Chapter 216 Face-to-face Peeping

The footprints extended to the castle gate and then vanished.

No one noticed this, not even the retainer knights patrolling around the castle in the heavy snow.

In the castle’s kitchen, Mrs. Abby’s voice was so loud it could be heard in the hall. Butler Carter, who was polishing the chandeliers and wall decorations, couldn’t help but shrug when he heard her.

“She’s always so rude. Why do you tolerate her?” Thomas said sarcastically as he arranged the chairs in the hall.

Carter didn’t like Thomas, not only because Thomas disrespected his authority as the butler, but also because Thomas enjoyed speaking ill of others. He replied sternly, “Because she is Mrs. Abby, and because Master loves the delicious food she prepares. The servants enjoy it too.”

“I suppose so. If it weren’t for her cooking skills, Master would have fired her long ago.”

“That’s not certain. Master is a noble gentleman with a kind heart. He would find a new position for Mrs. Abby.”

“Master is too kind to the servants. In my opinion, Jesse, Tom, and Irene should all be dismissed; they’re just useless.”

“Best not let Master hear that. Everyone is doing their part, and they haven’t made any mistakes. They shouldn’t be called useless.”

“Ha!” Thomas sneered. “Anyone else could do better than them!”

As he spoke, Mrs. Abby’s high-pitched voice suddenly came from the kitchen: “Damn Irene, where are the vegetables I asked you to wash? If you delay Master’s dinner, I’ll kiss your bottom with my boot!”

Then came Irene’s loud rebuttal: “I’m washing the beans, as you instructed!”

“Oh, really? Can’t you be more efficient and wash both the beans and the vegetables?”

“Do you know how many beans there are? Maggie, tell Mrs. Abby, I think her eyesight is failing!”

“Heavens, are you rebelling, Irene!”

The argument in the kitchen provided material for Thomas, who snorted disdainfully, “This is what you call everyone doing their part. The truth is, useless people are useless.”

Carter ignored him and said, “Have you set up the tables and chairs upstairs? The dinner party will start early today, so don’t be late.”

“Aren’t Tom and Jesse going to set up the tables and chairs?”

“They need to deliver food to town, so I’m assigning this task to you.”

“Ha!”

Thomas laughed mockingly but still went upstairs. As a personal valet, he had to follow the butler’s orders.

However, the argument in the kitchen didn’t stop. Mrs. Abby continued to roar like a hairdryer, and Irene kept arguing back angrily. Despite the quarrel, the kitchen work proceeded smoothly, and even the young maids in training carried out their duties without disruption.

Everyone was used to the strange relationship between Mrs. Abby and Irene. Sometimes they acted like enemies, and other times like mother and daughter.

Maggie was used to it too.

She held a broom, sweeping up the rotten vegetable leaves on the floor, which would be given to the peasants to feed the chickens.

“Maggie, do you want some?” After the argument paused, Irene, who was responsible for washing vegetables, suddenly pulled out a handful of shriveled peanuts from a corner and offered them to Maggie as if nothing had happened.

“No, thank you, Sister Irene. I have some, and I haven’t eaten yet.” She also pulled out a handful of shriveled peanuts from a corner.

The town had a peanut processing workshop that bought many shelled peanuts daily. Plump peanuts were suitable for making various peanut snacks and peanut butter, which were sold by traders. The leftover shriveled peanuts were given to the castle servants as snacks.

Working at the castle certainly had its perks, which ordinary people couldn’t enjoy.

Irene put the peanuts in her pocket and said, “Fried peanuts taste the best. After the dinner party, when Mrs. Abby leaves the kitchen, we can fry the peanuts ourselves.”

“Mrs. Abby won’t allow it.”

“As long as she doesn’t find out, don’t worry. I’ll clean the pot, and she won’t notice.”

“But Mr. Carter might find out and punish you.”

“It’s fine. Just using the pot to fry peanuts won’t get me in trouble. He and Master never mistreat us servants, even if I’m just a kitchen maid.”

“Alright then.” Maggie licked her lips. After tasting fried peanuts once, she fell in love with this delicious snack, which was much better than the servants’ usual dinners.

...

In the bathroom.

Liszt stood beside the bathtub, continuously measuring the size of the bathtub and the bathroom with a tape measure.

After collecting the data, he rushed to the study, took out thick parchment, and began writing and drawing, designing the so-called hot spring bathtub.

A baby dragon wasn’t a safe energy source.

It was essential to ensure it could heat the water while maintaining safety. This design required considerable mental effort, and the blacksmiths and carpenters in Flower Town definitely lacked the knowledge and insight to design a hot spring bathtub.

“It seems the three laws of thermodynamics or something similar define the three properties of heating water: convection, conduction, and radiation. Radiation isn’t needed here, but conduction and convection are the most suitable methods. With conduction, heating just one part of the bathtub can warm the entire tub.”

As he thought, his mind started to get a bit muddled. Most of what he learned in junior high physics had been forgotten.

But he knew one thing: whether heating the water from the bottom to create convection, causing hot water to rise and cold water to sink, or heating the water from the side to transfer warmth to the other side, a separate water tank isolated from the bathtub was needed to heat the baby dragon.

“The baby dragon can’t keep heating indefinitely. After bathing, it needs to be stored, so I must immediately commission an artisan to carve a volcanic glass jar... The problem is how to release the bubbles inside during carving.”

He propped himself up on the table, idly tilting the chair back on two legs.

He picked up a piece of volcanic glass and cast the Magic Eye spell, preparing to observe the fire dragon magic inside the bubbles and think about how to work with the artisans to collect the fire dragon magic.

However, when the Magic Eye spell was cast, his gaze landed on a spot near the window in the study, and he was instantly startled.

His hand trembled, and the volcanic glass was thrown away, the chair tipping over as well.

Fortunately, he was agile enough to twist his body, suppress his fall, and steady himself by holding onto the table.

Then, he forced his gaze to shift to the volcanic glass on the ground, avoiding the window where a figure composed of magic had suddenly appeared, leaning against the wall. It was clear that this was a woman with ample bosom, her arms crossed, her eyes seemingly fixed on Liszt.

The unexpected appearance of the magical figure in what he considered an absolutely safe study would have been enough to scare anyone to death.

Fortunately, Liszt used the commotion of his awkward fall to mask his surprise.

He did not alarm the magical figure, who merely changed her posture, continuing to lean against the wall, watching Liszt.

"What is this? What is it?" Liszt bent down, carefully picking up the volcanic glass, forcing himself to calm down and think about what this sudden magical figure could be.

By the time he straightened up,

the panic and shock had quickly subsided, and his mind regained its sharpness, immediately recalling the reward from the smoke mission—the thief who could spy on the lord.

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