Chapter 82

Thank you for reading up to Chapter 82!

I can't express my gratitude for not giving up and reading all the way to here.

The author finds reading printed words troublesome...

(ノ≧∀≦)ノ～◇poi

"O... Onions... They're turning brown... How's it looking?"

After about an hour, the team that had been frying them asked, looking exhausted. It would be natural for them to look like that after frying for over an hour.

"Hmm, they look good. You can turn off the heat now."

Not a single one was burnt; they had turned a beautiful caramel color.

"「Yay～～～!!」"

The people who had been frying them raised their hands and high-fived, feeling a sense of accomplishment and relief.

"They've reduced in volume quite a bit, haven't they?"

Chef Rick sighed as he looked at the fried onions, which had reduced to less than half their original volume. Having seen the process, he could appreciate the effort involved.

"Isn't it quite a bit of work to get to this point?"

I usually microwave them before doing this, so I've never spent this much time on it, but it's a lot of work.

"What are you going to do with all this hard work?"

Matheus asked Lina with a wry smile, as if it were someone else's problem.

"Half of it will go into chicken consommé to make onion soup. The other half will be used for a purée, so Matheus and the others, please start peeling the potatoes."

She gave the next instructions. All they had to do was add the fried onions to the chicken consommé and adjust the flavor to complete the onion soup.

"Yay!! I want to taste the onion soup～～～"

Someone called out without specifying who it was.

"Sure, sure. How about we have lunch first, and we can taste it then?"

It was already a good time for lunch.

"「Yay～～～!!」"

The apprentices were especially happy and cheered.

Just then, Iber, the ice butler, arrived, so they also had to prepare a meal for King Felix.

"Rina... What are you doing?"

Rick, who thought Lina was just handing over the freshly made onion soup to Iber, called out when he saw her start doing something else.

"Hmm? I thought it would be boring for Ed and the others to just have plain onion soup, so I'm going to make it into onion gratin soup..."

The bread yeast is ready, but there's no time to make it. So, the bread remains hard, but this way, it will become soft and delicious.

"What's onion gratin soup?"

Prince Egiedilus asked, looking curious. He seemed excited, thinking she might make something else.

"You'll see."

Lina started making it quickly.

First, she cut the hard bread into bite-sized pieces and placed them in a dish. Then, she poured the freshly made onion soup over the bread. She generously sprinkled cheese on top and put it in the oven. It would be done once the cheese was baked.

"Are you going to soak the bread in the soup and then bake it?"

"Yes, the bread will absorb the soup and become delicious."

"Really!!"

Prince Egiedilus's catchphrase came out, and Lina couldn't help but laugh.

"It's going to be very hot, so be careful not to burn yourself when you eat it."

"...Got it!!"

Prince Egiedilus smiled happily.

"I made one for Iber too, so please have it later."

Although they probably won't eat together, she offered it as a bribe.

"...Thank you."

Iber said, and his icy expression wavered slightly.

Yes!! He's hooked!!

Lina clenched her fist at the slight expression Iber occasionally showed.

If she were to make a fist pump out of emotion here, she might never see it again. She had to be careful.

"See you, Rina."

After putting away the lunch and Prince Schuzel's dessert, Prince Egiedilus waved cutely and left the kitchen.

So cute～～～.

Lina and the others were healed by his smile.