The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 44

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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 44
* * *
For three days after that, Lucielra hardly slept at all.
Once she entered the kitchen, she didn’t leave.
She sketched ideas, discarded them, sketched again, her hands never ceasing to touch and test materials.
The accumulating fatigue she could manage.
The real problem was something else entirely: annoyance.
More precisely, the people causing that annoyance.
‘Why in the world are they being so incredibly bothersome!’
Lucielra let out a silent scream.
First, Celine had been loitering near the kitchen twice a day.
Dale had persistently accompanied her right up until the day before he left the estate.
“As Mother’s successor, I have a responsibility to supervise your cooking. Now come on, let me have a taste.”
“Right, and I don’t have any such responsibility, but I’ll make a special exception and taste it too. Ah….”
“Please, both of you—stop saying the same thing. If you’re hungry, just eat the pie I made yesterday.”
“There was pie?”
“You need to tell me these things beforehand!”
……Sigh.
Spending energy every day to face those two with their wide eyes and hopeful expressions, Lucielra’s dark circles grew deeper with each passing hour.
That wasn’t even the worst of it.
Jerome and several kitchen staff kept coming in under the pretense of looking for ingredients, peering over her shoulder to steal glimpses of her work.
“I-is there anything you need help with? It’s not that I’m curious or hungry or anything like that….”
“Yes, sir.”
“And I’m absolutely not trying to copy the recipe. I would never do such a thing.”
“Of course. You wouldn’t steal a peek, but you would keep pestering me until I’m forced to tell you myself.”
“Sharp as always. So then….”
“Not now.”
“Tsk.”
It wasn’t just the kitchen staff.
Word must have spread, because even knights and butlers she’d never been particularly close to wanted to glimpse her cooking.
“You’re the chef His Grace has been so fond of, aren’t you? He tasted your Chocolate Banana Pancake and even bragged about it to the Nobility Council. I’m quite fond of them myself….”
“I hear there’s a chef who makes the Stew of Fortune. Our knighthood has a unit promotion examination coming up, and if you could just prepare one bowl per person….”
“I heard that Melina ordered you to prepare dessert. That ice-cold woman has taken a liking to your skill—if I could just sample it once, it would be a tremendous honor.”
Only then did Lucielra realize she’d become somewhat famous within the Bellion Ducal House.
Under normal circumstances, she would have delighted in the newfound wealth and reputation. But now, it only gave her a headache.
There were problems outside the kitchen too.
On the day she’d deliberately sought an empty spot and was preparing ingredients in the garden, Estelle had approached from behind so quietly that Lucielra nearly fainted at the sight of that dark face.
“Kyaaaagh!”
“Hehehing!”
Estelle, who had wandered over after catching the scent of food, let out a startled whinny louder than Lucielra’s scream, making the situation even more unfair.
“Why are you taking walks by yourself!”
“Hehehing!”
It was Lucielra herself who had deliberately given Estelle such freedom, but in this tense moment, she could find nothing but resentment in her heart.
Yet Lucielra did not stop.
On days when she successfully drove everyone away, she continued her planning and cooking—in the kitchen, sometimes in a quiet corner of the garden, in her room, even in the small greenhouse on the estate’s western side.
She was exhausted, anxious, feeling as though she might collapse at any moment.
And yet, at the same time, there was an exhilaration to it all. Her eyes gleamed with the vitality of someone wholly absorbed in their work.
In short, Lucielra was actually enjoying this difficult process.
‘This is food bearing my name.’
It was the first opportunity of its kind for her.
As she refined her recipes again and again, she gradually came to understand that she had been longing for such an opportunity for a long time.
In her relatively short life, Lucielra had spent a considerable time as a cook, but before coming to the Bellion Ducal House, she had rarely received recognition from anyone except her mother.
More than that, not only had she been denied recognition, but her carefully crafted dishes were often credited to others and dismissed outright.
This opportunity was one she could not afford to lose.
Besides, Melina had promised her a substantial sum in gold as payment.
Greater wealth, greater renown.
‘That’s a good thing, isn’t it?’
Lucielra recalled her mother’s teachings.
“You say money can’t buy happiness? Then perhaps that money simply wasn’t enough. You should think about that.”
Lucielra used her own worldly desires as a whip, driving herself forward.
And she had no intention of letting anything stand in the way of this opportunity.
* * *
Three days had passed.
Melina, as though she’d been waiting all along, opened the Tasting Event within the Bellion Ducal House.
The Reception Room was crowded.
Cain and Bael, who had arrived early, were there alongside Melina and Celine, Debron and Edwin, and the four members of Osborne’s family—all naturally present.
Not only family but hired staff filled the seats as well.
Including the head butler and Jerome, Melina had personally selected those whom she considered to possess the most exacting standards and refined palates.
It was Melina’s way of thinking—the reactions of others would be a more accurate measure of quality than her own tastes, which were not those of a food expert.
Of course, the Duke himself, who had just returned from the Imperial Palace, was also present.
‘Is it today?’
The Duke looked around the Reception Room, thinking.
Even while at court, his curiosity had driven him to subtly order numerous men to sneak into the kitchen and discover the menu, yet those useless fools had all failed.
The Duke licked his lips, his eyes fixed on the kitchen door.
Soon, when that door opened, he would finally taste Lucielra’s new creation.
He hoped it would be pudding.
Or perhaps cake would be just as wonderful.
Saliva began to pool at the corner of the Duke’s mouth, and his palms, without his realizing it, pressed together and rubbed against each other slowly.
Just as everyone was settling into their seats,
someone appeared before Lucielra, who had remained alone in the kitchen finishing the plating.
“……?”
She saw the shadow falling across the dessert, frowned, and lifted her head, only to see blonde hair and sun-darkened skin come into view.
A face that made her appetite plummet at the mere sight of it.
It was Theo Bellion.
Lucielra’s mood soured immediately. She kept her expression cold and opened her mouth.
“If you’re here to cause trouble….”
“Of course not.”
Theo waved both hands in mock protest and smiled broadly.
“I came to help. I think I’ve been a bit harsh with you lately. I’m the kind of person who knows how to reflect on himself.”
As if that were true.
He smiled pleasantly enough, but Lucielra’s expression only deepened into sourness.
Aside from the fact that he was clearly all thumbs and utterly useless, the mischievous glint in his eyes was anything but the look of someone offering genuine help.
“Soften that expression a bit, will you? You should at least hear me out.”
Theo spoke as though he understood exactly what she was thinking.
It was impossible to tell whether the smile on his face was sincere or false.
“The expression stays as it is, but my ears are open. Go ahead.”
“Ah…… fine, I’ll cut straight to the point then.”
Theo laughed, as if in disbelief.
“You know, right? Everyone in that reception room—including all the household staff—they’re all under Father’s authority. Even if they’re not completely his people, they can’t very well ignore Father’s or my preferences.”
Of course they couldn’t.
“……That already sounds like a threat.”
“I’m just explaining the situation. The reaction could be positive, or it could be negative, right? But I hear you’ve been incredibly diligent in your preparation?”
Ignoring Lucielra’s increasingly disgruntled expression, Theo continued.
“If the reaction is poor, my aunt will never forgive you. Do you understand how far she’s willing to go? She threw her own husband out on the street with nothing because he was no longer useful for business.”
“…….”
Lucielra kept her hands on the tray and looked at him steadily.
“What do you want?”
“I told you—I want to help things go well.”
Theo stepped closer and continued speaking.
His voice was low and measured.
For a moment, it sounded less like a threat and more like a negotiation.
“In exchange, I want you to keep your distance from Bael.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re such a valuable cook, and if this dish succeeds, your name will become known.”
Theo shrugged as he spoke.
“I don’t like the idea of him monopolizing you after you’ve become famous, raising his own status in the process.”
His answer was remarkably straightforward.
“You know the direct line of Bellion competes with each other, don’t you? I’m no exception. I don’t like seeing talented people stick closely to that guy.”
“…….”
Faced with a response far more honest than she’d expected, Lucielra’s eyes narrowed even further.
“That doesn’t mean you have to leave the family. Think of it as being asked to exist for the family’s benefit. I was taught to prioritize the family by Father as well.”
Theo continued, seeing that he had her attention.
“You’d be under Father’s authority, you could continue to help Aunt Melina’s business, and you wouldn’t be particularly entangled with me or harmed by Bael. Everyone gets what they want. Simple, isn’t it?”
He laid out the arrangement neatly.
“All you have to do is cook, Father provides his support, and I’m not specially involved with you, nor does it hurt Bael. We all get what we want.”
“……What if I refuse?”
When Lucielra asked in a small voice, Theo’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“And what if I can’t trust that it won’t harm Bael?”
As expected, she wouldn’t agree immediately.
Yet she had only questioned him timidly—not defiantly resisted.
He’d thought her threatening, but perhaps she was just an ordinary girl after all.
Theo’s expression, which had stiffened momentarily, relaxed into something gentler.
Perhaps this useful girl could finally be bent to his will.
“Let me show you something—that might speed things along.”
He unwound something from his wrist and held it out toward her.

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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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