The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 62

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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 62
“When I stepped forward to protest, Your Majesty immediately used magical power. I attempted to block it with a Barrier, but I failed to set its range in time, and could not prevent His Majesty from entering within it.”
……
The lie flowed as smooth as a clear mountain stream—so convincing that Serion was left speechless.
“……What of this talk of another dimension?”
The Empress asked quietly.
“Did the Crown Prince fabricate that tale?”
“The air inside the Barrier differed from that without, so His Majesty may have become confused in the heat of the moment.”
……
The Empress’s face twitched slightly.
The shock in her gaze as she looked at her son suggested she found Bael’s words more persuasive than Serion’s account.
Luciel let out a soft sound of admiration.
Now that she thought of it, her mother had said Bael’s talent for improvisation was unmatched.
As he approached adulthood, his character had grown flexible as a willow—strong enough to bend when necessary, always watching for a chance to unfurl again.
That was why he never broke.
It seemed that talent included knowing how to lie well.
He was weaving truth and falsehood so skillfully that even the Emperor and Empress were convinced.
“……That sounds like something Serion would say.”
As the Empress spoke with a despondent expression, Serion’s face twisted sharply.
“That bastard—how dare he lie——”
Cough!
When Bael coughed, blood scattered from his mouth in all directions.
“Are you unwell?”
The alarmed Emperor rummaged through his robes and handed him a handkerchief.
“Cough…… I came to the palace at Your Majesty’s invitation, yet I did not expect the Crown Prince to attack me and my companions.”
“That is a lie!”
Serion did not yield. If he gave ground now, he felt he would spend his life stifled by resentment.
“Using Offensive Magic against the Crown Prince is treason in itself, and you forcibly detained me as well——”
“The Prince of Bellaon speaks the truth.”
Yet before he could finish, another figure stepped forward before the Emperor.
It was a boy with hair a shade brighter red than Serion’s.
“Arnen?”
“Brother attacked the two of them first, Father.”
Arnen appeared half-terrified, yet he spoke clearly to the Emperor nonetheless.
“I saw it myself.”
“Arnen, is that truly so?”
“What did you see? Tell Mother.”
“I was following to say goodbye to Master Luciel and Prince Bael before they left…… and I saw Brother meet the two of them first.”
Arnen spoke in a child’s clear voice.
Serion seemed frightened, keeping his distance and avoiding the boy’s gaze, yet his voice remained steady.
“Brother called the two of them to a stop and asked the others to clear the space. I could not hear what was said…… but.”
He glanced at Serion, then looked away again.
“It was definitely Brother who unleashed the Offensive Magic first. Prince Bael was standing between them, as if to protect the Chef.”
“……Your eyes would be better plucked out entirely, useless as they are even if you had them!”
Serion spoke softly, and Arnen flinched.
“Did you see only useless things and miss what mattered? What happened after?”
“Is there nothing you won’t say to your younger brother, Serion!”
The Emperor’s voice crackled with anger as he scolded, then turned his gaze back to Arnen.
“What happened next?”
“……The two of them seemed to be in danger, so I looked away for a moment to find someone to carry word to you and Mother.”
Arnen said.
“I looked away for less than a minute…… and when I looked back, everyone was in their original places.”
“They were in another dimension!”
Serion broke in. His wolf-like eyes burned with intensity.
“It was an entirely separate space. We must investigate this immediately through Magical Scholarship to understand how such a thing is possible——!”
“Deina.”
The Empress called upon the attendant beside her.
“You once served in the Magic Tower’s research laboratory.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Is such a thing possible?”
“……I have heard the theory discussed, but……”
The attendant chose her words carefully.
“No such case is known to exist in recorded history. The only scholar to propose such a theory was a chief mage who vanished from the Magic Tower long ago.”
“So it was the ravings of that madman.”
The Emperor shook his head with displeasure, as if an unwelcome memory had surfaced.
“I need hear no more. As Bael says, when a Barrier is cast on such a scale, the world can indeed seem different.”
“Your Majesty, there is a theory, as I’ve stated. It was not a delusion on my part.”
Serion straightened and met the Emperor’s gaze.
“We must interrogate those two immediately to learn the truth. If you entrust them to me——”
“Enough, Serion!”
The Emperor’s wrathful voice rang through the Imperial Palace.
“Have you no eyes to see what you have done to the honor of the entire Imperial House? Have you not seen what the Crown Prince has wrought!”
……
Serion bit his lip hard and turned his gaze to the right.
Ordinarily, he would have fixed a murderous stare upon the younger brother who dared defy him, but not now.
Those relentless golden eyes were fixed solely upon Luciel and Bael.
What lay in that gaze was no simple anger.
Rather, what gleamed in his eyes was something like subtle excitement.
“In less than a minute…… such a thing was possible. Without a trace, completely……”
He murmured in a voice barely audible to the Emperor.
“A space with plants and a cottage……”
“Though I strive to understand you, it is not easy to embrace such a son!”
The Emperor continued speaking, but Serion was not listening.
“Do you truly wish to become a tyrant!”
As if he could see only one thing, his gaze never released Bael and Luciel.
His lowered face, hidden from the Emperor’s sight, held a hunger for something he had never possessed—a desire that had deepened from moments before.
Luciel felt gooseflesh rise on her back as their eyes met.
“I know you covet new things. I know how shocked that meal was to you today. I felt the same.”
The Emperor stepped closer to Serion and spoke.
“Yet how many times have I said it? An Emperor does not sit in a place where he can seize everything from others. Even less so if that other is the ducal house of Bellaon.”
……
“You shall retire to your chambers.”
“Father. That woman Luciel, the Chef——”
Serion shot back, meeting the Emperor’s eyes directly.
“I have told you to retire!”
The Emperor’s voice rang out again, sharp and thunderous.
“Without thought, without calculation, you will reflect upon what you have done!”
……!
Serion fell silent.
This time, he seemed to heed the Emperor’s words.
“……I understand.”
He murmured.
“Without thought, without planning…… Your Majesty’s correction is just.”
He bowed his head.
The Emperor sighed deeply with relief, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
Yet Luciel’s unease remained unchanged.
‘It is not remorse.’
Nor had he relinquished the anger or obsession directed at herself and Bael, and at the hidden garden.
He was reflecting on the lack of planning in his actions.
He was already thinking that next time, when he made his move against the two of them, he would prepare with far greater precision.
Serion Eshelder was a man who had never, in his entire life, abandoned what he desired.
Serion turned his head slightly to glance at Luciel.
The moment their eyes met again, a smile spread across his lips.
Like a cat who has discovered a toy it cannot bear to leave unclaimed.

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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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