It had been several days since Lysette began working alongside her family's servants in their day-to-day tasks, and she had grown quite used and fond of doing it. At the same time, her servants had also grown accustomed to seeing the young lady help them around the manor.
Initially, in her first days of helping, Lysette would make many mistakes due to her inexperience which would not only worry the servants but also increase their workload, since they would need to clean and fix her messes. But, being the clever girl that she was Lysette was quick to learn and adapt to her new routine, which was even starting to affect her in other ways.
Her wardrobe, which was once filled with heavily decorated and extravagant dresses and clothes, was now instead made mostly of simple and comfortable clothes that wouldn't cause trouble if they got dirty or wet, nor would they limit her movements. As a consequence, she who once always needed help from her maids to change clothes, was now able to do so all by herself. Her room, which was once cleaned by her maids, was now kept clean by Lysette herself, as well as several other minor things.
But there were also other things, that Lysette wasn't able to master yet, such as cooking…
"…"
"…"
"W-Well, look on the bright side Lady Lysette! A-At least this time it's not a charcoal!"
That was all the head chef of her family's manor could say, at the sight of the result of Lysette's most recent attempt at making a simple omelet. He had said that in a hopeful tone, after all, all of Lysette's previous attempts, ended with the meal becoming dust or charcoal, but Lysette on the other hand…
"Yeah…"
All she could do was agree with a depressed tone, it had been days since she began learning how to cook, but so far, all she was able to do was not make charcoal, let alone something edible.
"…"
Seeing the young lady look depressed, at what was concerning her skills, a massive improvement, the head chef couldn't help but remind himself on the day Lysette began helping around the manor.
.
.
.
Days ago
"Please teach me how to cook!"
"!?"
Inside the kitchen, an unexpected scene to everyone inside was happening, Lysette, the daughter of their lord, was prostrating to the point even her head was touching the floor, as she begged for the head chef to teach her, something that caught everyone in there completely by surprise.
"… L-Lady Lysette, w-what are you saying?"
"I am saying that I want you to teach me how to cook!"
"Why!?"
"Because!… Because I can't endure the fact that I'll become Edward-sama's wife knowing that he can cook for me, but I can't do the same for him!"
"!… What?"
The Head Chef got very confused at Lysette's reasoning, and even more confused at the fact that she was now even using informal speech to talk. But the one thing he understood, was that it was because she really loved her fiancé. And seeing that Lysette wouldn't budge away unless he accepted it, the Head Chef thought for a bit.
"…"
"! Thank you very much!"
"…Kuh!"
At Lysette's bright smile, the head chef couldn't help but feel like a dad for a moment.
"Ahem! First, Lady Lysette, I need to see what your skill level is so that I can from where we need to start! So, your first task will be to make an omelet!"
"! Got it!"
Lysette got herself up, and washed her hands, since she knew what was used to make an omelet, she felt rather confident to be able to finish her task, so she picked a few eggs and went closer to the stove, then she picked up a frying pan, put oil in it, and then broke the eggs open inside the pan, and when she was about to start the stove, before the head chef stopped her.
"Wait, Lady Lysette. Do you what type of stove this is?"
"Eh?… … … A magical one?"
"Correct, so you need to watch out on the amount of mana you release because if you put too much, you can end up hurting yourself, so be extra careful with it"
"Understood, teacher!"
Properly listening to the head chef, Lysette concentrated herself on putting as little mana as possible on the stove, as she turned it on, and then…
*FWWWOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHHH!!!*
" " "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" " "
A large pillar of fire was summoned causing everyone in the kitchen to scream in terror. The Head Chef, being the first one to break away from the shock, quickly invoked a water ball and launched it on the pillar of fire, which to everyone's relief, was put out.
"… T-Teacher, i-is that supposed t-to h-happen a-at m-minimum m-mana output?"
"… No… Rather… That's not even supposed to happen at maximum mana output…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Everyone could only stand in silence at the weirdness of the situation, the magical stove they used, was of the highest quality and never caused such an incident before. So that only left Lysette's mana as the culprit, and there was only thing to be done at that.
"Lady Lysette, from now on we'll only be using non-magical equipment and utensils for your lessons, and in case we need to use one, I'll be the one handling them"
"… Understood…"
Lysette felt pretty guilty at the commotion she caused by accident, even though she did exactly as the Head Chef asked her to do so… As for the omelet she was supposed to do… All that could be said was that there was no more frying pan to speak of, let alone an omelet.
.
.
.
Back to the present
"… Lady Lysette, keep working hard as you always do, and I'm sure you'll be able to make the best meal for your fiancé soon enough. And besides, it has just been some days, and not everyone masters something in such a short time"
"… *Nods* You're right, it has just been some days since I started learning"
Feeling slightly less dejected, Lysette lifted her face and showed a face filled with determination.
"…"
"Ah! It's almost time for me to go help clean the hallways! Teacher, I apologize for this, but if you excuse me, I must get going now!"
"I get it, I get it. Feel free to go"
"Thank you!"
Lysette bowed down to the head chef and his assistants, before making her way out of the kitchen.
"… … … What're you all doing!? Get your hands moving so that we can offer our best dishes to our masters and fellow servants!"
" " " "Yes, chef!" " " "
And with that, the kitchen returned to its usual busy schedule.
.
.
.
"*Hummming*"
As she swept the floor with a broom, Lysette could be seen humming a melody with a gentle smile on her face as she did so. While she continued to do her task, Lysette suddenly remembered what her father had told her yesterday.
"*Humming*…"
Knowing when to not meddle in her father's work, Lysette decided to do as instructed by the head maid, so she continued to focus on sweeping the floor. But, as her attention was focused on the floor, Lysette didn't notice the footsteps approaching her from behind, and then…
"Hey, cutie. wouldn't you be a good commoner and entertain me for a while?"
"…"
She heard a male voice coming from her left side, while at the same time, she felt a hand touching her right shoulder, as the man in question passed his arm around her from behind. When Lysette looked at the owner of the voice and hand, she saw a boy slightly older than her, not by much. Seeing him do such an unsightly act with her, caused Lysette to sigh before speaking in a calm tone.
"Sir, I will have to kindly request you to have you let go of me and step back to a respectable distance"
"Oh c'mon, don't say that. I'll make sure to give you a great time"
"… Haa… Sir, I will not repeat myself. Please, let go of me and move away to a respectable distance"
"Oi, oi, oi, watch your mouth, commoner! I'm a very patient man, but even I have limits. If I told you to come with me, you'll come with me!"
"… I refuse to follow someone as uneducated as you"
And with that, Lysette brushed away the boy's hand away from, and began walking away from him, she was holding back quite a lot, but she was already on the verge of lashing out at this insolent person.
"Don't you dare to ignore me, you damn commoner! You'll do as I say!"
"!"
The boy grabbed Lysette's left arm with his right hand, which did surprise her for a moment, but all it did afterward was increase her annoyance and anger.
"Now let me have a touch of your assets"
"!"
Seeing the boy bring his left hand towards her chest, finally made Lysette snap, and in a single swift motion, she freed her left arm from the boy's grasp, and immediately followed it by grabbing his right arm and twisting it in a way that would give him the most pain.
"Aaaaaaagh! What do you think you're doing, you bitch! I'm the only son of Count Hubert! You better let go of my arm if you don't want me to make your life into a misery!"
"I respectfully asked for you to let go of me, not once, but twice. And when you refused to do so, I was the one who moved away only for you to attempt to harass me…"
"Ack!"
As Lysette finished saying that, she further twisted the boy's arm and pushed his face towards the floor, before she continued her speech.
"You claim to be a noble, but all I see is an uneducated animal, who does not know even the most basic etiquette, and attempted to put his hands on a woman who refused his advances. If someone is going to suffer… That one is you"
As Lysette finished saying that, using her free hand, she invoked a sizable fireball on her hand, right on sight of the boy, who became pale at seeing her use that amount of magic, causing him to scream in fear, then just as Lysette was about to start burning him.
"Oi! What the hell is happening!"
"!"
Hearing another male voice, this time of someone way older than her, Lysette let go of the boy, allowing him to crawl away from her and towards the man who had just arrived, and undid the fireball on her hand, while she stood up in a very respectable manner.
"I am sorry for the commotion, sir. I was just on the verge of teaching this insolent boy a very necessary lesson after he attempted to molest me"
"Don't listen to her, father! This commoner bitch nearly broke my arm, and attempted to burn me! We must punish her for trying to defy a noble!"
"Is that so? Then it appears I will have to file a complaint… … … Hm?… !?"
The man who was about to threaten Lysette, when he took a proper look at her, he felt something strange about her, and then after a few more seconds, he realized, what he almost did, and the trouble his son had got himself into.
"Father?… Gah!"
Grabbing his son's head from behind, he slammed his face onto the floor, as he prostrated on the floor to apologize.
"I am incredibly sorry for my idiot son's conduct towards you, Lady Lysette!"
"!?"
"I will be sure to give him a throughout reprimand about his behavior and retrain him on his etiquette! So please, I beg for your forgiveness!"
The son confused at his father's behavior and words, couldn't understand what was going on.
"… Very well, Sir Hubert. I will forgive your son for his unsought behavior towards me this time, but I expect you to keep on your words of properly teaching him this time"
"T-Thank you very much, Lady Lysette!"
Count Hubert lifted his face to thank Lysette, who simply nodded to him before taking her leave away from his son, whose mere presence was getting on her nerves already. And once she was out of sight, Count Hubert got himself up, as well as his son.
"Father, what was-"
*Slap*
"!?"
"You fucking idiot! What the fuck were you thinking!?"
"W-What are you ta-"
"Can't you see what you just did, you moron!? You just attempted to molest the Daughter of the Neville family! I have been very tolerant of you for all this time! But you fucking idiot finally tried to kill me with your stupidity!"
"But fa-"
"No, buts! You're in deep trouble now, dumbass!… !"
Then just as Count Hubert finished giving his son an initial reprimand, when he turned to begin taking his leave out of the Neville territory, he saw Hamilton, Lysette's father, standing a respectable distance away from the two with his usual friendly smile.
"S-Sir H-Hamltion"
"… Count Hubert"
"Y-Yes?"
"I hope you teach your son some manner this time around, as you promised you would. Or else, I might have to file an official complaint about him to the king"
"!? Y-Yes! I-I will be sure t-to p-properly teach my stupid son real manners this time around!"
Count Hubert bowed down multiple times to Hamilton, before hurriedly fleeing away while dragging his son by the collar, while under the angry gaze of Hamilton. Once the two guests had left, Hamilton sighed due to a variety of emotions.
"… … … Lysette-chan"
"…"
Hearing her father calling her name, Lysette appeared from behind the corner that she had turned around slightly earlier, as she kept looking down as she approached her father.
"Are you fine? Did that idiot hurt you in any way?"
"*Shakes head*"
"… Lysette-chan, I'm not angry with you, rather I'm relieved that nothing happened to you"
"Really?"
"Yes, just… Avoid using your magic inside the manor because…"
Hamilton could only point upwards, making Lysette look up and notice a black spot on the ceiling, a mark of the fireball she had done to intimidate the noble boy who tried to hit her.
"…"
Seeing what she caused, made Lysette show a depressed expression as she began to feel bad for causing trouble to her servants. Seeing that Lysette was acting similarly to when she had to spend time with the crown prince. Hamilton simply knelt and hugged Lysette to calm her down a little.
"There, there… Do you want to spend another night at Little Edward's place?"
"… … … *Timidly nods*"
"Good girl, your honesty is a great virtue. In any case, prepare all of your necessary belongings for the night, I'll take you to the Harding Territory in a bit"
"*Nods*"
Seeing his daughter's mood improve, was enough to fully relieve Hamilton, as he began making preparations for a quick trip to his daughter's fiancé home. As for Lysette, her second night with Edward and Nanako, went very similarly to the last time, with her receiving lots of pampering from Edward.