"Join the tournament." The knight suggested out of thin air.
"Huh!?" The lad didn't catch what the knight had suggested.
The knight wasn't joking around. There were two decisions that the lad could choose from. Join the tournament and ascend the social ladder or perish in the hands of its enemies.
"You want me to join a pretentious tournament?"
"Yes." The knight confirmed his words. "You want me to acknowledge you as my squire. So, I'll give you my approval to enter the tournament."
The lad furrowed its eyebrows in confusion. Did the knight get possessed? Not everyone could enter the tournament, only knights and qualified squires (usually older squires) could participate. Younger squires participating in the tournament were rarely seen and were not advised as the tournament was competitive and it was likely that an inexperienced younger squire will get himself injured or killed.
"In order to gain your approval, Taylor worried endlessly for the past week. Compared to him who has been training under you for years, I haven't taken any exams or classes. How can you so easily give me your approval?" The lad questioned the knight's intentions.
"Are you saying that you don't want the opportunity?"
Unlike knights who are automatically given a spot if they chose to participate, squires have to compete with each other in the preliminaries for the remaining spots. If a squire shows exceptional weaponry skills in the preliminaries, he can pave his way into the tournament.
Not everyone could receive this kind of opportunity that was offered to the lad, yet the lad was quick to turn the knight down. Did the lad understand what entering into the preliminaries entitled him to? The lad could set foot into the ranks without actually having a proper title.
Everin discerningly scratched her head. "It is indeed an opportunity but I don't feel that it is worth squabbling for a spot that is not guaranteed. I saw how Taylor has been tiringly training under the rain and I am not particularly interested in fighting with the older squires for practice space."
The knight raised an eyebrow at the lad's reasoning. For the past week, the knight was fully aware that the lad has been training with the squire. The lad purposely studied the tournament rules in order to help squire train and gain the knight's approval. If the lad was truly uninterested, then why did it bother to study the tournament rules? Why would it train under the rain with Taylor? The lad's actions spoke otherwise.
The lad might have felt that the knight never considered that the lad as his squire, but that was not true. The knight would have never bothered to train the lad or take the lad in as his squire if he truly believed that the lad would amount to nothing. It was that the lad never considered the knight as its mentor.
"If you still see me as a mentor, then follow my advice. Join and build a name for yourself." The knight finished what he had to say.
Everin confusingly gawped at the knight as he quietly left the corridors. She couldn't tell if the knight truly hated her or if he was genuinely helping her. At certain times, he was cruel and cold, and other times, he was kind without an explanation.
***
Resuming to their usual afternoon tea, the baronet and the lass sat in the baronet's office enjoying some freshly brewed mint tea and warmly baked honey biscuits. Whenever the tea was close to the bottom of the cup, the baronet would refill the lass's cup with more tea. He graciously held the teapot in his slender hands and poured the steaming liquid out of the pot's nose. Just before the tea fell three-quarters of the cup, he stalwartly tilted the pot back and placed it on the side of his desk.
"Thank you." The lass said bringing the warm cup close to her rosy lips.
The lass blew the tea to cool it down. However, when she pulled the cup too close, the hot steam hit her in the face causing her to retreat. The baronet chuckled upon seeing the silly lass trying to tackle the scorching beverage.
"Would you like some milk with that?" The baronet offered as a solution to cool the tea down.
The lass nodded and the baronet picked up a small fancy silver pitcher and poured some cold milk into the tea. The creamy whiteness whirled in like a fluffy cloud and mixed with the translucent amber-colored tea.
"I didn't see that last time." The lass noticed the shiny new dinnerware.
"Thought I might need one since I like adding milk with my tea now. It's beautiful, isn't it? I had a master craftsman make it over the holiday. The question is, I don't know what to call it."
"We call is it a creamer in my world." The lass suggested to the baronet. "It is used to hold cream or milk that is served with tea or coffee."
"I see." The baronet said liking the new name for the new object.
"There's something that I need to tell you." Not wanting to delay informing the baronet, Everin told Sir Lee that Sir Williams had caught her yesterday coming out of the baronet's room. "Fortunately, it didn't seem like he caught on to anything, but he suggested that I participate in the tournament."
The knight wanted the lass to enter into two sectors: sword fighting and wrestling. The other categories (archery and jousting) weren't fit for Everin as she was not exceptionally skilled in archery and she has never learned how to fight on horseback, so participating in the jousting sector would be impossible. Upon hearing that the lass wanted to participate in the tournament, the baronet abruptly sat up straight.
"No." The baronet adamantly shook his head. "No, you are not allowed to join the tournament."
The baronet's strong reaction surprised the lass. Why was the baronet so against her entering the tournament? "Why not?"
"Everin, do you have to make me worry like this!? I already turned an eye to you brawling and sparring with the men at the residence, but for the tournament, I can't do the same. I won't allow you to put your life in danger." The baronet worried.
"But you let Taylor participate. It is dangerous for me, but not for him?" Everin said pointing out that the baronet was discriminating against her again. "I will only participate in the preliminaries, I won't actually fight any knights. So, you don't have to worry."
The situation wasn't as simple as how the naïve lass stated. The participants in the tournament were highly competitive and weren't going to let a young squire take their spot. Subsequently, Taylor and the lass's situations were different. Taylor has been training ever since he was a child, the lass had only started training a few months ago. If something goes wrong, Everin can get killed during a match. The baronet didn't know what Sir Williams was thinking; suggesting the lass to do something so dangerous.
"You are still inexperienced. The tournament will be too dangerous for someone like you." The baronet argued. "And I won't allow you to be jostled or mistreated by other men."
The lass should not forget that she was trying to hide her identity. It was impossible to predict what will happen during a match and the baronet didn't want to risk the lass's identity possibly being revealed or discovered by her opponents. During the matches, the opponents would be touching and groping the lass and the baronet could not stand that. It was his duty to protect her. No matter how much the lass wanted, the baronet couldn't treat the lass the same way that he treats Taylor.
"Okay, fine, I understand, wrestling can be too close for comfort, but what about sword fighting? I will be fighting my opponents at an arm's length. Can I participate in that?" The lass asked hoping the baronet would say yes.
"A no is a no." The baronet was resolute in his decision.
The baronet had convinced himself that this was for Everin's safety. He knew that Everin was upset, but he hoped that she would understand his good intentions. In the past, he had committed a huge mistake by confusing her for a man, but now that he knows the truth, he will do his best to fix his wrongs.
The lass disgruntledly leaned back in her chair and chowed down on a sweet honey biscuit. Ever since Sir Lee found out about her identity, he only seemed to see her as a fragile woman who needed protection and care. There were so many things that she couldn't and shouldn't do and she was starting to feel suffocated living in these boundaries.
At first, she wasn't that interested in the tournament, but the more the baronet disallowed it, the more she wanted to participate in it. To the person who saved her and gave her a second chance, Everin wholeheartedly understood that the baronet was worried about her. She also understood that she shouldn't be infringing on the busy baronet with more troubles. However, she felt that the baronet was being overly concerned. The people in the residence still believed that Everin was a man and for several months, the baronet didn't figure out her identity either.
The unhappy lass promptly finished her tea. "You know, I liked it more when you still believed that I was a man. You treated me more as an equal then."
The baronet didn't have to feel responsible for what happened in the past because he also fell victim to the lass's lies. The somewhat sullen lass thanked the baronet for the tea and left the baronet's office to return to her work.
"As an equal, the lass said?" The baronet was not expecting this kind of response from the lass.
***
During the exam period, it was a custom at the residence to serve the squires with acquaint meals to encourage them to study without worries. Aside from the written part of the exam, they had a physical exam where they will have to show their sparring and brawling skills.
"Cheers, Sir Williams. I heard from the other instructors that all the squires passed the written exam this year." Sir Lee commented with satisfaction at the long table.
The baronet usually doesn't drink wine, but feeling celebrative for the special occasion, he had asked the servants to prepare some. Sitting across from the baronet was the not-so-elated knight and the knight placed his knife down.
"It's still too early to celebrate." The knight said grabbing a handkerchief and calmly wiping the grease off his hand. "At noon, the physical exams will begin. I doubt that all squires will be able to pass the one on one spar with their instructors."
The strict knight wasn't going to make it easy for the squires who were going to spare with him. The knight was known to give his exam topic on the day of the exam and it was always something that the squires least expected. Last year, the knight had the squires spar with shields and one-handed swords and only half the class passed the exam.
The stoic knight wiped his mouth and cast the handkerchief aside on his unfinished food. He couldn't bring himself to finish the distasteful half burnt and half raw flesh on his plate. The knight wasn't the only one who thought the food today was off, the baronet also had the same thought. Smoked meat went well with wine, but the food for today's meal could not be revived.
"Miss Lucy." The knight harshly called over the servant.
"Yes, Sir Williams." The female servant nervously answered as she ran up to the knight.
The baronet quietly observed anticipating what the knight was going to say. According to their customs, it was very rude to criticize the chef's cooking no matter how distasteful the food was. One had to finish the food that was made by the chef and never judge the chef's use of seasoning. If one found the food too bland, one could bring his or her own salt and spice to the table and dip the food in his or her desired seasoning.
"Clear the table." The knight anticlimactically said.
"Yes, Sir." The female servant responded.
The unamused baronet was not expecting such a dull reaction from the knight. In the residence, everyone was afraid of Sir Williams and wouldn't dare to get on the knight's bad side. Yet, the almighty knight easily succumbed to the terrible cooking of the residence's chef. The wily baronet could not let this perfect opportunity to tease his friend go to waste.
"Hold on. Sir Williams, you are never the person to leave your food unfinished." The baronet began his plan. "Is today's food not to your liking? It looks like you haven't touched your food."
The sly baronet eagerly wondered what kind of response the knight was going to give him. Responding to the baronet's unusual interest in him, the knight cleared his throat.
"You haven't touched yours either." The keen knight pointed out. "For a person who rarely drinks wine, you have been only filling your stomach with liquor at the table. You should eat something along with it or you will get an upset stomach."
The baronet lightly chuckled at the knight's snarky response. "Alright, Sir Williams, you caught me. Today's food is very unpleasant."
The female servant lowered her head to apologize to the knights. "I am so sorry, Sir Lee and Sir Williams. This afternoon, the chef accidentally burned his arm with scorching water and went to the infirmary. The staff tried to follow the chef's recipe, but it seems like we are unable to produce the same food."
"How bad is the chef's condition?" The baronet asked.
"The doctor said with some ointment, he will recover in a week." Miss Lucy assured the baronet.
The baronet placed his silver cylindrical cup down on the table. "What do you think Sir Williams? How should we handle this?"
About to leave to proctor an exam in a bit, the knight shared his thoughts. "The squires are taking exams and the knights are preparing for the tournament, they should be properly fed."
The knight was right, there were important events happening. The men were hard at training and they shouldn't be affected by an injured chef. Shortly after the knight left the dining hall, the baronet decided what to do. Problems that arose in residence were always left for the baronet to deal with because the knight was busy with teaching and training the squires.
"Miss Lucy, post a message in town saying that we were looking for a temporary chef. Include on the post that due to the urgency of the situation, we didn't mind paying a higher wage."
"Yes, Sir Lee." The female servant understood.
In the midst of their conversation, the lass had overheard the baronet seeking for a temporary chef and was interested in the well-compensated offer. "I will take up on that offer."
The female servant and the baronet turned their heads to the lone wolf sitting in the restricted section of the long table. The restricted section was the segment of the table that separated Sir Lee and Sir Williams from the lower-ranked knights. It was known to all that one end of the long tables was always reserved for Sir Lee and Sir Williams and that no one could be seated in this area. However, over these past few days, the section has become designated to the lass.
"There is no rule that says that I can't accept jobs within the residence." The lass reminded the baronet in case he was going to say no.
Privately, the baronet had convinced the knight that the lass shouldn't participate in the tournament. There were too many potential risks and the two came to an agreement that it was best to delay the lass's participation until she was more experienced. The baronet might have restricted the lass's movement outside of the residence, but inside the residence, he had permitted the lass to do whatever she pleased.
At first, when the oblivious lass sat in the restricted section, the people in the dining hall gulped in nervousness. But when the baronet and the knight didn't say anything and allowed the lass to continue sitting in the section; the next day, the section became to be known as the area for Sir Williams's squire.
Some of the men found the lad arrogant; intercepting the rankings just because it was a squire of Sir Williams. All the other squires including Sir Lee's sat below the knights, why would Sir Williams's squire make an exception? The rest men were rather fearful of the lad. There must be a reason why Sir Lee and Sir Williams didn't tell the lad off. Maybe the lad was a son of a really powerful noble; it would explain why the baronet and the knight wouldn't dare to say a word.
In addition, there have been rumors going around that after Sir Ryker upset the lad that night at the Flower House, the wasted knight descended into shambles. His reputation was completely ruined and his days as a knight were over. Nobody knew exactly what happened, all they knew was that anyone who tried to cross the lad, meet his fate.
"Everin, cooking for the people at the residence won't be an easy task. Are you sure you want to do this?"
The lass confidently nodded. "How bad can it be?"
***
The next day when the men gathered at the dining hall in the morning, they were in for a surprise. Presented in front of every person at the long table was the traditional full English breakfast; a dish that included bacon, sausage, mushrooms, baked beans, grilled tomato, toast, and fried, poached or scrambled eggs. For the sake of simplicity, Everin made scrambled eggs and the men didn't know how to confront the yellow fluffy lumps on their plate.
The men had always eaten eggs hardboiled because it was easier to pick up with their hands. Using a spoon to eat eggs wasn't a custom during this time. Also, they have never heard of toast; sliced bread being browned on both sides. Bread were always presented in loaves. The most startling thing was that the food was seasoned before being served. Usually, the men would season their food to their liking after it was placed on their plate, but the food was exceptionally good and didn't need any extra seasoning.
Learning from her mistakes, Everin decided to make food that the men could eat comfortably with their hands. She figured to go with American cuisine for lunch, specifically going for finger food, food that could be eaten without a knife and fork, spoon, chopsticks, or other utensils. While she was dexterously cutting the potatoes into half-inch thick strips, Sir Williams, who has not been informed about her working as a residence chef, was making his rounds around the residence.
The knight was shocked to stumble upon the lad skinning and cutting potatoes in the kitchen. "What are you doing here!?"
Everin briefly glanced up from the cutting board to spot the surprised knight standing at the entrance that connected to the main hall. Resuming to the cutting board, she finished cutting the potato that she was working with and scooped all the strips into the large wooden basin to the left.
"I am making lunch for the people in the residence." The busy lad answered the knight.
The knight was flabbergasted by how the lad nonchalantly answered him. How could the lad think of working in the kitchen out of all places?
"You are a man! Don't you have any dignity choosing to work in the kitchen, a place full of women?" The knight harshly scolded the lad.
The knight's loud scolding frightened the bustling servants around the kitchen. The lad almost cut himself from the jump scare. The knight didn't have to raise his voice, the lad could hear him loud and clear. Finding it absurd that the knight was shouting when he was only three feet away, the aggravated lad staked the knife into the cutting board.
When the knight glanced at the audience in the room, the servants immediately lowered their eyes and continue their work. They knew not to stick their nose in an argument between the knight and his squire. Even if they were presented, they had to pretend that they didn't hear anything.
Everin was annoyed by everyone telling her what she couldn't do. Because she was a woman, Sir Lee didn't allow her to enter the tournament, now because she was a man, she couldn't enter the kitchen, just what did these people want from her? All these ridiculous gender norms needed to be eradicated.
"If you haven't heard, the chef got injured and I am filling in for him until the end of this week. If there is no problem, I would like to be not disturbed while I am working." Everin asked from the knight.
Busy and uninterested in what the knight had to say, the lad returned to its work. The dedicated lad grabbed another peeled potato from the basin of pre-peeled potatoes and began to cut the root vegetable into strips. The agility and consistency of the lad's cuts told the knight the lad was familiar with using knives and the tools in the kitchen. When the lad was done cutting the potato, it scooped the strips with its knife and into the basin.
The knight loitered around instead of leaving and began to examine the sacks of potatoes lying around the working station.
"What are you cutting the potatoes for? You aren't planning to serve potatoes to the knights, are you?"
"What's wrong with serving potatoes?"
The knight sighed deeply, there was still a lot for the lad to learn.
"Potatoes are used to feed the livestock. How can you feed them to the knights?" Sir Williams informed the ignorant lad.
Everin had no idea that they used potatoes to feed the animals. In her world, potatoes were the staple of many dishes.
"But I am almost done cutting, it would be waste to throw it away."
"Feed it to the animals then." The indifferent knight instructed.
"What!?" She spent so much effort to wash and peel the potatoes and now the knight wanted her to feed them to the farm animals.
"Are you trying to insult the knights by feeding them food meant for pigs and cows?"
Everin gasped at the knight's shocking words. Did he just compare her food to animal feed? Everin tightened her grip around the handle of the knife praying that she won't have to spill some blood today. She told herself to be the greater person and to give pity to the silver spoon standing in front of her. The knight's commentaries weren't intentional insults but results of ignorance and ungratefulness.
Swallowing the knight's rudeness, Everin decided to educate the knight. "You are not a child anymore, being picky about food. How can you a knight, a grown man, be complaining about eating potatoes when the servants don't even have cabbage to eat?"
The lad's sharp criticism hit the knight hard. The lad was a peasant and wasn't as wealthy or fortunate as the knight or Sir Lee was. It made sense that peasants wouldn't be picky about what they had available to eat, even if it meant eating potatoes that were reserved for livestock. Sir Williams silently contemplated; eating potatoes for one day wouldn't harm the men in residence and it wasn't like potatoes have never been served in the residence before.
"Just this once." Sir Williams said permitting the lad to continue its work.
"Yes." The lad happily smiled and lifted up the lid of the large cooking pot.
Inside the cooking pot was boiling hot oil and the lad scooped a ladle full of potato strips into the pot. When the strips hit the oil, the oil loudly sizzled. Bubbles foamed around the strips and when the water from inside the potato sipped out, the oil popped wildly. Using a ladle, the lad spread the strips around the pot so the potatoes will cook evenly.
"By the way, isn't the chef also a man?" Everin asked not understanding why the knight criticized her and her dignity as a man when the chef was also a man who worked in the kitchen.
"That's the only titled position in the kitchen, obviously it belongs to a man." Sir Williams answered the lad's stupid question.
"Oh, right." Everin said almost forgetting that she was disguised as a male.
The knight could only disapprove when he saw how joyful the lad was while doing womanly work. However, the lad being strange was a normal occurrence now. If the lad wasn't doing something out of ordinary, then something would definitely be wrong.
"What are you making?" The knight asked out of curiosity.
"I saw that the knights weren't comfortable using utensils to eat. So, I am going to make food that doesn't require utensils to eat with." Everin answered as she attentively watched over the cooking process.
When the strips were golden brown underneath, the lad quickly clamped the strips and flipped them over to cook the other side. The knight quietly scrutinized the lad working and the lad prepared a metal tray to put the ready fries.
"I will let you in on a secret." The lad said while putting a piece of parchment paper on the tray to drain any excess oil. "Potatoes are the magical ingredient for cooking. It can be braised, fried, baked, and cooked with stew. And with potatoes alone, I can make so many dishes. French fries, potatoes wedges, hash browns, chips, mashes potatoes and more."
Seeing that the fries were ready, the lad pulled them out and laid them on the tray. Impatient, the lad tried to spread the fries with his hand and clumsily burned one of his fingers from the hot fries. The foolish lad quickly cooled his finger in his mouth and the knight shook his head. The knight wondered what qualifications the lad was hired based on.
"Were you a chef before?" He asked.
"No, I just occasionally cooked dinner for my family." The lad answered while taking a taste test. The lad took a bite of a fry and blew out steam from its mouth. "Hot, very hot...,"
Seeing the lad grotesquely struggle with hot food in its mouth, the knight handed the lad a flask of water from nearby. The lad vulgarly grabbed the flask and chugged down the water.
"Thank you." The lad wiped its mouth and shamelessly handed the flask back to the knight.
"You are the male of the family. Why would you cook dinner? Leave the house chores for the women." The knight taught the lad.
The lad quietly sighed and hoped that the knight wasn't speaking like this with other women. It was a complete turnoff; how could the knight say something so sexist and out of place? But then again, the lad was in the medieval ages, who was the lad to judge the knight?
The knight lived his entire life being pampered by his parents and probably never did a single house chore in his life. But for Everin, if she could lessen the workload on her mother by doing the chores, then she would.
When the lad didn't respond, the knight realized how inconsiderate his comment could have been. The lad had lost his family and became an orphan. It was inappropriate for the knight to say what he had said. In addition, Everin was from a poorer household and it made sense that gender norms weren't strictly emphasized when the family was barely getting by. It didn't matter who did the chores or who cooked, as long as the family had enough to eat.
Sir Williams cleared his throat. "I apologize for my inappropriate comment."
The lad might be foolish and clumsy at times, but the knight shouldn't have looked down on someone who was hardworking and sincere. The lad's clothes were covered in flour and food residue and the knight was improper for ridiculing someone who was more unfortunate than him. Like the lad mentioned, being picky about food and complaining about chores, the knight has taken too much for granted.
The knight hated to admit that he was pampered as a child, but candidly speaking, being the only child of his family, he was more spoiled compared to other children. He tried his best to not depend on his parents, that's why he chose to work in Smithtown and not in Raventown. He didn't want to rely on his parents' backing to obtain his title. However, after hearing the lad's sharp remarks, the knight realized that no matter how far he ran, he could never truly be independent of his parents.
***
When the lass assured the baronet that she was capable of cooking, the baronet did not think the lass would serve the knights with food from her world.
"This is called burger with fries." Everin explained.
"The strange words on the paper," Sir Lee recalled from the time when he and the knight had captured the lass.
Among the lass's possession was a notepad with these strange words. The baronet was intrigued, so this was what he and the knight had mistaken for as a secret code, a strange dish consisting of two slices of bread wrapped around vegetables and a slab of meat.
The baronet curiously glanced over at the fried strips on the side of the plate and realized that these must be what the lass was referring to as fries; a new word form of fry.
"This was what the restaurant where I work at served. There are also a tomato and cheese dip for the French fries." Everin said pointing to the two saucers on the side. "These two foods are considered finger food in my world, so you can freely eat them with your hands."
Sir Lee picked up the burger by clasping the bread with the components inside. He chewed into the soft bread of the burger and encountered the juicy meat at the center. The melted cheese blended well with the bread and the sour pickles added a kick to the dish. Aside from pies, the baronet didn't recall tasting all the ingredients of a dish in one bite like this.
"This is remarkable." The baronet complimented after he swallowed. He was impressed with the lad. "And what are these made of?"
The baronet pointed to the fries.
"Potatoes," Everin answered.
"Potatoes?" The astonished baronet didn't know that potatoes could be served this way.
Just then Sir Williams quietly picked up a fry and dipped it into the cheese dip. He confidently ate the whole fry and the crunch of the fritter crushed between his teeth. The taste of oil was rather addicting.
"It's decent." Sir Williams complimented the lad.
The baronet was taken back by his friend. Was the knight really the person that the baronet knew? The pickiest eater that the baronet knew willingly ate potatoes; not just any food, but potatoes.
"Sir Williams, shall we give a name for this dish?" The baronet suggested. "How about the 'The Secret Code'?"
At this point, the baronet was intentionally making fun of the knight. However, the knight didn't let it bother him. After seeing Sir Williams eat the food, the men were all rest assured to indulge in their food. The food that the lad made was novel and different from what the men usually ate in the Midlands, and it was also undeniably delicious. Inadvertently, the men looked forward to what the lad was going to make next.
For dinner, the lass made large pies in which the lad called them pizzas. Each pie would be topped with different ingredients such as a layer of cheese, tomato sauce, cured meat, peppers, spinach, olives, and mushrooms. The pie would then be cut into triangle slices and one could fold the slices in half so it can perfectly fit into one's mouth.
With this chance in allowing the lass to be the residence's chef, the baronet was able to get some insight into American cuisine and a part of American culture. Making food like pancakes, macron and cheese, and casseroles, the men in the residence gradually grew accustomed to using forks to eat the lass's food. Especially when the lass made food from other cultures such as pasta, fried rice, and pork cutlet, it was hard for the men to eat the food with their hands.
Another thing that the lass made was granola bars and oatmeal cookies. Instead of eating plain oatmeal, the servants were able to eat their oats with bits of crushed nuts and dried fruits. Everin could finally wash away the terror of watery oatmeal. Of course, she was scolded by Sir Williams for stealing food from the kitchen. He criticized that people should eat according to their class, but it didn't matter since the knights also enjoyed the cookies and granola bars as snacks.
Approaching the last day as a chef, Everin pulled the last trolley of dirty dishes over to the sink and slipped them into the soap and water. The previous chef had completely recovered and was ready to return to work. Everin enjoyed cooking for the people in the residence because the food that she made reminded her of home. She stood at the sink washing dishes and pondered about her future.
How long will she stay in the Midlands? There must be a reason why she was sent here. She wasn't sent here to live as a servant and then die of natural causes, right? Destiny must have something planned for her. Why else would she be sent to another dimension? What was her purpose then and why was she sent here?
"I heard you dismissed the servants, Sir Everin." Sir Lee said walking into the kitchen.
"Don't call me sir. Just call me Everin." Everin insisted.
The baronet sniggered, the residence was certainly livelier and more entertaining with the lass around. After Everin proved her worth by satisfying the stomachs of the people at the residence, people started to address Everin by sir even though Everin wasn't a knight.
"Why not? Everyone is calling you Sir Everin out of respect, Sir Everin." Sir Lee teased.
"That is not funny. When you put sir or lord in front of my name, it makes me want to puke."
Sir Lee chuckled. "Well, you have to get used to it soon, Sir Everin."
Everin splashed water at Sir Lee.
"I said stop it." Everin warned the baronet.
"You.., how dare you splash dirty water containing soap and food remnants at me!?" The baronet was stunned by how bold the lad was.
"Call me 'Sir Everin' one more time. And let's see what will happen." Everin said holding soap bubbles in her hand and threatening the baronet.
"You wouldn't dare." Sir Lee said eyeing her.
The lass playfully grinned and the baronet took a handkerchief out to wipe the water on his shirt.
"Alright, I understand. I won't address you by Sir." Sir Lee said giving in.
The lass giggled and returned to washing the dishes. The baronet should have done that from the start. While the lass was steadfastly scrubbing the plates, trays, and pans, a strand of her soft obsidian locks dropped to her cheeks. When the strand was starting to bother her, she wiped her wet hands on the apron tightly tied around her small waist and then gently tucked the escaped strand behind her ear.
"I guess you do have some feminine sides to you." The baronet commented.
"You know that these gender norms are really illogical. Being able to cook doesn't make a person more feminine." Everin argued. "In my world, if a man knew how to work his way around the kitchen, it will be considered an attractive quality."
"Really?" Sir Lee was surprised to hear this.
"Yes, in my world, knowing how to cook is a desirable trait to look for in your partner."
The lass was knowledgeable in medicine, needlework, and culinary, and has taught the baronet so much, yet the baronet felt like he hasn't scratched the surface of the lass's world. The baronet eagerly rolled up his sleeves to help with the dishes. He wanted to grab a plate, but he didn't want to extend his hand into the muddy water. When Everin saw the baronet immaturely struggling over nothing, she shook her head.
"You can help dry the dishes instead." Everin offered him a rag.
"That's a great suggestion." Sir Lee said taking the rag.
The baronet began drying the dishes while the lass washed them. For a brief moment, the baronet had this thought that in the lass's world, the admirable lass must have been desired by many. The lass was talented, intelligent, and beautiful. She was washing dirty dishes, and yet he couldn't take his eyes off her beauty. He found himself drawn to her: soft brown eyes, delicately rounded jaw, and a small body. When the baronet realized that he was being extremely rude by staring at a lady, he immediately looked away and placed a stop to these premature feelings.
"What are ye two doing while excluding me?" Someone asked from the kitchen's main entrance.
The baronet and the lass turned and saw Taylor and Sir Williams.
When the squire saw what it seems to be, the baronet washing the dishes, the squire was perplexed. "Sir Lee, why are ye washing the dishes?"
"Correction, I am washing them, he is drying them." Everin corrected.
The baronet chuckled. "Everin is right. I am drying the dishes."
"Sir Lee, please watch your images as a knight." Sir Williams said. "Washing dishes is improper for a knight."
"It seems fun. I want to join." Taylor said butting in.
The baronet handed the young squire a rag and the young squire joined the baronet. The knight could only sigh when the baronet and the squire were ignoring him.
Sir Williams walked up to Sir Lee and whispered to the baronet. "Sir Lee, if you insist, then let me do it. Please don't tarnish your reputation."
While the men were busy fussing over who should hold the rag, Everin had completed washing all the dishes. She poured the dirty water into the drain and rinsed the basin. Before she could set the basin down, Taylor accidentally dropped a ceramic plate and it shattered to pieces.
"I'm sorry." Taylor quickly apologized. "It's my first time washing the dishes."
"It's okay, everyone makes mistakes." Everin said as she grabbed a broom from the side and swiped up the ceramic pieces on the ground.
She discarded the broken pieces in the waste bin and made sure that there were no shards remaining on the ground that could hurt anyone who fell. When she returned back to the sink, another ceramic plate shattered and this time it was the baronet whose hand had slipped.
"My bad." Sir Lee said feeling apologetic.
Everin smiled half-heartedly and wondered if these three men were playing a prank on her. How many plates were they going to break while doing the dishes? There were metal and wooden plates among the pile, yet they only dropped the ceramic ones, the ones that shattered into a million pieces.
"You three, get out!" Everin shouted at them. "You aren't helping me at all, you are just causing a bigger mess."
"Who are you to raise your voice at us!?" Sir Williams yelled at her.
"I am not here to babysit you three." Everin said cleaning up the broken shards.
"We were just trying to help." Taylor said hurt. "It's our first-time washing the dishes, ye don't have to be so mean to us."
Mean? Everin was about to explode. It would have been faster she done the dishes by herself.
"You silver spoons, washing dishes doesn't even require much skill. And let me remind you that I am the one washing the dishes, you three are only dry...," (The fuming lass was sudden showered with a downpour of cold water from the water hose."
When Everin wiped the dripping water from her drenched face, she saw the young squire holding the water hose. He had turned on the water hose wanting to wash off the excess soap on a metal plate.
"It was an accident." Taylor swore.
The lad's hair was disheveled, half of it has been pushed up into the middle by the water and the young squire was trying to hold in his laughter after seeing the lad's befuddled face.
"That's it." Everin dunked her hand into the basin of fresh water and splashed a large wave at the squire.
Using the metal plate to shield himself from the incoming attacks, the squire prepared to turn on the water hose. The baronet saw the two squires fooling around and tried to stop them.
"Stop this once." Sir Lee asked from the two as he dodged the incoming waves coming from the lass.
Unfortunately, the two squires couldn't hear the baronet and continued their skirmish. The lass ran behind the baronet using him as a shield as the squire aimed the hose at the lass.
"That's cowardly, Everin. How can ye hide behind Sir Lee?" The squire pointed out.
"If you can hit Sir Lee, then you can get to me." The lass immaturely stuck out her tongue at the squire knowing that the squire wouldn't dare to shoot at the baronet.
"Ye think I wouldn't dare to!" Taylor scoffed at the challenge given to him. "On the count of three, Sir Lee, if ye don't move, I will turn on the water."
The baronet was shocked and horrified that he had gotten himself into this fight. His own squire was threatening to shoot water at him, while the lass was using him as a shield. In a situation like this, he would have avoided the line of attack, but instead, he found himself unable to move.
"...two..., three." The squire ended his countdown and boldly showered the two with massive rainfall.
After hosing the two down for a few seconds, the squire turned off the valve. The two were drenched from head to toe.
"Don't blame me, I told ye to move." The squire laughed wildly.
Recovering from the attack, the baronet checked on the lass. "Are you alright?"
The lass, who was having fun, was laughing and enjoying the craziness. "Yeah, time for some payback."
The lass stepped aside and swiftly grabbed the broom. She attacked the squire from above and the squire defended it with a plate. She then pulled her broom back and thrust it towards the squire's face. Avoiding the dirty bristles of the broom, the squire backed into the pots and pans. Throwing the plate at the broom, the squire quickly grabbed the hose. Foreshadowing an incoming rainstorm, Everin instinctively stepped back.
However, her right sole caught itself on a ceramic shard and her whole being slipped on the flooded floors. As she propelled her arms backwards to catch her fall, everything around her slowed down. She felt herself inescapably falling into the million pieces of ceramic shards.
End of Chapter 37
Happy New Year!
Hahaha, I haven't posted for a month. Shame on me. Procrastination is bad, really bad. I think I started writing Everdog around January 2018. but didn't officially publish the first few chapters until June 2018. I can't believe that it's been two years already. Time pass by so fast.
Just want to thank you for all your support and love. I wish you all a great week and see you in the next update. <3