Chapter 13: Chapter Thirteen – Getting Things in Place

After dinner Harriette brought me a large stack of orange peels as requested. Not that they were actually orange, but as long as they tasted the same I wasn’t about to argue.

Setting aside some to dry out for later, I began the process of making candied orange peels. Which ultimately came down to boiling the peels several times to soften them, then simmering them in a sugar solution. After that, all I had to do was dust them with sugar and set them aside to dry.

In a world without proper water filtration, the process I knew was pretty water wasteful. Luckily Harriette was able to summon the stuff out of midair with her magic, so I didn’t really have to worry about it.

“You’ll get to try one once they’ve dried. They’re not done yet.” I grumbled, swatting Harriette’s hands away from the peels.

“I need to make sure you’re not feeding Lady Otrea anything unpleasant.”

“You know I wouldn’t,” I laughed nervously. “She’d dangle me from the ceiling by my toes. Or perhaps she’d just cut my toes off completely. I wouldn’t have considered it if I didn’t know it was delicious.”

“I guess you do have many reasons to do well.” Harriette sighed, her gaze lingering on the candied peels. “You’ll let me know as soon as I can try one right?”

“Of course! Actually… why don’t you stay in my room tonight? You promised you’d cuddle with me and you haven’t yet, so this is the perfect opportunity. The peels might be dry in the morning.”

“Very well.” Harriette turned away from the peels and then began to undress.

“Shouldn’t you go get your pajamas before stripping?!” I asked as my cheeks began to grow hot.

“Hmm?” Harriette tilted her head at me as the last of her clothing dropped to the floor. “I don’t wear anything when I sleep though.”

“… you sleep naked?”

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t think about informing me of this before removing your clothing?”

“I’ve seen inside your head, I knew you’d be ok with it. Actually, it’s really weird that you’re being so uptight about it right now.”

“It’s not that I have a problem with it,” I huffed. “Just having a little time to prepare my heart would’ve been nice.”

“Take all the time you need,” Harriette chuckled as she climbed into my bed.

Rolling my eyes at the very naked dragongirl I proceeded to change into the sweater I wore as pajamas. Then after… staring a little, I climbed into bed with Harriette.

Seriously though, who would’ve thought she’d have a small patch of scales instead of…

I quickly realized that my belief cuddling Harriette would be better than cuddling Otrea was simply a delusion. Even if the sadist scared me, it was an entirely different kind of heart trouble having someone’s bare… assets rubbing against my back.

They’re soo soft.

My poor little gay heart could hardly take it. Chewing my lip I clutched my pillow tightly and counted sheep until my mind was so numb it finally surrendered.

You are reading story Reborn as a Basic Barista at novel35.com

Haha! I’ve transcended earthly desires~! We’re in magical girl territory!

The next morning I awoke to find Harriette crouched over the candied peels, staring intently at them as though they’d offended her. Yawning and stretching I stood up and padded over to her.

“Looks like they’re not dry enough yet.”

“Can’t I eat one anyway?”

I giggled. “Looks like my older sister has a weakness for sweets.”

“You’d be curious too if someone told you they could make candy out of something you considered garbage.” Harriette retorted before standing. “Now I’ve spent enough time with you, I need to go start breakfast for Lady Otrea.”

“Ah, yeah! Thanks for staying with me.”

“You’re welcome Bernice, I’ll be back to see you later.”

Once I was alone I changed clothes and then collected a couple of my glowing stones in a small glass. Then I headed off to the food storage room Kyra had led me to the day before.

I passed Harriette who was carrying a basket full of her ingredients for the day and gave her a grin. After seeing me make candy out of orange peels I was certain she was curious what I was up to, but I wasn’t about to reveal my tricks.

I was hopeful they had cinnamon and licorice root. Both paired well with orange. Plus licorice root tea was naturally sweet and said to help calm nerves. A fringe benefit for sure, just in case Otrea decided I’d somehow failed the task she’d given me.

Once in the pantry, I set my little glowing stones around to make everything easier to see. After that I began going through every spice jar I could find.

I quickly found a jar of cinnamon sticks, which looked just like I expected it to. After using [Analyze] to confirm I was correct, I set the jar aside and kept searching for licorice root.

Amazingly enough, they had it. Giddily I stared at two glass jars in front of me. One containing cinnamon, and another containing licorice root. I’d been hopeful they’d have them, but actually having the spices in hand was really surprising. I was getting used to my favorite things being unknown after both coffee and tea turned out to be foreign concepts.

Honestly, do the people in this world only drink fruit juice and alcohol? Have they really not considered soaking things in water to make tasty beverages?

Smiling to myself I grabbed a small bag of unrefined rock sugar and returned to my room. Everything I needed was in my possession. Now all I needed was to wait for the day of the meeting to put it all together.

“Maybe Otrea will love this so much she’ll completely forgive me,” I hummed. I still wanted to find coffee for my own benefit, but not having the threat of Otrea over my head could only be good for my emotional wellbeing. Maybe I’d even be able to enjoy her attention a bit more.

I just hope her guests like it.

I’d been so laser focused on pleasing Otrea I hadn’t really given any thought to her guests. Not that it mattered, I doubted anyone would be able to give me any decent intel on their likes and dislikes. Besides if they didn’t like it, they just wouldn’t drink it. Otrea was the only one who’d punish me for making something she didn’t like the taste of.

Glancing over at my drying orange peels I couldn’t help but silently pray Otrea would like what I was about to make. I really didn’t want to become a boiled and candied bun.