The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Cheese and Veal at the Lord’s Residence

“Lady Melfina, the milk has arrived!”

Upon hearing the lively voice, Melfina paused her sewing and looked up.

With winter setting in, her duties as the lord had diminished significantly, allowing her to spend today sewing winter clothes with Marie in the living room since morning.

In this world, nearly everything was crafted by hand.

It was common for noble wives to sew their husband’s clothes, and Melfina had mastered sewing techniques. However, she had been busy as a lord from the beginning of spring until the arrival of winter this year, so it had been a while since she sewed leisurely.

“They said it would arrive by afternoon, but it seems it’s come early.”

Pulling the thread from the needle, she placed the half-finished set into a basket and covered it with cloth. Felice, who had been lazily lying at her feet, began wagging his tail.

“This isn’t time for a walk, Felice.”

Clang! Felice barked in a voice still reminiscent of a puppy, and Melfina narrowed her eyes. Descending the stairs, she was greeted by the newly hired maid, Anna, vigorously waving her hands from below.

“I’ve taken the milk to the kitchen!”

“Thank you, Anna. Also, lower your voice a bit. If you need something, come call me upstairs.”

“Oh, sorry!”

“Anna, His Excellency Serleine is also in this mansion. Behave with dignity and keep quiet.”

Marie added.

Anna covered her mouth with her hand and nodded repeatedly.

Anna, now fourteen, was a hard worker but her overly energetic nature was a flaw. She seemed to be trying hard to heed advice, but when she got excited, her voice tended to rise.

“Shall we move the schedule up and finish the work before noon? Marie, Cedric, can you help?”

“Of course.”

“Yes, Lady Melfina.”

“I want to help too, Lady Melfina!”

Despite trying to lower her voice, Anna energetically raised her hand.

“No, two people are enough. Anna, please attend to other tasks.”

Melfina replied.

Although it was originally a small lord’s mansion, the expansions had increased the management workload significantly. There was plenty of work for the maids.

“But I want to help Lady Melfina too!”

As Anna persisted, Cedric’s demeanor grew slightly more serious.

Initially, Anna’s education had been entrusted to Eli, a gentle and patient woman who got along well with Anna, so there were no apparent issues. However, since Eli became pregnant and left, leaving Anna as the sole maid in the lord’s mansion, situations like this had become somewhat troublesome.

While Melfina appreciated Anna’s affection, she preferred to limit involvement in matters like experimental cooking and brewing. This was a precaution taken to ensure safety, as in this world, ignorance of core technologies was often safer.

“Anna, as I’ve said before, if I need your help, I will ask for it. What we are doing today is something we don’t want others to know about.”

“But I want to be useful to you, Lady Melfina! And I promise I won’t tell anyone!”

“Anna, please, enough…”

“Don’t cause trouble for Lady Melfina, Anna.”

Cedric interjected, his voice carrying a hint of irritation.

“Anna’s job is to assist Lady Melfina, not to cause trouble.”

Ed added, cutting in to interrupt Cedric’s rising anger.

“What’s it to you, Ed? This doesn’t concern you.”

“Listen, Lady Melfina has been busy. She worked from morning till night throughout the summer. She finally has time to do something she enjoys, and having servants interfere with that isn’t helping. If you keep this up, you might just get fired.”

At the mention of being fired, Anna bit her lip and her eyes welled up with frustration.

“…I’m sorry, Lady Melfina.”

Despite occasionally causing trouble, Anna, who had only been in service for a few months, was still in her apprenticeship phase.

Part of a employer’s duty was to properly educate their household staff in etiquette. While they wouldn’t dismiss her easily, it seemed like a good lesson for Anna, who hadn’t yet grasped the appropriate distance to keep with her employers.

“It’s okay. I’m not angry.”

Anna bowed apologetically and left the kitchen with slumped shoulders.

“Since there are fallen leaves piled up, go sweep the front entrance.”

“Why can’t you do it yourself?”

“I’ve got to clean the stables now.”

“For someone younger than me, you sure are cheeky.”

As their exchange faded into the distance, a sigh of relief escaped.

“It would have been better if Eli had stayed a bit longer to continue Anna’s education.”

“It couldn’t be helped; she’s expecting. Besides, Anna isn’t a bad kid.”

Typically, those who entered service in noble households began their training under a guardian before the age of ten, doing menial tasks while learning manners. It was several years later that they would start wearing maid uniforms and working formally.

Anna, who had just entered service and started wearing a maid’s uniform, seemed to be doing well.

Returning to the kitchen, there were three pots filled with milk and beside them, a small pot containing meat wrapped in lunar rabbit leaves.

The calf was brought from the stable manager, specified parts delivered to the lord’s mansion.

All three washed their hands well, covered their mouths with cloth, and prepared a large pot under Cedric’s direction, pouring in the milk.

Slowly warming on the magic stone stove, they extinguished the fire once it reached a temperature just above body warmth, then carefully scooped out and mixed the contents of the small pot, sealing it.

After letting it sit for about thirty minutes, they opened the lid to find the milk had solidified completely, bringing them some relief.

“Amazing… it’s solidified so beautifully.”

“Yes, it’s my first time too, so I was a bit nervous.”

With a knife, they cut the solidified milk in the pot into card shapes. Though the others didn’t understand, to Melfina, it resembled silk tofu from a past life.

Once cut, they lightly heated it again until the cards floated in the water. They squeezed out excess moisture with cloth, then transferred the squeezed solids to a slightly smaller pot with freshly boiled water.

They kneaded and gathered the solids with a wooden spatula until they formed a cohesive mass.

“When it’s cool enough to touch, knead it well by hand until smooth. Once it’s smooth, roll it into sizes easy to eat, and soak them in saltwater for a while, and it’s done.”

“It takes a bit of time, but the process isn’t that difficult.”

“The cheese sold at the monastery looks quite different.”

“This isn’t aged, so like milk, it won’t keep long. It’s best eaten the day it’s made, or at the latest, the next day.”

They sampled thinly sliced pieces. Due to the amount of rennet used, there was a slight acidity, but it still tasted distinctly like mozzarella cheese.

Each piece was cut and tasted by Marie and Cedric.

“It’s mild but has an interesting texture.”

“It tastes like milk squeezed tightly.”

“Though it’s delicious with salt and olive oil, I’ll make the remaining cheese into a dish that I highly recommend.”

“Is it your recommendation, Lady Melfina?”

“We’re looking forward to it.”

Both of them beamed, and Melfina smiled warmly.

“You can make cheese that lasts a bit longer by dehydrating it more to make it firmer or by aging it with mold, but that’s for another time.”

Today’s cheese-making was fundamental, almost an afterthought while preparing veal. After experimenting with mozzarella a few times and confirming the right proportion of rennet, she planned to make larger batches.

“Still, it’s incredible to actually make cheese… It’s supposed to be an exclusive recipe of the temple.”

“It’s Lady Melfina’s doing. You shouldn’t be surprised every time.”

“Indeed, that’s true.”

They chuckled in mutual understanding. It suited Melfina well for others to think she was doing something unusual, rather than questioning where she acquired such knowledge.

Unlike the ale she sent to Alexis, cheese-making didn’t require initial investments in facilities. With milk, salt, and veal for rennet, anyone could make it.

Originally, cheese was a means of preserving milk, making it easier to transport. Aging periods varied from weeks to months, with longer dehydration allowing for even longer storage.

Once hard or aged cheeses were finished, they would fetch prices far exceeding those for sauna or white bread recipes.

In fact, much of the monastery’s profits came from cheese and related sweets.

With that in mind, she couldn’t help but smirk.

“What’s amusing, Lady Melfina?”

“Oh, just thinking, if I end up divorced from the duke and end up at the monastery, I’ll probably end up making cheese to live on. It’s just funny to be making cheese in the role of a lord.”

While tidying up, Melfina pondered how unpredictable life could be.

“Let’s make the veal into roast beef. I hope Prince Serleine will eat well.”

Lean meat was said to be good for anemia, and veal would be tender and easy to eat.

It had been about ten days since Serleine arrived in Enkar. He showed no signs of coughing, but his health was still unstable, and he rarely left her room.

Wanting Serleine, who had a poor appetite, to eat as much as possible, Melfina carefully roasted the veal that had been prepared.

The key to roast beef is to sear the surface well while keeping the inside moist and a rosy pink.

Melfina was so engrossed in determining the perfect doneness that she didn’t notice Marie and Cedric hadn’t responded.