The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 9

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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 9
“Are you frightened? Don’t be. Those two are always like that.”
Aila, who had quietly drawn near, whispered to her.
“I’m sorry?”
“Whether positive or negative, Bael only responds to Cain. From Bael’s perspective, Cain has been his sole guardian since he was four years old. And from Cain’s perspective, Bael is the nephew he treasures most in the world.”
“How did that come about?”
Luciel found herself curious and asked.
“Well, it’s probably connected to the fact that Bael’s father passed away around the same time Cain entered the direct family line, but according to Cain’s own account…….”
Aila gazed into the empty air as if summoning old memories.
“When Cain first received the baronage and came here, Bael was apparently the only person who needed him.”
“The only person who needed him…….”
“After Bael injured his leg, he became sensitive, and now it’s come to this. But they still don’t hurt each other too badly.”
She added with an expression of resignation.
Perhaps. Was this some twisted, tangled form of affection?
“What about you, Aila?”
“Me?”
Luciel nodded.
“Now that I think about it, I met Cain around that same time. I…….”
Aila looked up into empty space for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
“Meeting those two changed the direction of my life somehow.”
She offered no further explanation.
But what truly mattered to Luciel was not this subject.
“Wait, are you planning to step in?”
Aila widened her eyes as she watched Luciel take a step toward the two of them.
“Yes. I’m running short on time.”
One thought pierced through the turmoil that threatened to overwhelm her.
The Buttercup Squash Soup she had labored to make was growing cold.
As a cook, that was something she could not abide.
Luciel approached the two locked in confrontation quietly, yet with unwavering resolve.
“Why don’t you eat first and then fight?”
In that instant, the heavy pressure dominating the space snapped clean away.
Bael’s sharp gaze turned slowly toward her.
“Made with very precious, very fine ingredients…….”
“Get rid of it. I don’t need it.”
Bael cut her off savagely.
The boy’s piercing eyes fixed directly on Luciel.
Luciel’s brows furrowed.
He didn’t need it—who did he think he was?
I spent all my Magical Power making this.
I even carefully selected the sweetest butternut squash!
“I told you to get rid of it.”
Crack!
Before Luciel could even respond, Bael dismissed the matter with an impatient wave of his hand, sweeping the tray away.
Though she managed to catch her balance quickly, the soup bowl tipped, spilling its contents in all directions.
About half the soup poured onto the tray, while yellow liquid splattered across Luciel’s hands and clothes.
Bael’s eyes flickered with something like hesitation as he looked at her hand, as if he hadn’t intended things to go that far.
But when she didn’t cry out, and he confirmed that the liquid in the bowl had cooled enough not to be scalding, he quickly returned to his cold expression.
“How utterly rude!”
Cain shouted.
Bael continued to regard him with defiant eyes.
“I’ve had enough experiments on my own body. If you were trying treatment as a matter of curiosity, shouldn’t you be satisfied by now? Aside from Aila, nobody’s been helped by it.”
Cain’s face twitched slightly at the words “experiment” and “curiosity.”
“Just one bite.”
Cain pressed on, containing himself.
“Try just one bite. I guarantee the taste.”
“I doubt it.”
Bael shook his head as though he couldn’t trust a word.
“You mixed all manner of drugs together and made me swallow tasteless things.”
“Bael.”
“Do you think a man whose legs are paralyzed has no taste buds? When I say I don’t want to eat, why do you…….”
“This time is different.”
He spoke again, looking at Luciel’s Buttercup Squash Soup.
“It has benefits beyond mere taste…….”
“Blech.”
At the word “benefits,” Bael retched dramatically, staring straight at Luciel.
‘Wow.’
Watching him, Luciel chewed her lips.
Her mother had imagined this boy as the hero of a game, yet here he was acting like a petulant child.
It was childishness that made her skin crawl.
The problem was that Luciel was roughly the same age as him.
That juvenile mockery hit harder than expected.
In short, Luciel’s patience had snapped.
“Even the food made by the head cook of Bellaon doesn’t suit my palate, so what gives this child the right to……. Mmph?”
Bael’s eyes widened suddenly as he was mid-complaint.
Something warm and comforting had been placed directly into his mouth.
“There are limits to my patience. Taste it and then speak.”
Holding the spoon handle that protruded from Bael’s lips, Luciel spoke.
“…….”
Bael glared at Luciel with fierce eyes, and Luciel returned his gaze with equal intensity.
Gulp.
As the two held their staring match, a few drops of soup went down. Bael’s Adam’s apple moved subtly.
In the next moment, his eyes changed.
Like ice melting, the cold light in his gaze slowly, gently dissolved away.
His jaw moved slightly, and the fierce blue eyes gradually widened with amazement.
“It’s…… sweet.”
“Of course it is. I made it with premium butternut squash.”
“It’s not just sweet—there’s something deeper to it…….”
Bael took the spoon from her hand.
He placed another spoonful in his mouth, then another.
Crunch!
This time, what he’d eaten was bread.
The moment he bit into it, a crispy crust gave way between his teeth, and the soft, chewy interior stimulated his palate.
Bael instinctively closed his eyes to savor the texture.
Clink-clink!
His hand holding the spoon moved faster and faster, his eyes growing wider.
Aila and Cain, watching him, stood frozen with their mouths agape, as though they’d seen a ghost.
“Bael is…… eating with his own hands.”
“……I can scarcely believe it even as I see it.”
In moments, the bowl was entirely empty.
“What did you feed me?”
Bael murmured.
“The taste is one thing, but my body…….”
Sensing something, he clenched his fists and tensed his body.
For several seconds, nothing changed.
Once more, Bael furrowed his brow and strained some part of his body.
Twitch.
“Oh my!”
Aila was the first to notice the minute movement.
“Your legs, Bael…….”
Another twitch.
It was unmistakable.
The supposedly paralyzed legs of Bael trembled ever so slightly for a brief moment.
Cain watched the movement with a dazed expression.
Was it real?
Had there truly been an effect?
The miracle he’d searched for over years—did it exist in this world after all?
‘What is this girl…….’
His gaze suddenly turned toward Luciel.
But she was looking not at Bael’s legs, but at something else.
At a place in empty space above Bael’s head.
“…….”
Luciel quietly observed the Status Window floating above Bael’s head.
Ah, so that was it.
The Buff could strengthen the leg muscles, but the real cause was…….
Pop.
Suddenly the world around Luciel tilted sharply.
No—it was Luciel’s own body that was tilting.
Fifty minutes had elapsed.
“……!”
“Wha—?”
Cain and Bael caught her in alarm, but Luciel’s body had gone limp, drained of strength.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Are you fainting? Your complexion…….”
In that moment, fierce eyes turned toward Cain.
“Uncle, what’s wrong with her? Did you do this to her?”
“It’s not like that! She did faint when we first met, but surely her stamina had recovered…….”
“Why would you bring a girl who fainted once without properly resting first?”
Cain clenched his jaw.
He was right. Now that he thought about it, he was right.
He’d been in too much of a hurry to have her meet Bael. He should have let her rest for a week.
“How was her condition when she arrived in the kitchen?”
Aila asked, placing a hand on Luciel’s forehead.
“She seemed fine. She suddenly turned pale after cooking, though…….”
Cain let out a sigh heavy with guilt.
“Was it the cooking?”
Bael’s eyes trembled.
Looking closely, Luciel seemed peculiarly small and fragile. Smaller and more delicate even than Bael himself, who had been confined indoors for years due to illness.
She even seemed unkempt.
Had she really not bathed since arriving, then cooked for me and even fainted?
The celestial taste lingering in his mouth. It felt as if someone’s entire energy had been poured into its creation—such sincere devotion.
Without thinking, Bael gently brushed her forehead.
“Hmm?”
In that moment, a tremor ran through the hand Bael was holding.
Opening his eyes wider to look at her face, he saw her half-lidded green eyes.
Not fully awake, but as though the noise had pulled her consciousness halfway back.
“Are you…… an idiot? Did your uncle coerce you? Foolishly…….”
“Be quiet. Listen to me, you. I saw something earlier…….”
Luciel mumbled, her mind still foggy.
“What…… what should I listen to?”
Bael leaned forward suddenly, bringing his ear close to her lips. He flinched at the proximity but did not move away.
“You have Toxin buildup. If you don’t get Detoxified, something terrible will happen.”
Luciel said.
Aila looked at her with a surprised expression.
“This isn’t something cooking can fix. At the very least, it’s not something that cooking alone can do.”
“What do you mean…….”
“I’m sorry.”
With those words, Luciel lost consciousness completely.

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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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