out and told the maid she was going to meet someone immediately.
A few moments later, after changing into her most luxurious gown, she stepped out of the room.
The person she was going to meet was Kaileon’s prospective fiancée.
Nathalia, skilled at manipulation, intended to persuade the girl she was about to meet. After seeking the King’s approval, and the King stating that he would agree if his daughter also agreed.
The girl was indeed a princess, but she was not the King’s biological child.
The rules in the kingdom of Nagreize were quite unique, and they were new rules established by the King himself. That children of the Queen or a concubine were also his children, whether they were adopted children or children from a husband before the King.
The King himself did not have many concubines, but he had once fallen in love with a woman of elven descent—a woman who had once been Queen of the Elven Kingdom before it was destroyed by the Demon race. Since then, the Queen had become a slave and was later taken by the King of Nagreize as a concubine.
Because of her mother’s past, the princess was ostracized by her other siblings and became a loner.
Princess Angeline.
