Chapter 16: The Perilous Curry Rice

Felicia found the ingredients she had taken out: potatoes, carrots, onions, a block that looked like curry, and some rice.

There were also some strange, peculiar seasonings. Among them, Felicia could only identify salt and pepper.

Many more seasonings remained unidentifiable, such as the emerald-green powder she held in her hand.

“Then I’ll make curry rice,” Felicia mused. “Even though I haven’t made it before, I’ve seen others do it in videos, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Felicia placed the bottle of unidentified emerald-green powder on the table. She then began the first step: cutting the ingredients into pieces.

“Hmm… cutting?”

Instinctively, Felicia made a light gesture.

All the ingredients were perfectly cut into pieces. The only issue was that the pieces were a bit large.

However, she decided it shouldn’t be a problem and proceeded to the next step.

Felicia suddenly remembered she hadn’t started cooking the rice. After a quick blanch, she set it to boil.

Meanwhile, Felicia tossed the prepared ingredients into a pot, added water, and heated it.

Yunwu and Yunyu quietly retreated a few steps, backing all the way out the door, observing Felicia’s actions from outside.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Yunwu murmured from beyond the threshold.

“It shouldn’t be a big deal, right?” Yunyu tried to reassure her. “I think Miss Felicia is making curry rice. Even a novice shouldn’t have any trouble with something like that.”

“I hope so,” Yunwu whispered, offering a silent prayer.

“What are you two doing here?” Anna, who happened to be passing by, inquired as she approached the Yunwu sisters from behind.

“You’ll see if you look,” Yunwu replied, pointing towards the kitchen.

Anna then caught sight of Felicia cooking inside the kitchen.

Felicia had already progressed to the third step: adding the curry blocks.

At this moment, Felicia found herself pondering a question.

‘Would adding these rather extraordinary-looking seasonings make the taste even better?’

After a moment’s thought, Felicia concluded it was worth a try. She promptly added several different seasonings she couldn’t identify.

Simultaneously, Yunwu, who was peering through the doorway, sensed impending disaster. Instinctively, she moved to enter the kitchen and stop Felicia.

“What’s going on here?” A voice suddenly cut through the air, causing Yunwu to freeze.

She looked back to see her employer, Seraphina.

“Good morning, Lady Seraphina,” the three of them chorused.

“Mm.” Seraphina nodded, then turned her gaze towards the kitchen.

“What’s the situation?”

“As you can see, Miss Felicia is cooking,” Yunyu answered.

“Then perhaps we shouldn’t crowd around here. Let’s step away for now,” Seraphina suggested.

The four of them moved further away. From that distance, even Yunwu, with her excellent eyesight, couldn’t discern what was happening inside the kitchen.

Seraphina, meanwhile, was filled with anticipation, wondering what kind of culinary creation Felicia would present to her.

****

Inside the kitchen, at the same time.

“This is a bit slow…” Felicia muttered, looking at the two pots with a hint of difficulty.

She couldn’t possibly stand here for a long time; her legs would ache.

“Master, my abilities can also be used on objects,” Taosu suddenly reminded her. “I can make their movement speed faster.”

“For example, if a piece of meat takes forty minutes to roast, my ability can make it roast in four minutes.”

“That’s a very convenient ability,” Felicia exclaimed.

“Then let’s do it, Taosu, accelerate!”

This was Felicia’s first time using a contracted ability. The moment she unleashed it, she felt something being drawn from her body—something beyond just magic.

‘Is this what it feels like to draw upon life force?’

Felicia extended her right hand, a flash of silver light appearing, and the contents of both pots began to accelerate.

However, as it was Felicia’s first time using it, she wasn’t quite familiar with its nuances. She soon smelled something burning…

“It should, probably, be fine, right?” Felicia reasoned that a little burnt wouldn’t affect its edibility.

Yet, serving it as is would seem too ordinary. So, she added some other seasonings, making the curry appear vividly colorful.

Finally, she stirred the colorful curry and the slightly burnt rice together.

Thus, a bowl of curry rice that looked far from ordinary, and tasted equally extraordinary, was complete.

For some inexplicable reason, Taosu felt a sense of foreboding as she looked at Felicia’s creation.

“It shouldn’t be anything, right?” Taosu murmured softly.

“Taosu, what did you just say?” Felicia inquired.

“N-nothing, nothing. I was just saying you should try it quickly.”

“No, no, no. I’m going to let Seraphina try it first. A chef with professional integrity shouldn’t sneak bites.”

Felicia carried a bowl of the finished meal, intending to go out and ask someone where Seraphina was, when she saw Seraphina standing right at the door.

“You, why are you here?” Felicia asked, surprised.

“Just passing by,” Seraphina replied, her timing impeccable.

“Perfect! I just made something; come and have a taste.” Felicia offered the bowl and spoon to Seraphina.

Seraphina was stunned at her first sight of the curry rice. What was with the vividly colorful curry?

However, this was Felicia’s heartfelt effort, and she found it difficult to refuse.

“Mm…” Seraphina fortified herself with considerable mental preparation before slowly taking the curry rice. She took a bite, savoring it carefully.

She couldn’t taste any curry whatsoever.

But it wasn’t as if she felt nothing at all.

If she had to describe it, Seraphina would say she wasn’t eating curry rice, but a bomb. Then, the bomb exploded inside her, leaving her internal organs in a terrible state.

“How does it taste?” Felicia, still unaware of Seraphina’s internal turmoil, blinked and asked her.

Seraphina looked at Felicia’s eager, hopeful eyes. After a long moment of hesitation, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything hurtful.

“It’s… decent. But perhaps you can do better next time. I have something to attend to…”

With those words, Seraphina turned, preparing to leave.

Beyond Felicia’s sight, blood trickled from the corner of Seraphina’s mouth.

She appeared fine, but in reality, her body was on the verge of collapse, in desperate need of detoxification and healing.

Somehow, Seraphina recalled an incident from a year ago when she was poisoned. That poison had been mild, and Seraphina hadn’t felt a thing after consuming it.

However, after eating Felicia’s dish, Seraphina felt that if she delayed treatment any longer, she would surely perish.

In the realm of poisoning, Seraphina believed no one possessed more talent than Felicia.

“I’ll try some too.” Seeing Seraphina’s lack of reaction, Felicia grew curious about the taste of her own curry rice.

So, Felicia took a large bite.

That’s when disaster struck.

Dragon physiology was robust, but Felicia was merely a young dragon; her physical constitution was far inferior to that of an adult dragon.

Moreover, even an average adult dragon’s physique couldn’t compare to Seraphina’s.

Thus, the curry rice that Seraphina found merely ‘a bit terrible’ caused Felicia to immediately faint after eating it.

‘Is… is it over?’ These were Felicia’s final thoughts before she lost consciousness.

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