Ever since he finally got intimate with Elara, who had just returned from the Northern Frontier, but was interrupted by Kristof with a "justified reason" and then dragged out of the imperial palace, Oswyn held a grudge against Kristof. Every time they met, they would exchange both open and subtle jabs.
Kristof heard his voice but did not get angry. He simply smiled and wandered over to Elara's side, leaning close to watch what she was doing.
Elara simply handed him the otherworldly version of lotus root she was cutting, along with the knife. "Cut all these lotus roots into chunks for me."
Kristof raised his eyebrows, took the lotus root, squinted through the holes in it for a while, then replied, "Alright~", before walking over to the chopping board with the knife and starting to slice the lotus root.
Elara turned to grab other ingredients and noticed someone else entering the royal kitchen doorway.
It was Mathias.
Elara: ...Looks like everyone really has nothing to do on their day off...
Thinking for a moment, before Mathias could say anything, she raised her hand and called him over.
"Mathias, come here, help me pick vegetables."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Mathias's deep green eyes were filled with a gentle smile. His gentle and elegant face looked even fairer under the sunlight streaming through the kitchen roof.
Once he walked over, Elara noticed that he had already changed out of his official robe. He was even wearing kitchen sleeve-binders, which secured his wide sleeves, revealing his fair, slender arms and clearly defined fingers.
He really came well-prepared...
Following her instructions, Mathias sat beside a pile of vegetables and scallions. His slender fingers moved deftly and carefully as he began to pick the vegetables.
After arranging Mathias, Elara glanced around the kitchen that already held three grown men. Then she looked outside and saw more men still standing there, so she simply called them in to help.
Since they were already here, just standing around and doing nothing would be a waste.
"Damon, come in and help me knead the dough. You're strong, make sure to knead it really thoroughly."
Following the rules and not entering the royal kitchen like the other three had, Damon walked in hesitantly after hearing Elara's words. "Oh... yes... Your Majesty..."
After assigning him, Elara continued calling out, "Francis, you come in too. Take these two chickens and two ducks outside, kill them, scald them with hot water, remove the feathers and guts, and then bring them back."
Francis, who originally came to report military matters, silently folded the report and tucked it back into his chest. "Yes, Your Majesty."
A few minutes later, Francis, the youngest national general of Plumera Kingdom, wore a serious expression, his thin lips pressed together. He held two chickens in his left hand and two ducks in his right. He went out to the courtyard beside the royal kitchen, drew his side blade, and began killing the chickens and ducks and cleaning out their insides without any expression.
Elara kept calling out, "Maurice, come in and help your brother with the vegetables."
"...Oh, yes." Being named, Maurice looked like he'd been caught doing something wrong. He paused for two seconds before slowly walking in, then quietly lowered his head and sat beside Mathias, focusing on picking vegetables without looking at anyone.
"Uno, you come out too, help me keep the fire going. You know how to do that, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, Uno can do that."
Uno, who had been hidden somewhere before, also slowly appeared beside Elara.
With the help of these people, the dinner was prepared much faster than Elara had expected.
The ingredients and seasonings she had collected by now were not much different from modern ones.
With plenty of seasonings like pepper, cumin, Sichuan pepper, clear oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and fermented bean curd, Elara could now make many more dishes than before.
She also brought out things she had arranged to be pickled months ago, such as salted vegetables, salted duck eggs, preserved eggs, ham, sausages, and so on.
Once Francis and Damon finished killing the chickens and kneading the dough, she had them cut meat, chop bones, grind powder, and wash wheat gluten.
After Kristof and Oswyn completed their tasks, Elara had them bring over all the cheese, yogurt, rice wine, and grape wine that had already fermented.
Once all the materials were nearly ready, Elara started directing everyone in the kitchen to make the mandarin duck hotpot broth, fried lamb and beef ribs, whole roasted lamb, and whole roasted pig.
At the same time, other dishes like Eight-Treasure Soup, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Peking duck, braised lion's head, red-cooked dishes, and braised shark fin began cooking too.
As most of the food was being cooked over the fire, Elara squeezed in time to make some small snacks, such as stir-fried flour, stir-fried rice noodles, grilled wheat gluten, salads, and candied fruits.
By the time the grand meal was almost ready, it was already evening and the sun was close to setting.
Others living in the imperial palace, like Cleome and Clematis, had already brought special fruits and wild meat from Carnation Kingdom to the imperial kitchen two hours earlier, when they heard everyone inside was cooking and laughing.
They had grown up in a matriarchal nation under strict rules. Normally, they followed male conduct codes and rarely left their own palace halls.
This time, it was hard enough for them to come out, and when they saw so many men surrounding Elara, the two brothers looked very cautious. Even though their height and size were similar to the others, aside from their overly developed chest muscles, their careful and reserved manner made it seem like the other men near Elara were the main husbands, while they were only concubines.
"We, we heard that Your Majesty and the elder brothers were all working hard in the kitchen. It, it may not be our place to disturb, but, but hearing that everyone was preparing ingredients and seasonings for the banquet, we did not dare sit idly while everyone else was busy. So we brought some of our Carnation Kingdom specialties, fruits and wild meat, to see if Your Majesty and the elder brothers might find them useful."
Cleome and Clematis had been raised in deep chambers since childhood, and were especially skilled in studying beauty secrets and using various techniques to care for themselves. They were always maintained to a state of perfection, down to each strand of hair.
So when the two of them, dressed up exquisitely, stood at the kitchen entrance holding baskets of fruit and meat, the men inside, who were all a bit dusty from handling food and fire, fell silent for a moment.
A few seconds later, Kristof, who had been squinting and examining the two for a while, finally spoke, "You two are younger brothers, right? Since you're here, come in and help mix some seasonings and keep the fire going."
Oswyn immediately turned and cursed, "Pah! Shameless! Even if they call someone brother, it's not you! You really jumped to it fast!"
Feeling all the eyes in the kitchen turn to them, Cleome and Clematis became a little nervous.
They had learned from a young age how to get along with other brothers in the harem. But back then, those other men were also from a matriarchal nation, raised under the same codes of conduct, where everything revolved around their wife-rulers.
Not like the current men in the kitchen, who casually rolled up their sleeves to reveal their arms, and didn't care much about manners in speech or action.
Cleome and Clematis knew this wasn't their fault. It was just that the customs between the two countries were so different, even after living in Plumera Kingdom for a long time, they still hadn't formed many connections with the other brothers in the harem.
They became even more nervous and helpless, afraid that the others disliked them, or that their presence would interrupt the mood between the Empress and her brothers.
The two of them just stood there at the kitchen entrance, holding their baskets and feeling uneasy, watching Kristof and Oswyn in the kitchen seemingly start to argue because of them.