Chapter 34

The groom of the Royal carriage dropped me off at the manor with great courtesy. Even in a situation like this, Wyatt the butler handled the interaction with his usual composed professionalism.

“Welcome home, My Lady.”

He opened the door and greeted me exactly as he always did.

“Wyatt, please take the basket from Sophie and give it to Eva.”

A noble lady does not carry baskets to the kitchen herself. I didn’t even wait to see Sophie hand over the basket or the carriage depart before I was already embracing my brothers. I never want to leave them again.

In the short time before dinner, I listened to them talk about the days I was away.

“Sister, we can use the toilet now! I didn’t even know there was a toilet in the house until now.”

It seems Wyatt bought the magic stones first. Naturally, that’s the top priority for improving our standard of living. Besides, eight-year-old Nasius was likely starting to feel embarrassed about using a chamber pot. He looked so happy.

“And I started sword practice with George!”

“Henry, stop swinging that wooden sword around in the room.”

The child-sized wooden sword was likely handmade by George, probably carved from firewood. Once he’s a bit older, he’ll need a more proper wooden sword, but this is plenty for now. Now that George is liberated from scrubbing chamber pots, he actually has the time to help with sword practice.

“Next on the list: a horse and a Hanon.”

Since I don’t have paints, I’ll start teaching them art beginning with sketching. As for dance, I can at least teach them the basic steps. Keeping a horse requires fodder, so it’s understandable that it has to wait. I’ll have to indirectly demand that Wyatt find an old Hanon for us.

“My Lady, to return in a Royal carriage… you must be performing your duties for Princess Margaret quite admirably. Though, I must wonder, why on earth did they give you eggs and butter?”

Mary was brushing my hair when I remembered I’d forgotten all about the basket. When I see my brothers, everything else becomes secondary.

“The Queen gave those to me. I wanted to bake my brothers the snacks I used to make with Mother.”

Mary’s hands stopped moving.

“You… you met the Queen?”

“Yes. She said she wanted to see the face of the Lady-in-Waiting she had chosen.”

Mary’s hands were trembling with emotion, but she managed to finish styling my hair. Dinner was a bit more substantial than before. Since vegetables are being harvested from the greenhouse, there were more side dishes. Seeing this amount even for a sudden homecoming, I felt relieved knowing they were eating like this regularly. Come to think of it, my “Angels” looked a little plumper. They’re even fluffier to hug now. Hehe.

Saturday morning was spent studying with my brothers and tending to the vegetables in the greenhouse together. Nasius needs the exercise, after all.

“Let’s bake some sweets!” Once lunch was over and I’d timed it so the servants had finished their meal too, I headed for the semi-basement kitchen. However, I was intercepted by Mary in the servant’s room just before the entrance.

“My Lady, a kitchen is no place for you!” she tried to stop me, but I had the Queen on my side.

“I promised the Queen that I would let my brothers taste the snacks I made with Mother. Therefore, I must fulfill my promise.”

“The Queen said…?” While Mary stood there dazed, I slipped into the kitchen. It was needlessly large—far too big for cooking for a family of four and four servants.

“Eva, the Queen gave me eggs, butter, sugar, and cream. I’m going to make the snacks Mother taught me for my brothers.”

That said, Patience was very young at the time, so the memories are hazy. I only have a blurry image of frying thin cakes—sort of like pancakes.

“I’m making pancakes.”

Since I’m not used to the cooking utensils of this world, I’ll start with something easy and familiar.

“My Lady, what are pancakes? And how do you make them?”

I couldn’t ignore Eva the cook. She has worked so hard for us. Besides, I need her to be able to recreate the sweets from my memory in the future.

“You beat the eggs, add milk, mix in sugar and flour, and just fry it in a pan.”

Admittedly, I didn’t even know where the tools were kept.

In the end, I made the pancakes while giving Eva instructions.

“Is there any baking powder? If not, we’ll whisk the eggs… do you have a whisk?”

“We used to have one, but…” Eva shook her head sadly, explaining they hadn’t bought a new one since it broke.

“It’s alright. I’ll whisk them with Household Magic.”

In an instant, the egg whites were whipped into a soft, fluffy foam.

“My, what a convenient spell.”

Indeed, making sweets involves a lot of whisking. Household Magic is a lifesaver.

“Put a knob of butter in the pan, and once it melts, add a ladle of the batter.”

Mary wouldn’t let me near the fire for fear of burns, so I had Eva do the actual frying under my direction.

“When the surface is full of little bubbles, flip it over.”

A wonderful aroma filled the kitchen.

“We don’t have butter or honey to top it with, so we’ll just sprinkle on a bit of sugar and call it done. We can also add a dollop of whipped cream. Let’s have tea.”

I whipped a bit of the cream and handed it to Eva. The custom of afternoon tea had been cut to save money in the Granger house, but I wanted to bring it back today.

I had Wyatt inform Father that we would be having tea.

“If we are having tea, the drawing room would be more appropriate than the dining hall. I shall light a fire in the hearth.”

I was glad the drawing room had already been repaired. The four of us shared the pancakes and some light tea.

“Sister, this is delicious!”

“Mm, so good!”

“Henry, you have cream on your cheek.” I wiped it off for him.

Even Father ate with apparent relish. This is what a real family gathering feels like.