My Lady Chef
Chapter 39: A Baking Challenge

Ely's POV:

Since my title was known. No one dared to retort or complain so the Prince came to me and explained.

"The cake that was spilled was a favorite of the king. The noon meal will end in 2 hours; the cooking time for an Aubergine cheesecake is at least three hours." his tone was formal and slightly over-polite as if I am not aware how long cheesecake cooks.

"Because of the sensitive timing and temperature plus cool downtime is important and delicate isn't that so, Your Highness?" I cited down the long reason why the dessert was hard to make. "Then allow this young chef to make up for his mistake."

The Prince's eyebrow went up as his gaze went to the young man whose head was bowed.

"No one can make a cheesecake in two hours." he frowned at me but I merely smiled.

"I can make it. But the cheesecakes will be a different sort but I assure you that it will be well worth it." I could not help but be excited to use my mana in this kind of high-pressure test.

"Cheesecakes?" The prince looked intrigued. "My lady duchess; to make one cheesecake is already difficult enough but to attempt a second one is folly. Will you risk shaming the Aisenburg name for a nameless young cook?"

I looked at the young man whose head was still bowed but I can feel the fighting spirit emanate from him.

"I am the Duchess my husband chose and I never back down from a challenge. Allow me to use a fraction of the royal kitchen space and make this cook my assistant. If I do not succeed, you can banish me and this cook from the Royal Palace."

The Prince, the Royal Chef, and everyone wore shocked expressions but in the end.....

"Very well my lady. You have two hours and thirty minutes; I will lengthen today's entertainment for half an hour for you but I will be informing your husband about this risky gamble." the prince said to me seriously.

"Please tell him after I am halfway done with the baking. I do not want to worry him too much." I asked him while putting my hands together.

My words made the prince massaged his temples as he stared at me for a long while before he had the Royal Chef and his team disperse and back to their jobs of preparing today's meal.

"This is not how I imagined our first meeting my lady." He motioned a servant to get two coffees and soon I had a cup in my hand.

I sipped it and struggled not to make a face. The roast was weak and the flavor was more sour than bitter. I prefer a finer ground coffee with a medium to dark roast.

"Me either, Your Highness. Prince Belmont." I set the cup down to the side of a nearby table.

"You may have that space for your baking. I have heard the rumors about your food but it would be interesting to see what you can do with desserts." he hid an amused smile before his gaze went to my unfinished coffee. "Was the coffee to your liking?"

"It's mediocre at its best." My answer received a chuckle from him before he turned to leave.

I walked towards the empty and quickly memorized the space and the ovens. While I was inspecting everything; the young man who was following me silently spoke.

"Yo-your Grace, Please allow me to help you in making these cakes. I will do what I can to repay your kindness..." his voice was nervous.

I turned to him and noticed that he has a lot of food stains on his apron but none was of the ruined cheesecake.

Something fishy was going on.

Was he being used as a scape goat by the fat chef?

"Your name?" I asked him and he lifted his face to me and I noticed that he had overly long bags but at an angle, I could see light grey eyes with a touch of blue. Very unusual yet beautiful eyes.

"Neo. Your Grace," he said respectfully.

"Nice to meet you, Neo." I raised a my hand to shake his when he reluctantly touched mine.

As we shook hands, my dual mana reacted to the young man's touch.

This one has Slyph in him...

The air is strong with this one.

The dual voices inside me confirmed my gut feeling. This guy is special! But he needs mana enriched food to awaken his mana spirit.

This challenge got even more interesting.0000☐☐☐

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