What interested her was how Claude could turn common ingredients into new delicacies. It whetted her appetite and she ate with relish.
"Madam, fries like this can cause you to cough and produce phlegm if you eat too much. It's not bad to eat it occasionally as a snack, but it's not good for your body as a main meal," Claude advised.
Fish, meat and fruits were a must for a noble's dinner.
But Claude only managed to find meat and no fresh fish.
The village chief did have a salted fish that had been kept there for a long time and treated it as a family heirloom. But when Claude saw the blackened dried fish, he gave up on the idea.
There was no fresh fruit either, only a small bag of dried fruits. Perhaps that could be used as a substitute for fruit.
There was meat though. Many people passed the checkpoint in the morning, so Maqki bought a lamb from the village and slaughtered it to sell at a roadside restaurant. There was still a small portion of ribs left. Claude had Gum bring it over to serve as a main dish.
He then had the village chief catch a hen and stew it with mushrooms. There was also soup.
Next, he had to make up for the lack of ingredients. He fried two slices of bacon, cut them into small pieces, and placed them in the shape of a fish.
He then had the soldiers in charge of the kitchen peel the potatoes and fry them in a pan of oil. He made a big plate of fries and mixed a small bowl of jam for dipping.
Seeing that there were still eggs left in the kitchen, he steamed them and it took him an hour to finish. He then called Myjack and Gum over to serve the food.
Baroness Vakusili had a good alcohol tolerance. While waiting for dinner, she finished an entire bottle of fruit wine without a change in expression.
Claude had no choice but to have Myjack bring another bottle to his room to go with the meal.
The wine was harvested when they entered the three southern prefectures. At the edge of the Pikleit Mountains was a winery owned by an Askilin noble. As the vanguard, 1st Ranger Tribe didn't hesitate to commandeer it in the name of enemy property and split the hundreds of bottles of wine in its cellar.
Claude was given two crates of twenty-four bottles and a set of silverware. They were all put to good use.
"Why did you put all the wine in the bedroom?" The beautiful madam asked curiously.
Claude thought, Apart from my bedroom, I wouldn't dare put it anywhere else. How long has it been? There are only around ten bottles left of the two cases.
Ma Keqi, that old drunkard, had already tricked three bottles out of my hands. If I left them in my office, they would be gone in the blink of an eye …
He covered the table with a white linen tablecloth, placed the food and wine on it, and placed the silver candlesticks on the table. Finally, it looked like a candlelight dinner.
Claude politely invited the beautiful lady to sit down for a meal and apologized for the lack of resources and the poor quality of the food, causing her to feel aggrieved.
She wasn't interested in the main course, the pan-fried lamb chops. She didn't eat a single bite and only poked it with her silver fork to express that the lamb was too skinny and overcooked.
As for the mushroom stew with hen, she only ate two or three pieces of mushroom and drank two mouthfuls of soup. She didn't touch the hen at all.
As for the fish made of bacon and the dried fruits, she only glanced at them.
On the other hand, Claude's steamed egg was to her liking. She finished it in one go and dipped her fries into the jam. She ate the entire plate clean in no time at all.
After the meal, the beautiful madam got into the mood and started chatting with Claude on the sofa.
Perhaps because she had too much to drink, she was the one talking most of the time. Claude listened and chimed in from time to time to guide her on.
Women are emotional, while men are rational. Even if they tend to turn into animals with their lower bodies, they will immediately enter the time of a sage after venting to reflect on their own mistakes.
Women, on the other hand, were different. As long as there was a physical connection, their minds would be easily controlled by men.
Of course, that only applied to normal women. The eccentric ones weren't included.
As a veteran in his past life, Claude knew very well that the key to making a good impression on a woman was to listen patiently.
Using money to throw a woman on the bed was the lowest of the low standards. That was just selling her body.
Just like those lonely women in bars, many white-collar and gold-collar women in the city went to bars not to look for men, but to vent their emotions.
The pace of change in modern society was extremely fast. Who wouldn't have a bellyful of bitterness when making a living in the jungle?
When men and women got together, most of them didn't need to show off, but to talk about their troubles.
In times like that, they needed a friend of the opposite sex who could understand them and let them talk about their troubles. That way, they would be able to confide in them and treat them as a close friend. Along with a few bottles of good wine, a night of debauchery and debauchery was inevitable.
That was already the fourth bottle of wine. Claude couldn't help but feel shocked. The beautiful madam in front of him had already finished three and a half bottles.
She had just finished talking about her childhood with her father, Liboyd, and her life as a nun in the Temple of the Moon Goddess. Now she was telling her love story, how she met Baron Vakusili, fell in love with him, and married him. Then she became a widow and inherited the title of Baroness.
Well, the beautiful madam was actually a widow. Her husband had a short life and died on the battlefield less than half a year after they got married.
It was a small skirmish between the nobles of Askilin and Canas. Small skirmishes like this happened every once in a while between the two duchies. It didn't escalate to the national level, so the higher-ups could only try to pacify the two sides and call it quits.
Speaking of which, the beautiful madam had a tough life. When she was young, her father wasn't famous and her mother died in childbirth, leaving her and her father alone.
Her father had to work at the gunsmith workshop and she was locked up in the house, waiting for him to return at night.
Later on, her father became famous and the family became rich. When she grew up, she was sent to the nun academy of the moon shrine and stayed there for four years. She only returned home when she was 16. When she had nothing to do, she helped out in her father's research lab and became his right-hand man.
Later on, Baron Vakusili came to her father to have a custom gun made. He was shocked by her beauty and began to pursue her passionately.
She fell in love with the young baron and they became lovers. They were together for two years and got married when she was 19.
Baron Vakusili's territory was at the border of Canas. It was a town and two villages. The people there had a feud with Canas.
Since a few hundred years ago, they had been repeatedly pillaged by nomadic cavalry and the two sides basically never interacted.
Even though both duchies had joined the anti-Auerian alliance, the killing and killing between the two sides still didn't stop.
To the nomads of Canas, raiding and pillaging at the borders of Askilin was a tradition that had lasted for centuries. They were the dominant party and viewed the farmers at the borders of Askilin as sheep that could be harvested when they were fat.
The nomads of Canas were the natural enemies of the Askilinian Principality. Over the centuries, they had sacrificed a great deal of blood to fend off these bandits.
It was the same for Baron Vakusili's family. They had been fighting against the nomads from the Great Plains of Canas for more than a dozen generations.
When the newly married Baron Vakusili was patrolling his territory, he was ambushed by a Canas noble on the other side of the border. He was shot three times and died, leaving his grieving wife behind.
She inherited her husband's noble title and gave his territory to her husband's cousin, another noble, before leaving that sad place and returning to her father's side.
She hoped to make a gun that could restrain the nomadic light cavalry. Unfortunately, after seven years, she still had no idea how to make the gun.
I know what kind of gun it is. A single Maxim gun is enough to render light cavalry useless on the battlefield.
However, he only grumbled inwardly. There was no need for him to tell the beautiful madam about it, no matter how pitiful her situation was.
The most important part of making a Maxim gun was the bullet system. Given the current level of muskets, making a Maxim gun would require a lot of research.
"C-Claude, d-do you have any more wine?" She shook the empty bottle.
"Madam, don't you think you've drunk too much?
I'm sure you should rest now, "Claude said.
"N-no … I had a really good time chatting with you today. I feel … I feel so much more relaxed.
Also, I'm not drunk. I usually drink four to five bottles a night at home. I've only had a little now. How could I have drunk too much?
I … I know. Y-you're a stingy little thing. You can't bear to let me drink, right? I-I'll go look for it myself. I know you put it in your bedroom. "
She opened the door and walked out. Claude had no choice but to help her up.
Half of her body was leaning on Claude's, and the warm fragrance in his embrace made Claude's heart skip a beat.
"I know your bedroom is this way. It's the innermost one, right?" she said.
The door to the side opened. Myjack had heard the commotion in the corridor and came out to take a look. He hurriedly apologized. "Sir, I didn't hear anything. I didn't see anything."
The door closed. She stared blankly at the door before coming to a realization. "See, I knew your bedroom was inside. Don't … don't try to lie to me."
Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Since you came to me on your own accord, I won't hold back.
He opened the door and brought her in. He closed the door and hugged her, lowering his head to kiss her red lips.
She was still in a daze when he kissed her. She wanted to resist, but she didn't put in much effort.
Soon, her body went limp and she wrapped her arms around Claude's neck. She took the initiative to stick her tongue into his mouth and intertwined with his.
Claude's hands weren't idle either. He roamed all over her body and felt her body heat up. Soon, it was as passionate as fire.
While the two of them were still kissing, they were already tearing at Claude's uniform.
It didn't take long for the two of them to see each other's eyes. Their two goat-like bodies intertwined on the bed.
To pay my respects to the crab god, 4,000 words were omitted here to save readers a chapter and two hours of reading time.
She was the first woman Claude had in this life. That night, he experienced two things deeply.
First, even though he was confident in the size and quality of this body, his first time was still very sensitive. He poured out in a short period of time, much to the dissatisfaction of the beautiful lady.
Fortunately, his body was strong and he was full of energy. He quickly regained his composure and attacked again and again. In the end, the beautiful lady was defeated.
For the last time, they all begged for mercy. Then, their bodies went limp and they fainted.
The second thing he learned was that what the beautiful lady said was true. She didn't lie to him.
It was just like when she said that Claude was the second man she had in her life. Claude could feel it with his body.
The first time he did it, he was rather shaky. Seven years of abstinence caused the beautiful lady's lust to be extremely strong at the start. She was quite disdainful of Claude's early surrender.
Due to overexertion, Claude woke up a little late. When he opened his eyes, he saw the beautiful lady leaning on the pillow and looking at him silently.
The quilt was draped over her shoulders, revealing the delicate and sexy collarbone under her curvy neck and the wonderful bulge in front of her chest.
"Madam …" Claude felt a little embarrassed. They ended up on the bed while chatting and drinking last night. No matter what, he felt like he was taking advantage of her.
"Call me Sophia. Don't call me Madam." It seemed that the beautiful lady didn't regret what happened between them last night. She really enjoyed the long awaited passion last night.
Claude reached out and pulled her into his embrace again. As he caressed her wonderful protrusion, he searched for those intoxicating red lips and kissed them again.