Chapter 193

Russian Roulette
While I was waiting for everyone in the dining room, I heard Brother Gene’s voice complaining he was starving, and the door opened.

“You’re early, Jo. Hungry already?”

“Don’t lump me in with you, Brother Gene. I made lunch, and I wanted to see everyone’s reactions, so I came early!”

“Ohh, Jo’s lunch, huh? Been a while.”

“It’s a bit of a different kind of lunch today, so look forward to it.”

As I chatted with Brother Noel and the others—

“Oh, everyone’s early.”

“Oh my? Is everyone starving?”

““We’re starving~?””

Father and the others arrived.

“Yep, starving. I might just eat Hu and Ly~”

““Nooo! Brother Gene’s gonna eat us~!””

“If you hurry and take your seats, you’ll be fine.”

Thanks to Mother’s guidance, Hugo and Lyla scrambled to their seats.

“Haha, that was a close one, Hu, Ly~ So, today is the Spring Bread Festival!”

““““Bread Festival?””””

““Breeead! Breeead! Breeead!””

“Hey, Hu, Ly, don’t bang on the table!”

““Sowwy.””

The twins, scolded by Mother for their bread chants, looked adorably dejected.

“First up, the soup is minestrone. A hearty vegetable soup with tomato flavor.”

Sara and Nancy served the soup.

“And now, here’s lunch.”

With that, I pulled out the curry bread, sweet bean bread, cream bread, sausage rolls, corn-mayo bread, and bacon-cheese bread from my storage. All of them were cut in half, of course—so everyone could sample different kinds.

“““Huh?”””

“My goodness.”

““Wowww! So much breeeeaaad!””

After explaining each bread, we all said our thanks and began eating.

“Delicious!! This curry bread is super crispy on the outside… whoa, there’s cheese too. That’s crazy good.”

Brother Gene chose the curry bread.

“Mhm, tasty. Corn and mayonnaise go well together, huh? The slight browning on the mayo really works. Mayo is the best.”

Ever since discovering mayonnaise, Brother Noel had become a full-blown mayo addict.

“What’s this red sauce on the sausage bread? It’s amazing.”

“That’s ketchup, Father. A sauce from my previous life made with tomatoes and onions. And I also made this.”

I took out bite-sized corn dogs from my storage. I’d fried them alongside the curry bread.

“These are called ‘American dogs.’ In my previous life, they were bigger and skewered so people could eat them while walking.”

“Oh my, delicious. Yes, skewered like this would make for great street food. Maybe the company should carry these? …Joann, what are the ingredients?”

“Eh? Uh, sausage, cake flour, milk, sugar, egg, baking soda… I think?”

“Baking soda? Isn’t that used for cleaning?”

“Yes, you can use it for that. But I made sure to use the edible kind this time.”

“I see. Hehe, that’s fine. I trust your cooking, Joan. …Besides, anything less than poison wouldn’t faze anyone except Hugo and Lyla.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“Oh? Did I never tell you? Nobles raise their children with resistance to poison from a young age by adding small amounts to their food or tea.”

“Wha—? Poison resistance? Me too?”

“Yes, you too. Any meal you didn’t make yourself had some in it. And of course, Gray’s tea too. Oh, I think I added some to curry once. That was a good one—hard to detect thanks to the spices.”

“I had no idea…”

(That’s right! You already have resistance to about ten kinds!)

“Eh? Ten kinds…? Wait, Pearl, you knew?!”

(Yup. They smelled different. But Mama said it was a secret, so I kept quiet.)

Oof…

Dear family from my previous life:
I’ve become someone resistant to poison without even realizing it in this life…

The noble world is terrifying.

“Ughhhh…”

“What’s wrong, Gene?!”

Stanley called out as he saw Gene turning bright red and struggling.

“... Spicyyyyy!! Water, water, water!!”

“““Huh?”””

“Ah.”

Stanley, Noel, and Margaret were frozen in surprise, while I had a clear “uh-oh” look on my face.

“Haa… haa… Jo, this curry bread is insanely spicy!”

“Uhh… it was a little prank?”

“Jo, explain!”

“With pleasure!”

Pressed by Noel, I reflexively responded like a waitress at an izakaya. Then I sat in seiza and began my explanation.

“So, in my previous life, there was a game called Russian Roulette where you make only one item super spicy or super sour, like with juice. This time it was the curry bread.”

“And why did you do it today?”

“... I thought it’d be fun? Tehee~?”

I tilted my head to act cute, but Noel wasn’t fooled.

“Tehee~? Not cute!! Also, these are cut in half, right? Does that mean the other half is in this dish?”

“Uh…”

(It’s not in this room~)

Pearl, what a brilliant child. I almost spilled the truth just now…

“So, does this Bread Festival include the staff?”

“Yes, Father. And also the private soldiers.”

“Kuhuhu… I wonder who’s gonna get it.”

“Ehehe. Right? By the way, I made one more spicy one. So there are three left.”

“Jo? Didn’t you say only one would be spicy?”

“Ah…”

(Joan, you dummy.)

In the end, because I confessed, Brother Noel got mad at me again. Stanley, Margaret, and Gene watched me with exasperation.

Meanwhile, the twins were in their own little world, stuffing their faces with cream bread, their cheeks covered in cream. It wasn’t until later that Pearl came to lick them clean.

By the way, the unlucky ones who got the Russian Roulette bread were Ben, Al, and Martin.

To apologize, I gave them cream puffs filled with both custard and whipped cream. Of course, once the twins heard, they begged for some too—and softhearted Joan ended up giving them some. Then came more giggles as Pearl licked their cream-covered faces again.

What do you think about this chapter?