Time Healer Ceres

“Why on earth?!”

Why did His Excellency always leave the kitchen looking like this?!

It had all started when Grand Duke Persia brought back an unconscious young lady. Chef Teddy knew very well who she was. Lately, she has been the one cooking for the Grand Duke.

“That young lady will be cooking in my place?”

“Yes. We hope you’ll understand.”

“How can I possibly understand that?!”

When Del, the Grand Duke’s aide, first broke the news to him, Teddy was both offended and deeply put out. In the end, though, he simply stepped aside and handed over the kitchen.

If his own cooking hadn’t worked, what difference would another cook make? Especially when she wasn’t even a professional chef.

And yet...

“...He finished everything?”

“Yes. It seems the food suited His Excellency’s taste. That’s a relief.”

The first time a plate came back completely clean, Teddy could only stare at it in stunned silence.

When that young lady had first wandered around the kitchen cooking whatever she pleased, he’d nearly laughed... But somehow, from that day on, every meal for the Grand Duke had been entrusted to her. And every plate came back empty.

The more he saw it, the more baffled he became. It wasn’t like she was serving anything extraordinary. The dishes were simple.

So, how was it possible that his cooking had lost to food like that?

A message already arrived from the Imperial Palace ordering him to return, but he couldn’t leave just yet. Not until he figured out what kind of food had won over the Grand Duke’s impossible appetite.

Then, a few days ago, the young lady was carried back unconscious in the Grand Duke’s arms. The problem was—

“What’s he making today?”

“Salad, stew, and bread.”

“Just... just those three?”

And the kitchen ended up looking like this?

“Ugh...”

The answer, of course, was the Grand Duke himself.

Ever since then, he had shown up in the kitchen every single day, insisting on cooking himself.

“Was His Excellency here before dawn again today?”

“Yes.”

The first time everyone found him standing in the kitchen, they had nearly dropped dead from shock.

“Y-Your Excellency? What are you doing in here...?”

“Making soup. It’s for a patient.”

“But we can take care of that...”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Watching him stand there for more than half an hour with a carrot in hand, trying to figure out how to cut it, had been nerve-racking enough.

And why was he glaring at a bell pepper like it had personally offended him?

Whenever he picked up a knife, he chopped with such frightening intensity that it looked like he was cutting down an enemy. Everyone nearby kept their distance.

Though, to be fair, he was excellent with a knife.

The real problem was that making a single dish somehow required every tool and ingredient in the kitchen. By the time he was done, the entire place looked as though a tornado had passed through.

“Haah...”

Once again, Chef Teddy let out a long, weary sigh as he looked around the kitchen, now completely unusable.

***

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

As soon as Ceres arrived at the Academy, she was called into the faculty office to meet with her homeroom teacher, Daniel.

She had barely returned before disappearing again. After missing four straight days of classes, being summoned was only natural.

In my defense, I never intended to take four days off.

This was all that fool Kai’s fault.

Even after she told him she was fine, he’d insisted on keeping her home and forcing her to rest. What kind of strange fixation was that?

“By the way, how do you know the Grand Duke of Persia?”

“Hm?”

“The person who came to file your leave of absence was the Grand Duke’s aide.”

“Ah...”

She’d heard someone had submitted the paperwork for her, but she never asked who. Apparently, Del had come himself.

“I owe him money.”

“Pardon?”

“He’s my creditor.”

“...Your creditor?”

“I should get going.”

The thick lenses of Daniel’s glasses obscured most of his expression, but there was no mistaking the look of surprise in his widened eyes.

Ceres gave him a small nod before making her way out of the office.

Click.

“......”

A short while later, she stepped into the classroom.

As she headed for her seat, her attention caught on someone. There was a girl sitting in the very last seat by the window.

I had no idea the princess was in my class.

Nailia de Devrica. Only today did Ceres discover they were classmates.

Though I suppose that isn’t surprising.

She rarely paid attention to anyone around her. Had she not run into Nailia at the Imperial Banquet, she still wouldn’t have known.

The reason the princess had stuck in her memory, despite the fact that they’d never exchanged more than a glance, was simple.

She kept staring daggers at me.

There was so much displeasure in that gaze that Ceres briefly wondered if she’d committed offense without realizing it. But after discovering they were in the same class today, it all started to make sense.

For whatever reason, her classmates seemed to dislike her on principle.

“Lady Nailia!”

At that moment, the classroom door flew open.

A girl hurried inside and went straight to Nailia, her voice bright with excitement. With her wavy blonde hair and vivid green eyes, she looked like a doll.

“Aria.”

A faint smile touched Nailia’s lips.

Until now, she did nothing but stare out the window with a blank expression. But the sight of the newcomer softened her features for a second.

Aria beamed back at her.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better now! Thanks to you worrying about me.”

She smiled shyly as she lowered her head a little, as if touched by the concern shown for her. It was impossible not to find her adorable.

“Oh my, Aria!”

“Welcome back, Aria!”

Before long, the rest of the class had crowded around her, each eager to greet her first.

“Hi! Have you all been doing well?”

In the blink of an eye, Aria was surrounded by classmates. She greeted each of them in turn, smiling the whole time.

“Hm.”

After watching from her seat, Ceres eventually laid her head down on her desk. Looks like that girl hadn’t attended the Academy for a while, either.

Why should that matter to me?

Might as well get some sleep.

“Ceres!”

“.....?”

That thought lasted all of ten seconds.

Someone was calling her name. Looking up, she found Aria hurrying toward her with a dazzling smile. In fact, she looked even happier now than when she greeted Princess Nailia.

Before Ceres could react, Aria already took hold of her hands.

“I’m back! You were worried about me, right? Look!”

She pushed up the sleeve of her right arm.

“See? I’m all better now.”

Judging by the skin underneath, she’d suffered a burn recently. Though now, only a faint trace remained.

“Aria, what are you doing?”

“Come here.”

“What if you get hurt again?”

Several students rushed over and quickly pulled Aria away. The looks they threw at Ceres were sharper than usual.

“Why are you all acting like this? It’s not like Ceres did it on purpose.”

Aria shook her head, trying to calm them down. Unfortunately, that only prompted louder complaints.

“That’s exactly why people walk all over you!”

“How can you say it wasn’t on purpose?”

“Come on, stop it.”

Aria looked increasingly troubled as she tried to placate everyone.

Meanwhile, Ceres could only stare at the scene in disbelief.

What are they even doing?

***

Aria Shaiella.

The Shaiella Barony was much like the Drow family. It was a noble house with little more than its title left.

A friend, huh...

Apparently, Aria was the only person at the Academy who had ever been willing to befriend Ceres.

“Ceres! Let’s have lunch together!”

She was friendly, cheerful, and always smiling. At a glance, she seemed genuinely kindhearted.

“......”

Ceres’s gaze drifted to Aria’s right arm once more. From what she’d heard, the injury was caused by the original owner of this body.

It happened during a cooking lesson.

Ceres had been carrying a pot of hot water when she collided with Aria. The hot water had spilled onto her, leaving her with burns.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?!”

“What kind of question is that? Of course she did! The senior she liked started paying attention to Aria!”

“Exactly! This isn’t the first time something like this has happened!”

None of the other students believed it was an accident. Everyone was convinced Ceres had deliberately poured hot water on Aria.

Geez, it might’ve been easier if she really were that sort of person.

If the original Ceres were vicious enough to dump boiling water on someone she disliked and pass it off as an accident, she wouldn’t have chosen to end her own life. And she certainly wouldn’t have spent years letting her aunt push her around either.

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