Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 166

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Don’t Know About Being the Successor, but I’ll Just Relax — Episode 166

Lion glanced outside and peeled off his gloves.
He’d wear them later when using fire, but bare hands were easier for preparing ingredients.

“Let me see what we have here…….”

There was more to do than he’d expected.
Lion washed his hands thoroughly at the sink, then rinsed the rice and set aside the Rice Washing Water in a separate bowl.

‘When you don’t have anchovy stock, this is worth its weight in gold.’

The milky Rice Washing Water would serve as an excellent stock base for anything.
He transferred the rinsed rice to a pot and let it soak for a moment.
There was nothing stopping him from cooking it right away, but since this was a rare pot of rice he was making, he decided to take a bit more care.

‘Nowadays, I hear some people mix in a bit of oil while cooking it…….’

He vaguely remembered reading that this gave each grain of rice a lustrous sheen.
But what Lion was making today was, by definition, simple home cooking, so he resolved to stick to the basics.
Besides…….
He’d never been incompetent at cooking in the first place, but with his Cooking Talent, his touch had become quite refined, hadn’t it?
And with such excellent ingredients, even minimal effort would yield the taste of skillfully prepared home-cooked fare.

Gulp.

Lion swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth.

‘There’s nothing quite like home cooking to fill the hunger.’

That solid, satisfying fullness—pressing down a bowl heaping with rice to fill the emptiness that outside food could never quite reach.
A single spoonful, served with care in the peace of one’s own home, for oneself alone!
Hadn’t everyone felt it at least once?
That feeling after eating rice, side dishes, and soup a bit more than generously, then leaning back with your whole body slack, thinking, ‘Ah, I feel alive.’
That sensation of the body melting away into drowsy warmth—past merely warm, verging on hot.
A moment of respite and composure, a chance to catch one’s breath from the grimy, petty storms of the world.
That was the kind of solid comfort home cooking carried.
Someone might say there was nothing so grand about a single meal, but at least to Lion, it held meaning.
And hadn’t he come to realize it?
The joy of doing something for another.

“……Well, it’s two birds with one stone anyway.”

Why not share the meal while eating it?
Lion trimmed a fresh scallion and chopped off the root end, setting it beside the Rice Washing Water.
Then…….

“Hmm.”

He stared intently at the purple carrot.
In shape it was a carrot, certainly, but in color it resembled a beet.
If he used this, the stock would definitely develop a deep, complex flavor.

‘The problem is, if used carelessly, it could be a visual disaster.’

Vegetables with color always leached their hue into the stock as it simmered.
If he sliced this generously and added it…….

‘The broth would turn purple.’

Of course, even here in the Labyrinth, Bean Sprout Soup would look strange whether it turned violet or clear, but I wanted to avoid colors that might suppress appetite as much as possible.

“Let me try cutting some off and tasting it first.”

Lion sliced the pristine violet carrot and placed a small piece into his mouth.

Crunch!

The carrot’s characteristic raw earthiness gave way to an intense saltiness. It was rather like biting into a raw carrot dusted with seasoning salt.

“Hmm…….”

Lion’s expression turned peculiar at the ambiguous flavor—neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
He chewed a bit more, crunching steadily…….

“Huh?”

The taste was changing!
Moments before, when he’d eaten it raw, that grassy note had dominated—but now something else emerged, an indescribable rich, savory depth.
Lion knew this flavor.
The umami, the saltiness, and this savory richness was exactly……!

‘Soy sauce?’

Remarkably, as he chewed the Salted Carrot longer, the distinct flavor of soy sauce bloomed across his palate!
Lion’s eyes brightened in an instant.
Soy sauce, no less!

‘I was worried how to build flavor without soy sauce, and this fits perfectly?’

The problem was that this Salted Carrot was purple, but there was an easy way to solve that.
He would mince the Salted Carrot and reduce it briskly with water until it clung to the pan!
Purple vegetables typically turn brown when boiled, so there was every reason to hope this carrot would too.
Moreover, doing this would cook away the carrot’s raw earthiness, making it perfect as a soy sauce substitute.
Lion set to work at once.
First, he poured a shallow measure of water into a pan and set it over the flame.
The shallow water evaporated quickly, bubbling steadily, while the carrot didn’t stick to the pan bottom.
Still, to be safe, he stirred gently with a spatula.
Even carrots that normally require long cooking softened rapidly when minced this finely, their solid form beginning to crumble.
When the water had evaporated completely and only the carrot remained, he tasted a small spoonful.

“……!”

Just as expected—no, even deeper than expected. A full, rich soy sauce flavor from a traditional, established household.
The earthiness had vanished, replaced by a wave of umami.
And underneath it all, that clean, refreshing quality unique to vegetables……!

“Insane.”

Lion murmured to himself, gathered the carrot, wrapped it in cloth, and squeezed the juice through.
A dark brown liquid dripped steadily between the linen fibers.
Small in quantity though it was, from every angle it was soy sauce itself!

‘Once I get home, I’m importing those Salted Carrots first thing.’

Actually—why not hunt down the seeds and cultivate them right here in the Labyrinth?
With that thought, Lion pulled out a generous batch of bean sprouts he’d gathered.

“Nice. They’re in good condition.”

Of course the goods from Ester’s warehouse were bound to be quality — he’d assumed as much when he’d selected them.
He’d even checked them when sweeping them up.
But when he went to prep them… they were even better than he’d thought!
The sprouts showed no sign of that papery skin you usually found on the heads, and the bean sprouts themselves were perfectly aligned, not scattered at all…

‘This is going to be so easy to trim.’

Unlike ordinary bean sprouts, these pale green ones required the roots to be completely removed — but there was no need to trim each one individually!
You just grabbed a handful, and with one or two sharp cuts of the knife, the roots came clean away.
After a few cuts, you soaked them in a basin of water to rinse away any debris, and that was it.

“This really is excellent.”

Lion finished prepping the remaining ingredients, set the rice to cook, and brought Rice Washing Water and green onion roots to a boil in a pot for the broth.
Once the green onion’s essence had steeped into the water, he fished out the roots and added the bean sprouts with a splash more water to adjust the consistency.
Then he cranked the heat up high and let it boil vigorously.
Some cooks covered the pot to suppress any fishy smell, but Lion preferred to leave it uncovered.
If the broth boiled over while covered, you’d have to open the lid mid-cooking anyway.

‘Not that it makes much difference, supposedly…’

But opening and closing the lid mid-boil only intensified that distinctive fishy odor, so he’d chosen to keep it open and let it bubble away undisturbed.
Besides, he needed to watch for the color change in the bean sprouts.

Bubble, bubble!

As the minutes passed, the pale green sprouts gradually transformed, taking on their proper color.
The stems turned translucent white, while the heads flushed with a soft golden hue, like the yolk of a hard-boiled egg!
And remarkably, for all that color change in the sprouts themselves, the broth in the pot remained a pristine milky white.

‘Perfect.’

Lion let out a breath of relief and began adjusting the seasoning of the bean sprout soup.
He added salt to taste, then drizzled in the carrot sauce he’d prepared earlier.
Next…

“You can’t leave out garlic, that’s for sure.”

Lion pulled a Pungent Fruit from his inventory.
He could have used the garlic available here, but the flesh of this Pungent Fruit had superior flavor.
He minced the Pungent Fruit and dropped it in.
Then he carefully grated the seeds inside on the fine side of a grater to make a powder, which he sprinkled in for good measure.
Finally, for that last hint of heat and crispness, he sliced a chili pepper and added it…

“Ah, this is going to be delicious.”

Garlic, white pepper, and chili.
With all three appetite-stirring essentials in place, it was almost maddening how good it smelled.
He wanted nothing more than to sit down right now with a proper bowl of rice… but he held back.
He wasn’t finished yet.

“Let the broth keep simmering…”

Lion turned the heat down to low and retrieved a wide platter.
He also remembered to adjust the heat under the rice pot so it wouldn’t burn.
The broth and rice were nearly ready, but the most important element remained undone.
The side dishes.

“Hm-hm…”

I know a side dish so delicious that even people who hate bean sprouts will eat it.
Bean Sprout Stir-fried Beef, to be exact.
And I’d just found the perfect ingredient for it in the warehouse’s meat section.
It was, in fact…….

“There’s a magical tool that cuts meat to exactly the thickness you want!”

An Automatic Meat Slicer!
Fresh raw meat could now be cut to whatever size I desired!
And it sliced paper-thin.

‘Bean sprouts fried in pork fat — that’s always delicious.’

And if I used plenty of meat instead of just a bit, how good would it taste?
Even though I’d just finished an amazing brunch, my stomach made a small growling sound.
Lion moved faster than before.
Making Bean Sprout Stir-fried Beef was actually quite simple.

‘You just throw it all in and fry it.’

It seemed half-hearted in a way, but tasting it would change anyone’s mind.
First, I heaped the bean sprouts and meat like a mountain into the heated pan.
With a sizzle, the meat cooked and fat began to run.
And the bean sprouts soaked up that fat.
While they melded together and cooked, I prepared the sauce.
I scooped a generous amount of red pepper powder into the Salted Carrot soy sauce—almost too much, I thought.
Without red pepper paste on hand, using this much powder worked fine.
……But would the Second Imperial Prince be all right with it?

‘He drank well enough, so spicy food should suit him too.’

And even if he couldn’t handle it, the bean sprout soup would soothe his tongue, so it’d be fine.
Ricshel ate spicy things better than I’d expected.
Lion nodded and added sugar, minced Pungent Fruit, Pungent Fruit seeds for a warming flavor, and a spoonful of cooking white wine, stirring it all together.
Once the sauce was ready, I spread it right over the cooking stir-fry and tossed it all together vigorously.
Thanks to the high heat, the bean sprouts and meat picked up a subtle charred aroma I hadn’t intended.
The stiff, unmixed sauce began to blend smoothly the moment moisture released from the bean sprouts.
And then…….

“Whoa…….”

From some point on, a sharp, appetizing aroma rose up through my nose.
That distinctive, hunger-stirring smell of lightly charred sauce from high heat!

‘Even though I made it myself, this is seriously incredible.’

Lion added the white parts of scallions while controlling the spatula to prevent burning, then rolled and sliced fresh leaves at the finish to add fragrance.
Finally, I tasted a bite to check if anything was lacking…….

“…….”

Click. Click. Click.
Yeah. This is it.
This is the taste!
You know how it is sometimes.
When you make something yourself but it’s so delicious you wonder if an actual genius made it.
That’s what this Bean Sprout Stir-fried Beef was.
The crisp texture of the bean sprouts and the chewiness of the meat filling my mouth.
And that’s not all—the sweet-spicy sauce dances across my tongue with each bite.
The Bean Sprout broth, made with generous water, had simmered down to just the right consistency while I prepared the Stir-fried Beef, and when I lifted the lid off the rice cooker, steam rose in wispy tendrils as the grains gleamed with a lustrous sheen.

“Perfect.”

Now to pack it all up.
Do you know why I made the Stir-fried Beef as the side dish?
It’s because it needs a little time to cool — that’s when the seasonings fully penetrate and the flavors deepen.
And with that, Lion’s Delivery Home-cooked Meal was complete.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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