The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 63

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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 63
“Arnen, let’s go back.”
The Empress, who had been watching, took Arnen’s hand as though her head ached, and disappeared along with her attendants.
“Take Serion to his room. He’s not to leave without my permission.”
The attendants surrounded Serion and quietly withdrew.
Serion followed without resistance, his expression thoughtful.
“Sigh.”
The Emperor exhaled a sigh so deep it seemed to shake the very ground.
“If the Duke hears of this, he’ll come storming to the palace to kill me.”
He muttered to himself.
“I’ll offer my apologies separately, Lord Debron of Bellaon.”
“Your Majesty.”
Debron, who had been quietly rolling only his eyes, answered with visible tension.
“Take your nephew and the chef with you and return home. Get some proper rest.”
“Your Majesty.”
Debron and Edwin quickly withdrew, taking Bael and Luciel with them.
As they walked toward the carriage waiting at the palace gates, the color that had lingered in Debron’s face grew steadily paler.
Is this my fault?
He gnawed at his lip with that characteristic expression of fear.
Did I cause all this trouble?
He recalled Serion’s angry face.
And he’s the next emperor.
He suddenly felt how precarious his own position had always been, even before now.
Anxiety seized him—the fear that he might not be able to maintain his seat on the Noble Council.
“Sigh…”
He exhaled a deep breath, just as the Emperor had moments before.
He feared the Duke’s roar, but what made him tremble more was the name of his in-laws, Payton House.
“Welcome back, Lord Debron.”
“Yes. I’ve bathed. I need to think alone for a while—you can go.”
Debron, now limp as a wet rag, gave the order to his servant.
“It’s just… there’s someone inside.”
“Someone? Father?”
The servant shook his head, and Debron’s eyes widened.
“Surely not…”
“Yes.”
The servant nodded.
“Your wife has come.”
“What?”
Debron pushed past the servant and entered the bedroom.
The bedroom was unnaturally quiet, not a single lamp lit.
Only a familiar silhouette sat on the bed.
“My dear.”
“Debron.”
A woman with a peculiarly pale complexion, crimson hair, and eyes the color of burnt sienna rose from the bed.
“I came first. Since you wouldn’t come fetch me from my family home.”
Her eyes, which always smiled, now held an oddly serene quality.
“…Yes, I suppose that was the right move.”
Debron paused, choosing his words carefully before answering.
Part of him felt he’d been harsh to his wife, but another part meant what he said.
There was too much to handle—this was no time for leisurely visits to his in-laws.
Once she heard about everything, she would surely understand.
“The right move?”
“The Council and household affairs have kept me swamped.”
Debron nodded.
“It’s all important business… Listen, just today alone—you won’t believe what I’ve had to deal with…”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
His wife raised one hand, cutting him off.
“Let’s divorce.”
Debron’s mouth fell open.
“My dear, what are you saying…”
“I’ve endured it for a very long time.”
Debron’s wife looked up at the empty air, her expression exhausted.
“For years you’ve heard me say it—please make time for me. I wanted to visit my family home with you and Edwin, to travel together.”
“…Is it really just over something like that?”
Debron stared at her in disbelief.
“I told you there would be time for leisure later. Right now, if I don’t exert myself, then it won’t be me representing the family in the Council, it will be—”
“Debron.”
“That’s not what matters. Just listen, I went to the palace today, and—well, His Majesty was very pleased with the chef I brought. There was an issue, but the praise was such that even Payton House would envy it—”
“It mattered to me! You pitiful man!”
His wife leaped from the bed, her voice ringing out.
Debron stared at her in a daze, as though he’d been slapped.
“Just now… what did you just call me…”
“I’ve kept quiet. Kept quiet! Since you said that cursed Council was so important, I went along with it!”
Her words tumbled out as her anger finally erupted.
“I postponed visiting my family home for years. I didn’t take Edwin because you said he needed his education. I just endured it all!”
“But you went this time, didn’t you?”
“I went alone!”
His wife’s voice rang out sharply.
“And while I wrote five letters, you didn’t send a single reply! You said you’d come fetch me before the flowers withered! You didn’t come!”
“…”
Debron opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to say something but finding no words.
“I’m leaving.”
“Wait, darling! No, Lauren—this is all for us, for our good…!”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You’ve never been there for me. You’ve never even listened to a word I said.”
“Lauren!”
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Debron grabbed his wife’s arm, but she pulled away forcefully and rushed toward the door.
“Lauren!”
“…Mother?”
Edwin, who was just about to enter the master bedroom, spotted her and his eyes went wide.
His wife looked at Edwin with a cold stare.
His throat instinctively shrank.
“You.”
“M-Mother, why are you looking at me like that? You’re scaring me.”
“A son who ignores his mother’s letters is worthless.”
“Mother, it’s not like that—there were more important matters than letters…”
“You’ve become exactly like your father. No interest in visiting your maternal family, no attempt to understand your mother’s heart.”
“It’s not like that…”
“The fault is partly mine for letting you grow up this way. From now on, you live your life, and I’ll live mine.”
“How can you say such a thing?”
“Sophia! Let’s go!”
Edwin, bewildered by this side of his mother he’d never seen before, reached out to stop her, but she coldly brushed off her son and called to her attendant.
Her personal maid, who had already packed her things, followed her out, and the two of them slipped out of the Mansion in an instant.
“She’s… she’s gone. Lauren is gone.”
“Mother left me behind…”
Debron and Edwin stood frozen in place, their expressions blank as if struck by a hammer.
“She’s gone. Lauren. She went back to Payton House.”
Debron continued muttering to himself.
“I… I’ve lost my wife.”
He collapsed where he stood.
“In the end, it was because I wasn’t enough… that’s why this happened.”
His face, drained of all color as though he’d lost a kingdom, crumpled helplessly.
* * *
“Where is Bael?”
“In his room. He said he has something to think about.”
Luciel answered Cain’s question.
On the journey back from the palace, Bael had been deep in thought the entire time. After checking that Luciel was all right, he said he had something to discuss with Aila and withdrew to his room.
“Would you like a late-night snack?”
When Luciel asked, Cain’s expression clouded with deep contemplation.
“…No.”
He shook his head with effort, hiding the fact that his mouth was already watering.
“Not after what happened at the palace. I can’t put you through more trouble.”
Having heard the full account of what had transpired at the palace, Cain sat in silence, his brows furrowed in thought.
‘A man who can’t even raise his own children properly.’
Though he had felt neutral about the Emperor before, hearing this incident made him want to curse. But it wasn’t an emotion he could display in front of the children, so he was doing his best to show nothing.
He forced himself to wear a blank expression.
“The Duke has gone to a nearby Territory for now, so let’s just rest today…”
“I was thinking of making castella cake.”
“C-Castella?”
Cain swallowed hard.
And immediately felt his mouth fill with saliva again.
The taste and texture of that cake he’d eaten long ago, etched on his tongue, came creeping back.
“Your face says you really want it… Everyone in this house besides the Duke seems to love soft foods.”
Of course they do.
Cain nodded inwardly.
Food should be soft.
Well, hard foods were fine too, but if you ranked them by layers, soft was undoubtedly superior.
And at the very top was castella cake.
The sense of duty as her guardian—that Luciel, who had worked so hard, deserved rest—tugged against his honest desire within him.
Cain, uncharacteristically uncertain, opened his mouth carefully.
“If it’s not too much trouble for you…”
“I’ve relieved stress through cooking since I was young.”
Luciel gave a small shrug.
“If you feel sorry, wash the dishes for me after. The Rubber Gloves are over there.”
“Good.”
The moment the two of them, having reached a satisfactory agreement, stepped into the kitchen—

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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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