“Oh, finally! The finished product is extraordinary!” In a kitchen in the maid dormitory building of the castle living area, Aya and Vivian crowded around Chirp in front of the oven, watching as the quartz sand grains in the small crystal hourglass on top of the oven slowly trickled away.
- The best baking time calculated by Chirp, a little guy comparable to AI, although Vivian's grasp of the heat was also excellent, no one would refuse a more precise one.
By the way, the kitchen currently in use is in a straight line with Lady Tiran's in the main castle dining hall.
Even though the strange smell that pervaded the air when Vivian baked cakes with Chirp had weakened significantly since Chirp joined, they couldn't keep occupying the most frequently used space. In the end, they asked for Mimi's help to borrow the kitchen in the maid dormitory, although small, it had all the utensils needed for various types of cooking, enough to experiment with a cake.
Of course, Aya didn't mention that he proposed changing the location to avoid the princess's search.
"Time's up! Corporal Aya, open the oven!"
“Oh, yes!” Aya saluted and stepped forward, grabbing the hot handle of the oven with his hands to open the door.
Should I say they really are like mother and daughter in this aspect... their shared love for playing, and after getting used to being with Tiran, Aya didn't feel out of place at all.
Of course, what grabbed Aya's attention now more than anything was the freshly baked cake behind the heavy metal oven door.
“Hmm, the pure smell of cake is already great…”
“So fragrant…” Chirp couldn't help but flare his nostrils and inhale a big whiff of the rich sweet scent.
Mumbling softly, Aya's mouth involuntarily produced more saliva.
Because of the crushed durian flesh added, the cake batter had a more enticing golden color compared to versions made purely with flour and eggs as the main ingredients. Also, according to Chirp's request, no water was added to mix, resulting in an exceptionally dense and waterless durian cake.
As it was just a one-pound cake and a trial piece, the main purpose was to taste the flavor. Thus, the following steps were simplified, completely dispensing with the shaping and piping steps, and Aya ensured the buttercream was spread evenly by hand.
“The final step is left.”
Carefully holding a long-handled spoon in her hands, Vivian poured a spoonful of freshly made fruit jam glaze onto the cake.
Since the jam was deep purple almost black, let’s call it Black Forest Durian Cake.
“Is it done?”
Aya looked at Chirp and Vivian, picked up a nearby knife, and cut a slice from the round cake.
The rich durian fruit aroma and the glaze's perfect combination filled their mouths, not to the point of being poignant or tear-inducing, but definitely delicious, making Aya breathe a sigh of relief.
All our efforts throughout the day were not in vain. As long as we keep moving forward, the road will stretch endlessly from now on…
But Aya's good mood didn't last long.
“What is this taste?!”
A familiar and frightening scent wafted into Aya's nostrils, freezing his movements instantly.
No, no way?!
Incredulously looking at the half of the cake still in front of him, Aya shook his head vigorously. It couldn't be true, Chirp spent so long analyzing the perfect balance of flavors and now the jam was emitting this smell…
“Chirp, mom, it seems like a failure,” Chirp looked somewhat embarrassed as he glanced at Aya.
“Please don't say it out loud!” Aya wished he could just bury his head in the cake in front of him.
“Huh? I think it's not bad,” the Queen had already finished her portion.
Aya looked at the Queen with regret, after the pancake incident, your opinion isn’t valid at all, Your Highness?
At that moment, the kitchen door pushed open, and Mimi hurriedly walked in. As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, she wrinkled her nose, covering it with her hand, “What did you guys do in the kitchen... did the sewer explode?”
Well, reference object acquired, indeed, it was a failure. But saying the sewer exploded was a bit too much, right?
“It... seems like the freshly baked cake made the glaze temperature rise, and the previously suppressible flavors were all brought out,” Chirp said in a slightly dejected tone as he poked at the purple-black fruit glaze with a fork.
Seeing Chirp's perplexed expression, the head maid was a bit at a loss, and it took her a moment to remember why she was there.
“Your Highness Vivian, now is not the time to continue trying. Lady Tiran is looking for you everywhere and should be here soon,” Mimi said after bowing to Vivian.
“Little Tiran?”
Vivian blinked, seeming a bit puzzled.
The kitchen door was pushed open again, and it was Lady Tiran.
“Haha! Found you—what's this smell? Did the sewer explode?”
Why did she and Mimi maintain some subtle consistency in these strange ways of describing things... But now that you mention it, it does kinda sound like it.
Aya was taken aback and quickly ran to the window and opened it, which he had forgotten to do earlier since no strange smell had appeared.
As the clear breeze blew in through the window, Aya's mind cleared up a bit, finally realizing that the current problem wasn't the cake's smell but that Lady Tiran had come to find them!
“So, Lady Tiran,” Tiran furrowed her brow, pinching her nose with a suspicious look at the three people and a little girl squished in the small kitchen, “just what are you guys doing?”
“This situation is actually a bit complicated…”
Aya scratched his cheek, trying his best to come up with a perfect explanation to smooth over the current situation like the protagonists in manga and novels. Unfortunately, Aya was not the brainy type, and after thinking for a while, he was totally clueless.
As the situation was about to freeze, Vivian naturally cut a piece from the cake on the table, placed it on a plate, and handed it to Tiran.
“Little Tiran, come and taste it! Mom just finished making it~”
“….”
The princess took the cake, looked at it with a complex expression for a long moment, then turned to Aya with a puzzled look, “Alchemy experiment?”
“Little Tiran, that's too much! Clearly, it's a birthday cake prepared for you!” Vivian said indignantly.
“Well, just kidding, but this version clearly needs some improvement, right? Even if it's a birthday cake made by Mom, for me to eat it gratefully should at least… um, not be that unusual?”
Tiran's expression was definitely awkward.
Did I just spill everything? Aya buried his face in his hands with a slap, sighing repeatedly, “Your Highness Vivian, what happened to the birthday surprise? Isn't everything exposed now?”
“Huh?”
Vivian was rather puzzled, “I wasn't planning to hold onto it until your actual birthday, right? And how could I keep a birthday celebration a secret from Little Tiran?”
Aya: (꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̇)
Mimi: ⊙﹏⊙∥
Chirp: 0w0
So, after going through so much trouble, making up reasons and changing places, what exactly did we risk the dignity of the maids for?!
