Chapter 54: Candied Fruit Tart

Today, Tess seemed like a completely different person.

She was actually in the kitchen, figuring out how to cook!

Liv hadn’t seen Tess all morning.

It was only after asking the maids that she found out where the elf was.

The moment she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by an astonishing sight.

Tess was clumsily kneading dough, and her hair was dusted with so much flour that it looked like she had yellow and white highlights.

“Tess, what are you doing?”

Tess dipped her flour-covered hands into some water and continued to work the dough.

“I’m making candied fruit tartlets. They’re our favorite dessert back in the Elven Kingdom. I have to let you taste the flavor of home, Liv.”

Liv watched Tess’s pointed ears twitching with her good mood.

Then she looked at the amateur kneading technique and the flour covering the girl’s body, and her heart ached a little.

“Tess, why don’t you let the maids give you a hand? I’d love to help too, but I really don’t know how to cook.”

Tess shook her head.

“No, don’t let them in.”

She then muttered under her breath, ‘I’m making this for Liv. What would be the point if they were involved?’

Liv stopped talking and sat on a kitchen chair, quietly watching Tess.

Tess kneaded the dough over and over.

Once it had clumped into tangled knots, she added a little more water and a bit of butter.

After it softened, she continued to press it, dusting the sticky outer layer with more flour.

She repeated this cycle until she was finally satisfied.

This went on for a long time.

Tess seemed exhausted.

The beads of sweat on her head mixed with the flour, causing her hair to gradually tangle into knots as well.

Next, she placed the mass of dough into an exquisite silver bowl, covered it with a lid, and set it directly into a large vat of cold water.

There was water between the large vat and the small bowl, but the inside of the bowl remained dry.

This was a common method used to chill ingredients.

She turned to Liv and said happily, “Hey, the dough needs to rest. In a while, we can take it out and shape the tartlet crusts.”

“When I was little, my sisters always stayed with me to make tartlets. I didn’t know how to do anything back then, but I loved shaping the crusts. I’d make them all crooked, and they’d look even weirder after they were baked. But my sisters always humored me, saying the ones I pinched tasted the best. I always thought the tartlets being good was all thanks to me.”

Liv didn’t say anything.

She brought over a clean towel and patted the flour off Tess’s body before making her sit down.

She then used a wet towel to wipe Tess’s hands, neck, and face.

Tess sat there quietly with her eyes closed.

As the towel passed over the nape of her neck, her cheeks, her brow, and her ears, the water marks on her face dried quickly.

The small bits of flour that had hardened like scabs were wiped away by Liv.

Finally, there was the hair.

Liv carefully picked out the small clumps of flour with her fingers, then used a comb to smooth out the tangles as much as possible.

Finally, she sighed.

“Tess, I think you need to take a bath.”

Tess looked back with a smile.

“Liv, since you’ve already gone this far, can you help me wash?”

When the maids ran to check on the kitchen to make sure Her Highness Tess hadn’t set it on fire, they found no one there.

All that remained was a lump of dough sitting in the vat.

Julia, who had come along to check, also frowned.

Beside the bath in the Queen’s suite.

Tess soaked in the water, her head tilted back slightly.

Her long golden hair spread out like a fan, floating on the surface.

Behind her, Liv was cleaning her hair, searching through it bit by bit to find the remaining flour crumbs.

Because she had to be so meticulous, she leaned down close to Tess’s hair, not missing a single gap.

“Hehe, found another one. This little flour ball was hidden so deep. You know, you should wear a hairnet when you’re working with flour… eh?”

Tess suddenly leaned back and kissed Liv on the forehead.

Liv’s ears instantly turned red from the base to the tips, and a series of nonsensical mumbles escaped her lips.

“Te—Tess! If you keep doing that, I’m not helping you with your hair!”

Tess looked up at Liv’s blushing face from an inverted angle.

“Aw, really, Liv?”

Liv ignored her and huffed, continuing to wash her hair.

She rubbed some lemon soft soap from the Elven Kingdom into a lather and gently inserted her fingers into the roots of Tess’s hair, massaging her scalp.

Then, she ran her fingers through the strands, slowly lifting them to let the foam soak into every inch of the long hair before scrubbing it thoroughly.

“Come to think of it, scrubbing hair is a lot like kneading dough,” Tess mused.

“Hah, I really want to knead your hair into a ball and deep-fry it. It’s so golden, it might actually taste good.”

“How about you take a raw bite right now?”

A scoop of fresh water was poured from the top of her forehead, washing away most of the foam.

Liv continued to scrub gently.

Tess closed her eyes, humming happily.

She lifted her legs and rested them lazily against the edge of the tub.

Liv pretended not to notice and kept washing.

Tess felt a bit of an itch on her left foot, so she swung her right leg over and used her right toes to scratch the top of her left foot, splashing some bubbles onto her legs.

Liv stole a few glances but kept scrubbing.

Suddenly, Tess let out a horrific scream.

Liv almost thought she had accidentally scratched a piece of the girl’s scalp off.

“My—my leg is cramping! Mom, aaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!”

The pig-slaughtering scream echoed throughout the entire consulate.

Only then did Julia realize exactly where they had been hiding to fool around.

In the dining room, Julia stood with her arms crossed, carefully scrutinizing the two elves sitting before her with their heads bowed.

Their pointed ears were twitching.

“So, that scream… was really just a leg cramp, Tess?”

Tess didn’t want to be lectured by Julia, but she was currently at a disadvantage.

“Yes, Lady Julia. Didn’t you see me limping when I walked out?”

Julia looked at Liv.

“Yes, she insisted on acting up and scratching herself with her toes. Of course she got a cramp.”

Julia still held her reservations about the story.

She rubbed her forehead.

“Tess wanted to make tartlets for Liv. But the kitchen stove can’t be kept lit all day. Let’s finish the tartlets together so we don’t end up without a crust by sunset.”

Tess didn’t object.

The large lump of dough was placed in the dining room.

Julia began using a long rolling pin to roll it out until it was thin.

Then, Tess brought over a table knife and divided the dough into several small pieces.

Everyone began to pinch the edges.

They had to shape the dough pieces—which were neither too thick nor too thin—into the shape of small bowls that wouldn’t collapse.

Tess was exceptionally serious.

Unlike when she was a child and would casually pinch them into various strange shapes, this time she strove for perfection.

She made sure every piece was a standard, flared round bowl, even checking carefully to prevent uneven thickness.

Julia was more casual, as long as they were bowl-shaped and didn’t leak.

Only after she noticed how hard Tess was working did she quietly mimic Tess’s technique, trying to make hers look better.

As for Liv, she was responsible for placing the finished crusts onto the baking trays and then adding the fruit on top.

The consulate was stocked with the highest quality candied fruits from the Elven Kingdom, such as orange segments, quinces, and figs.

Liv added them in order, ensuring that there would be roughly the same number of tartlets for each type of fruit.