Everyone quickly got used to their new positions within the Everett Mansion.
They have long since been preparing for this day.
The special training taught them everything they needed to know to be a qualified household staff and beyond. It prepared them for the life they will live from this moment on as well as for the duties bestowed upon them.
Moreover, the morning sessions where they cleaned and took care of the mansion was specifically designed to familiarize them with the workings of the mansion and the mansion itself. This was to prevent the shock that comes with being in a new and unfamiliar environment that may cause them to become nervous and forget everything they were taught.
If that were to happen, the special training would have been conducted in vain and all the manpower and resources they had allotted would have been pure waste.
Inside the Everett Mansion kitchen, the new and old cooks were preparing a sumptuous breakfast for their masters, the Everett family. While their kitchen hands hurriedly prepared all ingredients according to instructions of their head chef.
Those that needed to be washed were washed.
Those that needed to be mixed with mixed.
Those that needed to be chopped were chopped.
Everyone within this limited space was occupied with no time to take a breather. No one slacked off either.
Because not a single person dared to do so in the presence of their head chef.
The newly crowned head chef gave off an impression of being easy-going and lax to people with the vice of his appearance, however, none of the other kitchen staff dared to look down on him or disobey his orders because they had all learned their lessons.
The first day their young new head chef took over, many of the staff were dissatisfied and had complaints. They didn't believe that someone as young as him could have the ability to manage an entire kitchen properly and keep it in order, regardless of his extraordinary cooking skills.
Many of them gloated that he may not even last a day in the kitchen. That he'd get flustered by the rapid changes in the kitchen and in the end beg them for help.
After all, cooking was no joke. It takes technique and experience to get every dish right and cook them up in a timely manner. Not to mention that many times, all dishes were cooked simultaneously in order to finish them at the same time, if possible, or close to the same time, so that they would not become cold before they are served onto the masters' table.
Mistakes are most commonly made in those situations. Since one is cooking two or three dishes at once, one might get the ingredients or recipes confused, adding salt when one should have added soy sauce.
The old hands didn't think that someone as green looking as their new head chef could handle the pressure and grasp the technique needed for it in the short run.
While some others wanted to show the new head chef up and stand above the newbie with a feeling of superiority.
All of them, both new and old employees, were eager to point out his mistakes.
The old employees didn't want to give him the chance of looking down on them arrogantly because of his high position at his young age, when they have years more of experience compared to him.
The new employees were jealous that the instant he was hired he was given a superior position compared to them when they were all from the same batch. They believed that although their cooking skills cannot surpass his, at least their people skills and management skills can up his.
However, every single one of them were all quickly slapped in the face.
He wasn't the undefeated second (arguably in a tie with the first) in the special training camp for no reason.
With an iron-like fist, the head chef firmly and sternly got things done. He arranged every kitchen hand's and staff's work and responsibilities with a meticulous touch without neglecting a single aspect. No chaos, except for the busy backs of cooks and hands, could be seen inside the view of the kitchen, which was a first.
The kitchen's management had always been somewhat messy and disordered, but that was no longer true with the installation of the new head chef who arranged everything orderly and punctually with not a hint of slack allowed.
Of course, breaks before and after meals were allowed. After all, humans need to rest and the head chef wanted all his men to remain in tip-top shape for every meal preparation period. Plus a side consideration of preventing the arousement of their resentment. Less trouble is better than more trouble.
All his actions and words made it seem as though he was not new to this job and its responsibilities.
But that wasn't all.
Any dissenters or rebels that appeared he took care of with ease and with an overwhelming aura that made the other quiver like quails in front of him, until they dare not have the thoughts of making trouble.
His tough and strict attitude in the workplace contrasting with his bright and sunny appearance and his usual personality, really jarred them; it was a complete eye-opener that shook all of them with fear and absolute submission. Especially the ones who previously wanted to make trouble for him.
All the old ones swallowed their "well-intentioned" words of advice.
All the young ones swallowed and extinguished their sparks of envy.
In this way, the new head chef took care of the office politics and instantly gained control over the entire kitchen personnel.
Not a single one dared to go against his orders.
Not a single one dared to not complete the tasks he assigns to them.
"Head Chef Hack!" A kitchen hand suddenly came up to the head chef who was monitoring the progress of the chefs under him as well as preparing his specialty desserts.
"What is it?"
"There's a problem with the amount of ingredients ordered…"
As the newly appointed head chef replacing the old, fired head chef, Head Chef Chase continued to deal with the trivialities of the kitchen and soon, it was time to serve breakfast.
Chase first had the maids who came carry two silver trays—one tray each—of the breakfast they had prepared.
Today's breakfast consisted of porridge, bread and butter as well as several types of jams scooped into small glass containers, three pieces of bacon with two golden fried eggs on each tray, and a glass of drink.
Sweet milk with round ice for Ian and a cup of brewed tea for Levi.
Because Ian preferred plain porridge, his porridge bowl only contained glutinous white congee that was a little watery as per his preference.
On the other hand, Levi disliked plain porridge for being too bland and numbing to his tongue, so he preferred eating porridge sometimes with chopped vegetables, seafood, meat, or etc.
This morning, he was served a bowl of seafood porridge with steamed shrimps, striped crab meat, fried scallops, and a little bit of green seaweed.
Levi smelled the delicious fragrance coming from the porridge bowl in front of him and felt his appetite being stimulated.
However, this wasn't his most favorite part of breakfast.
Every morning without fail, since the new head chef acceded, a plate of divine desserts personally kneaded and decorated by the head chef would arrive at the table along with the morning meal.
This has become Levi's favorite part of the day, making him look forward to it even in his sleep, dreaming of eating those exquisite yet extraordinary desserts that were neither too sweet nor too bland.
Just right. As if he was the roundworm in Levi's stomach.
This morning, however, not a sign of those sweets could be seen on the table or in the hands of the serving maids.
Levi frowned in visible displeasure.
His fan stopped fanning.
From the first day of taking office onwards, although it has only been three days, the head chef had never once skipped on the desserts.
Beckoning a maid over, Levi asked her, "Will there be no desserts this morning?"
The maid bowed her head and respectfully answered, "Sir Levi, Head Chef Hack had been delayed this morning with some issues, so the desserts will change to be served after you had your breakfast."
Levi nodded in understanding and dismissed her.
Although he was not particularly happy about this sudden change as he had looked forward to the new desserts he'll be trying since yesterday night, he was still pacified. At least there will be the desserts he's been waiting for after the meal.
Unlike Levi, although Ian also loved those delicate and mildly sweet desserts, he also doesn't mind not having them once in a while. It wasn't a good thing to eat sweets all the time anyways.
Scooping into his bowl of congee with a porcelain spoon, Ian slowly ate it up while displaying his full set of manners and etiquette.
Then applying some purple jam with a butter knife onto a slice of white bread himself, Ian engaged in small talk with Levi who could not shut up about his regrets.
Levi sighed as he chewed on the bacon.
"I changed my mind—that Chase kid does have some use after all. If you don't mind, why don't you give him to me?"
"Isn't it the same if he stays here to cook? You live here after all."
"Oh, you know that's not what I meant."
"What did you mean?"
"I'm sure you can find someone better than him in the future, so why don't you give your brother some face?"
"Brother? I believe my brother is currently out of the house."
"Come on, little Ian. Don't be like that."
"Well, if you're so insistent, why don't you have your little follower learn how to cook and bake from Chase?"
"...You know how that will work out."
"A witch's brew."
"Exactly!" Levi exclaimed as he clapped his hands with a bright smile as if he finally found the right words to describe their cooking. Then he froze and panicked slightly, "Oh! No! I meant—Oh! What am I saying here? I didn't mean anything! Little Ian, you're really getting better and better at pulling me along."
Levi felt slightly helpless. This little kid is growing smarter and smarter each day.
Ian simply smiled and did not reply.
Taking a bite out of the sweet yet sour slice of bread, Ian chewed slowly and carefully. Making sure to break them apart into tiny, tiny pieces and only then did he swallow them into his stomach.
Patting the breadcrumbs off his hands, Ian took the white handkerchief embroidered with purple patterns handed over by the conscientious Head Maid Eliza to clean his fingers.
"I'm done." Pushing his chair back and getting up, Ian said to Levi who was still leisurely enjoying his breakfast with a noble posture.
"Already?" Levi didn't look surprised even though his response said otherwise. Ian had always eaten less at breakfast times for some unknown reason. "What about dessert?"
Knowing that what Levi really meant was to ask him if he could have his portion of desserts, Ian directly waved his hand. "There will be desserts for lunch as well, I'll eat those. You can have all the desserts for this morning meal, if you wish."
Then Ian walked off.
Smirking, Levi knew that Ian had seen through him, and it wasn't like it was only once or twice that Levi took for himself the desserts Ian didn't eat for breakfast.
Gesturing to a maid, Levi ordered her with a slow, leisurely voice that held an undefiable undertone, "Tell our Head Chef to hurry it up with his desserts."
"Yes, sir!" The maid answered and scurried to inform the head chef of Levi's words.
Then as if suddenly remembering something, Levi said to the person behind him without turning around.
"Now that I think about it. You have yet to try some of our new head chef's desserts since the end of the special training. Am I correct,...
"Blake?"
*****
After a busy morning, Chase finally took a break before having to go back and prepare everything for lunch.
Cooking may seem easy, but there's also a lot of preparation that needs to go into it for the meal to taste exceedingly good.
Even prepping the ingredients can easily take hours, even days. Some of the more time-wasting preparations were to melt frozen meat, marinating ingredients, freezing ingredients, etc.
But the flavorful taste and excellent texture of the dishes afterwards is very rewarding.
All of this was done to create an array of delicious, exquisite, sumptuous dishes and desserts for their masters to relish on. Without doing so would cause a lot of good recipes to lose their deep flavors and rich aftertaste, and bring about the wrath of their disgusted masters.
That's why normal home cooked meals taste decent but not particularly well unlike a restaurant's. After all, restaurants were specially set up to serve customers to make them want to come again. They spend a lot more effort and time to craft and prepare the dishes unlike in normal households who don't take half a day to cook just one enticing dish. Unless there was a special occasion.
Walking outside of the mansion through the kitchen backdoor, Chase relaxed himself temporarily in the warm sunshine and light breeze that curled up his vivid bangs. His orange and yellow hair were tied up in a ponytail at the back of his head to hold the strands back from falling to the front when he's working.
The strands of mixed orange and yellow hair resting in a ponytail were pushed lightly by the wind but didn't budge by much. The breeze was too weak to move them and soon gave up, changing targets to the tree leaves that rustled upon touch.
The peaceful sound of nature subconsciously loosened up Chase's tense muscles and mind from his demanding work.
Taking a glance at his wristwatch, Chase saw that it was time, so he headed back in.
It's been three days since Chase and Rip heard the hurtful, but unintentional, words of Blake. Neither Butler Srca or Blake had a clue that their conversation had been overheard, although only the last part. But undebatably, the most important part.
Ever since then, Chase and Rip no longer considered Blake their friend. They won't force those who's not interested to participate. They were not that shameless.
And as if the high they were on wore off, they no longer showed or felt any interest in sticking their hot faces on Blake's cold butt.
Even the strongest enthusiasm would weaken and disappear with the passage of time and many disappointments.
Back inside the kitchen, Chase suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to bring the special sauce he had specially prepared for the lunch menu today.
Taking off his apron that he had just put on, Chase instructed the rest of the kitchen staff to continue making the dishes without him while he goes to get something important. And if they dared to cheat or slack off during his absence, he assured them that he would somehow find out and punish them.
Recalling the early days of when Chase had just taken office, how his fists always met any troublemaker's body, his fists that felt like real iron when hit by it, making an audible sound that made even the onlookers terrified, they all nodded like chicken pecking at rice.
With a calm but urgent mind, Chase left the kitchen tasks to them and hurried to get the special sauce from his room.
'Great! The desserts will be late again today, I should learn from this and stop making the schedule so tight, leave some room for mistakes and other stuff that might delay my preparations.' Chase reflected on his mistakes and shortcomings as he speedwalked to the staff dormitory.
Running was certainly not an option. Not to mention the floor being shiny—in that it's easily slippery, but beautiful, if you don't watch your steps—all the staff had been taught beforehand that they should never run in the mansion without there being an emergency, such as critical news that must be delivered to their masters or if their masters were in danger. Otherwise, they must walk in the practiced way they were taught, upright and steady. At most, they were allowed to speed walk for important matters.
And the special sauce was an important matter to Chase.
As a qualified and passionate master chef, Chase believed that not even one of his dishes should be subpar, and without that special sauce, the lunch menu he had prepared today will taste inferior.
It will surely be a black mark on his record.
Though in truth, even without that special sauce, Chase's cooking and his recipes alone outshone all others, astounding everyone with its entrancing taste, appetizing smell, and pleasing appearance. However, with the addition of the special sauce Chase concocted, it is true that the dishes will taste a hundred times better.
On the way, Chase happened to pass by a short-haired maid who silently walked past him. Neither of them greeted the other, however, they both knew each other.
But it wasn't the simple relationship of being in the same special training batch.
Chase knew her from the night of the talent showcase, before then, he had never paid attention to her. But now, she was a familiar face to Chase.
Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, Chase was also a familiar face to the maid. She had taken it upon herself to observe the movements of Chase, Rip, and Blake, in addition to all of the important members of the Everett Household, because the little brother and the right-hand man of Angus Everett seemed to pay special attention to them. Their interest clear as day to the sharp eyes of the maid.
Tonight, she planned on leaving the estate with a perfectly planned excuse to bring back the information she had gathered from her observations and what she had heard and overheard from others. Most importantly, she had to get that item to her organization.
Unaware of the spy maid's plan, Chase calmly passed by her without letting the other feel that he knew her or her secret at all.
Although Ian had unknowingly touched Chase's heart previously, he wasn't moved. He has yet to give his loyalty to anyone and Chase never planned on giving anyone his devotion.
And it was about to be too late.
By tomorrow morning, the item would be in the hands of them.