SMITTEN

"Do you recall the recipe for this?" King Leandro asked as he rolled up his sleeves and fixed his clothes. 

One of the servants offered an apron to him. His head was bowed down while his arms trembled. 

"Thank you, you may get back to work," King Leandro ordered the servant. 

The other servants did the same. 

King Leandro now faced her..  His eyes were gleaming, making him look like he was sincere in his desire to help. 

Aisha was still in the kitchen, as she had no desire to stop trying to cook rice. She must show them that she was not joking. 

However, she has never experienced cooking it before. There was always the cook and the helpers to do that for her. 

She would just eat whatever is in front of her. And it doesn't look like this every single time. 

Aisha thought hard while staring at the burnt rice in front of her with a downcast face. 

As far as she knew, she just needed to add water to it, and it would be cooked. 

But she didn't know how much water she had to put in and how long she had to cook it for it to absorb the water and make it look like what she was eating every day. 

Besides that, she has ill feelings towards the King. 

She felt like Lord Lycano was telling the truth about him. He wants everything for Gaea's sake. 

Not that it was a bad thing. Maybe she was just really hoping that he could also open his heart to falling in love. But it looked like he was not open to that idea.

"Maybe you have a different way of cooking than here in Gaea, that's why it scorched," King Leandro said as he pinched his lower lip. 

He appeared like he was thinking of a solution, so she could cook the Riso properly. 

He then went to the cauldron and the fiery furnace. It seemed as if he was checking out the temperature and the material of the cauldron. 

Aisha drew in a deep breath. He was right. They have rice cookers and smart ovens which have temperature regulators. 

He called on one of the servants and ordered him, "Can you minimize its heat?" 

"Affirmative, Your Majesty," the servant obliged at once. He then went to the furnace. And to Aisha's surprise, a powerful gust of wind came out of him as he opened his mouth. 

"Whoa, that's cool!" Aisha was distracted with the display of magic, making a corner of King Leandro's lips curve up in response. 

Aisha couldn't help but gaze at the King, smiling. Even when she was sulking for the King's indifference to love, he didn't scold her for her failure or even punished her. 

She couldn't help but be reminded by her father. 

His words were still vivid to her. 

"Your mother must have given you birth from a different man. Failing does it run in our family," he sneered after showing him her grades which is B+. 

After that, he didn't talk to her for a month. When he passed by, and he saw her, he would not even say hi. 

She tried to study hard for the next semester. But he acted the same way. He wanted to see an A+. 

She tried again and again, giving her best in studying. But she can't. That's why she just gave up. 

This is the first time she has tried to do something meaningful again through her best efforts. But she failed again. 

Fortunately, King Leandro hasn't said any demeaning words to her. This was not the first time, actually. That must be the reason why she wanted to help him like this. 

She stood up and went to his side. "It's not supposed to be watery and brown like this," she told him, what happened to her first try of cooking rice. 

"Then you must have put in more water than needed. Do you remember how much you put in? Maybe we need to measure it," King Leandro suggested she speak up a cup of Riso and put it in a bowl. 

Aisha nodded without even smiling. "Yes, let's do that. I actually put equal parts of water and Riso. Maybe we need to lessen the amount." 

She tried cooking it again. Only this time, she was not alone. However, it didn't come out the way she wanted it to. Again. 

She tasted a spoonful while King Leandro was looking at her with anticipation. But It was dry and crunchy to eat. 

She paused for a fraction of a second before glancing at King Leandro with her lips pressed together and her head shaking. 

"Failing is inevitable. But we could always try," Leandro encouraged her before pouring another cup of Riso in the small cauldron. 

It was probably just a simple statement from him. But it means a lot to her. His encouragement slowly removed all her negative thoughts away. Still, she kept her heart in check. 

Her lips curled up in a tepid smile at him, "Then let's try again." 

King Leandro called on the main cook, so she could write down the mistakes that they made and when they already made the right ratio, they will have a copy and cook it at a larger scale next time. 

They did a few more tries, but they always failed. Aisha was already wondering if the Riso and the rice that she had in her own world were the same. 

Their cooks must have not gone the whole day just so she can have a bowl of rice. 

"If I haven't suggested Riso, do you have other crops that you have in mind, your Majesty?" Aisha asked after she breathed out a dejected sigh. 

Maybe she was hoping for nothing. 

"Yes. But yours is proven and tested already. I would be starting from scratch if I would start with it. And we're running out of time," King Leandro said as he opened the cauldron. "How about this?"

Aisha jumped up to her feet as she saw the cooked rice. "Wait, it's getting familiar," she said as she frantically took a spoon and tasted it. Her eyes bulged out in delight. 

Her feet started to dance in excitement as she touched the King's arm, "I think this is it!" 

She tasted another spoonful and munched on it with her eyes closed. Tears almost start welling in her eyes. "Oh, my gosh. I miss you so much!" 

With her joy, she unconsciously put her arms around the King as she uttered, "We did it!"

She was so happy that she didn't notice that she made the King uncomfortable for a few seconds. But then, his lips lifted into a wide smile, a thing which he didn't do often. 

"At last," he answered with a voice of satisfaction. 

Aisha recalled that she was slightly angry with the King, so she distanced herself again. 

The other servants were glowing as well. They were excited to try out a new kind of food. There were some who rejected the idea. 

But seeing the rice made her so happy, she decided to pushed her doubts behind her head and focused on introducing it to the King. 

"Do you want to taste it, your Majesty?" Aisha said as she grabbed another spoon for the King. But she paused as she recalled, "Wait, you would only appreciate it if you have a main course or side dishes."

*******

"Your breakfast is ready, your Majesty," a servant drew near to them as if he was suggesting an idea.

Lady Aisha's eyes beamed brightly. "That's great! Let's go, your Majesty. I promise you, you will love it!"

She gave him her warmest smile as she dashed to the dining hall. Leandro followed close behind. He was shaking his head, but he was smiling.

"I really don't understand women," He muttered to himself in amazement at her sudden shift of mood.

He seated himself in his usual chair. He was expecting Lady Aisha to sit in front of her, a meter away from him because of the long table. 

But to his surprise, she lifted her chair and walked towards him. 

"Wait! Get the chair from Lady Aisha," he ordered one of the attending servants, who immediately complied with his command.

"Just place it beside the King," Aisha smiled at the servant. 

The servant quickly looked at Leandro for confirmation. 

Leandro nodded his head in agreement. It was uncomfortable because he wasn't used to being in such proximity with someone while eating. But he wanted her to be near him, too. 

"You can partner Riso with meat, vegetables, and soup. Just about anything! Here, try this!" Aisha excitedly babbled on as she put a piece of meat and some vegetables on top of a spoonful of rice. 

"Ahh," Aisha nodded her head as she commanded Leandro to open his mouth. 

Leandro's jaw dropped open, not because Aisha told her. But because he was surprised at her audacity to command him. 

To his bewilderment, Aisha thought that he was obeying her command as she grinned from ear to ear while putting the spoonful in his mouth. 

King Leandro's eyes frantically went to the observing servants to see what they thought about the situation. 

They were suppressing a laugh. 

King Leandro cleared his throat as he distanced himself away from her. He wanted to stop her, but his mouth was full of food. 

He just focused on tasting the rice in his mouth.

It was soft and slightly glutinous. It doesn't really have a strong taste, so he didn't know if it was delicious. But it was well blended with the meat and the vegetables. It felt like it was a complete meal.

He nodded his head in an agreeing, but not totally convinced manner. "It is… fine," he uttered after gobbling down the last bite. 

It was edible, but he didn't know if it could match Spelta as a staple food in Gaea. They might reject it and grumble for Spelta instead. 

However, his doubts were washed away as Aisha beamed at him with her hands clasped to her chest. "I told you, your Majesty. Gaeans will not be hungry anymore," she smiled at him cheerfully.

Leandro nodded his head as Lady Aisha reminded him of what truly matters.

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

TRUE LOVE:

Seeing their bad side,

their mood swings

and their crankiness,

yet still wanting to be with them.