Chapter : 28
Just as I’d expected, the sweet-and-sour fish and the fries were a hit. Everyone especially marveled at the soy sauce, busy asking how on earth I’d made it.
I brushed it off by saying the chef employed at the estate was from the Eastern Continent. Since everyone was too occupied dipping their food into the sauce, my excuse seemed to pass well enough.
After everyone had eaten their fill and returned to work, I headed alone toward the crock jars. I planned to scoop out the meju from the soy sauce to make doenjang.
“And I should make gochujang too.”
Without glutinous rice or soju, it would inevitably turn out a bit rough, but it was still better than having no gochujang at all.
I scooped the meju out of the jar that held the soy sauce and transferred it to a new jar. From now on, this jar would be my doenjang.
“I’ll have to grind the dried chilies with the millstone.”
A single jar of gochujang takes more than four kilograms of chili powder. Of course, soy sauce and meju go in as well, but the most important element of gochujang flavor is, naturally, the chili powder.
I dragged the dried chilies over a cloth, crushed them once, then ground them finely with the millstone. I’d been working for quite a while when the Crown Prince quietly approached and sat beside me.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to make a new sauce this time.”
But the Crown Prince couldn’t seem to endure the spicy chili powder aroma; he coughed and moved a little farther away.
“It’s spicy, right?”
“Very spicy. Still, everything you make tastes good, Vanessa. It was spicy, but delicious.”
“I’ll make lots more tasty dishes with this sauce.”
At my words, the Crown Prince smiled and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to work even harder.”
I burst out laughing at how he hit the nail on the head.
“That’s right. I feed people so they’ll work harder.”
“I wouldn’t mind working my whole life, if I could eat your food.”
…What was that, a confession?
But the Crown Prince’s face was calm and gentle, unchanged. He just seemed kind by nature.
“What a dangerously charming man.”
Golden hair warm like spring sunlight, sky-blue eyes full of affection when he looked at me, a handsome, manly nose and softly upturned lips. Killian’s face itself was a crime.
Unable to keep looking at him, I abruptly turned my head away.
“Don’t look at my face, Your Highness.”
“Why… not?”
“Just don’t. Your face is criminal.”
“Hm? Criminal?”
“That’s just how it is.”
After finishing grinding all the chili powder, I stood up.
“I don’t have meju powder, so I’ll just use doenjang.”
To make it properly, I’d need rice syrup too, but all I had was soy sauce, doenjang, chili powder, and sugar.
“This is rough. Very rough.”
Still, I had to do it.
I clenched my fist once, scooped in a generous amount of doenjang, and poured in the chili powder. Then I added salt, sugar, and soy sauce in order. The scent was more or less like gochujang.
“I’ll let this ferment like this…”
I called to the Crown Prince, who was standing there blankly watching me.
“Are you done with your work for today?”
“More or less.”
“Great. Then let’s go make bread.”
“You make bread too…?”
“Of course. Everything we eat, wear, and drink here has to be made.”
We headed to Oliver’s house. When I knocked, Oliver opened the door and greeted us warmly. I guess I’d grown familiar to him after seeing him so often.
“Vanessa!”
“How have you been, Oliver? I came to get some flour.”
“It’s piled up over there.”
“Oh my goodness, it really is.”
Just as Oliver said, dozens of flour sacks were stacked inside his house. When I glanced at the Crown Prince, he let out a brief sigh and then lifted three sacks in each arm—six in total.
“He’s incredibly strong.”
I swallowed and looked up at him.
“Your Highness, you really are strong.”
“…Vanessa, at this rate you might start drooling.”
“Oliver, His Highness is perfect worker material.”
“I can hear you.”
After a few trips, the Crown Prince had moved all the flour sacks to the storage room. I didn’t forget to ask him to leave one sack in the kitchen.
“Thanks for your help, Oliver.”
“It’s nothing… Call me again next time.”
His house barely let in any light, and he stayed cooped up inside all day. Feeling sorry for him, I grabbed his arm without thinking.
“Oliver too!”
Startled, he widened his gentle, round eyes.
“Yes?”
“Want to come make bread with us?”
At my suggestion, he happily twitched his gray ears and answered,
“I’d love to!”
The Crown Prince looked a bit displeased, but I hooked an arm through each of theirs and headed to the kitchen.
“Hehe, flowers in both arms.”
Once there, the three of us washed our hands thoroughly.
“Wait here! I’ll go get the ingredients. Your Highness, come with me.”
“Alright.”
From the storage room, I brought back a bucket of freshly milked milk, along with butter and eggs, and spread everything out on the table. Handing each of them a round bowl, I pointed at the flour.
“Okay, scoop flour into your bowl with this.”
“Is this enough?”
“L-like this much?”
“Yes, that’s perfect. Now sift it like this.”
I demonstrated by sifting my own flour finely.
“Next, add a pinch of sugar and salt. Everyone keeping up so far?”
“Done.”
“Me too.”
“Great.”
I poured the milk into a cauldron and heated it. To knead the dough, warm milk was necessary. When it was warm enough, I ladled it out for them.
“Add the warm milk and mix. Oh, and add the butter from up there too. Since the milk’s warm, the butter should melt soon.”
Though it was their first time, both the Crown Prince and Oliver diligently kneaded the dough with spatulas. Oliver spoke in an excited voice.
“This is fun, Vanessa.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”
Standing on tiptoe, I gently ruffled Oliver’s curly hair in praise. His ears fluttered again.
“Look, Vanessa. I worked hard with my hands too.”
The Crown Prince, holding a nicely rounded ball of dough, smiled proudly at me. Wanting praise, he bent down slightly and offered his head.
“Pet me too.”
“Well, if you insist.”
Finding him cute, I enthusiastically stroked his blond hair. Apparently pleased, he smiled even more brightly.
“Now we let it ferment in a warm place for about an hour. If you give that to me, I’ll take it to the fermentation room.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“I’ll go.”
The Crown Prince and Oliver bickered over who would go.
“Let’s all go together.”
So the three of us trotted off to the fermentation room, put the dough inside, and waited an hour in front of it. Even from outside, we could see the dough swelling.
“Okay, now divide it into three. I’ll give each of you a cutting board and a rolling pin. Roll it out long like this, fold it so the long side overlaps twice, then roll it up like this. Ta-da! It looks like a dog treat. Easy, right?”
After the Crown Prince and Oliver finished too, we had nine pieces of dough in total. We placed three pieces into each prepared mold and brushed butter on top. After covering them once more and finishing the second fermentation, they were ready for the oven.
“Finally, into the oven they go.”
We placed the three molds into the brick oven in the corner of the kitchen and baked them for twenty-five minutes.
“Wow, Vanessa. They’re rising more and more. It smells amazing too.”
“Isn’t it fascinating?”
“Yes!”
“But, Oliver.”
“Yes?”
“We have to make more.”
Both the Crown Prince and Oliver looked horrified. Stammering, they asked me,
“H-how much?”
“How many…?”
“Well, I’m not sure exactly, but until nightfall. There are dozens more molds, so hurry up. We need to stack plenty of bread. Let’s chant together. Food is life! Stockpiling is life!”
“Life…”
“Li…”
With voices near death, they scooped flour back into their bowls.
And so, only after kneading dough, baking bread, and carrying the loaves into the storage room until night fell were they finally released from my grasp.
Exhausted, they hugged each other and patted one another for their hard work. Oliver trudged back home, saying he’d rather invent things inside, crawling along like a zombie.
“That was a lot for a shut-in.”
Still, you have to make use of people while you can. And Oliver had said he wanted to work, so I hadn’t done anything wrong.
Now it was the next morning, with Donggeul chirping beside me.
I sat at my desk to organize my tasks.
“Let’s see… what’s left to do…”
I took out my notebook again and opened it.
[Things to Do]
Remove the salt and hang the hind leg in a week → Ask Eric.
For Layla’s upcoming birthday, make a fresh cream strawberry cake → First, I need to make the cream… Oh! And the cake sheet too!
Make turnip kimchi and napa cabbage kimchi → Let’s ask others and make a large batch.
“Yes! Only three left!”
Of course, I still needed to pick a large amount of strawberries to make strawberry jam for spreading on bread, and turn the dried herbs into tea… but for now, those three were the top priorities.
It hadn’t been a full week yet, so the hind leg could wait. I decided to prepare first for Layla’s birthday tomorrow.
“Let’s start by picking strawberries!”
With a basket in hand, I headed to the greenhouse. The people pulling weeds and watering greeted me.
“You’re here, Vanessa.”
“Hi, Anna. Nice to see you. I’m here to pick some strawberries.”
“They’re ripening really nicely. Take as many as you like.”
“One, two, three, four… Would about twenty be enough?”
Since I’d be lining the cake with strawberries and decorating the top, that seemed sufficient.
“If there’s extra, I’ll just eat them.”
After washing the strawberries at the well and drying them with a towel, I set them on the table.
“Next, I need fresh cream and cake sheets!”
For that, I needed milk, butter, and eggs—all neatly stored in the warehouse. Tying on my white apron again, I took out flour and poured it into a large bowl.
“Alright, let’s give it our all once more—for our fairy!”
End Of Chapter : 28
