Chapter 162 - 161 Siblings’ Bond
Arriving back at his estate, Marcus quickly located Lilia and the two of them told the maids that were on duty to take the night off as they planned on cooking together.
"Okay so what do want to make Lilia, my skills at cooking have gotten pretty good so I am confident in making something delicious."
Lilia began pondering for a few moments trying to come up with what she wanted to eat when she remembered one time that her father had purchased a goat from the nearby village and wanted to have that again.
"So, do you remember the time that we all ate goat together a few years ago after the community got lucky and made a large sum of money since some noble needed a bunch of lumber to repair their town after it had caught fire. If we could have something like that, that would be my choice."
Racking the memories he had gotten from Irene, it took Marcus around a minute to locate the specific memory that Lilia was talking about.
"Ah yeah I can remember that time, the goat certainly did taste good, along with the roasted wild nuts and the medley of vegetables. Yeah, I can make something using goat meat as its main ingredient though it will probably be a bit different than what we had before."
With the central ingredient they were going to be using decided, Marcus went over to the magical fridge that was set up in the kitchen and selected a prime cut of goat meat while Lilia began working on making fresh bread.
Taking out the cut of goat meat he had selected, Marcus began to tenderize it, hitting it over and over with a small metal hammer almost feeling like he was back in the forge.
Once he had finished tenderizing the meat, Marcus rubbed in a number of unique spices to the world of Mirrion that were not found on Earth in order to get rid of the gamey smell and taste of the goat.
When that was done, he went on to making a curry like marinade which he soaked the meat in.
'Now I need to let that sit for around thirty minutes, so in that time I can prepare the vegetables.'
Pulling out a number of vegetables, some that were similar to their counterparts on Earth like carrots and potatoes, and some that were particularly alien.
Cutting up a vegetable that looked like a durian but with much longer spikes and a thinner body, Marcus removed the tips of the spikes before cutting them away from the body of the vegetable and setting them aside.
'To think that after boiling these spines they would become soft and delicious, this world certainly has some oddities to it but at least it never gets dull.'
Continuing to happily prepare the vegetables, thirty minutes soon passed, and Marcus went over to the goat that had been marinating and put it onto a pan before sliding it into one of the house's ovens which had been set to a low heat.
With his preparations completed Marcus looked over to Lilia who was just finishing up on preparing the bread and was getting ready to put it into one of the other ovens.
"Now that we have finished that up let us get started on making dessert, I have something special planed that you cannot normally get."
Marcus then pulled out a number of ingredients including, a large block of ice.
"We are going to make ice cream but not any of the normal flavors from around here. I have managed to procure a special ingredient to make it even better."
Lilia look at Marcus with mesmerized eyes, she had eaten ice cream a few times before with some of her noble friends, and each time it had been delicious.
However, Marcus saying he had aa secret ingredient only got Lilia even more enthralled as she imagined something even tastier that what she had already had.
With a smug smile on his face, Marcus pulled out his secret weapon for making tastier ice cream, chocolate.
Yes, Marcus had managed to procure chocolate which was quite rare in the Kingdom of Borealia and could only be procured from merchants on another continent.
It had cost him a decent sum, especially since it was winter but for the sweet taste of chocolate Marcus was willing to shell out a few dozen gold coins.
"Now then let us get the ice cream prepared and then we will put it in the specially made freezer I recently obtained."
At that Marcus pulled out a small freezer from his item box which most people in this world would not use because of the extreme amount of mana it took to power it.
However, when it came to creature comforts if he could obtain them, Marcus wanted to have them.
After the two of them finished preparing the ice cream and letting it sit in the freezer to solidify, Marcus went back to check on the goat flipping it over and letting it slowly cook to break down the tendons in the meat and keep it from becoming too tough.
Once he had finished that, Marcus began cooking the vegetables he had prepared earlier to go with the meal.
Throwing them onto skewers and putting some into a soup, Marcus began making the side dishes for their last meal together before Lilia went back to school.
Time continued to go by and soon each of the items that Marcus and Lilia were cooking were ready, and pulling the goat out last they were ready for dinner.
The two of them then took their now prepared meal to the dining room where they began eating the feast they had prepared.
Starting with the vegetable soup he had made; Marcus ate the deliciously cooked vegetables that had soaked up the flavors of the broth.
After that he dunked in some of the bread Lilia had made eating it after it had soaked up the flavors of the soup.
'Pretty good I have to say since getting my cooking skill to level three and taking some lessons from Clara and the other maids, I have become pretty proficient with cooking. And it looks like Lilia is enjoying the meal as well seeing the way she is inhaling the food. Though I guess she is hitting her growth spurt since she has gotten around half an inch taller in just a couple of months.'
While Marcus was looking at Lilia who currently had her face stuffed with the goat meat he had tediously prepared, she quickly looked up and gave him a bright smile.
Continuing with his meal, Marcus finally got around to the main course eating the goat meat he had cooked.
Tasting the juicy flavor as the meat entered his mouth, Marcus could not help but shove a bunch in his mouth one after the other enjoying the taste.
However, soon between the two of them they had eaten most of the food that had been prepared.
But this was not the end as Marcus went into the kitchen and brought back with him the chocolate ice cream they had prepared.
Passing out a cup of the frozen treat to Lilia, Marcus beckoned her to eat first wanting to see her reaction to the first-time eating chocolate ice cream.
Watching as Lilia put a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, Marcus saw as her eyes went wide with shock before an expression of delight came over her face.
Lilia then began to eat more of the ice cream in quick succession until she stopped abruptly and held her head in pain.
Not able to stifle his amusement, Marcus began laughing out loud seeing Lilia experience a brain freeze for the first time.
Lilia with a pout looked over at Marcus with slightly angry eyes and said, "Did you add something in here that would cause my head to hurt as some kind of practical joke."
Still laughing but calming himself down since he saw that Lilia was getting upset Marcus said while still slightly chuckling, "No I did not put anything in it to cause you a headache that is just what happens when you eat something cold too quickly and it is called a brain freeze. I know it tastes good, but you need to pace yourself or you will continue to get that sharp feeling in your head."
Lilia realizing that the discomfort she felt was because of her hasty eating blushed in embarrassment before sticking the spoon back in her mouth and eating the chocolate ice cream much slower.
After that Marcus began eating his own serving of chocolate ice cream happy to be able to taste it again even in another world.
Soon the two of them finished up dessert and began cleaning up the mess they had made in the kitchen. Except halfway through they got into a water fight where the two of them began throwing the soapy water in the sink at each other, until Marcus escalated things and sent a small wave at Lilia drenching the entire area.
Seeing Lilia sprawled out on the floor covered in water, the two of them began laughing before Clara came in to investigate the ruckus and looked at the two of them with a fretful expression.
She then told them both to go take a warm bath before they caught a cold and that she and the other maids would clean up the kitchen.
Relenting after a bit, both Lilia and Marcus went upstairs and got into the house's large bath and soaked away in the warm water.
When they had finished warming up and getting clean, they both went to Marcus' room where the to of them were going to have a sleep over.
Spending a good portion of the night making plans for Lilia's next break in three months, the two made sure to set aside some time for a training trip so that Lilia could keep up with the other prodigies within the academy.
However, soon fatigue began to take Lilia and the two of them decided to call it a night crawling into bed and falling into a peaceful sleep.