“By the way, lady, I was waiting for you because I was called to the reception room… What are you doing?”
“Well, that’s right. Hyunjin, the reason I called you… Ed?”
Amelia clapped her hands and called out to Ed.
He untied something from his back and handed it to Amelia.
It was…
‘… A lunchbox?’
It was a square, three-layered lunchbox.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”
“No, I haven’t eaten….”
“Then try it, Hyunjin.”
A three-tiered lunchbox was placed on the table in the reception room.
“Can I really eat this?”
“I brought it for you to eat, so why would you need permission? Go ahead, Hyunjin.”
Well, she had a point.
“Then… let’s eat.”
Amelia sat across from me and carefully opened the lunchbox.
The top tier was filled with fried foods, the middle tier had plain vegetables and side dishes, and the bottom tier contained rice. It was unexpectedly close to a standard meal combination.
To be honest, I’d never seen Amelia cook, so I was curious about how it would taste. I wasn’t sure why she made this lunchbox, but I decided not to question it.
‘Let’s see…’
I raised my chopsticks and took a bite of the tempura.
‘… Ugh?!’
The texture was indescribable. The fried shrimp, which should have been crispy and tender, had an odd, crunchy consistency. It tasted as if seawater had been poured into my throat, overwhelming my senses.
However, Amelia was sitting across from me, watching with high expectations.
How could I possibly tell her it was tasteless?
“Oh, it’s delicious… Really great.”
“Isn’t it? Guess who made it! Oh ho ho!”
Amelia laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.
Ed and Rachel, standing nearby, looked at her with happy expressions, probably finding her cute.
Meanwhile, I was eating, feeling utterly conflicted.
I envied them—they didn’t have to endure this culinary experiment like I did. But I couldn’t show my dislike here.
I had to endure. If I couldn’t stand this, the title of butler would lose all meaning.
Being a butler meant obeying the master’s words and protecting their pride. That’s the mindset Ed had instilled in me.
With trembling hands, I steadied myself and picked up the chopsticks again.
‘Oh, my Lord, give me courage…!’
To be honest, I wanted to give up, but here I was, determined to push through like a man.
I took a bite of the rice. To my surprise, the rice was unexpectedly good. It was cooked perfectly, with a texture that could rival any high-end meal.
“The rice is freshly milled Koshihikari, mixed with varieties such as Akibare, brought in locally and cooked in an electric rice cooker,” Amelia explained proudly.
Well, that explained why the rice was so perfect. Adjusting the amount of water must have been within her abilities, but other aspects of her cooking clearly weren’t.
Her culinary style seemed to reject finer details.
I moved on to the second tier, trying the vegetables and pickled side dishes.
‘Why do these vegetables taste salty, sour, sweet, and burnt all at once? Amelia… What happened to your sense of taste?!’
I wanted to ask her seriously, but I held back.
“Did you taste this yourself while cooking, by any chance?”
“No? There’s no way a dish I cooked wouldn’t taste good, right? I followed a recipe I found on the internet,” she replied innocently, smiling.
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything harsh.
Ed chimed in with a cough. “Hyunjin, isn’t it rude to ask such a question?”
“Oh, right,” I said quickly.
If I weren’t Amelia’s butler, I would have firmly advised against her cooking in the future.
“You seem very interested in cooking,” I said, steering the conversation.
“Well, it just turned out that way.”
“If the time comes, I’d be happy to cook with you, Miss,” I offered.
“Oh ho, Hyunjin, you seem to have an interest in cooking, too,” Amelia said with a curious look.
“Yes, to some extent. Eating your cooking reminded me of dishes I used to have back in Korea.”
I sugarcoated my response, but Amelia seemed to take it differently.
“Eating my food reminded you of home? I didn’t expect you to like it that much, Hyunjin.”
She smiled warmly.
‘No. Not really.’
I felt sorry but couldn’t bring myself to say that I longed for neatly made kimchi and namul. Even someone like me, who wasn’t fond of vegetables, craved spinach and bean sprouts at that moment.
I silently emptied the lunchbox Amelia had made, barely holding myself together.
“Thank you for the meal, Miss. What’s there to drink?”
Amelia snapped her fingers. “Ed?”
“Here you are, Hyunjin,” Ed said, handing over a thermos.
It contained oolong tea.
Pouring some into the thermos lid, I drank it all in one go.
“Ahh.”
“You must have liked it a lot, Hyunjin. From now on, I’ll wake up early every morning to cook for you.”
“No, Miss. I’ll observe and assist with the cooking instead.”
“Oh, would you really?”
“Yes…” I said hesitantly.
If I had to endure another meal like this, I wasn’t sure I’d survive.
I resolved that the next time Amelia decided to cook, I’d guide her step by step.
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Check out my other projects: Rehabilitating the Villainess, Pushover Extra Trains the Villainesses, I Picked Up an Amnesiac Witch, My Summons Are Special, My Wife is the Devil,