The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 27

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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 27
“It’s that insufferable pretense of ignorance and indifference. As if he isn’t calculating everything in his head just as much as Osborn or I do.”
……
Melina’s gaze shifted to Bael.
“So that boy is your racing horse.”
Cain’s brow furrowed.
“Bael is my nephew. A nephew I’m fond of.”
“The meaning is different? With no children of your own and belonging to the Collateral Line, a promising successor in the family would be convenient enough for you.”
……
Cain rolled his eyes in a gesture of surrender.
“He’s grown so much. When I last saw him, he looked even smaller than Celine.”
Melina’s cool gaze fixed upon Bael.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Aunt.”
Their eyes met.
They exchanged an unwavering stare, as if each were taking the other’s measure.
“He does resemble Cedric quite a bit. Enough that I can understand why Father’s been so animated these past few days.”
She spoke with a slight laugh.
“When I asked, he made some excuse about Fondant Chocolate or some such confection—but it’s hardly credible that an old man so exacting would improve his mood over mere food. It must be that you’ve caught his fancy.”
……
Neither Bael nor Lucilla nor Cain offered a response. They were all thinking the same thing.
‘The Duke’s good mood was indeed because of the Fondant Chocolate.’
That being the thought.
Lucilla recalled what her mother had told her about Melina’s peculiarity.
‘The Empire’s Scale.’
That was her nickname, it was said.
She calculated everything, and her calculations were nearly infallible.
The basis of her calculations was always money and power.
She was not swayed by any other values, it was said.
Even when divorcing a husband who no longer served her interests, she had weighed the gains and losses of maintaining marriage against dissolution and made her decision—never showing the slightest emotional tremor.
Game users often sought her out when comparing quest rewards or debating the efficiency of different routes.
For someone like her, the texture and taste of a dessert, the intensity of chocolate—these were naturally not matters of great value.
“So, do you share your uncle’s views on the Hunting Tournament as well?”
She posed the question to Bael.
There was a subtle curiosity in her gaze, as if she were sizing up the person before her.
“Do you think it merely a game for children because they’ve put children on the field?”
Bael fell silent for a moment in thought.
To him, Melina was his father’s only sister and possibly someone who had contributed to his father’s death.
She was someone against whom he could have harbored enmity.
“……I would like to receive your guidance, Aunt.”
Yet he did not take that path.
Whether by instinct or design, his answer sounded quite political.
“Please tell me what the Hunting Tournament means, and why it becomes a board for determining the Succession Structure.”
It was an answer that sidestepped direct engagement while inviting her views first—the sort of reply that might subtly earn Melina’s favor.
“I wish to hear what you have to say.”
His voice was soft, and a small smile played at the corner of his mouth.
It was artifice, perhaps, but his natural charm was enough to lower a person’s guard.
And indeed, Melina’s cold eyes had softened almost imperceptibly.
“I’ve heard that you always see beyond the surface.”
And Lucilla detected something—a faint echo of genuine sincerity in his voice.
Bael truly wanted to hear it: how Melina analyzed the Belaon Hunting Tournament.
Lucilla found herself recalling the day she first met the Duke, Bael’s bearing then.
The way he had taken a meal with the Duke.
It had been perhaps two years since he’d faced anyone outside the sickroom.
He could hardly have been unafraid.
Even someone as caring toward his children as the Duke was merciless in his standards for the Main Line—a grandfather who had made no effort to conceal his disappointment when Bael first fell ill. Facing him could not have been comfortable.
Lucilla understood then.
‘It wasn’t simply that his strength had returned.’
Bael was growing.
Both in body and in spirit.
He calibrated himself to suit each moment, extracting what he desired.
The boy who had shown raw anger at their first meeting was becoming fluid like water.
With Ruben, he threatened quietly; with the Duke, he appealed to his heart; with Melina, he employed the necessary artifice and social grace to obtain what he sought.
And now his desires had broadened.
He was no longer pursuing mere survival, but analyzing the world itself.
A faint smile spread across Melina’s lips.
“The Belaon Ducal House was skilled in hunting from its founding, in the earliest days.”
She began to speak.
“Hunting is not merely the technique of taking beasts. It is reading the land, predicting movement, making judgment in an instant. It requires using mind and body together. That is why the Dukes of old held hunting to be the most honest method of discerning talent. Things that can be hidden by smooth words or family standing are laid bare on the hunting grounds.”
She paused briefly, then continued.
“And so, naturally, the results of the Hunting Tournament become an inescapable measure when determining the succession. Who judges coolly even under pressure, who shines alone, and who shines alongside others? The hunting grounds reveal these truths most clearly.”
“Wow.”
Lucilla let out a small exclamation, momentarily forgetting her thoughts about Bael as she listened, captivated.
Talk of the politics of the great and high—how rare.
It was rather like hearing stories about games from her mother.
“If you win the Hunting Tournament, do you become the heir?”
“……In the long term, the possibility increases.”
Melina seemed somewhat taken aback by Lucilla’s casual interjection, but paid it no great mind and continued speaking.
She seemed the type—calculating and cold, yet satisfied by teaching those with insufficient knowledge.
Bael listened without so much as a blink.
“Precisely speaking, those with an exceptionally talented child gain advantage in the Succession Structure. In the case of the Main Line, that is.”
Melina shot a glance at Cain as she emphasized ‘Main Line.’
“What of the Collateral Line?”
Lucilla pursued the question with genuine curiosity.
In truth, to her eyes as a commoner, the Ducal House’s Main Line and Collateral Line appeared much the same—all exalted nobility.
“The Collateral Line participates, but it is rare for them to win. Their goals are different.”
……
“They build fellowship with the Main Line, endear themselves to whoever is likely to become the next heir, help secure that person’s succession, compete among themselves for whatever business rights they can obtain—that is how they solidify their position within the Collateral Line. For your information, your master Cain has never competed at all.”
“He joined the family at sixteen, and the next tournament after that wasn’t until he was twenty.”
Cain shrugged once more.
Whew. Complicated stuff.
Lucilla mumbled to herself.
She did not view the world in complicated ways and had little interest in politics.
Though she found it impressive, what Lucilla truly enjoyed was the realm of cooking recipes.
“Is there a prize?”
“There is.”
Melina nodded as if she’d been waiting for the question, and Lucilla’s eyes widened.
If there was a prize, that was the most important thing—why all the complicated explanation?
“It’s always the same. Probably a gem…….”
“A Sapphire from among the gems my trading house distributes—one of exceptional value. It is the symbol stone of Belaon as well. Would you like to see it?”
Melina cut off Cain’s words and withdrew a small box from her pocket.
“This is the item.”
Bael and Lucilla lifted their heads to look upon the box.
The Sapphire within was indeed magnificent.
Though it fit easily in the palm of one’s hand, the moment it caught the light, a deep, vivid blue radiance scattered in all directions.
It held the color of the blue eyes of the Belaon lineage.
The way it shifted from deep navy to transparent sky-blue depending on the angle made it seem less like a mere jewel than like captured light itself.
At such a size and clarity, it was something one would not easily find anywhere in the Empire.
“It’s an excessive prize for a child not yet of age. I prepared it myself, at your father’s request.”
Melina spoke with pride, her bearing revealing a desire to be acknowledged for her eye in choosing the prize.
Cain exhaled sharply, while Bael’s expression remained unchanged.
And Lucilla……
“……Huh?”
murmured softly.
“What?”
“Could I look at that one more time?”
A faint smile crossed Melina’s lips.
At least one person had recognized its worth.
“Look, but do not touch. Once the tournament ends, this will belong to my daughter Celine.”
Melina opened the box again generously.
The Sapphire caught the sunlight and blazed with brilliant radiance.
Yet Lucilla’s gaze was not fixed upon it.
“This.”
Her eyes were turned toward the Ebony Box itself.
More precisely, at a small corner of it—what looked like a tiny decorative stone the artisan had inlaid to make the box appear more ornate.

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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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