Chapter 134: Preparing French Onion Soup (continued)
Step four: Prep the bread.
She sliced the sourdough into thick rounds, each one about half an inch. These would be toasted separately, then used as the base for the cheese. She wanted them crispy and golden, substantial enough to hold their shape in the broth.
She arranged them on a baking sheet and slid them into the oven—hot and fast, just until they were toasted through.
Step five: Wait.
This was always the hardest part.
Marron stirred the onions, watched them slowly turn golden, and tried not to think about the retest. About the judges. About whether this would be enough.
Mokko sat at the small kitchen table, reading a book he’d borrowed from the inn’s library. Lucy’s jar was on the windowsill, catching the light, her translucent form occasionally forming shapes—hearts, stars, little encouraging messages in bubble form.
The timer chimed. Marron stirred the onions. Reset the timer.
Ten minutes later, she stirred again.
And again.
And again.
The onions darkened slowly, their edges browning, their texture softening. The sharp smell mellowed into something sweet and complex, almost like caramel.
One hour passed.
Then ninety minutes.
At the two-hour mark, the onions were deep gold, soft and jammy. Not done yet, but close.
Marron increased the heat slightly, watching carefully. This was the dangerous part—the line between caramelized and burned was thin. She stirred constantly now, scraping up the fond (the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan), letting the sugars deepen without scorching.
Five more minutes.
Ten.
Finally—finally—the onions were perfect. Deep amber, almost mahogany, sweet and rich and complex. They’d lost most of their volume, concentrated down into sticky, intensely flavored strands.
Step six: Deglaze.
She pulled the pan off the heat for a moment, then added a generous pour of white wine. It hit the hot pan with a dramatic hiss, steam rising in a cloud. She scraped the bottom of the pan with her wooden spoon, dissolving all that caramelized fond into the liquid.
The wine reduced quickly, leaving behind its acidity and depth but not its alcohol.
Step seven: Add the stock.
She ladled in the hot broth, stirring to combine. The onions floated in the rich, dark liquid like treasures. She added a pinch more salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and let it simmer for another thirty minutes to marry the flavors.
The soup was done.
Four hours, start to finish. Just like her mother’s recipe said.
Marron turned off the heat and stepped back, looking at the pot of soup. It didn’t look like much—dark brown liquid with soft onions suspended throughout. Humble. Honest.
But it smelled like home.
"Now comes the hard part," she said.
Mokko looked up from his book. "What, plating?"
"Presenting," Marron corrected. "Making it beautiful."
She pulled out Millie’s cream-colored bowl—the one she’d chosen earlier. Set it on the counter. Then she retrieved the toasted bread rounds from where she’d been keeping them warm.
The presentation:
She ladled soup into the bowl, filling it about three-quarters full. The broth was dark and glossy, the onions visible beneath the surface.
She took one round of toasted bread and placed it carefully on top, letting it float like a raft.
Then came the cheese. She grated the aged Gruyere directly over the bread, creating a generous layer—enough to melt into something golden and bubbly, but not so much that it overwhelmed the soup beneath.
She slid the bowl under the broiler and watched.
The cheese melted first, pooling at the edges. Then it began to bubble. Finally, it browned—golden spots appearing across the surface, darkening to caramel at the edges.
Perfect.
She pulled it out, grabbed a sprig of fresh thyme, and tucked it carefully into the cheese at the edge of the bowl—a small green accent against all that gold and brown.
Then she stepped back and looked at what she’d made.
The soup sat in the cream-colored bowl, the cheese golden and bubbling, the bread just visible beneath. The thyme sprig added a pop of color. Steam rose in delicate wisps, carrying the scent of caramelized onions and rich broth and melted cheese.
It looked... beautiful.
Not in the cold, pristine way of the Guild’s upper halls. But in a warm, honest way. Like something made with care. Like something that mattered.
"Marron," Mokko said softly. "That’s... that’s really something."
Lucy bubbled in agreement, forming a little heart in her jar.
Marron picked up a spoon and broke through the cheese, letting the steam escape. She scooped up a spoonful—broth, onion, bread, cheese all together—and tasted.
It was perfect.
Rich and complex, sweet and savory, the kind of flavor that only came from patience and time and care. The cheese added creaminess and salt. The bread gave it body. The broth tied everything together.
And now, finally, it looked as good as it tasted.
"One down," Marron said, setting down her spoon. She looked at the bowl, at the way the light caught the golden cheese, at the small sprig of thyme standing proud. "One more practice run tomorrow, and then the retest."
She felt something settle in her chest. Not confidence, exactly—she wasn’t ready to claim that yet. But something close. Determination, maybe. Or belief.
I can do this,
she thought. I can actually do this.For the first time since failing the evaluation, she believed it.
The rest of the day passed in a comfortable haze of exhaustion and satisfaction.
They ate the soup together—Marron, Mokko, and even Lucy, who absorbed a tiny spoonful with obvious delight. The soup was everything it should be: warming, nourishing, full of layers that revealed themselves slowly with each bite.
"Your mother would be proud," Mokko said quietly.
Marron felt her throat tighten. "Yeah," she managed. "I think she would."
After lunch, Marron cleaned the kitchen meticulously, washing every pot and pan, wiping down every surface. The work was meditative, grounding. It gave her hands something to do while her mind processed everything she’d learned.
Presentation isn’t about making things fancy. It’s about showing people that you thought about them.
Beauty should reveal truth, not hide it.
You don’t balance them—you braid them together.
She thought about Millie’s moon cakes, about the cheese pull game, about the egg bread in stamped boxes. Every cart in the street market had understood something the Guild sometimes forgot: that beauty could be humble, that presentation could be playful, that caring about how things looked didn’t mean abandoning what was true.
By late afternoon, Marron found herself back on the deck, standing beside her cart. The lavender plant swayed gently in the breeze, filling the air with its calming scent. The mana-lights along the fence were beginning to glow as dusk approached, casting soft, warm light across the small space.
She opened her mother’s recipe notebook again, running her fingers over the familiar handwriting.
French Onion SoupTime: 4 hours (mostly patience)
She’d made this soup hundreds of times. Thousands, maybe. It was as familiar to her as breathing.
But today, she’d made it matter in a new way. She’d shown that all those hours of patience, all that careful layering of flavor, all that love—she’d shown it could be seen as well as tasted.
"Tomorrow," she murmured to herself, "I do it again. Better this time. Perfect."
Ding!
Marron’s System pinged her with a notification.
[Reminder: Lumeria Culinary Guild Retest Tomorrow]
You will be placed in the Dusk session, and will be one of six candidates.
Marron’s eyes widened slightly. She didn’t know if the System was accurate with this information, but it had been responsible for other miracles.
So...I have tomorrow morning and afternoon to get it exactly right, before the retest.
Marron closed the notebook and pressed it against her chest, feeling the weight of it. Her mother’s recipes. Her mother’s wisdom. Her mother’s love, written in faded ink and grease stains.
I won’t let you down, she thought. I promise.
She started preparing for bed when there was a knock at the door.
"Marron Louvel?" called a familiar voice.
It was the innkeeper.
Or it sounded like her, at least.
"Yes?" She ran to the door and looked in the peephole, just in case.
Her heart rate started calming down when she saw the same lady who had made sure they were properly checked in. She was an older woman with gold-rimmed glasses perched on her beak.
An owl-kin hybrid.
She wasn’t full owl, but an owl with some human-like features. She had five fingers on her hands, but also had wings and her feet weren’t human feet--they were bird’s legs.
"Letter for you."
She opened the door and the innkeeper handed her an ivory envelope with a gold wax seal.
"Thank you," Marron said softly. She reached for her money purse when the owl innkeeper shook her head. "No need for a tip. Thank you for thinking about it though."
+
It was the official invitation to a retest.
Marron glanced at the letter, mouth dry.
Dear Miss Louvel,
Your official retest schedule is tomorrow precisely when the sun has fully set. You will hear six tolls from a bell to signify the correct time.
You will be tested in groups of six, and the theme will be revealed at the venue.
We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Amelia Fangfare
The Lumeria Culinary Guild Headmaster
Marron blinked.
"So...my System can predict the future, but only for a few hours?"