Since I Wasn’t a Saint, I Decided to Become a Cook at the Royal Palace!

5 – Valtar Empire

…Apparently, I was surprisingly tough.

This wasn’t like not being able to sleep with a different pillow.
Suddenly being in a different country would be enough to make me go crazy, but I was in a different world. The situation was so strange.
An ordinary girl might have cried until the morning.
There was no way you could sleep in this situation. Not on the first night.

…And yet, I fell into a deep sleep.

Right now, I have just woken up. And something happened that was even more shocking to me than coming to another world.

“Good morning. Lady Rina. How are you feeling?”
Rina was too stunned to move, and so Lady Lana called to her gently. Seen from the outside, Rina must have looked very pitiful indeed.
“…Ah, good morning. …I’m fine.”
I’m just shocked at my own audacity… She thought this, but swallowed back the words.

As Rina changed into the clothes that Lady Lana had prepared, she listened to a quick explanation of this country.

The Valtar Empire. That’s what this place was called.
It was one of seven great countries. Last year, the emperor had died, and so his eldest son had taken his place.
There had been plans to turn the ‘Empire’ into a ‘Kingdom.’ However, upon the emperor’s death, monsters and reformations caused great chaos in the land, and changing the country so drastically now could cause even more chaos.
However, Emperor Felix did not want the same title as his father, who had misruled the empire. This resulted in a contradictory state, where he was called ‘King’…

But regardless of whether he was emperor or king, Prince Chuzel and Prince Egidils were his younger brothers…
…What a troublesome country I have been summoned to… That was what Rina thought.

Additionally, the king was currently out in order to suppress a stampede.
What is a ‘stampede’? She asked. To put it simply, it was like a ‘monster rampage.’’
Monsters were scary enough. But a rampage…

Not only that, but the king went out to hunt them himself!?
He was allowed to do that?
Shouldn’t someone stop him!
Rina couldn’t help but think this accusingly.

The clothes that Lady Lana had prepared was not a fluttery dress that a noblewoman might wear. It was commoner clothing that was simple and easy to move in, much to Rina’s relief.
Were they being considerate of me…? Maybe.

When she was finished changing, they moved to the next room. On the table, there was breakfast that Monica had prepared.

A soup filled with vegetables. Scrambled eggs. And bread that looked rather hard.

…What is this?

Rina narrowed her eyebrows.
She realized how privileged she had been when it came to food in her own world.
It seemed very simple. Unless, they had prepared it thinking that it was appropriate for a useless pig like myself.

“…Is it not enough?”
Monica asked her after Rina had stared at it for a second too long.
“…Uh, no. …I was just a little surprised at the difference with my world…the food culture…”
Rina said a little frantically.
She had probably been asking just to be polite.
Because if she sincerely thought that I wanted more…that would make me sad.
“…Indeed… You have come from a different world, after all. So there must be a lot that you find surprising.”
She said with an apologetic smile.
“No, I’m sorry! You went out of your way to prepare this for me…”
She apologized.
Just because you were in a palace, it did not mean you would be served fancy food. Especially since she wasn’t even a Saint. And so it would be quite rude for her to complain.
“…Thank you.”
And then Rina sat down on the chair.
She picked up the spoon and tasted the vegetable soup.
Potatoes, carrots, onions. Well, perhaps they weren’t called that here, but they looked and tasted the same.

…And? That’s how she would describe the taste.

Vegetables boiled in water with some salt. There was also a faint smell, which might have been herbs.
However, there was still very little taste… It might as well have been boiled plain.
As for the bread, it was so hard that it felt frozen.
…Had it been left outside for two to three days?
You could still chew it, but it took a lot of strength.

“…As the bread is hard, you should dip it into the soup when you eat it.”

…What?

She almost shouted.
Surely soft food should be eaten while it’s soft, and hard food should be eaten hard.
Croutons had to be crunchy, not soggy.
It was the same with rice crackers as well.

…No, I can do this.

It was just another difference between the two worlds that she would struggle with. And like that, Rina continued to nibble away at the bread.