Chapter 2
The fish smelled so strongly that it tasted bitter. It seemed like it had been grilled without any attempt to remove the fishy odor. The earthy scent typical of freshwater fish was an added bonus.
Chloe wasn’t aware of her own expression, but the Duke and Duchess saw her make a face as if she had bitten her own tongue the moment she put the potatoes and fish—foods she had always eaten without issue—into her mouth.
“Chloe, what’s wrong?”
“Perhaps your body still isn’t feeling well.”
Hearing the Duke and Duchess say this, completely oblivious to the seriousness of the food, Chloe couldn’t help but snap and shout.
“No! It’s because it tastes awful!”
“W-what?”
Although even the Duchess’s cake was notoriously bad enough that the Duke himself admitted it, to claim that even ordinary dishes tasted bad was shocking.
The Duke quickly took a bite of the fish in front of him, but it tasted the same as usual. Bitter, fishy, with that earthy note.
Isn’t that how fish is supposed to taste?
“There’s nothing wrong with the food. It’s clear your body isn’t well yet.”
“No, it’s just… the taste…”
“I see. Maybe your taste buds were affected after eating that cake.”
The Duchess lamented, worried that Chloe would never be able to properly enjoy food because of her. The Duke busied himself trying to console her.
‘This is infuriating…’
Chloe realized instinctively: if she couldn’t convince her parents now, she’d have to live forever eating food like this.
So, the method Chloe chose was simple.
“I’m perfectly fine. The problem is the food!”
She decided to stubbornly make her point.
“Ch-Chloe?”
“If no one understands me, then I’ll make the food I eat myself!”
At Chloe’s declaration, the Duke and Duchess exchanged a glance.
‘Well…’
‘For now, let her do as she wants…’
With just that silent glance, they quickly agreed and began to calm Chloe, who seemed ready to throw herself down in protest.
“That’s fine, but first, let’s call the priest and have you examined.”
Chloe flatly refused the Duke’s suggestion of calling a priest, which cost a fortune every time, just to check if her taste buds were fine.
“The problem is the food, so why should I change my taste buds? I’ll adjust the food to suit my palate!”
Unbeknownst to Chloe, her eyes were half-rolling with determination.
‘I can’t survive eating food like this!’
She met her parents’ gaze squarely, trying to convince them.
“But Chloe, cooking is really difficult. Haven’t you seen what your mother goes through?”
Chloe swallowed the words that her mother’s cooking seemed more like poison-making than actual cuisine.
At that moment, the Duke, who had been pondering, made a proposal.
“Then, Chloe, let’s make a promise.”
“What kind of promise?”
“One week. Prove within a week that you’re right.”
He meant that she should bring evidence to support her claim that it wasn’t her taste buds but the food itself that was wrong.
“If you have to cook by yourself, your food has to be that good, right?”
His tone became a little stern. Handling fire and knives made cooking dangerous for a child.
“I’ll allow your stubbornness once, but if you fail to produce results in a week, cooking is off-limits.”
“Yes, understood.”
Of course, Chloe was confident. Even if she were given just three days, she could make food far superior to the grilled whole potatoes and fish served at the Duke’s table.
“I’ll make something delicious and serve it to both of you!”
“Good. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Normally, the Duke and Duchess wouldn’t have allowed this so easily. But Chloe, even before regaining her memories from her past life, had a strong personality from a young age.
And now she was speaking in such a mature manner, promising to serve something tasty.
The Duke and Duchess exchanged a silent glance.
‘Normally, we’d have yelled to fetch the chef.’
‘But now that she’s grown up a bit, let’s let her try.’
Thus, after securing their temporary approval, Chloe stormed into the kitchen the moment dinner ended.
“Ingredients? The Lady Chloe?”
“Yes. Mother and Father said it’s okay.”
The head chef was extremely flustered at the sudden intrusion, but Chloe paid no mind and began inspecting what ingredients were available.
“There was fish earlier. What kind is it?”
“It’s carp, caught yesterday from the Maron River.”
“Carp, huh…”
Freshwater fish were much trickier than sea fish, and cooking it without removing the smell naturally resulted in poor taste.
Since the Duke’s estate was inland and lacked refrigeration, there was no way to serve sea fish.
“Can’t I make a stew with this?”
“Stew, my lady? Why would you make a soup dish that commoners eat?”
‘Ah…’
Chloe began to understand their perception of cooking. They seemed to think soup dishes were just a way to stretch limited ingredients.
“Then, is there no fish from the sea?”
“My lady, the sea is full of monsters. There’s nothing edible, and whatever is left would already have been eaten by them!”
Chloe was stunned. No sea fish at all? Everything was monsters?
‘This can’t be real…’
Putting that shocking fact aside for later, she focused on the ingredients in front of her.
Other ingredients were limited as well. Meat spoils easily, so most were salted bacon or sausages. Fresh meat was often grilled whole. Vegetables and fruits were only available in season. They tended to spoil quickly, which might explain why people rarely ate them.
‘I knew it when there was no salad on the table.’
Back in her room, Chloe began organizing the recipes from her past life.
Of course, the Duke and Duchess didn’t believe their twelve-year-old daughter when she claimed she could cook dishes she had never made before.
‘She’ll give up after a few tries.’
They were generally indulgent parents, but they knew their daughter’s impulsive nature and lack of persistence.
They expected her to quit quickly when faced with the more difficult tasks.
But Chloe was no longer the frivolous only daughter of the Duke of Garnet.
Her mind held memories from her past life, and in that life…
‘I was the daughter of a family running a small eatery.’
Since childhood, she had been cooking, starting with peeling garlic. Her parents used traditional methods—fermenting soybeans, storing kimchi in earthenware jars.
‘If I couldn’t do this, the eatery would have failed long ago.’
Even after her parents passed, their skills kept loyal customers coming. On weekends, the line stretched outside, and the eatery appeared on broadcasts as a famous spot.
‘No choice. I’ll raise the cooking here to at least that level.’
At that moment, a maid knocked at the door.
“My lady, there’s a letter.”
“Leave it there.”
Several noble families, learning Chloe had fainted, sent letters asking after her. Most were young ladies who were friends of Chloe, and for families below the rank of count, the head would sometimes send letters directly.
Among the envelopes, one name caught Chloe’s eye:
[Schuel Cyclamen]
“…!”
Chloe was startled.
‘Why is the original male lead sending me a letter?’
Schuel, not yet a prince, would eventually become the crown prince and the one who destroyed Chloe and the Garnet family.
For now, he had no reason to send her a letter.
Carefully, Chloe broke the wax seal and opened the letter.
[To Lady Chloe Garnet]
