My Husband Hid His Regression, So I Hid Mine Too Chapter 24

The head chef seemed to be at a loss for words.

But soon, he saw the unwavering certainty in Odely’s blue eyes.

‘Does she really have something to back this up?’

When Odely showed that she was willing to take full responsibility, he hesitated for a moment before finally speaking with a solemn resolve.

“……Understood. As you wish, Your Grace. I’ll give it a try.”

The head chef ordered his assistants.

“Get some blackberries, raspberries, and barley.”

They normally didn’t keep ingredients like barley or raspberries in stock, so they seemed to hurry to get them from outside.

Odely quietly left the kitchen so she wouldn’t get in their way.

There was only so much she could do as an outsider.

Now, only one thing remained.

Would he actually take even one spoonful of the porridge?

All she could do was wait and see.

 

***

 

 

Knock, knock.

A short knock sounded.

“I said I was done with this.”

Ludville spoke as if he already knew who it was.

He didn’t even bother hiding his annoyance.

“……Your Grace.”

As expected, it was the head chef who entered.

He carefully carried a silver tray in both hands, but after being turned away, he stopped for a moment at the doorway.

Without even looking up, Ludville kept his eyes on the documents and waved his hand dismissively.

“Take it away.”

At those words, Edwin, the Grand Duke’s aide, narrowed his eyes.

“You still haven’t eaten breakfast? Then you should eat now! How can you chase the head chef away like he’s some bug!”

His eyes landed on the bottle of liquor and the half-empty glass on the desk.

Drinking instead of eating again.

There was only so much he could tolerate when it came to the Grand Duke neglecting his health!

Edwin was just about to let loose with the lecture that had been building up in his throat when the head chef hesitantly spoke.

“If you refuse to eat again, the young lady asked me to have you try this.”

At the unexpected mention of that person, both men’s expressions changed.

The aide’s eyes widened, while Ludville slightly furrowed his brows and finally looked up.

“……The Lady of House Kardel?”

The low voice came out almost like a mutter.

Was he talking about the young lady who had locked herself away in the annex and refused to come out after he had given her two weeks to have some fun?

Ludville scoffed.

“Hah!”

He had thought she had been frightened and was hiding, but then she had apparently caught a thief in the meantime……

She seemed to be busy poking her nose into one thing after another, yet he had no idea what she was actually doing.

“Yes. It seems…… she’s worried about Your Grace.”

The head chef rarely added his own opinion, but this time, he did.

At first, he had been confused too.

When the young lady suddenly appeared in the kitchen and started giving orders about the menu, he couldn’t understand it at all.

But when she said she would take full responsibility, there had clearly been confidence behind her words.

Whatever her intentions were, that was a separate matter.

To be honest, the head chef didn’t care whether the young lady was a spy or anything else.

As long as His Grace finished his meal.

‘Huh.’

Ludville couldn’t believe the head chef was subtly taking Odely’s side.

Did he have no pride?

A newcomer who had only just set foot in the Grand Duke’s castle had interfered with the kitchen, and he had simply gone along with it?

‘The head butler already seemed suspicious, and now it looks like she’s tamed the head chef too.’

It was ridiculous.

He had only given her two weeks, so why was she already going out of her way to care about other people?

For a moment, he wondered if she planned to win over everyone around him because she wanted power, but……

‘She can’t possibly be stupid enough not to know that I’m the one who makes the decisions.’

Unlike other women, shouldn’t she be following him around every day and making herself a nuisance if she wanted a chance?

‘And shouldn’t she have brought this herself and made a show of preparing it for His Grace?’

Ludville glared at the meal covered by a silver lid as if he disliked it.

Silently.

For a long while.

In the end, he motioned with his chin.

“……Leave it and go.”

The head chef quietly bowed his head and left, and silence filled the room once again.

The bowl of barley porridge sat quietly on the table.

He lifted the lid.

Steam rose into the air, and a pleasantly nutty aroma slowly spread through the room.

Clear barley porridge.

A few thin slices of smoked meat were neatly arranged on top of the moist barley grains.

Dark red raspberries and blackberries decorated the edges, with a thin stream of honey running over them and giving them a soft sheen.

“……This is, dog…… Ahem.”

Edwin, who had been quietly watching from behind, cleared his throat.

The unfinished words were obvious.

He had almost asked if this was ‘dog food.’

For a meal served to a Grand Duke, it was terribly humble.

It was closer to a serf’s breakfast than anything fit for a nobleman.

Besides, the fact that the daughter of House Kardel had come up with such a menu herself made no sense.

There was clearly some kind of malicious intent behind it……

“Ahem, Your Grace. Did you perhaps do something terribly wrong to the young lady?”

“…….”

“Perhaps you’ve earned her hatred somehow…….”

Even then, Ludville showed no reaction.

An unpleasant sense of déjà vu, something strangely familiar, was swirling in his mind.

After staring down at the food in silence for a long while, he quietly picked up the spoon.

He took the first spoonful.

The deep, savory flavor of the well-seasoned smoked meat spread across his tongue first.

Then the nutty barley softened and filled his mouth.

Before he could settle into that combination, the gentle tartness of the raspberries and blackberries emerged.

The fresh burst of fruit created a lively contrast in the flow of flavors, and the subtle sweetness of honey quietly settled on the tip of his tongue.

The saltiness, nuttiness, tartness, and sweetness blended together without clashing, flowing smoothly from one flavor to the next.

‘Why is this…….’

Why does this taste so good?

Ludville frowned and took another spoonful.

Barley porridge was something he had often eaten when he was a slave.

But he had never tasted a combination like this.

It was familiar yet unfamiliar, and unfamiliar yet strangely comforting.

He had no memory of ever eating anything like it, yet strangely, he felt no resistance at all.

It was a strange food that reminded him of a hometown he had never had, stirring up a sense of longing.

Ludville quietly raised the spoon again.

Another spoonful.

And another.

The soft texture spreading across his tongue.

The warmth traveling down his throat.

And then, suddenly, he stopped moving.

It was as if his body had reacted first, like someone who had finally tasted food after being hungry for an unbearably long time.

But it wasn’t hunger.

It felt as though fragments of emotions that had nowhere to go were struggling inside him, not even knowing where they were supposed to be headed.