TMOHI 11

Chapter : 11

Just imagining it was enough to make her heart swell.

Bellin suppressed the smile that kept creeping onto her face and focused on the task she’d been given.

Everything about the Quend Hotel really is amazing.

A bathroom where warm water could be used conveniently at any time, a refrigerator that could always keep food cold.

Electric lights that kept the room safe and bright, and so much more.

The hotel, where magic and science were blended in perfect balance, maintained an exceptionally high standard.

Of course, all of these are installed in noble estates, so they aren’t exactly rare.

But installing and maintaining them in every single hotel room?

That was an incredibly demanding task.

Is this the difference in caliber that comes with being number one in the industry…?

There were many astonishing aspects, but there was one thing Bellin was most curious about.

Namely—

‘Ah! This is Quend’s shampoo!’

It was an amenity distributed for free to guests staying at the Quend Hotel.

And among them, especially the shampoo!

Unlike soap, shampoo was a fairly expensive luxury item, something only people of the upper-middle class or higher could use comfortably.

And among all shampoos, Quend’s is said to be especially popular.

Bellin immediately squeezed some shampoo from the small, neatly arranged container in the bathroom.

She added water and worked it into a lather.

“Ah— it smells so good.”

The words slipped out without her realizing.

Bellin had served many noble young ladies during their baths while working as a maid, but this kind of fragrance was a first for her.

They said it was a shampoo specially developed by the Marquis of Quend’s household.

Some nobles even visited the hotel specifically because of this shampoo.

She could understand why.

Unlike perfume, it had a clean, refreshing scent with universal appeal.

She’d heard that when the lingering fragrance spread softly afterward, it revealed another kind of charm.

Yeah, at this level, it makes sense that the limited-edition Quend Hotel shampoo sold out instantly.

But that limited sale had only been a short-term event held to commemorate the Marquis of Quend’s birthday.

Normally, the only way to obtain Quend Hotel shampoo was to stay at the hotel.

“Whoever they are, they really know how to do business.”

Which was why it stung.

To think she had been so utterly defeated by someone who probably didn’t even know she existed—the Marquis of Quend, the owner of this hotel.

…No! Forget it!

Bellin shook her head briskly, finished inspecting even the bathroom, and stepped outside.

Celine, who had been waiting on a chair, came up to her.

“Unni! Let’s go to the restaurant now! It’s almost dinner time!”

In Celine’s hand was a notebook she hadn’t had before.

A quick glance showed the guest room neatly and carefully sketched in detail.

“I thought you’d just fool around without a care, but you’re actually diligent?”

“What do you take me for? When it’s time to work, I do it properly!”

Bellin skimmed through her sister’s drawings and smiled faintly.

With Celine’s illustrations and Bellin’s observations combined, they’d be able to write a flawless report.

Good. I’ll take everything I can get from this place before we go back…!

Firmly resolved, Bellin left the room together with her sister.

The Quend Hotel usually had two branches in a single city, divided into Gold and Silver.

Gold was the premium line, where nobles stayed. If you weren’t a noble to begin with, they wouldn’t even accept you.

Silver welcomed everyone who wasn’t a noble, with the main clientele being the middle class.

Naturally, the place where Bellin and Celine were staying was Silver.

“Wow, Unni! Look at the restaurant interior. That chandelier would fit perfectly in a banquet hall!”

“The musicians are top-notch too, and all the waiters have impeccable manners.”

“People staying here must really feel like nobles!”

“Even the Silver grade is this impressive.”

No wonder people went crazy trying to stay at the Quend Hotel.

It was this perfect, this good—and it was more accessible than Tadivna Island.

If it were her, she’d also choose a hotel in a port city serviced by steam trains over a deserted island that required traveling by ship.

And Weina is a tourist destination, so there’s plenty to enjoy.

Tadivna Island had beautiful natural scenery and… well, just beautiful natural scenery.

I’m worried.

It was true that Lady Eani had changed.

But honestly, someone who had never even experienced social life, let alone run a business—could she really pull it off?

Well, Lady Eani has the Duke of Seind’s family backing her, so even if it fails, maybe it’s fine?

But that wasn’t the picture Bellin wanted—a resort run in name only…

The more she examined the Quend Hotel, the more complicated Bellin’s feelings became.

Just then—

“Waaah—!”

A child’s crying rang loudly through the elegant restaurant.

“I don’t want to eat now! I want to play in the water!”

“Stop it! I told you it’s time to eat!”

“No! No! Waaah!”

As the child continued crying and throwing a tantrum, the young couple looked helpless. In the end, they left the restaurant without finishing their meal.

People whispered among themselves as they watched.

“That’s the age when they throw tantrums.”

“Then they should’ve just eaten at a noisier restaurant outside.”

“But it’s hot outside, and there are bugs. This place is the most comfortable with the temperature controlled by magic, isn’t it?”

Celine, sitting across from Bellin, said while eating the pre-meal bread.

“It really is hard to bring a child into a restaurant with this kind of atmosphere.”

“A child, huh…”

Come to think of it, when she’d seen the lobby at check-in, about half of the hotel guests were families with children.

But right now, the restaurant was full of adults only.

Where were all those families eating?

Just as that question crossed her mind—

“Huh?”

This time, Celine’s eyes widened.

She muttered while looking at a passing waiter.

“Letiz?”

Perhaps hearing her name, the waiter turned her head.

Then she spoke in a surprised voice.

“Oh my gosh—Celine? Is that you?”

Seeing a familiar face as well, Bellin’s lips curled into a grin.

Exactly eight hours before Letiz met the Bellin–Celine sisters.

She and the restaurant staff were shivering in the changing room.

There were waiters like Letiz there, as well as cooks.

Their one common trait was that they were all women.

“When is the sous-chef coming?”

“I don’t know. Ugh—why is she taking so long?”

After an agonizing wait—

Bang!

The changing room door flew open, and a woman stormed inside.

The woman, with healthy bronze-colored skin, immediately slammed the chef’s hat she was wearing onto the floor.

“You bastards—I’ll fry you alive!”

After spitting out a coarse curse, she stomped on the hat again and again.

The others rushed to stop her.

“Sous-chef! Please calm down!”

“You shouldn’t move so roughly!”

“You’re in early pregnancy right now! It’s dangerous!”

At her colleagues’ desperate pleas, the woman—Meno—finally stopped kicking, panting heavily.

But her face was still filled with resentment.

“How could they do this to me?!”

Things must have gone badly…

At her cry, everyone felt a sense of despair.

“Meno, does that mean you really have to quit?”

“This is a joke, right? Your belly isn’t even showing yet!”

“If kitchen work is too much, you could just give instructions from the back…”

With Meno’s experience, she could easily run the kitchen just by giving directions.

She was a prodigy who had graduated top of her class from the Capital Culinary Academy—an institution notoriously difficult to enter!

After that, she returned to her hometown of Weina and joined the Quend Hotel restaurant.

Starting as a trainee, she rose to the position of sous-chef—an expert with the best career a female chef could hope for.

But what did any of that matter?

“They say that’s the head chef’s job! And they’re the ones who never promoted me in the first place!”

Despite her outstanding skills, she could never rise above the position of sous-chef.

The head chef position was always taken by men who joined later than her or were less capable.

And even when those men left to open their own restaurants or were scouted as private chefs by nobles—

Meno stayed, steadfastly holding her position.

Because she believed that someday her efforts would be recognized, and she would become the first female head chef.

I devoted twenty years of my life to this kitchen!

“And now you’re telling me to quit working and just relax and have a baby?! Does that make any sense?!”

Because she had married very late due to her work, she had given up on having children.

Then this blessing came unexpectedly.

She wanted to cherish it more than anything…

“At the very least! At the very least, shouldn’t they tell me to come back after I give birth?!”