Chapter 7: 1.6

When the chemical components containing the newest fire extinguishing agent on the market rushed out of the hose, the fire gradually lost its momentum and eventually went away. Since the extinguisher that Belfast used was a fire-fighting device used mainly for sorties, the speed at which it would extinguish the normal, non-combat fires was way higher than the commercial fire extinguishers.

 

After confirming that the fire inside of the stove was completely extinguished, Belfast put down the empty fire extinguisher and turned around, walking towards the kitchen windows and opening them all the way in order to let some of the fresh air inside of the room.

 

「…… Didn’t you say before that this Old Lady knows her way around the kitchen, Warspite-sama?」

 

In this particular situation, a snarky comment about Warspite’s earlier affirmation was more than appropriate. It would have been way stranger if Belfast did not comment on that.

 

Once the situation was all under control, Warspite hung her head low, her ears all lying down as well. She then apologized in a quiet, depressed voice.

 

「I-I’m sorry……」

 

Looking at Warspite’s current sullen and apologetic expression, Belfast knew that she was truly sorry for what she did and that it would be best to leave it at that now. There was no need to actually make her feel any worse.

 

So, without actually pursuing the matter any further, Belfast checked the inside of the oven, which has fortunately become perfectly calm and cold, and then she let out a deep sigh.

 

「If we hurry with cleaning the stove now, we might be able to get it up and running before the time for dinner, however ——」

 

At this rate, it was pretty much impossible to use the oven for the tea party that Elizabeth had planned for this afternoon. And the same thing could be said for the freshly baked scones that Elizabeth was looking so forward to eating alongside the tea —— they were still left in the oven where they were supposed to be slowly baking, but at the current moment they were nothing more but the burnt lumps of coal.

 

「It would have been an entirely different thing if those things at least finished baking before this catastrophe, but……」

 

When Belfast took out the scones from the extinguished oven while saying those words, Warspite, who was all timid and flustered up until now, rose her head and slowly looked at the tray with the burnt lumps sitting on it.

 

「Are those supposed to be…… scones, perhaps?」

 

 

 

「Huh?」

 

Being asked such a thing all of a sudden, Belfast could not help it but to frown her brow a little bit as a surprised sound escaped from her mouth, despite her efforts to look a calm and natural as possible.

 

「Her Majesty was really looking forward to have some freshly baked scones that would be served alongside the tea for today’s tea party, but unfortunately with the over being out of commission and the scones looking like this, I’m afraid that there is nothing that can be done about it……」

 

「H-Her Majesty was……!?」

 

After hearing that sudden revelation just now, Warspite let out a panicked and surprised voice, while on the other hand Belfast took the tray with the burnt scones towards the cooking table, where she started to place the burnt confections onto a napkin so that they would not make an even bigger mess on their way towards the trash can.

 

「But I guess that the blame for this situation lies partially with me as well. I knew that you were going to use the kitchen, Warspite-sama, but even so I did nothing to make sure that the scones that I was baking here would be safe. I must have let my guard down here, and I neglected to make sure that there won’t be any sudden flame hazard. And it is precisely because small misses like that, that ––––––」

 

Just then, when Belfast wanted to continue voicing her inner thoughts out loud, Warspite rose her face, a certain kind of determination clearly visible in her eyes.

 

「This is all my fault! And because of that, the blame is all mine, and I must atone for my actions! I knew that Her Majesty wanted to eat some freshly baked scones at today’s tea party, so I thought that I could bake a whole mountain of those and make Her Majesty happy with it! But before I knew it, things got completely out of control and then there was nothing that I could do to……」

 

「Warspite-sama…… You tried to bake scones on your own as well……?」

 

「–––––– Bel!!」

 

It was at that exact moment that Edinburgh appeared inside of the kitchen once again, finally being able to catch up with Belfast.

 

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「That smell of burning seemed to be originating from here and…… Uwah!? What is this……!?」

 

Despite Edinburgh’s sudden intrusion and immediate panic attack after seeing the state in which both the kitchen and the stove were at the current moment, Belfast placed her finger on her chin as if she was thinking deeply about something. There was little to no time left before it would be time for the afternoon tea party, and with the stove being the way it was right now, there was no way in which they could possibly circumvent this issue.

 

After thinking some more for another moment or two, Belfast finally snapped out of her inner world and looked towards Edinburgh, opening her mouth and speaking with a brisk and decided tone.

 

「I will explain everything later. Nee-san, for now please boil the first batch of tea on the stove over there. Also, prepare some jam and clotted cream while you are being at it.」

 

After that matter was all taken care of, next Belfast turned towards Warspite.

 

「Now then. I know that it might be a little sudden and that you might not understand, Warspite-sama, but we are going to make your scones and we are going to use them for this afternoon’s tea party.」

 

「I am really sorry that this is something so sudden, but I am sure that it will be something that will make Her Majesty happy.」

 

After that matter was taken care of, Belfast cast a quick glance at the clock that was hanging on one of the kitchen’s walls.

 

「The time for the afternoon tea party is almost upon us. Let us hurry up so that we can join the others with their preparations in the courtyard.」

 

* * *

 

When the three of them arrived at the round table that was carried out and placed in the center of the dormitory’s courtyard, they could clearly see that Elizabeth’s cheeks were puffed out and pouting with anger because someone had the audacity to be unaccounted for.

 

「You’re late!」

 

So said so, even though it’s only been about five minutes since the tea party started. So it was still within the expected margin of “Being fashionably late”.

 

Elisabeth was sitting behind the table in a graceful manner, even though her small stature required a special elongated stool for her to be able to sit behind the round table comfortably with everyone else. But even with all of that special preparation, it was plainly seen that she was barely sitting above the table’s level and that her height was not adequate enough for a table like that.

 

「I was beginning to feel so tired of waiting for you to show up that I almost ended up falling asleep!」

 

After quickly getting up from her seat and facing Belfast and her group, Elizabeth jerked her index finger right at the Head Maid.

 

In the meantime, Belfast took swift action and attached a booster seat to Elizabeth’s seat in order to adjust her sitting height.

 

As a side note here, the custom-made seats here, which were designed in a strictly Royal Navy fashion, came equipped with a low-resilience cushions that are really on one’s buttocks and can also be applied to any other chair if need be.

 

「Those cushions are very springy, aren’t they? And the way just how comfy they are, it makes you really sleepy.」

 

「I guess that they are very soft, but that’s not the issue here!」

 

Once the booster seat was properly installed onto her chair, Elizabeth sat back on it and acted as if this whole bit never actually took place.

 

Once that matter was all taken care of, Belfast politely bowed her head and then turned towards the person that was actually standing behind her this whole time, holding onto a plate.

 

「Your Majesty, how about we also include Warspite-sama for our tea party? Warspite-sama herself said that she would like to join you for the occasion.」

 

「…… Warspite, huh? I didn’t know that you actually had any interest in tea parties whatsoever –––––– And what’s with that plate that you are holding in your hands?」 

 

Elizabeth, who seemed neither too enthusiastic nor too pessimistic about the prospect of Warspite joining the tea party, pointed her finger to the plate that Warspite was holding onto.

 

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