Chapter : 07
Was he surprised by my touch, or was he embarrassed? Killian shut his eyes tight and spoke as if he were rapping. He spoke so fast I almost couldn’t understand the last part.
“Do you… want to call me ‘Vanessa’?”
I replied teasingly. At that, his face flushed bright red and he quickly turned his head away.
“…Everyone calls you ‘Vanessa,’ so……”
Heh, he’s cute.
He hurriedly added,
“There’s no other intention. It’s just that since I’ll be living here from now on, I want to blend in naturally.”
“That’s fine. Calling someone by their name isn’t that hard. You should’ve said so earlier.”
“I was a bit… embarrassed. When I say someone’s name, it tends to carry meaning……”
Right. He was the crown prince.
I laughed openly and looked at him.
“That kind of thing doesn’t exist here. Make yourself comfortable.”
“…….”
Killian silently gripped the bucket tightly, his face still red. He was really shy.
Before we knew it, we were in front of the storage shed.
I pointed to the bucket of milk I’d already collected that morning.
“Okay, pour this into those two wooden barrels over there.”
Without a word, he poured the milk into the barrels. With a whoosh, the milk filled them to the brim.
“One will be for yogurt, and the other for cheese. Both need to ferment first, so if you look over there, you’ll see an inner room. Please put all the barrels in there.”
I’d asked a mage in advance to prepare that space. It cost several times more, but I didn’t regret it.
A magical space where milk could be aged into cheese, yogurt, and butter, and grapes could be aged into wine!
In my previous life, I’d lived for a long time at my grandmother’s house in the countryside of Gangwon Province. From her, I learned everything—how to make soy sauce, and from that, soy sauce, red pepper paste, and doenjang (fermented soybean paste).
Later, I thought, What if I try cooking this way myself?
And since I’m the type who acts immediately once I have an idea, I ran a YouTube channel showcasing traditional cooking and brewing methods.
It was tough doing it while working a company job, though.
Even recently, since I wanted to keep eating good food, I’d made sure to ask for fermentation and smoking facilities when building the storage shed.
I had quite a lot of subscribers, too.
While I was reminiscing about my past glory with a bit of regret, the crown prince lifted the wooden barrels and carefully placed them in the designated space.
“It’s quite spacious.”
“I plan to store a lot.”
“It must’ve been hard to do all this alone.”
“It’s fine now. I’ve got workers—well, you and Eric.”
Even if I’d been alone, I would’ve managed somehow, but having help definitely made things easier. After placing the last barrel inside, he asked,
“Is that everything?”
“This part’s done.”
“Is there more work?”
Killian’s face went pale, as if he were already exhausted.
Do you know how much work there is in farming?!
I smiled brightly and pushed him along by the back.
“Come on, come on. Let’s go pick chili peppers and harvest some turnips.”
“…….”
Without a word, he grabbed a basket and a straw hat.
We headed to the chili field first.
Green chili peppers, still unripe, hung densely from the plants.
Good thing I set up supports ahead of time.
There were so many peppers that without stakes and strings, the plants would’ve collapsed under the weight.
The crown prince gently touched one of the fruits.
“I’ve never seen a fruit like this.”
“I imported it directly from the Eastern Continent. You’ve probably never eaten it before, Killian.”
A mischievous thought crossed my mind.
“Would you like to try one?”
I plucked a chili and handed it to him. Without any suspicion, he took a big bite. Almost instantly, his face twisted, and he spat the chili onto the ground.
“Ugh! W-water! I need water!”
He ran straight to the well, scooping up water and gulping it down. Even that wasn’t enough—he stuck his tongue directly into the water.
I approached him, laughing.
“It’s pretty spicy, right?”
“This is practically an assassination attempt. What kind of fruit is this—!”
“It’s spicy if you eat it like that, but it’s delicious in food.”
“Put it in food…? I won’t eat it. It’s impossible.”
“Oh, come on, it’s really good. I’ll make something delicious for you today.”
As I said that, I picked more chilies and put them into the basket. When I brought one close to my nose, the spicy aroma hit me immediately.
They said it was medium-level spiciness in the Eastern Continent. How spicy are the really hot ones, then?
I was glad I’d brought chilies about as spicy as green peppers. People here had never eaten spicy food before—they were terrible at handling heat.
Leila couldn’t even touch it at first.
Now she couldn’t live without it.
Every day—
“Vanessa, when are you making spicy food again?”
—she’d whine like that.
Today was finally spicy braised fish day!
After picking just enough chilies for today, I spoke to Killian, who was still suffering.
“Shall we go to the turnip field now?”
“Mmm.”
With his cheeks puffed out, full of water, Killian nodded in response.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t import East Asian radishes (the big ones we’re used to), so I had to make do with turnips. At least I’d managed to bring over cabbage seeds from the Eastern Continent.
I should grow those well and make soon.
I hummed as I pulled up turnips.
A soup without radish just isn’t the same.
I brushed the dirt off a pretty turnip, white and purple nicely mixed, and put it into the basket. Killian squatted next to me and said,
“I’m finally feeling better.”
“That’s a relief. Sorry for teasing you.”
“If someone stuffed dozens of those fruits into their mouth, even an undead would die.”
He shook his head seriously, clearly traumatized by the chili.
“So what do we do next?”
“Lastly, we just need some potatoes.”
As I led him to the potato field, I said,
“Killian, there’s something you need to be careful about.”
“What is it?”
“When harvesting potatoes, you can’t just stab the ground randomly. Sweet potatoes can be pulled out by the roots, but potatoes are scattered around the roots. If you’re careless, you’ll damage them.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Use the hoe to carefully dig around and find them. Here’s the hoe.”
The crown prince took the hoe carefully and began slowly digging around the potato stems.
He was big and had thick thigh muscles, so squatting like that looked uncomfortable. Still, perhaps satisfied with his role as a worker, Killian focused intently on digging.
The straw hat and hoe suited him surprisingly well. A handsome man, drenched in sweat, digging the earth—
Always a nice sight.
Just by looking at his muscles, you could tell how useful he’d be.
Then—
“I found one! A potato, Vanessa!”
Killian beamed as he held up a solid potato.
“I didn’t damage it at all! It’s perfectly intact!”
I smiled widely and gave him a thumbs-up. Encouraged, he grinned even more and dug harder.
One potato, two, three, four, five.
Big potatoes, grown on rich soil, filled the basket one by one.
“That should be enough!”
“Is… is it?”
Killian answered like a giant dog with drooping ears and tail.
What’s with him?
I quickly found out.
“Digging and harvesting potatoes is really fun. I want to do more……”
Oh no.
Apparently, this was his first time digging soil. He muttered while holding the hoe tightly, hugging it to his chest as if he didn’t want it taken away.
I pressed my fingers to my forehead.
“I’ll let you do it again tomorrow. This is enough for today.”
“Really…?”
He looked at me with teary eyes.
“Of course.”
“I’ll trust you.”
Trust… over this?
He was a man who got overly serious about the strangest things. I dragged the reluctant Killian back to the house. Even on the way back, he held the hoe close.
I washed my hands and changed clothes.
I shoved Killian—still clutching the hoe—into the bathroom to wash up too. Tying on an apron, I took the ingredients out of the basket. I also brought out scallions, garlic, and onions I’d harvested earlier from the shed.
After washing everything with water from the well, I placed the potatoes and turnips on the cutting board. I cut off the turnip stems and roots, chopped them into big chunks, and put them into a pot. Next came the potatoes.
I wished I had a potato peeler, but unfortunately, there wasn’t one here. I peeled the potatoes in long, smooth strokes, trying not to break the peel—one of my small personal joys.
After peeling all five, I roughly chopped them and added them to a large pot.
Now I just add water and let it boil.
I poured in the water and covered the pot.
I chopped the chilies, scallions, and garlic and set them aside on the cutting board.
Now for the fish.
I brought over the big fish we’d caught today, bucket and all.
I stunned the fish skillfully, then held the knife upright and gently scraped off the scales. I cut off the fins and tail.
Ugh, this is the part I hate most.
I cut the fish into pieces, slit open the belly, and scraped out the innards and black membrane with my fingers. If you leave them in, the fishy smell is unbearable, so it was a necessary evil.
Killian, freshly washed, came over while drying his hair with a towel.
“I’ll wipe the table.”
“Thanks.”
He grabbed a cloth and started cleaning on his own.
Voluntary action: plus ten points.
For someone who was supposedly a crown prince, he was obedient like a big dog. I secretly gave him extra points, then washed the fish one last time and placed it on top of the turnips in the pot.
I should’ve made a seasoning sauce, but I didn’t have soy sauce yet. All I had were sugar, salt, and pepper.
This dish would have to rely on a clean, spicy broth.
It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. When I harvest soybeans next time, maybe I’ll make brew my own soy sauce.
Bubble, bubble—
As the water began to boil, a fragrant aroma spread through the air.
The sound of food cooking deliciously was always a joy to hear.
End Of Chapter : 07
