Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

Granado Castle was peaceful once again today. From the kitchen, loud, alarming noises echoed—thudding, banging, and clanging.

I, head chef Toppo, and Cecilie stood side by side, relentlessly pounding a cotton sack with rolling pins.

Each time we brought the rolling pin down, the hard contents inside—the almond kernels—cracked into pieces. Still, we kept pounding, pounding, pounding. In the silent effort, Ceri finally let out a whimper.

“Waaah, Marie, is it done yet? My fingers are going numb,” she complained.

“Just a little longer. We have to crush all the large pieces, or else we can’t use the mortar properly.”

“T-There’s still more work? I don’t want to do this anymore! That’s enough! I’m just going to eat it as is!”

Ceri shouted, throwing her hands up in surrender.

Oh dear… She had insisted on helping, but it was probably too heavy a task for a six-year-old. Just as I was about to take over for her, Toppo gently stopped me. His plump, cream-puff-like fingers gripped Ceri’s wrist firmly.

“Ceri, no. The path of cooking is always a straight one... shortcuts for saving time come only after mastering the basics. Beginners must take the orthodox path, step by step.”

“Ughh, but Toppo…”

“It’s okay to reduce the quantity, but follow the steps straightforwardly. The taste will be exceptional when it's done. Come on, just a little more.”

“Uuuu…”

Ceri groaned but picked up her rolling pin again… how admirable. I smiled and resumed my own task. Feeling a change in resistance, I gently opened the sack and peered inside.

“Is it looking good? Shall we transfer it to the mortar and start making it into a paste?”

“And then it’s finished?”

“Yes. After that, we just mix in butter and sugar. That’s how you make almond butter. We’ll spread the fresh batch on bread for breakfast.”

“Yay!”

Ceri’s cheeks flushed as she bounced with excitement. Haha, how fickle she is.

Almond butter was a local specialty from my homeland, the Chadelan Territory. Peanut butter was more common elsewhere, but almonds were cheaper in Chadelan Territory. Dairy farming was thriving too, so butter was almost free. Combining those two flavors meant only a little expensive sugar was needed to make it delicious.

The process was simple but labor-intensive. In Chadelan Territory, making almond butter was a job for children.

When most of the almonds had been crushed and the mixture was turning into paste, Toppo spoke.

“Madam, we’ll finish up here, so please go wake Lord Cyrus. There were guests late last night, so I think he’s still asleep.”

I nodded. Lord Cyrus wasn’t usually a slow riser, but on tiring mornings, Mio or Wolf would wake him. Those two had been away from the castle a lot lately... probably investigating various matters related to our upcoming wedding.

Maybe the guests for Lord Cyrus were connected to that as well. I wished there was something I could do to help…

With those thoughts, I climbed the stairs to Lord Cyrus’s private room.

I knocked firmly on the closed door.

“Lord Cyrus? Good morning, are you awake?”

After a moment, instead of answering, the door opened silently.

The man who peeked out was not the dark-skinned mix of Ipsandros but had clear, pale skin that looked almost translucent. His entirely white face was framed by white eyelashes and eyebrows, and his hair shimmered silver. He blinked his ice-blue eyes and scratched his equally white chest with a low voice.

“...Ah, good morning, Marie…”

“Lord Ruifeng! Good morning. So you were last night’s guest. Sorry, I should have greeted you sooner.”

“Oh, it was almost dawn by the time I arrived… I was just here to sleep…”

He let out a big yawn.

“You came suddenly, and I didn’t want to trouble the servants, so I was shown to Lord Cyrus’s room instead of a guest room. He was about to rest, so I borrowed the sofa and just crashed here… Lord Cyrus is still asleep. Yawn…”

“I came to invite you to breakfast—what should we do? Should I let him sleep longer?”