Chapter 24 The Consequences of Mercy: Blood-Wrapped Dumplings (Italian)...
The day after Easter was still a holiday, but because it was raining outside, the servants stayed home and did not go out as they had the day before. Lilith took this opportunity to gather everyone together, saying she would teach them how to make ravioli.
“When I was a child, before my father took me to live in the Lord’s palace, my mother and I celebrated Easter together, and she taught me how to make dumplings. It just so happens that we can celebrate Easter these days, and also celebrate the successful opening of our bank in advance.”
Lilith sat at the small table in the kitchen, preparing the ingredients. Tata, Ivanka, and Cecilia gathered around her curiously, watching her melt butter and cheese over hot water. Heinrich stood beside her, mechanically chopping herbs on the cutting board while staring listlessly at the rain outside the window, silently lamenting that he probably wouldn't be able to go to that Bavarian tavern again today.
It had been more than half a month since he last sent a message from the tavern, and these next few days were the time when he might receive a reply. If he couldn't find the time during these three days of "holiday," he couldn't imagine how he would find an opportunity during the workdays that followed.
Although he had grown accustomed to life in Lilith's household, he couldn't expect to remain Lilith's servant forever. He had helped Lilith through a life-or-death crisis and successfully sent the bullies to prison. Now, he had to think about his own future.
Whether it's escaping Venice or seeking revenge against Lilith, he has to do something, at least to face the world again as Heinrich Schmidl. Fortunately, he's not an unloved illegitimate child, and with the family's support, everything he does becomes much easier. But all of this depends on him being able to re-establish contact with his family.
He recalled the letter Lilith received from her uncle Helmut before the night of Mauro's trial. What did it say, and where had Lilith hidden it? Lilith's bedroom door was always firmly locked; sneaking in wouldn't be easy for Heinrich, and finding the letter would be even more difficult. There was no rule out the possibility that Lilith had already read and burned it. Was there any way to find out the letter's contents…?
"Hey! Heinrich, stop slacking off and come help me knead the noodles."
Lilith pointed with a rolling pin at Heinrich, who had already chopped the herbs into a paste, and beckoned him to take over the strenuous physical work. She herself, holding a wooden bowl, poured the chopped herbs from Heinrich into her melted cheese filling and stirred it well. Cecilia lifted the gauze, took a piece of risen dough from the tray, and tossed it in front of Heinrich.
"How do you want it to look?" To be honest, he had never been in a kitchen before, let alone used a rolling pin. He didn't even know what Lilith meant by "ravioli."
"I roll out a large, nearly square sheet of dough, making sure it's evenly thick, not too thin in some places and not flat in others. Then I place a piece of the prepared filling on top, spaced a little at a time. Finally, I roll out another sheet of dough of the same size, place it on top, and cut the dough into small squares according to the position of the filling. Then I pinch each one closed, and the dumpling is done."
“So that’s how Italian ravioli is made.” Ivanka, who is usually quiet, suddenly spoke up. “In my hometown, there is a similar food called Polish pierogi, which is also made by wrapping filling in dough. However, we roll the dough into a circle about the size of our palm, put in the filling, and then fold the dough in half. The final dumpling is semi-circular.”
“It’s similar to the dumplings from my hometown, also crescent-shaped,” Cecilia added. “But there are also dumplings made with small square dough sheets, called wontons, which are usually filled with meat or vegetable and meat filling. If the filling is sweet, they are usually shaped into a ball.”
"You guys are amazing!" Tata swallowed excitedly. "I've never eaten any of these before..."
“Then let’s all make dumplings from our hometowns! That way we can taste dishes from different places,” Lilith said with a smile. “Heinrich, can you make Polish dumplings too?”
“Ah… I don’t know how.” Heinrich paused for a moment before realizing Lilith’s misunderstanding that he was a Slav. “I’ve never done kitchen work before.”
"Then you can start learning how to do it now. Keep rolling the dough. Tata, help me prepare the meat filling."
"Alright! Madam, let me tell you, when I was a child I only ate meat during festivals, but since I started working for you, I can eat fresh meat every day. It's so wonderful..."
Lilith leaned back comfortably in her chair, chatting idly with Tata and the others. Despite the bleak weather outside, the warm yellow candlelight in the kitchen created a cozy atmosphere. However, Heinrich remained preoccupied, countless unsolved mysteries swirling in his mind. He had no interest in playing along with Lilith's act of a harmonious and loving family.
His gaze shifted to Ivanka. She was intently peeling a face mask. He noticed her forearm exposed beneath her rolled-up sleeve, and a thick bandage wrapped around her left arm. He was immediately reminded of the night he confronted Mauro, when he escorted Lilith back to her doorstep and saw Ivanka throw three bodies into a small boat, something Lilith had completely ignored and never mentioned again.
"Ivanka, are you hurt?" Heinrich asked casually, placing a flatbread in front of Lilith.
“Oh, yes, there was a slight mishap in the middle of last night’s work, but fortunately it went smoothly and I didn’t disappoint you, Madam,” Ivanka explained somewhat shyly.
"succeed……?"
“She always comes alone, never with guards or maids. I never expected that she would have one or two capable fighters with her.” Lilith used a small spoon to place the mixed filling onto the spread-out dough. “From now on, let Heinrich do the dirty and tiring work. Ivanka, you should get some rest.”
“I can help too! I always exercise regularly! I haven’t been able to help you much this time, Madam, I really feel guilty.” Tata said to her mistress in a half-coquettish manner, showing her the finely chopped minced meat.
Heinrich found Tata's fawning tone somewhat unsettling. He had noticed the subtle shift in Tata's attitude towards him early on. Ever since she discovered that Heinrich had kept the family crest ring that his wife had given him, while Cecilia had taken her own, she had begun to harbor resentment towards Heinrich, as if she saw him as a rival.
“You should focus on your own job first.” Cecilia glanced at her coldly, then raised her sharp blade and cut the long, white strip of dough into small pieces. “If you hadn’t messed up your job, the carpet in front of the house wouldn’t be stained with blood.”
"Wait... what are you talking about? Who is 'she'? The doormat... bloodstains??"
Heinrich suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He watched helplessly as the four women warmly and harmoniously made dumplings, sharing their hometown delicacies with each other, while also casually and pleasantly discussing the topic of murder.
"Who else could it be?" Tata rolled her eyes at Heinrich, who always stole her thunder. "It's Maria, of course. If we didn't deal with her last night, were we going to wait until she left Venice and got to Verona before we made a move?"
“…Maria?”
“Do you really think I’ll let her go?” Lilith glanced at Heinrich with a wicked grin, then turned back to continue arranging the fillings with concentration. “I won’t let anyone who makes me feel threatened get away with it.”
“But she’s completely no longer a threat…isn’t she…? I thought you accepted her apology…” Heinrich struggled to suppress the turmoil surging within him, barely able to distinguish between anger, fear, and disappointment. The enigmatic expression on Lilith’s face as she encouraged Maria to embrace her new life flashed through his mind. He had initially thought it was Lilith’s awkward kindness, but it turned out to be a feigned act before the murder.
He thought she would show Maria a shred of sympathy. They were both women, having endured the same abuse, humiliation, and desperation. Maria's situation was even worse than Lilith's—terminally ill, her family destroyed, helpless, and so weak that she posed no threat to Lilith. Was such a person also someone who had to die in Lilith's eyes?
"Please, she colluded with Mauro and almost killed me twice," Lilith rolled her eyes at Heinrich and said to him in a joking tone.
Heinrich suddenly felt nauseous and wanted to vomit when he saw Lilith acting pitifully in front of the family elders, pleading for Maria and the three prostitutes.
"So... those bodies that Ivanka threw onto the ship that night..."
“They came to me seeking your protection, Madam.” Cecilia stuffed bright red meat filling into the round dumpling wrappers. “Having done such a treacherous and opportunistic thing, and offending the Knarro family, their former madam will no longer take them in. If Mauro still has any men he can command, they will surely kill them in revenge. Their only option is to take a gamble and beg you, Madam, to spare their lives.”
“Dealing with this kind of lowlife is normally my job. But I was so terrified of Madam’s situation that night that I completely forgot I was supposed to silence them, so they came to my door and dirtied the carpet outside Madam’s door.” Tata threw the tendons she had removed from the beef tenderloin into the trash can. “But Ivanka is definitely much better than me… I still have a lot more to learn.”
“Cleaning the mansion is a maid’s job,” Ivanka said softly, smiling as she exchanged a glance with Tata before sealing the openings in the dumpling wrappers one by one.
"It's those three prostitutes. So you didn't even spare them."
Lilith seemed somewhat displeased. She looked up, her grey-green eyes staring directly at him:
"Heinrich, would you tolerate someone who tried to kill you but failed, continuing to live openly in front of you?"
Heinrich stared at her, stunned. A murderer who had attempted to kill him was standing right in front of him.
Of course, she wanted to kill Heinrich Schmidl, the husband who "posed a threat to her," not the servant she could order around at will. It's just that he had been playing the role of Lilith's slave for so long that he had almost forgotten who he was.
"Perhaps...maybe," he answered solemnly, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, "but not in the future."
“That’s right. If anyone dares to bully you, I’ll definitely get revenge for you,” Lilith said with a smile. “Come on, help me put on a new mask.”
Heinrich's mind was a jumbled mess. He didn't know how he had endured this agonizing "family gathering," or how he had managed to eat those oddly shaped dumplings that seemed to be wrapped in human blood. Lilith's words disgusted him, and his love and longing for such a vicious woman made him want to vomit even more. He knew he had to make a choice. Whether it was to take revenge on her or simply leave, he had to do something. He couldn't just sit there and wait to die, letting himself wallow in this morally bankrupt environment, warming himself with the blood of others.
He was going to that Bavarian tavern tonight, no matter what. Even if he didn't get any useful information, at least he could drink some beer from his hometown and drown his sorrows.
Long after the lights in Lilith's bedroom on the top floor went out, Heinrich donned a black cloak, grabbed an umbrella, and quietly opened the back door of the building. He saw another person approaching from the street corner, their figure and face concealed by a cloak and hood. The person was soaking wet, seemed to be carrying something, and walked with a limp. Heinrich instinctively gripped his dagger warily and questioned the person.
"Who are you."
"Is this the residence of Heinrich Schmidl and Liliana Schmidl?" The newcomer spoke Italian with a German accent, removing his hood to reveal a face covered in blood, but Heinrich recognized him immediately. "I am Wilhelm Schmidl from Frankfurt am Main, Heinrich Schmidl's younger brother. I need help!"
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Author's Note: To be honest, ravioli is one of my least favorite Italian dishes. Does anyone really like eating a dumpling wrapper filled with a wet, sour filling?! I still prefer Chinese dumplings, haha. Most of the dishes described in this story are ones I've tried and genuinely enjoyed, except for ravioli. The next chapter is the last chapter of Volume One! [Let me see!]
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