TGCNF 11🔐

Chapter 11 …

“…….”

At that question, she couldn’t answer immediately. When she turned her face away, a bitter expression flickered across it.

“I see you can’t eat any more. Clear it away.”

The truth was, last night, Master Kang Jeseung had left the food prepared by Kim Choonja barely touched, not even halfway eaten.

But that wasn’t all.

“Are you really the cook who made that scorched rice candy? I can hardly believe it.”

She had just endured the humiliation of having her scorched rice candy compared to someone else’s.

“You didn’t eat it…….”

“……!”

Choa muttered weakly, and Kim Choonja’s eyes flashed with sharp anger, her pride clearly wounded.

Oblivious to Choonja’s feelings, Choa lifted her head and spoke clearly.

“I think I can make food that Father can eat. Please let me try just once. Okay?”

“You are insulting me right now, little miss.”

“Huh?”

“You, a mere six-year-old, claim you can make better food than me, someone who has been cooking all my life. That is an insult.”

Startled by Choonja’s cold words, Choa waved her tiny hands frantically.

“N-No! Father liked the scorched rice candy I made. That’s why I wanted to try making other food too…!”

“But I clearly made the scorched rice candy, didn’t I?”

Choonja’s firm tone made Choa glare back.

“Choonja is a liar!”

Tears threatened to fall, but Choa didn’t back down.

“I made the scorched rice candy. I can even make it again to show you. And pretending someone else’s work is your own is a very bad thing!”

“What did you say?!”

Choonja suddenly raised her voice and lifted her hand, as if ready to slap Choa’s cheek.

I must hold back.

Yet Choonja struggled desperately to restrain her anger. She exhaled shakily and lowered her hand—but Choa didn’t miss the moment.

Crunch!

“Ahk—!”

She bit Choonja’s hand!

“Iik! Little miss!”

Choonja, eyes brimming with tears, clutched her hand, while Choa sprang away, fleeing like the wind.

This is bad…!

Ok Dan Eom bit her nails nervously, unsure of what to do.

“Choonja is a liar! I made the scorched rice candy! I can even make it again to show you!”

Master Kang Jeseung, taking a rare walk in the front yard, overheard the clear, loud voice.

“……What is happening?”

He asked quietly, and Ok Dan Eom quickly bowed and explained.

“Little miss has recently been stubborn, unlike before. She insists that the food, made by the new cook Choonja, is her own.”

“Stubborn?”

“Yes. She plays at pretending, and now she claims she made the food herself.”

Kang Jeseung frowned with a complicated expression. He had hoped to hear his daughter’s voice again after so long, but now she was insisting on something she hadn’t done.

“This is very worrying.”

As he spoke, the world seemed to spin, and he staggered.

“Master!”

Ok Dan Eom hurried to support him.

“Go inside and rest. I will handle little miss. Yes?”

Breathing roughly, Kang Jeseung nodded, and a couple of men escorted him inside.

“Tch!”

Left alone, Ok Dan Eom clicked her tongue, her eyes sharp as she strode toward the direction Choa had fled.

Half an hour later.

“Let go of me!”

“Be quiet!”

Choa was roughly dragged by Ok Dan Eom and planted in the front yard in front of the hall.

“Choonja, explain exactly what happened.”

Choonja quickly bowed and spoke.

“Little miss said she wanted to personally make food for Master Kang. Then she claimed the scorched rice candy I made was her own!”

Ok Dan Eom twitched her mouth in disbelief for a moment.

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

She openly laughed at the child, then quickly grew stern and looked down at her.

“Who put such nonsense ideas into her head… Where are Bokhee and Eonnyeon?”

“They were sent out to dig oysters. They haven’t returned yet.”

Ok Dan Eom clicked her tongue.

In recent years, as Master Kang’s illness deepened and the family’s finances deteriorated, she had secretly enriched herself, indulged in luxuries, and even taken to gambling. The household staff had to provide for themselves by farming and foraging. Of course, the servants kept this hidden from Master Kang.

“I’ll make sure Bokhee and Eonnyeon work hard for a while, and if they can’t handle it, I’ll throw them out.”

“Since we brought in a cook, Master Kang won’t say anything.”

This was why Ok Dan Eom had requested Choonja’s services in the first place.

She’s so much like her mother—it’s infuriating.

Ok Dan Eom had long dreamed of becoming Master Kang’s concubine. Since she wasn’t of a noble family, she could not hope to become his official wife, so she wanted at least the position of concubine. But Choa’s mother, Master Kang’s actual concubine, had cruelly shattered that dream.

How dare a mere cooking maid take the position of concubine.

Remembering Choa, who was also an exceptionally skilled cook who had captivated Master Kang, Ok Dan Eom frowned. It irritated her how much Choa resembled her mother.

As long as this child exists, Master Kang will never forget her.

She gritted her teeth.

I can’t let that happen. Once she’s old enough, I’ll marry her off and be done with it.

Ok Dan Eom sighed heavily and then sat to meet Choa at eye level.

“Little miss.”

“Ok Dan Eom, I’m really not… I…”

“Listen carefully.”

Thud!

She grasped Choa’s trembling shoulders.

“A young lady of a noble family should grow quietly, like a pretty flower, and marry well. Do not harbor vain dreams.”

“……!”

“And how can a little girl who has never touched a kitchen knife claim she can cook?”

“I said it’s not a lie!”

Choa shook her head desperately.

“I really can make food Father can eat!”

“Even if I concede a hundred times… if you truly want to help Master Kang, you should earn money for his medicine. Can you make food that will pay for medicine?”

Ok Dan Eom, even with a child, spoke sharply about money. Choa, at a loss for words, began to sob while defending herself.

“I-I can do it… I… I want to help Father…”

“Oh dear, she won’t listen. That won’t do. Bring the cane immediately…!”

Ok Dan Eom was about to overstep her authority without hesitation.

At that moment, a voice called out.

“Ok Dan Eom! The madam from the left hall has come to visit!”

A maid burst in, panting.