Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride

Book 1: A Girl in Another World - Chapter 14

Quinn

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting around an open fire near the banks of the waterfall. I painstakingly watched as Vincent stirred a pot of unappetizing-looking soup and at the same time turning over a slab of meat on a mesh griddle. The meat was so thick and looked so tough I thought it'd probably break teeth upon biting.

The sound of horse hooves drew my attention, and since neither Aldric nor Vincent reacted, I suspected it must be the older gentleman.

Indeed, he appeared, and after climbing down and tethering his stallion next to a tree, he came to join us. His eyes on me, he said, "Theo Wakefield."

Finally, a man who was willing to share his last name, and what a cool one indeed. I said, "Quinn Fairchild, sir, and I like your name. Theo Wakefield sounds so... regal, like a grand knight or something."

He chuckled. "Oh, my, we have a lad with a silver tongue."

I narrowed my eyes at him and asked, "Is that supposed to be a compliment, or are you dishing at me, sir?"

"It's a compliment, lad," he said. He turned to the pot of soup and grilling meat. "Smells nice."

I raised a brow. He thought that smelled nice? What in heaven had these people been eating? Those smelled anything but nice.

Despite being damn hungry, I didn't think my stomach could take the bland soup and tough meat. I didn't think my taste buds could take it.

My tummy growled again, and Vincent said, "Your hunger is loud for a pipsqueak."

"Please stop dishing at me, sir," I said. "I'm so hungry and so very low in glucose, my brain has gone numb."

"Glucose? What the heck is that?" Vincent asked.

Aldric reached into a bag and brought out bread—rock-hard, black-as-night rye bread. He passed it to me as he said, "Eat this first."

How truly kind and very understanding of him, but I raised my hand and said, "No, I'm fine, thank you, sir. Since you're sharing your food with me, how about I share mine with you as well?" I pulled around my satchel, opened it, and looked inside.

A crushed flax box along with what used to be my filled roll greeted me. They had been smashed to bits from my encounter with the orcs. I glanced up and saw Aldric, Vincent, and Mr. Wakefield looking at me.

Vincent said, "What's the point in sharing when it's just going to be bread and cheese?"

I said, smirking, "Bread and cheese, eh? If you don't want to, you're welcome to not have any, sir."

With my hand in the bag, I summoned a magic circle and created what I needed as pre-made ingredients. I pulled out a big box, again made of flax, and put it on the ground.

"Oh, a storage bag," Mr. Wakefield said. "I'm surprised you have one of those, lad. Your family must be wealthy."

Storage bag, eh? They did have that sort of thing here.

"Just your average middle class," I said, referring to my family back on Earth. To Vincent, I said, "I'll be borrowing your grill, sir."

"Go for it," he said, stirring the soup, a smirk on his lips. "It'd be interesting to see a pipsqueak cook."

I sighed. "As I said, you're welcome to not have any. That just means there'll be more for Aldric and Mr. Wakefield."

Vincent snorted. "As if a pipsqueak like you can cook. Granted, I'm a horrible one myself, but a kid like you has probably never even stepped foot in the kitchen before."