Chapter 07
The Beginning of the War
Vivian looked over the ingredients she had laid out and asked,
“How many servants will be judging?”
“Four in total, Miss. Ivin will probably bring them over herself.”
Now that she thought about it, Ivin wasn’t among the other maids.
Vivian scanned the remaining maids.
One of the maids who had bumped into Ivin with her elbow earlier looked over and smiled.
‘They must think this is incredibly entertaining.’
She wondered how they were viewing this contest.
Were they thinking the careless noble girl was being ridiculous, or did they have some real expectation?
Finally, it was time to show her true skills.
Vivian tied the apron Merian had handed her tightly around her waist.
“What dish will you be preparing today, Miss?”
“I’ll be making beef and mushroom hot pot.”
“Hot pot? I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Well… it’s like a stew here. It’s perfect for cold days, so it’s ideal for Lavrik, which is colder than other regions.”
Hot pot, similar to soup, is said to have originated from soldiers in the past cooking food inside iron helmets when cookware wasn’t available.
Later, people shaped pots like those helmets and cooked meat and vegetables in them, calling it hot pot.
Fortunately, in this world, copper pots of various sizes existed, so no one needed to use helmets.
“…Anyway, let’s get started.”
On Vivian’s wide prep table, all the ingredients were lined up just like those prepared for Merian.
As Vivian glanced over them, Merian, seemingly generous, said,
“These are the ingredients for now, but if you need anything special, just let me know. If you know what’s missing, that is.”
She was practically digging her own grave.
Allowing Vivian to freely use the ingredients gave her a huge advantage.
“Hmm… I’ll get them myself. Where should I get the ingredients from?”
Vivian asked casually, pretending to not know much.
Merian turned her head and said without expression,
“The storage is next to the oak barrels at the back.”
Of course. Vivian’s face lit up with a sly smile when she heard that.
Once that storage was open, she could grab all the modern seasonings she wanted.
Not only that, she could also use store-bought sauces to simplify her cooking.
It meant she could make delicious food using familiar ingredients without struggling with unknown ones.
Vivian felt a little guilty toward Merian, but she also had the advantage of playing on her home ground.
Vivian glanced at the storage door behind her.
The contest began, and the kitchen was filled with the steady sound of Merian chopping.
Vivian quietly studied the ingredients while Merian worked fiercely with the knife.
Everyone in the kitchen looked at Vivian with puzzled eyes.
‘King oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, chicken stock, cinnamon sticks, cloves, black pepper… Is this leek?’
A vegetable lying beside the other ingredients looked like a mix between bok choy and a green onion.
It looked like a short, plump version of a leek.
Vivian wanted to ask what it was, but if she did, she might be treated as strange.
She cut a small piece and tasted it.
‘Yeah, this is just leek.’
The sweet and slightly spicy flavor was very similar to the leeks in her original world.
Satisfied with the vegetable, Vivian looked over the other ingredients.
On the right side of the prep table were the ingredients for mushroom soup, and on the left, the ones for stewed minced beef.
Beef foreleg, onions, and a small amount of flour—probably low-gluten flour.
‘So they plan to make minced beef patties first, then stew them.’
Vivian thought the cooking method here was very unusual.
It wasn’t like foreign food she knew; it seemed like a dish that didn’t exist anywhere.
Normally, stewed beef would be cooked in chunks, so why grind it into patties first?
It was strange.
‘I need to follow Merian’s prep as closely as possible.’
So far, she didn’t need to get anything from the storage.
But the beef was a concern.
Slicing fresh meat thinly and making marinade for bulgogi without modern tools would be tricky.
Most importantly, she wasn’t sure if all the ingredients she needed were available.
Soy sauce, plum syrup, cooking wine, apple or pear… The most worrying was sesame oil.
There was no way this world had sesame oil.
She would have to grind the apple and pear finely herself.
There might be a manual meat grinder, but no electric blender.
Considering the setting—maybe the 18th or 19th century—many modern items didn’t exist here.
Anyway, what Vivian needed most now was store-bought bulgogi sauce.
With a reliable sauce and fresh ingredients, she could make a delicious meal easily.
Fair play was luxury she couldn’t afford.
What she needed most was access to the kitchen without restriction.
‘If I win this contest, I can ask them to let me in freely.’
A little cheating was fine when her life was at stake.
After a brief hesitation, Vivian raised her hand quietly.
“Some ingredients are missing. May I quickly go to the storage?”
“Of course.”
She slowly turned and walked toward the storage.
From Merian’s perspective, it was behind her. From the maids watching the contest, it was diagonally to the right.
If the cold storage appeared when she opened the door, the maids might see it.
‘Speed is key.’
Taking a deep breath, she quickly opened the door and stepped inside.
The cold, refreshing air should have rushed in—but the storage was warm.
“What… where did it go this time?”
Unfortunately, in front of her was a plain storage room with plaster walls.
There were many things, mostly vegetables with dirt on them and unidentifiable sacks.
Vivian closed her eyes tightly, feeling despair.
‘Come to think of it, last time the storage disappeared when a maid was around.’
She calmed herself as she stood there, eyes shut.
It’s okay. Even if it takes time, I can find the ingredients and leave.
When she opened her eyes, a scene she could hardly believe appeared before her.
She was standing in the middle of the cold storage.
How could this happen? She just closed and opened her eyes, and the storage reappeared.
‘Right, the storage disappears when people from this world are around.’
Like last time, it only appeared for her alone.
Vivian walked to the metal shelves filled with ingredients.
It was strange, but the contest was still ongoing.
The cold storage was full of fresh, diverse ingredients.
It seemed even more stocked than last time, with the shelves overflowing.
After all, that hotel was famous for not holding back on ingredients.
Top-quality ingredients, full supply—that was the chef’s principle.
Once, she might have disliked that, but now she even missed it.
‘Stop thinking and focus.’
What she needed most now was store-bought bulgogi sauce.
She didn’t have familiar tools, and ingredients were limited, so this was perfect.
The problem was the sauce came in a container not from this world.
Of course, she had prepared for this.
Vivian shook the container lightly, poured the sauce into a bowl, releasing a rich bulgogi aroma.
Her body trembled, perhaps from the cold, tension, or excitement from the contest.
She grabbed some carrots and spinach, holding them in her arms, and flung open the storage door.
A maid’s eyes met hers immediately, and at that moment, the chill behind her disappeared.
‘Exactly.’
Now it was confirmed: the cold storage disappears when anyone from the novel’s world is around.
Vivian returned calmly to her original spot.
She worried the maid might have seen the storage, but no reaction came, so it was safe.
A bead of cold sweat ran down her back at the thought.
‘Would I be able to bring the ingredients properly while trembling?’
She returned to the prep table, glanced at the row of maids standing by the entrance, all curious about what she brought.
Stretching their necks to peek, they looked like meerkats.
Vivian placed the ingredients on the counter and began preparing them.
The first step was chopping vegetables for the hot pot.
Skillfully, she removed unusable parts of the mushrooms and quickly grabbed an onion.
‘The onion needs to be sliced thin so the seasoning soaks in quickly.’
Vivian’s hands moved swiftly as she held the knife.
