She Became The Devil’s Stepmother Who’s About To Be Killed - Chapter 29

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 29 – Distilled Water And Carbonated Water, Pass!

“Your Grace, Grand Prince. It isn’t that.”

Sophia quickly came over, smiling as if it was amusing, and poured carbonated water into the glass.

‘Phew, I guess it’s not that dangerous of a word.’ I watched Theodor feeling relieved.

Glugluglu~ Over the water surface there was a faint plat, plat, plat~. Theodor tilted his head to the side as if curious, watching the sparkling water spewing small bubbles.

“If not~ Mao?”

All three of them looked at me with puzzled expressions at his question.

‘Is it the underworld version of a mermaid?’

I asked Theodor, making horns on my head with my fingers.

“Does it have horns on its head and its teeth look ugly?”

“No~ Mao is good at singing and also good at mafic. It’s a friend that drives fish to our fishermen.”

“Theo! You have to be careful with what you say.”

When Gerard stopped him, Theodor shut his mouth and inflated his cheeks.

“Five years ago, when Emperor Herace took the throne, everyone was slaughtered. You, who lived in the Capital may not know. Isn’t it too easy to cover up the business happening in the Karikas estate?”

“…!”

At Gerard’s words, I frowned and shut my mouth. Because it reminded me of a scene in a TV documentary back in the day where whales were slaughtered.

“But why do bubbles keep coming up from this water?”

Gerard frowned and looked suspiciously into the cup.

“It is because gas is added to separate the lime component from the existing water.”

“Gas?”

“Our Theo is curious, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll show you later.”

“Yee~.”

“Sophia, pour another glass of carbonated water, please. So that our Theo can also taste it…”

“Yes.” Sophia went to the kitchen to get a cup.

Theodor clasped his hands together and shook his body from side to side as if in anticipation.

“It’s lime-free water, so is that possible?”

“It is possible. I commanded Aden and Lucio to pass the craft on so that the people in the castle could drink it.”

“Then children like me in the estate will drink water instead of wine.”

“As expected of the Grand Prince. You are worried about the Estate. Theo is so cool.”

Theodor straightened his body, which was shuddering as if shy and looked at the glass in a somewhat dignified manner. Like a grand prince.

“Oh, Husband. In addition to distilled water and carbonated water, a person I asked to design proper purified water will come. His name is Curtis, so please allow him to enter my residence.”

At the moment, Gerard’s expression hardened. He gave up a residence to live and she called in a man right away? It was amazing.

“He… why?”

“…?”

I was a little perplexed.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you say that outsiders are always allowed in?”

“That doesn’t mean you have any man coming in.”

“Any man? Are you insulting me now?”

Gerard’s mouth widened as he watched my raging temples. ‘Do you favor that man?’

“Hmm, I feel sad when my husband says that. Curtis is the one I commissioned to the development of a water purifier. If you doubt me, come with Aden when he arrives. By the way, this technology is going to be patented under my name.”

For a moment, he became frustrated and fiddled with the cuffs around his neck.

“Let’s talk about that later.”

Gerard cut my words into pieces. Just then, Sophia brought a cup and, as I said, placed two glasses of distilled water and two glasses of carbonated water in front of Gerard and Theodor.

I was thirsty, so I drank a beer made of ice mana stone. ‘Beer is the best for thirst. Kyaa~’

Enduring the vulgar exclamations, I thought that in order to accomplish my task, I had to feed them first to appease them.

“From distilled water first…”

I recommended Gerard and Theodor start with mild distilled water.

Theodor, like a grand prince, waited for his uncle and father to allow him. Gerard lifted his glass as if he was displeased, put a sip of water in his mouth, and rolled it around in his tongue. His eyes widened and his forehead wrinkled. Then nodded. Theodor quickly drank a sip of the pale pink distilled water.

Gulp, gulp~

“Wow, sweet.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes!” And then he quickly took another sip. I smiled at that sight and offered Gerard carbonated water.

“Carbonated water, try it.”

Gerard gracefully grabbed the glass handed to him, took a sip, and frowned.

‘You don’t like the popping sensation?’ I was suddenly worried. What if he tells me to stop everything on his own? I was worried.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

Gerard shook his head. Theodor frowned while trying to gulp down carbonated water like distilled water.

“Ah, burn!”

Theodor wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue, then quickly put it in when Gerard widened his eyes.

“Carbonated water isn’t good for my son. It’s not good for your kidneys, and it’s bad for your teeth. I gave it to you because you were interested. But today is a special day, Stepmother has prepared something else.”

Sophia took out the carbonated water she had prepared and poured it. Theodor’s eyes widened. Carbonated water with green mint and honey. Aka Cider! Aka Sprite!

Theodor drank it,

“Haa…. Tasty. Ha~ Glittering Ha~ cold.”

He couldn’t get his hands off the glass. He took one sip, said ‘Haaa’ and rested, then took another sip and again, ‘Haaaa’ and started all over.

I passed. That’s a relief. It was then.

“You said to have lunch together, are you trying to fill our stomachs with water?”

Gerard’s cold muttering broke my excitement.

Huh, is it weird?

You looked fine when you came in earlier, but why do you keep being on edge?

Is it because of the carbonated water?

Or because of Theodor’s Mao?

Or is it just because I’m hiring a male outsider?

Hmm… Is it because of the patent? What the hell spoiled your mood?

Let’s feed them first and then convince him later.

“Sophia.”

“Yes.”

‘The first dish for you is here.’ Sophia and the maids served broccoli soup in front of us. As Gerard took a bite, Theodor looked at me. As expected, our polite prince. I quickly took a bite because I wanted to see Theodore eat. He quickly took a sip of soup.

“Wow.”

The admiration was brief. Theodor diligently moved his hands. He quickly finished the soup, opening his mouth like a baby bird.

Gerard’s eyes widened in surprise, too.

“What’s the name of this?”

I was about to answer, but Gerard’s gaze was on Sophia, not me.

“I couldn’t know. Because I didn’t make it.”

Sophia looked at me and bowed her head shyly. While waiting as I cooked, she quickly became familiar with the name but she was trying to be considerate of me. I didn’t answer Gerard right away because he was cheeky. Instead, I looked at Theodor and gently folded my eyes.

“Does my son wonder what this is?”

“Yes.”

Theodor was eating well, his head didn’t even lift as he answered. Then,

“Eat everything~”

He replied and showed me an empty soup bowl. Gerard grabbed Theodor’s soup bowl with his hand as if he shouldn’t do that. The child giggled happily.

“Again, please~”

“Again? All right.”

I replied with a smile, and Theodor licked his upper lips in anticipation.

“What is this yummy soup you made for Theodod?”

“Broccoli Onion Soup.”

“Eek!”

Theodor’s mouth went agape at my answer.

“Chef Lucio said you don’t eat broccoli. It’s good to eat like this, right?”

Theodor nodded.

“Next time, I will make broccoli bread.”

“Whaat?”

“Don’t you trust Stepmother?”

As soon as I finished talking, Sophia brought an orange-colored loaf of bread to the table. Gerard’s green eyes and Theodore’s red eyes twinkled. It wasn’t even some kind of Christmas tree.

‘It’s quite cool, right? For those of you who used to eat only flat and hard bread, taste the true side of the savory and sweet warm bread that is torn according to the texture.’

Since it takes time to ferment the yeast, we baked the bread by foaming it with egg yolk, which is rich in gelatin, carbon dioxide, and lecithin. Of course, butter, honey, soft milk, and carrot juice were also added.

“It’s delicious if you eat it like this.”

I tore the bread all the way, spread fresh apricot jam, rolled it up, and placed it on Gerard’s plate. Gerard took a small bite, then closed his mouth. It will melt quickly.

Then, as I just did with Gerard, I prepared a bit and popped it in Theodor’s mouth. His eyes widened like candy.

“Is it delicious? There will be no picky eaters in the future.”

“So… After broccoli soup, Stepmother make bean soup? Because Theodod doesn’t eat?”

“No. Soybeans will make a delicious jelly called tofu.”

“Wow.”

Theodor looked at Gerard with anticipation.

“Faher. I’ll be a suodmasted now?”

“Mmh. That’s right.”

“Yap, yep! I will try my best in the future!”

Theodor was a picky eater, so every time the nanny or other people nagged about the need to eat to become a swordmaster, he ate even less.

‘Looks like you think your uncle is cool. Talking about Swordmaster.’

“Now that you’ve eaten vegetables, you need to build strong muscles, right?”

Sophia served smoked pork belly. I wanted to add tenderness and flavor to the meat with the sous-vide method, but it was impossible to make a vacuum pack. So, the charcoal heat was circulated by convection and cooked for about four hours. I ordered chef Lucio to bring it when he came, so it was meat that had been smoked in a brazier since morning on the side of the yard.

The strange thing was that Theodor ate much more than what he was supposed to according to the report, but Gerard chewed a little and then stopped.

‘If food doesn’t resolve things, shall we change the atmosphere?’

“Shall we have dessert in the garden?”

“Woah, great.”

“No, it’s fine.”

The two went offbeat at the same time.

‘Gerard, you’re giving me a hard time.’

“Husband, can I talk to you for a second?”

I looked at Gerard and smiled brightly.

“Why?”

“That’s because I want to see my beloved husband. Separately.”

I smiled, grinding my molars and folding my eyes like a half-moon. It was a habit I used to call out students who often caused problems in class.

For students who do not listen,

“I love you, our Mister Shameless. Do you keep misbehaving just to beg for my attention?”

Those who make a mess are attention seekers that demand attention and affection. Just as kids get tired and quiet, they also stay still when you give them strong attention.

Since earlier, he has been protesting against me with his whole body.

‘The man is very petty. We’re still eating…’ I was glad that Theodor was distracted by the delicious taste.

This bad habit must be completely caught up from the beginning. We decided to eat together because it was for Theodor.

“Sophie, please prepare dessert in the garden. Theo, can I talk to your father for a second?”

“Yee~ Theodod will wait.”

Theodor was sold on food so he didn’t care.

“Thanks.”

I jumped up from my seat and went up to the second floor. Because no one should notice our conflict.

I hadn’t explored the second floor yet, but I went to the end of the hallway, opened the last room door, and entered. It was like a salon. There was a piano by the window, and a harp in the middle of the room. There were long sofas on the door side and the wall side so that you could enjoy the performance.

‘Woah, I can’t believe I’m having a fight in a place where you could see a play…’ I couldn’t help it. I quietly went to the sofa and sat down. Gerard followed and stopped abruptly.

“What are you doing? Close the door, come in and sit over there.”

I pointed to the opposite side.

‘Seriously, to think I would end up here and still do some counseling.’

Gerard slammed the door with a displeased look like a child, and, without looking at me, went to the opposite side and sat down. In addition, he crossed his legs.

‘That, that. How can I scold him?’

To get a head start, I looked into his emerald eyes.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────