"Where's my breakfast, Fool?"

The moment we entered the kitchen, I was greeted by Clem. Kind of.

"Aren't maids the ones responsible for breakfast?" I inquired.

"Not if the cuisiner failed to prepare the dinner last night."

"Is that a rule or just you being lazy?"

"It's fine, isn't it?" one of the maids came to my rescue. She had black hair, olive skin, deep brown eyes and a lovely smile on her otherwise coarse face. "I can make breakfast, I don't mind."

"Nooooooo."

"Absolutely not."

"I'd rather eat dirt."

"You guys are too mean!" tears rolled down her face, as the other maids shut her down immediately.

"Either way I don't have time to make anything for breakfast," I interfered. "I have to prepare something for the journey, so you'll have to take care of it yourselves, sorry."

"Cuisiner avoiding his duty... I figured as much," a voice came from within the kitchen. "Not only do you fail to show up on time, you refuse to fulfill your responsibility once you do. Not to worry, sir, I'm already making breakfast so you can go ahead and relax."

The way Athena said 'sir', with so much scorn in her voice, did not leave any doubt in anyone's mind how she felt. She was still angry at me and for a good reason at that.

However I had bigger issues than Athena's contempt. In fact her mistrust in me may even be an advantage, as it solved one of my problems. By deciding that I was a useless good-for-nothing and choosing to make breakfast herself, she took a potential concern off my shoulders before it could even blossom. I was determined to delegate this responsibility to the maids all along, but it was nice to know that there was someone who had my back, even if her intentions were less than altruistic.

"See what you did to me, Fool?" Clem asked with theatrical despair. "Now I will have to eat something made by her..."

"I was only late because no one told me when I am expected," I offered an explanation.

"Sorry," Cait apologized. "I came to wake you up, but you weren't in your room and I didn't know where to find you..."

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have left, you don't have to apologize," an explanation, but not an apology.

Seeing that she brightened up a little I walked towards Athena. I had very limited time and every intention to make the most of it. Sadly, that meant taking advantage of her once again.

My biggest problem right now was a complete lack of ideas. Whatever thoughts I may have had for dinner tonight went out the window. My intention all along was to hand over both breakfast and lunch to the maids, while spending most of the day preparing a perfect dinner. However, right now I had but an hour to work with. A sensible choice here would be to make something I was familiar with already, but since that list pretty much began with boiled eggs and ended with omelette, I had to give up on that notion. Not just that, I had to make something that would survive the strenuous journey.

What could that be I had absolutely no idea, but if there was even a slightest chance for me to get it from a moody maid who unconditionally hated me, I was going to take that chance with open arms.

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"So what are you making for breakfast?" I asked casually.

"That does not concern you."

"You are making pancakes?!"

"Did someone say 'cakes'?" Judith demanded, looking like a dog who smelled a bone.

"It's nothing!" Athena snarled.

"You're making softcakes!" Judith exclaimed, her mouth watering visibly.

"Go away! You're going to drool all over them."

"Let me have just one..."

"I said no! Go and wait until they're ready."

Judith tried to swipe one of the pancakes while Athena wasn't looking, only to get her fingers slapped away with a spatula. "You're mean..." Judith cried and walked away sulkily.

"Softcakes, huh? What do you make the batter from?" I inquired curiously.

"What, a cuisiner who doesn't even know how to make softcakes?" Athena sneered. "I am not even surprised."

"Flour, eggs, salt, sugar... Or honey, in this case," I said noticing a clay pot on the table near her. "Milk and or water. That sounds about right?"

"Why ask if you know the answer yourself?" she snapped at me.

"I asked precisely because I did not know," I explained calmly. "It's peculiar that you call them 'softcakes', where I'm from we call them 'pancakes'."

"Pancakes, you say? Cakes that you make in a pan... Someone put a lot of thought into that one, huh?" she grinned mockingly. "Just how primitive are you people?"

Well that was rich, coming from someone who thought chamber pot was the pinnacle of human civilization.

The curious thing here was that I never expected for them to know of pancakes. If I ever had to make breakfast, that would be the first thing that I would make, being absolutely sure that I would be the first one to introduce these people to this glorious breakfast dish. Pancakes are, in fact, one of the few things that I actually routinely used to cook myself. Now that I know of their existence in this world, I have no illusions of my pancake cooking skills impressing anyone.

"Either way," I turned back to the maids. "What will I be making?"

"That's up to you, of course. Whatever you make I'm sure the princess will be pleased," said one of the maids.

"How long is the journey to the capital, anyway?"

"About two nights," she said without much pondering. "But you don't have to cook for all of it. We'll be making camp to spend the night, so if you choose to cook dinner then, you would only have to prepare lunch right now."

"And how many people will I be cooking for?"

"Let's see..." Judith entered the conversation after staring down the softcakes in Athena's pan. "The soldiers have their salted meats and hardened breads, so you don't have to worry about them. Actually, you're only really obliged to cook for the princess herself, but I would much rather eat anything you make than..."

"Than what?" Athena cut her off harshly.

"Than... Share the meat with the soldiers, yeah, that's what I was gonna say," Judith looked away anxiously.

"So ballpark it for me, what am I looking at?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, could you please estimate the number of people I should prepare to cook for?"

"With the princess, her attendants and the maids... Around fifteen?"

"That sounds about right."

"Fifteen people, huh..." I still didn't know what I was going to make, but watching Athena before gave me an idea. "Say, what can you make from almonds?"

"Almonds?"

"Yes, do you make something from them? Put them in anything besides soup?"

"Well, of course. Don't you?"

"What, exactly?"

"All kinds of things. Fish, meat..."

"How about eating them raw?"

"Sure, it can be eaten raw..."

"Wait, you do know raw almonds doesn't really count as a dish, right Fool?"

I could beat around the bush all day, but the only way for me to find out what I wanted was to ask directly.

"Do you ever cook it with honey?"

That got a reaction out of them. Or a lack of it, as the maids stood dumbfounded for a while.

"We do now!" Clem let out a cheer full of joy.

"Not that I've heard of it, but it does sound delicious."

"Is that what you'll be making?"

"That's the plan," I said honestly.

The fact that almonds in honey somehow escaped this world was a real mystery, but a very welcome one at that. It wasn't a proper dish in any way, but as far as snacks went it was a delicious one. And reasonably easy to make, or so I've hoped. The troublesome part might be explaining to them what I actually needed.

"Is there a thing that you bake a bread in, here?"

"Like an oven?"

"..."

"..."

"Yeah, that's the one."

Well that was easier than I expected. Who would've thought that the gas oven was actually named after the oven that was built into a furnace? On top of that, I have once again reinforced my reputation as a complete buffoon.

"What of it?"

"How soon can we get one ready?"

"It already is. It's heated by the same furnace as the stove."

"Well then... Let's make ourselves a dessert, shall we?"