Chapter 5: Rice Balls

The Duke opened his mouth seeing Luana become restless.

“Before the Emperor sent me here, he promised me one thing.”

“What..what could it be?”

“He said after destroying the kingdom, if there is anything I want, I can take it.”

“Well, I see. That’s great! Even though the kingdom is small, there are some good treasures here.”

Hey, don’t think ill of me for being servile! No one will be like me in this situation. Luana was confident of giving information of whatever Alluin kingdom’s treasure that the Duke desired.

“Yes, originally, I didn’t really want anything.”

“Really? Nothing?”

“It looks like it just happened.”

The Duke, who said so, looked at Luana. Looking around, Luana pointed at herself with her fingers, sweating profusely.

“Well, you don’t mean me right?”

The Duke was still looking at Luana.

“I’m not a thing.”

“It’s not different.”

“It is very different.”

“So are you saying you hate it?”

The Duke’s hand headed for his sword. It seemed that if she said no, her head would be cut off immediately. Luana was scared by his sudden aura of menace.

“No! No! It’s great! I love it!”

What a load of bullshit! Luana sobbed inside.

“Hey, by the way.”

“What is it?”

“Is there anyone else you want besides me? A pretty princess with blond hair and blue eyes!”

First, she mentioned Ingrid, who was considered as the most beautiful among all the princesses. Even in the original novel, the Duke had a crush on her. It was quite sad that he couldn’t act on it because of his loyalty to the Emperor.

“Not really?”

“Or a charming princess with red hair?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“No, think again. There must be someone who makes your heart beat just by looking at her!”

So take someone like that with you! Luana looked at the Duke with an expectant look. One should believe in a man’s heart rather than his appetite!

The Duke gave a troubled look and answered.

“Well, there is one person who makes my heart pound. Looking at her makes me want to torment her.”

Then he looked straight at Luana.

‘Why are you looking at me?’

I’ll probably go crazy. The Duke was rumored to be a great sadist. She felt a bad premonition about this.

When she looked up, his eyes were fierce. Long eyelashes.. bright red eyes.. a straight elegant nose and red lips. Legion was an unusually beautiful man. He would have been very popular with young children if he could fix his poor temper.

Luana raised her hand unknowingly. But before her fingers touched the white, smooth looking skin, she hit the back of her head against the wall.

Bang!

The Duke looked bewildered at the sudden sound. But Luana had no time to care about it. It was because the back of her head was so painful that she wrapped both her arms around it and rolled around in agony.

“Ahhhh!”

She had actually hit her head to get it together, but it turned out to be a little too much. As she rolled around trying to get rid of the pain, she felt the pathetic gazes from Rugard and the Duke.

“I can’t understand what she’s doing.”

“I think she’s crazy. Why don’t you reconsider?”

The sound of clicking tongues from above made her anger increase. Who’s crazy! You’re the crazy one! But Luana, an absolute underdog, only thought about it and did not dare to say it out loud. Because she didn’t want to face a terrible end.

Only after some pain had passed, did she get up and brushed off her clothes. As expected of the king’s office, it was very clean, so there was hardly any dust in it.

If she had been rolling around in her deserted palace, she would have to change her clothes. Luana cleared the desk in admiration. When she put the empty bowl on the tray, Rugard opened the door for her. Even though he saw Luana as a madwoman,his manners as a Knight were excellent. At that moment, a thunderous sound echoed inside the room.

Rumble!

Although she was an abandoned princess, she regularly ate three meals a day without ever missing a meal. She looked back in the hopes that no one else might have heard it, but she was soon disappointed. Both Duke and Rugard were already looking at her.

“Why, why! If one’s hungry, one might make some noise!”

“Yes, it can happen.”

For some reason, the Duke defended Luana. Why is this madman defending me? Luana looked at him suspiciously. Oh, is that it? Since he said he didn’t enjoy eating, maybe he must have starved once because he couldn’t sense the taste. Is that why you empathize with me?

“Yes it can happen.”

Rugard, who at first looked at her with a strange look, nodded at the Duke’s words. You’re strong against the weak and weak against the strong! Luana whined and pushed the tray. It hadn’t even been a day yet, but it seemed like a lot of time had passed.

After returning to the kitchen, Luana arranged the bowls in the wooden barrel and took out a new pot.

“What are you doing?”

When Rugard looked at her with a suspicious expression, she said proudly.

“I’m going to eat, too!”

“I see.”

He was quickly convinced, which was quite unexpected. Luana first put the rice in a pot and poured water. If you soak the rice first, it turns out more delicious, but since she was very hungry right now, she skipped it. Oh, I’m glad I was born in a country with rice. Luana nodded, took out the vegetables and chopped them into small pieces. Orange carrots, yellow potatoes, and white onions were chopped finely and fried in a pan with oil. She then sprinkled some salt on it.

After all the preparations were made, she waited for it to finish cooking.. When the rice was ready, she gently scooped and chewed the flavourful rice. The unique taste lingered in her mouth.

“Hmmm!”

Luana exclaimed by covering one cheek with her hand. She then put the vegetables she had prepared in advance into the rice. She cooled it down by mixing it hard and made it into small round balls.

“Be delicious! Be delicious!”

Please make sure you are exciting and delicious, it would be better if you turn out more delicious! As she shouted, Rugard asked with a curious look.

“Is that a spell? Does it taste better if you keep on saying like that?”

What did he say? This idiot.

“Of course. Saying spells like this before eating works.”

Naturally, Luana lied.

“Do you want to try making one too?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Come on, try it. Men who cook well are quite popular among women!”

What Luana said to Rugard was actually not a lie. Maybe it wasn’t true in her present life, but it was in her previous life. Luana told Rugard to wash his hands and then put a bowl of rice in his hand. He shaped his rice balls in a very awkward manner.

“Spells! Say the spells!”

“Do I have to? I don’t think it’ll work since it’s a witch’s spell.”

“Of course! If you don’t, it won’t taste good! All magic begins with faith. If you think strongly that it will be delicious, the ideology will permeate the food and the food will taste better! This is the magic of life! Not only witches, but humans too can use them if they have a strong will. So it’s a prejudice to think that it only belongs to a witch!”

In a word, it was all just nonsense. However, the Knight who slaughtered the soldiers of the kingdom today seemeds to be more naive than expected. Rugard followed Luana’s words in a small voice.

“Be delicious.”

Although overshadowed by the Duke’s beauty, Rugard was also a handsome man with reddish brown hair. When such a handsome man muttered something like that while making rice balls embarrassingly, the appearance was cute. It was the kind of cuteness that made you satisfied with just rice and no side dishes.

Luana stood there dazed and took a bite of a finished rice ball.

Although it was seasoned with salt, it tasted sweet because of the nicely done stir-fried vegetables. Salty yet sweet vegetables and rice combined created an indescribable harmony of taste. Luana took one more bite happily. The seasoning was so perfect that whenever she took a bite, exclamations came out of her mouth without her knowledge.

Shortly after finishing a rice ball, she said, “Rugard is amazing.”

Looking at her, eating continuously, Rugard asked with a mysterious expression.

“Aren’t you eating too much?”

“What?”

What bullshit are you talking about? When Luana asked back with her second rice ball, Rugard replied.

“Ordinary ladies eat much less.”

“No, they all go back home and eat a lot.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Yes. When I go to an event or something, I eat as much as a rat’s tail and come home to hold the rice cooker.”

[as much as a rat’s tail: korean slang to express something very less in quantity]

“Why hold the rice cooker?”

“I know, right?. Why hold onto it?”

Luana answered vaguely and swallowed the second rice ball. The rice was sweet! She chewed it with her teeth a few times and passed it through her throat. It went over smoothly. While she was stamping her feet and lifting the third rice ball, Rugard also seemed to have finished his rice ball.

“But this is a little weird.”

“It’s because you gave it so much strength. But try it. It’s going to be delicious.”

On Luana’s assurance, Rugard took an awkward bite of the rice ball. He did not believe in Luana yet, but he believed in himself. Since he was resistant to poison, he wasn’t scared to take a bite of her food.

As he slowly chewed the rice and the stir-fried vegetables, the taste lingered in his mouth.

He who had claimed to have eaten most of the known food was absolutely dumbstruck. This was the first time he had tasted something like this.

“It has an interesting taste.”

“What?”

“It’s a taste that’s difficult to describe. But it feels very cozy.”

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How can a rice ball feel cozy? You’ve been looking at me like I’m the crazy one, but aren’t you the crazy one here? While Luana was contemplating, Rugard finished off all the rice balls.

“Can I make some more?”

“There’s nothing that you can’t do.”

Rugard made two more large rice balls and wrapped them in well-dried leaves. It seemed he was going to eat that later. In the meantime, Luana swallowed a fourth rice ball, and rolled the leftovers together. She was thinking of giving it to her nanny. But unfortunately it might be difficult to get the rice ball into the nanny’s mouth. This was because the royal family and servants were locked up separately.