Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"Ah, you are here!" Evan smiled brightly when she saw that the one entering the kitchen was Eli. her hands that were turning the grilled chicken stopped and she put the ladle down on the counter.

Walking towards the furnace, she wore mittens and took out a vanilla cake and presented it to Eli who was standing in front of her now.

"So, how is it looking?" she asked like a small girl who had made something for the very first time and now was waiting for her mother to praise her!

Eli took a fork and pressed the cake with it. It was soft and spongy as the fork bounced back. Eli could feel the sweet fragrance of the cake wafting into her nose and nodded with a pleased smile.

"It looks delicious! Evan's face brightened with this simple compliment. She giggled like a child who was praised for his good deeds. 

She laid the cake back on the table and poured soup in a small bowl.

"And this?" she fluttered her eyes again as she looked expectantly at Eli making her amused.

"I am here to help you, Evangeline. I am not here to judge you!" she replied as a maid came forward and tied the apron on the expensive gown of Eli.

"Giving me advice and proper criticism is also a good help, Eli! Tell me what shall I add more to it?" Eli looked at the colorful liquid that was thick and tempting. She held the spoon and once again the smell filled his nostrils. Taking a small sip, she almost moaned. It was so perfect! For a minute she thought that it was made by her mother!

She could not help but take one spoon of soup until the bowl was empty.

"What else have you cooked?" she asked with a voice full of expectations while her eyes filled with longing. As if she was not looking at food but at a person in her memories.

Surprised by the sudden enthusiasm, Evan was taken back but then she soon replied with equal vigor!

"I have made steak, omelette, soup, cakes, veggies, grilled fish and mushrooms with rice.'' She opened all the lids one by one as she showed the table to Eli whose eyes sparkled with amazement. She had never expected that Evan would manage to make so much in a short amount of time and that also up to their taste!

She was sure that commoners did not get to eat cakes! The sugar was an expensive element and they had to depend on fruits to sweeten their foods and the cream was also not available easily! And those dishes! Though they were not so royal, yet the taste felt so perfect that she was not able to stop herself from eating all of it!

"Where did you learn to make all this?" asked Eli as she took a piece of mushroom on a plate and tasted it. The creamy taste was not greasy or oily but a velvety taste that had filled her mouth with a desire to have more of it.

Evan brows furrowed. Did she think that they had servants at home like them! She snorted and then raised her head high in the sky, "of course, i have been cooking since a long time. I had made all my best dishes that I had cooked perfectly every time." she replied with a proud voice as she waited for more appreciation but Eli blinked!

She even forgot that she was about to taste the fruit pie and fritters! 

"You mean the commoners in your town eat these kinds of dishes at home?" though she could believe that rice and soup was common. But the ingredients she had used in making soup are rare that only nobles could afford! Yet she had blended them perfectly and even the spices. She was sure that not all the spices are available for the commoners.

Didn't the report say that her father did not do anything but live on the loans! 

"I do not know about others, as I hardly have meals with others. But that is what we used to eat at our home. My mother taught me how to make everything personally. And she used to love the cakes I had made.`` Evan continued to boost her cooking without noticing the change in the expressions of Eli whose eyes filled with disbelief but she did not say a thing!

"Very well, I do not think more dishes would be needed. Go and get ready for lunch. You should be presentable like breakfast. Even though only we ladies would have the meal together, we should be dressed up well." she replied as she gave one last look to the sumptuous meal on the table.

"Oh! Is the highness and my lord not joining us?" asked Eve as she wiped her hands with her apron. A maid came forward and untied her apron and took it off.

"Hmm, father is not back yet and Leo might come late for his training." replied Eli as she forwarded her hand and a maid came forward and took the dishes from her hands.

A sour taste filled the mouth of Evan when she heard Eli's last statement! Her chest felt a bit stuffy when she remembered how easily he had accepted the request of that girl to join him for the training. 

'He must have been having the greatest time of his life! But why do I care? It was his loss that he did not get the chance to eat the food i have cooked so passionately!' 

"Hmph! I did not know my curse works that well!" she snorted as she remembered cursing him to have a spendthrift wife.

"Pardon!" Evan shook her head when Eli gave her a curious look. She was not dumb enough to tell about it to these brother protector sister.

"Nothing, I was just saying I should go and dress up for lunch." Eli nodded as she tilted her head and Evan left after bowing her head. Eli's eyes narrowed on her retreating figure as she pointed at the maid standing nearby.

"Yes, my lady?"

"Do you have sugar in your house?"

".........."