The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 52

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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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Episode 52
It was said without any particular thought behind it.
Her mother had always spoken freely about her life before the possession, so Luciel had probably imagined a few times that her mother was returning alone to that past world.
But when her mother heard Luciel’s words, she stopped eating her soft tofu and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“You know, Luciel. Sometimes Mother gets frightened. Because you’re so clever.”
“Why is Luciel so clever?”
“You listen so carefully to every word Mother says. It’s as if you never forget anything.”
……
“Luciel, Mother isn’t going anywhere. Never worry about that. Even if I do go, I’ll surely come back someday. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
As memories from the past welled up in her, Luciel’s mood grew complicated.
Now that she thought about it, it had been far too long since she’d seen her mother.
It wasn’t that she doubted her.
Her mother had said she’d return, so she would.
‘Mother never lied.’
She had even warned her beforehand that there might come a time when they’d be apart for a long while.
Still, she couldn’t help but miss her mother from time to time.
“Mother used to call this feeling ‘sentimental.'”
Luciel murmured to herself.
“When you get sentimental, you need……that.”
Smack.
Perhaps because she’d been thinking of Korean food after so long, a particular dish came to mind, and saliva pooled at the corners of Luciel’s mouth.
Yes, it was time for her to eat Korean food.
Though Luciel had been born and raised in the Empire, from that day onward she had also grown up eating Korean dishes from time to time.
She could live just fine without it, but on days when her feelings were this muddled, she absolutely needed something spicy.
The Emperor’s summons kept her busy every hour, but that was only when her stomach was full.
Above all, no other dish could entice the Butler quite like this one.
Clink.
Luciel cleared away the soup bowl she’d made earlier and grabbed the chicken she’d set aside.
Now was the time.
It was that vague, restless hour—long after lunch, still far from dinner.
The time when food tasted best besides midnight itself.
There was no point in holding back. She had to eat now.
Luciel headed to the Pantry.
Potatoes and onions were always in stock. The chicken had been prepped in abundance earlier.
The issue was the seasonings.
She reached into the back of a shelf in the Pantry that she rarely used.
There was a red, pungent spice powder tucked in the corner—something almost no one in the Duke’s household could use.
It was the kind her mother had tasted once in the past and declared, “It’s exactly like red chili powder!”
What a stroke of luck that she’d noticed Renar stashing it away in the corner, saying it wasn’t needed.
Beside it sat a bottle of Haren Fermented Sauce.
Finally, she rummaged through the lowest shelf of the Pantry. Translucent, thin noodles were bundled in a thick mass.
The sauce had always been there, but the glass noodles themselves were something Luciel had procured directly from a merchant from the Haren Kingdom.
When she’d been buying other ingredients and spotted them by chance, she’d lit up with delight. The merchant, saying that no one in the Empire knew how to use them and they’d never sold a single bundle, had passed them over at a discount.
Luciel gathered the ingredients and brought them to the counter.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
She cut the chicken into chunks and dropped them into the pot, then roughly sliced the potatoes and onions and added them too.
Next, she placed the pre-soaked noodles in the middle.
The noodles, absorbing the broth, softened and spread, and the liquid in the pot grew denser.
Whoosh—
Luciel smoothly added the spice powder, the fermented sauce, and garlic, then poured water until the ingredients were just covered.
She brought it to a rolling boil over high heat, then reduced the flame to simmer. As the broth soaked into the chicken, the color in the pot deepened gradually.
When she added the MSG Powder, which she hadn’t used in ages, an intense, pungent aroma filled the entire Kitchen.
It was a scent that could never be found in an Imperial kitchen.
Luciel lifted a spoonful of the broth and tasted it.
Sharp and deep. In short: perfect.
‘Yes, this is it!’
Just as she finished spooning the dish into a bowl.
Tap.
A long, lean silhouette appeared at the Kitchen door.
“Oh, Butler! You’ve returned.”
……
Instead of answering, the Butler silently savored the aroma wafting from the Kitchen.
Sniff.
Before he could even fully grasp the situation, his nose had already reacted.
Unconsciously, he stopped all other movement except for the subtle sniffing of his nostrils.
The intense food aroma was transmitted through his nostrils, where all his senses had converged.
It was not the butter and cream scent that always hung in an Imperial kitchen.
It was pungent, zesty—the kind of smell he’d caught once, long ago.
His gaze turned toward the pot.
In the dark red broth, chicken and potatoes bubbled away.
“……That’s.”
The Butler’s eyes widened.
“What is it?”
“It’s Spicy Chicken Stew. It was a dish Mother loved.”
Luciel answered casually.
The Butler stared at the pot for a long moment.
He said nothing. Only the pupils of his eyes trembled slightly.
“……I’ve never heard that name before, but.”
He spoke slowly, carefully.
“It’s remarkably similar to a spicy braised chicken dish from my homeland.”
Luciel’s lips curved up slightly.
‘Caught him.’
Luciel asked the Butler with feigned innocence.
“Would you like to join me? I think I made far too much.”
The Butler seemed to hesitate for a moment.
“Weren’t you busy?”
“I just finished. Please, sit.”
He sat down quietly across from Luciel without a word.
When Luciel handed him a bowl, the Butler initially picked up his spoon slowly.
Sip—
He took a single mouthful of broth. And stopped.
Slurp slurp—
The second spoonful was a bit faster.
“……!”
In the corners of his tightly closed eyes, there gleamed a joy he hadn’t felt in decades.
Luciel watched him eat for a long time.
At first, it was just the broth.
One sip, two sips. Only after the third did the spoon turn toward the chicken.
When the seasoned meat separated from the bone, the Butler’s hand stalled for a moment, then moved faster.
He picked apart the potato with his chopsticks, soaked it in the broth, and ate it. He wound the glass noodles around his spoon and fed them all in at once.
Once he began taking spoonfuls that held vegetables, chicken, and noodles all together, his pace became impossible to gauge.
Watching him, Luciel suddenly came to her senses.
‘I should eat too!’
She grabbed her spoon as well.
After that, there was silence.
Or rather, to be precise, only the fierce clatter of utensils echoed through the Kitchen.
Thanks to the two of them working quietly in tandem, the food in the pot dwindled in no time.
“Ahhhh, that was delicious!”
“Phew, that was wonderful.”
After the meal and with a glass of cold water down each of their throats, the two faced each other, wiping the sweat from their foreheads.
After eating the spicy food, Luciel felt as though a weight had lifted from her chest.
It was as if everything that had accumulated over so long had been washed away.
The Butler, too, looked transformed.
Color had returned to his pallid complexion, and above all, he looked happy.
It was an expression of rapture she had never seen once since arriving at the Duke’s Residence.
“That was a most joyful meal,” he said quietly.
His voice sounded like that of someone waking from a dream.
“It was nearly identical to the food from my homeland. Especially this combination……”
He seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
“The exquisite balance of carbohydrates and meat, vegetables, and seasoning that binds it all together. I’ve been forgetting it for such a long time.”
Luciel offered a satisfied smile and nodded.
All the effort she’d put into mastering that balance—having made Spicy Chicken Stew for her mother for a month straight—had been worth it.
The Butler glanced at her.
“I wish there were a way to repay the value of this meal. Melina mentioned you have no interest in anything besides cooking, so I’m not sure there’s anything I could offer you.”
“There is.”
Luciel answered with a triumphant smile.
“There is?”
The Butler’s eyes widened.
“What would that be?”

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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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