The hero's gender is yet to be determined after rebirth.

"..." Lorenwei endured it and did as she was told. After all, she owed Meilan first, and it was already good enough that Meilan didn't beat her up.

Meilan seemed to have found an unprecedented toy, and various experiments began: "Hahaha! This is so much fun! It turns out that wearing unisex clothing doesn't show your gender. What if you take out a men's outfit and wear a women's headband at the same time?"

“…” Lorenwei turned her gaze to Sylph, seeking her help.

Sylph shrugged, indicating it was none of her business, and then watched the commotion with great interest while sipping her tea.

Meilan helped Lorenwei with her dressing up: "Oh, so wearing both men's and women's accessories at the same time can create a very awkward feeling, like being effeminate."

Next, Meilan had Lorenwei bring out more clothes to test how different outfits would look.

“…” Lorenwei felt a strange sense of humiliation.

Is this what it feels like to be reduced to a plaything...?

Meilan suddenly thought of something: "What if we didn't wear anything?"

"Pfft—" Siruf, who was drinking water and watching the commotion from the side, couldn't stand it anymore: "Melan!"

"Hahaha! Not wearing anything means being genderless, right? I get it." Meilan tilted her head and thought for a moment.

"What if you wear boys' underwear but girls' bras?" Meilan suddenly wondered.

“…” Lorenwei yelled, “I can’t take it anymore, Melanie, you might as well just beat me up!”

Meilan finally gave up on her shameful act of toying with Lorenwei: "Alright, I'm done playing. So, one last question, Lorenwei, when you go to the toilet, do you act like a boy or a girl?"

“…” Lorenwei was hurt and silently began to tidy up the mess of clothes.

"Meilan! That's enough!" Siruf pulled Meilan away.

Meilan scratched her head: "Okay, okay, I get it now. No wonder Kurara was angry, she likes Loren."

Sylph asked cautiously, "Don't you like Loren? Now that you know Lorenvy and Loren are the same person, are you disappointed?"

“Why be disappointed? Isn’t this great!” Meilan smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons. “Loren and I got along well from the start. Lorenwei is beautiful, good at housework, and can make money.”

"I had been thinking about who I should choose between these two people if I were to get married, but now that two such outstanding people are actually the same person, I have no more worries!"

Both Lorenwei and Sylph could see that Melanie's joy was genuine.

"You're really not going to beat me up?" Lorenwei still felt that passing the test was too easy, and she would feel more at ease if she were beaten up.

Meilan shook her head: "No need, it's enough that you explained it clearly, isn't that good enough?"

"Really?"

Meilan said frankly, "Hey, of course it's true. Even if friends keep some things from each other, as long as it's not out of malice, then it's fine to talk about it."

At the same time, Meilan herself felt a little uneasy... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you, but in order for this Demon King to learn human skills to make myself stronger, I can only keep it from you for now.

Looking at Melanie, Sylph couldn't help but sigh, "Perhaps you're more like an elf than I am..."

"Hahaha, do I look like an elf?" Meilan laughed. "I'd have to be a dark elf, wouldn't I?"

Sylph asked in bewilderment, "Why?"

Meilan realized she had let something slip without thinking: "Uh, because I have a big appetite, I'm a foodie."

Sylph thought for a moment. Although she had lost her memory, she still remembered some things: "Dark elves aren't gluttons either."

“Dark elves value desire more, that’s what Meilan meant.” Lorenwei quickly interjected, not wanting Meilan to feel awkward.

"Hahaha, that's right." Meilan laughed, her confidence growing stronger: See, Lorenwei is so thoughtful, she's saving a spot in my harem for you!

Lorenwei then continued to maintain her girlish appearance.

The three discussed how to infiltrate the palace.

“Applying for a chef's job is the easiest way,” Lorenwei said.

“I…” Siruf wanted to say that she lacked confidence.

Lorenwei said, "Just keep chopping vegetables, you'll learn eventually, right? If chopping vegetables can poison someone, I'll consider you a genius."

Sylph wanted to strangle her...

"All I know how to do is eat..." Meilan said awkwardly, "Neither of us are chefs."

Lorenwei thought for a moment and assigned them roles: "Senior chefs all have assistants. You will stand next to me, one handing over tools and the other in charge of knife skills. I will teach you the basic techniques in a moment."

Meilan thought it made sense: "We can even cheer you on!"

Lorenwei: "Thank you..."

Sylph asked, "So how did you find Kurara after sneaking into the palace?"

"Well... I haven't decided yet. Anyway, let's at least go in first, shall we?" Lorenwei said awkwardly. "Oh, right, the chef went to the toilet in the middle of the night, took the wrong route, and ended up in Her Highness the Princess's palace. Is that alright?"

"And then you got hacked to death." Sylph rolled her eyes.

Lorenvi spread her hands: "I've already been castrated, how could I be killed?"

Sylph paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. Melanie, after a moment's reaction, also laughed.

“Once you can get past the guards on the outer wall of the palace, it’s much easier inside,” Lorenwei explained, drawing on her experience and knowledge from elementary school. “My mom taught me a lot of tricks for sneaking in at night! Especially how to quietly infiltrate the royal palace, how not to alert the guards, and how to avoid the magic crystal alarm when climbing over the wall. She also reminded me that the outer wall is the hardest to deal with, but it’s much easier once you get inside.”

"Wait a minute, isn't your mother a cardinal?" Sylph suddenly asked, "How could she be an expert in infiltration?"

"Yeah, I didn't know your mom was so knowledgeable about this!"

"Uh...right, why?" Lorenwei pretended to be clueless, thinking to herself, "Should I tell you that your mother-in-law was quite the ladies' man when she was my age?"

Fortunately, there wasn't much entanglement on this point, and the plan to enter the palace as a cook was clarified.

Lorenwei began taking out various kitchen utensils from her spatial ring and teaching the two how to help in the kitchen.

Suddenly, Sylph asked curiously, "Should we just reveal our identities and ask the king for his daughter? You're the daughter of a hero; he wouldn't dare do anything to you, would he?"

Lorenvi said somewhat sadly, "The old king recalled the princess, he must want to arrange a political marriage. If we find out, he won't do anything to us, and we don't need to worry about our safety, but I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to see Kurara again."

Sylph brandished a cleaver on the cutting board with one hand, propped her chin on the other, and tilted her head to look at Lorenwei: "I understand, you just want to appear quietly in front of Kurara and use your personal charm to bring her out."

Lorenwei didn't dare to respond and could only change the subject: "Concentrate, be careful with your fingers. What kitchen helper would dare to cut vegetables with one hand? Wouldn't they get scolded by the head chef? Maybe even beaten up."

"You want to insult me?" Siruf snorted.

"In no mood……"

"You still want to hit me?"

"No, no, it's that I can't bear to..."

"Humph."

Meilan, on the other hand, was very excited. She was turning various kitchen utensils around in her hands while saying, "It feels like we're going to kidnap someone! My grandma told me a story about a princess who fell in love with a hero but was forced to marry a prince from a neighboring country. So the hero went to the wedding and kidnapped the princess! And then the two lived happily ever after."

"Two people?" Siruf's ears perked up.

Lorenvi quickly changed the subject: "Oh, it wouldn't be like the cathedral doors suddenly burst open, the hero stretches out his hand and shouts 'Come with me!' and then the princess rushes towards him in tears. It would be in slow motion, and there might even be lots of pigeons flying up..."

"Grandma didn't say anything. But what you said sounds so real? Could it be that this isn't just a story?" Meilan thought for a moment. "Then shall we wait until Kurara is getting married before we go?"

Lorenvi blushed and said, "No way!"

"Lorenvi's idea of ​​taking the bride away in front of the nobles of the Grand Duchy is probably as difficult as climbing to the sky," Sylph sneered from the side. "How about this, when Kurara gets married, Lorenvi, you wear a wedding dress and go to the scene to steal the groom, how about that? That way Kurara won't marry the groom."

"..."

*************

That afternoon, the Royal Palace received numerous applications for chef positions.

Naturally, Lorenwei was among them.

Lorenwei registered as a girl, without concealing her appearance. She also registered her identity as being from Zerou City, and even her name was Weiwei, the maid's name she had used at the resort hotel.

Because she was unfamiliar with the local accent, even though she had heard some local customs and traditions from Kula, it was difficult for her to impersonate a local. So she simply applied as a suburban resident of Zerou.

"It's rare to find such a beautiful young female chef." The officer looked at her in surprise.

The next simple test was naturally passed. Lorenwei's culinary skills were already comparable to those of court chefs, and with just a little more skill, showcasing dishes with flavors from another world, even the officials exclaimed that she was a young female chef!

Without a doubt, Lorenwei eliminated many competitors who were not even in the same league.

The chef selection process had just ended when the palace lady-in-waiting came to check on the interview results. She came every day, but hadn't found anything in recent days.

The clerk handed over the application information and introduced Lorenwei to the housekeeper.

The middle-aged female housekeeper looked at Lorenwei with surprise: "You're a handpicked cook? How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

Where are your two kitchen helpers?

"Also fourteen years old."

The lady-in-waiting clicked her tongue in amazement as she squeezed Lorenwei's hand: "Your name is Vivi? You're quite pretty, but your hands don't look like they belong to someone who does manual labor. It's a pity you're from Zerou City. Otherwise, we could consider letting you enter the harem to serve the Queen and the royal family."

*Pfft*—Meilan laughed. Thinking about it, Lorenwei was really overthinking things. With her looks, she'd be more suited to a maid or palace maid position, like she did at the resort hotel before.

The official quickly apologized to the lady-in-waiting: "My apologies, we haven't taught them manners yet, they have no manners."

The Grand Duchy of Percy was not an empire, so there weren't as many official positions. The Lady of the Household was already a relatively powerful palace official who could speak to the Queen, so the officials treated her very politely.

The lady-in-waiting was easy to talk to, waving her hand: "It's alright, cooks don't see nobles anyway, it's no problem. But what are you laughing at?"

She looked at Meilan.

Meilan, quick-witted as ever, said, "Ah, I told you long ago that she could go directly to the palace, but she didn't believe me."

Lorenve and Sylph gave her a thumbs up in their hearts.

“You’re right. It’s such a waste for such a beautiful girl to be a cook.” The lady-in-waiting reached out and pinched Lorenwei’s shoulders and other parts of her body.

Lorenwei sensed the intrusion of magical elements.

Ordinary mages would immediately become wary and defend themselves if someone else's magical elements were applied to their body. But Lorenwei was a daring individual who dared to allow other people's magical elements to enter her body, as long as they weren't offensive.

Fortunately, magical elements are not like true qi or profound qi, and cannot directly determine whether someone has practiced magic. Seeing that she had no reaction, the female official assumed she was probably not a magician.

She reached out and touched Sylph and Melanie's bodies again.

Although elves are rare, they do exist, and Sylph is the most common green-haired elf, considered low-class among elves, so she didn't pay much attention to her.

Neither of them is the type to display strength through muscles; one is a hero reborn, and the other has the talent of a demon king. Neither of them has any problems that can be detected on their physical appearance...

Then, the lady-in-waiting tasted the dishes Lorenve had prepared and looked at her again in surprise.