[ The noted pause times perfectly with the 'thunk' of the knife into the cutting board and she watches him with a bit of a scrutinizing gaze as he finishes his sentence. Thankfully there's some vote of confidence tacked onto the end of it that gives her the go ahead to continue on with her work. It would be foolish to cut anything without looking. Keeping her gaze planted on the meat and chopping board in front of her means more than just ensuring she keeps her fingers - it will also hopefully mean less heat building in her cheeks that she'd rather attribute to the warmth of their surroundings than Sylvain's gaze on her. ]

Probably before arriving here.

[ Notably, what "before" means isn't expanded upon. And they should both know by now that Sylvain hadn't been the only one to spoil her. ]

The Deer were much better chefs than I was so it made more sense to have them do the cooking. And Chef and the pastry chefs in Goneril took care of everything when I was at home. Which suited me just fine – cooking and baking takes so long that it cuts into my evening routine.