The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 18

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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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Chapter 18
He grasped the horse’s bridle and thrust it toward Luciela.
“Kill this horse for me right now.”
He commanded her with a pleased gleam in his eyes.
“You’re a cook, aren’t you? I don’t see any use for this beast except as meat.”
A peculiar cruelty flickered across Theo’s gaze as he watched Luciela.
‘The same pale blue eyes can look so contemptible.’
“Since you’re a cook, you can turn a beast into meat, can’t you?”
Theo nudged the horse again with the toe of his boot and continued.
“Three years ago my father wagered with Count Dreken and won this horse—one of those animals the count imported from the Valmar Kingdom. As you can see, it’s done nothing but eat for three years and ended up like this.”
His mouth twisted into a sneer.
“The count swindled the Belaon Family.”
He kicked the horse’s leg harder this time with a sharp thud.
The horse’s ears flicked back, but it did not shy away.
“A cook shouldn’t be picky about materials, should they? Sever the artery with your blade. I’ll send that head to Count Dreken.”
At his cruel words, Luciela’s brow knitted of its own accord.
“What? Did you come to the Belaon Family just thinking you’d attend to that bastard Bael?”
Theo tilted his head as he spoke. Behind him, Ruben let out a sharp laugh.
“My master gives me work, so I should do it faithfully, shouldn’t I? Bael can punish a servant I brought, so can’t I do something to the cook that Bael employs?”
Theo said it with a sneer.
He likely meant what he said about killing the horse.
But the way he singled her out to do it suggested that the insult she and Bael had dealt Ruben recently had wounded his pride deeply.
Ordering her outright to kill the horse—he must have judged that she couldn’t do it.
‘If she fails, she becomes leverage. If she actually succeeds, that’s entertaining in its own way.’
Luciela drew her gaze from Theo and walked slowly toward the horse.
‘Horses on the continent usually divide into twelve… or was it thirteen breeds?’
She racked her brain, striving to dredge up knowledge learned years before.
Years ago, when the crimson moon rose and her mother disappeared.
Her mother had left Luciela with an old stableman neighbor for three months.
“He’s a country old man, but apparently he was a popular Item in the game—the Sage of Silver Hooves, they called him.”
“An Item…?”
“He’s versed in horse bloodlines, and if you hire that Item—the grandfather—even abandoned horses could be reborn as war horses, making them advantageous in battle.”
“…So Mother deliberately got him as a neighbor. That’s why we came to this village.”
“No, he also had the trait of being surprisingly good with children. Anyway, just learn whatever you can. It might prove useful someday.”
Though the old man was gruff, he had nonetheless taken her along and taught her various things.
After he tasted the fish cake Luciela had made one day, he seemed resolved to repay her kindness by passing on his knowledge.
The problem was that she’d let most of it go in one ear and out the other because she found it tedious.
‘That was all precious instruction.’
Regret was brief; Luciela observed the horse intently.
By its frame, this was likely a horse that had predominantly Graven blood—the massive breed common to the Northern Valmar Kingdom.
The frame was Graven, but the legs were longer, and the coat was a black that Graven could never produce, so it wasn’t purebred.
Its age was perhaps four or five.
For a horse, it was still in its growth phase.
Luciela’s gaze traveled slowly over the horse’s body.
“…!”
The joint of its front right leg was stiff. That was why its balance seemed oddly off.
Its muscles were bunched so tightly it was doubtful whether the creature had ever set foot outside the stable.
“What is it with that look? Do you suspect me?”
As if reading her thoughts, Theo laughed with a twisted grin.
“Have you been keeping it confined?”
“Should I let loose a horse that can’t carry a rider? Look at this.”
As Theo irritably tried to pull the horse’s bridle, the horse jerked its head away from his hand roughly.
“Damn beast!”
Theo’s foot shot toward the horse’s leg again, but this time the horse’s sharp stare halted his movement in midair.
“….”
Luciela’s brow furrowed.
Theo wasn’t wrong.
The horse’s temperament was indeed difficult.
It flinched and reacted with sensitivity not only to Theo but even to Luciela’s movements as she approached.
Theo had probably tried to ride this horse but failed.
After that, he’d neglected it and left it to waste, so its coat must have dulled.
‘Gravens are famous for their docility, so why…?’
Her hand moved through the hair behind its ear and stopped.
A small star-shaped mark was there.
A distinct star-shaped spot, darker than the surrounding hair.
Luciela’s eyes slowly widened.
The old man’s voice echoed in her ears.
“It’s called a Seonghon Horse because they’re born from the souls of stars!”
“Ah, yes. The Seonghon Horse.”
“You fool! Even if you don’t need cooking knowledge, you should listen. They’re the most beautiful wild horses there are!”
Yes, the Seonghon Horse.
A type of wild horse, and one had barely been seen in the past hundred years.
They ran twice as fast as the fastest war horse, and possessed a heart that wouldn’t tire even after five sleepless nights of running.
‘They survive harsh cold, fear not to cross water…’
They responded to the magical power of nearby living beings.
Luciela casually brought her hand near the horse’s muzzle and released a faint thread of mana.
Powerless, almost playful in its gentleness.
Whuff!
The horse responded before her hand even touched it.
It exhaled sharply and angled its head toward her hand.
It was not wariness. It was interest.
Something close to recognition.
Luciela’s eyes opened wide.
‘This is it!’
This horse was a crossbreed of a Seonghon Horse and a Graven.
Because wild horse blood ran through it, it wouldn’t be broken easily, and in the meantime, it responded to mana.
Mana carried a person’s emotions within it.
That’s why mana was used in both attack and healing.
Even without deliberate release, sensitive individuals could read the emotions and intentions of others through their mana.
The reason Theo couldn’t ride this horse had nothing to do with a defect in the horse.
It was because the horse could sense very clearly that Theo’s nature was foul.
In short, from the horse’s perspective, Theo was simply unlikable.
“What? Can’t kill one damaged horse?”
Theo jeered. He hadn’t noticed the reaction just now.
Luciela slowly withdrew her hand from the horse.
“This horse isn’t damaged.”
“You speak nonsense without even knowing anything.”
“…Either way, you’re throwing it away, aren’t you?”
She turned to face Theo.
“If it’s a horse you won through a wager, then wager with me.”
“A subordinate dares to wager with me?”
“As a subordinate, I’ll attempt to break this horse within a month.”
“….”
Theo looked down at Luciela with an expression of disbelief.
“A horse I couldn’t break in two years, one the Belaon knights couldn’t ride—you?”
“If I succeed, you hand the horse over to me. With the condition that you don’t order it slaughtered, just let it live. You said you were throwing it away anyway, didn’t you?”
Theo’s eyebrows rose. His eyes gleamed with amusement.
“And if you fail?”
“I’ll give you whatever you want.”
I won’t fail anyway.
Theo’s pale blue eyes scanned Luciela slowly, clearly intrigued.
“You.”
“Yes?”
“You have nothing else you can give, do you? Then you’ll become my handmaid.”
An inexplicable chill ran across Luciela’s skin.
Perhaps because of the way he looked at her—not as a person, but as a collectible.
“…Understood.”
The moment Luciela answered, footsteps sounded from behind.
“I told you to dispose of the horse, and here you are making deals with subordinates.”
It was a low, dry voice.
Luciela turned her head. Two figures stood at the entrance to the backyard.
One was a man approaching middle age.
Not the pure silver hair of Cain or Bael, but hair closer to platinum blonde.
And the characteristic pale blue eyes of the Belaon Family.
His gaunt, pallid face could have been called handsome, but it inspired no warmth.
It was the face of a man who had learned to hide his baseness as he aged.
‘This must be Osborn, the duke’s second son, the one currently responsible for the duchy’s affairs.’

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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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