Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Emperor's Lunchbox (3)
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“Phew—all done.”
The twin-tailed girl in an apron.
She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and wrapped the lunchbox in silk cloth.
“Load it onto the carriage. It’s best eaten while it’s still hot.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Princess!”
The burly Eastern knights gripped the plump lunchbox container.
And, as if handling the imperial seal, they carefully headed toward the carriage.
“Hmm.”
With some leisure now, Lydia crossed her arms alone.
She then glanced at Iriina’s lunchbox, which had been completed around the same time.
She had packed two identical lunchbox containers.
One was loaded onto the carriage heading north, and she kept the other for herself.
“…?”
The Third Princess, who had been watching, furrowed her brow.
However, she made no effort to ask who the Second Princess intended to give the remaining lunchbox to.
The lunchboxes were transferred to their respective carriages.
The carriages marked with leopards and wolves departed for the north in unison.
Clatter—!
The carriages left the city and rattled along a quiet road.
As befitting imperial carriages, any other carriages or commoners they encountered hurriedly stepped aside.
But.
At an important checkpoint on the road north.
Even the imperial carriages had no choice but to come to a halt there.
Knights in white uniforms.
Because the imperial knights had blocked the way.
“Please stop for a moment. We’ll conduct an inspection.”
Imperial Knight Order, Vice Captain Camilla.
Her golden bobbed hair fluttered as she approached the carriage impassively.
She faced the coachman and the Eastern knight in the passenger seat.
“You dare inspect an imperial carriage at will?”
The man with tanned skin asked with cold eyes.
“No one can defy His Majesty the Emperor’s decree. Not even if it’s a princess.”
The Eastern knight wore a displeased expression.
But with the Emperor fallen and the Crown Prince holding the highest rank, he could not ignore his orders.
“It’s just a special inspection for the festival, so no need to worry.”
Camilla spoke with a stern, expressionless face.
“If there’s no issue with the contents, that is.”
The vice captain lifted the corner of her mouth.
News of the Second and Third Princesses secretly meeting at a quiet restaurant.
Even the detail that they had prepared suspicious lunchboxes and sent them simultaneously to the Northern Water Defense Office.
She had already received all this information from the Crown Prince.
The princesses’ recent movements had been suspicious.
From arresting Hakim, who was aligned with the Crown Prince, to frequently visiting the Water Defense Office—and now sending lunchboxes.
Fed up, the Crown Prince had ordered an investigation into these highly suspicious lunchboxes.
And that order was on the verge of splendid success.
‘Now, what can you do?’
Camilla clenched her fist at the achievement before her eyes.
Then, she dramatically flung open the carriage door.
“Hmm.”
She stepped inside with a stern, expressionless face.
Her greedy hand seized the Third Princess’s basket.
‘What could be inside?’
The East was renowned for its powerful and wicked sorceries.
Could there be some tremendous artifact from those sorcerers inside?
Perhaps she might even witness the legendary spirits she’d only heard of.
The thought made the swordmaster’s heart race.
“…”
Camilla swallowed hard.
Then, like excavating a rare artifact, she cautiously opened the lacquered box lid.
At that moment.
A powerful aroma began filling the carriage interior.
“…!”
She flinched at the scent.
She hurriedly covered her nose with the back of her hand.
In case the wicked smell caused internal injury.
“Huh…?”
But.
She soon lowered her sleeve.
Because the scent she smelled was not wicked at all—it was fragrant and appetizing.
“Shri, shrimp…?”
She picked up a single shrimp embedded in the fried rice with her gloved hand.
Frowning, she blankly stared at the plump, juicy flesh.
No matter how she looked at it, the shrimp was not some wicked spirit.
“…”
Her crimson eyes, burning with ambition, grew hazy.
At a loss for words, she carefully placed the shrimp in her mouth.
The delicious texture melted smoothly.
Sweet and savory juices.
“Delicious.”
Having tasted home-cooked food after so long, the vice captain closed her eyes gently.
And the moment she opened them again.
She panicked at the sight of her subordinates staring at her in bewilderment.
“Ahem…”
Realizing the Third Princess’s lunchbox was truly just a lunchbox, she smacked her lips with regret.
But.
There was still one more lunchbox left.
The Second Princess’s carriage, following right behind.
She was just as much of a thorn in the Crown Prince’s side as Lydia.
In just a few months, she had massively expanded her influence.
Now, among the imperial family, her growth was fierce enough to be called divine.
Camilla flung open Iriina’s carriage door as well.
And the moment she opened the lunchbox.
“Beef stew…?”
Her eyes twitched beneath.
What she faced was, once again, just ordinary beef stew and round bread.
The golden-bobbed woman blankly gazed down at the bread she had picked up.
“Ha…”
Camilla slowly descended from the carriage with a dumbfounded expression.
In her hand, she clutched only a single fluffy piece of bread.
“Vice Captain, may we try some too?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s the princess’s food.”
The swordsman who had burned with ambition just moments ago was long gone.
She wore a blank expression, unsure how to report this situation to Crown Prince.
“Today, the front lines feel nostalgic…”
「――――――.」
Meanwhile, after sending off the carriage, Iriina headed alone to the central imperial palace quietly.
The palace with spires piercing the clouds.
Iriina ascended the wide, ornate central stairs toward the Heavenly Palace where the Emperor resided.
“…”
The atmosphere was solemn, given the reports of the Emperor in a coma.
The second-floor corridor was dimly lit, and the passing attendants or knights were all expressionless.
Especially the Imperial Knight Order members.
His close aides, loyal to the Crown Prince, secretly watched Iriina as she walked the corridor.
Among them was the guard captain, who suspiciously approached the princess due to her movements.
“Your Highness the Princess, pardon the intrusion.”
One of the Crown Prince’s closest aides.
He eyed the lunchbox Iriina had brought with great suspicion.
“I’m sorry, but no outside food is allowed, even for a princess.”
With his overwhelming physique and intense gaze.
The middle-aged man tried to intimidate the barely twenty-year-old princess with his presence.
“Guard Captain, this is just a lunchbox I made myself.”
But Iriina showed not a hint of fear.
“Are you suspecting the lunchbox I made wishing for my father’s recovery?”
Instead, she looked straight up at him, her green eyes flashing.
“Even so, procedure requires checking the contents.”
“Fine, if you’re so suspicious, check it yourself.”
The guard captain cautiously opened the received lunchbox container.
And then…
The fragrant stew and steaming bread scent began wafting into the corridor.
No trace of secret letters or mana could be felt.
It was unmistakably just an ordinary lunchbox.
“So, did you find the poison or dagger you were hoping for?”
Iriina looked up at the guard captain with fierce eyes.
“…”
The man clamped his mouth shut at her question and steadfastly scrutinized the stew.
However, no matter how much he stirred, nothing suspicious appeared.
“Ahem.”
The food aroma filled the corridor.
The ministers furrowed their brows at the smell.
Their eyes chided him—what’s with the smell from what’s clearly fine cooking.
At this, the guard captain cleared his throat awkwardly and reached for the bread.
At that very moment.
“Your vigilance is truly lacking!”
Iriina snatched one of the two breads first and…
Bit into it demonstratively, eating half.
“You have to check the inside too, right?”
The princess showed him the halved morning bread as she chewed.
“…”
The guard captain looked down at the split bread.
Steam rose from the delicious-looking interior.
Nothing seemed amiss.
“No issues. Inspection complete…”
At Iriina’s loud voice, the imperial ministers grimaced.
They coldly glared at the guard captain for causing a commotion before the Emperor’s chambers.
“Security is important, but suspecting me… How displeasing, Guard Captain.”
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
The middle-aged knight eventually returned the lunchbox.
“I’ll have to go through another inspection with the Chancellor anyway before Father’s chambers, so don’t worry.”
Iriina magnanimously forgave the knight.
Then, leaving the imperial guards behind, she headed to her father’s bedchamber.
The middle-aged man watched her back with unease.
He chewed his lip in dissatisfaction.
At the center of the second floor stood a massive iron door.
The princess faced the imperial chancellor, Moshian, standing before it.
“Your Highness the Princess.”
“Uncle.”
The two exchanged familiar glances.
Then, they quickly scanned the surroundings to confirm no one was near.
“What brings you here?”
The chancellor guarding the comatose Emperor.
He quietly asked the suddenly arrived Iriina.
“You’ll draw the Crown Prince’s suspicion coming here carelessly…!”
“I came to give this to Father.”
The princess carefully offered the lunchbox she had brought with both hands.
“To His Majesty the Emperor?”
He was reportedly unconscious.
Yet she had brought a lunchbox for such an Emperor…
The chancellor looked at the Conqueror King’s daughter with curious eyes.
“His Majesty is currently in a coma…”
“I know. But you never know? He might wake up today.”
Iriina looked up at him with eyes as serious as the Emperor’s.
Then, she naturally turned away and said.
“If he wakes, please give it to him. I’m counting on you.”
The Second Princess left those words and gracefully departed the Heavenly Palace.
“…”
Moshian swallowed hard.
He stared intently at the lunchbox Iriina had left behind.
“How did Her Highness the Princess know…?”
The graying middle-aged man furrowed his brow.
He then picked up the lunchbox container and cautiously placed his hand on the iron door.
A massive artifact that only opened to the palm of authorized persons.
「Heavenly Gate.」
As the chancellor’s hand touched it, it slowly began to open.
The thick iron door closed automatically as he entered.
Inside, he faced a marble floor the size of a sports field and, at its center, the enormous bed.
The chancellor bowed his head toward the bed.
He cautiously spoke.
“Your Majesty the Emperor, it is Moshian.”
The empire’s current second-in-command bowed his head.
He silently awaited a response.
“Enter.”
Only then did the chancellor raise his face.
He slowly walked toward the Emperor, said to be in a coma to the world.
As he drew near, the Emperor’s visage finally came into view.
The moment of audience with the Conqueror Emperor who had unified the vast Arc Continent.
“Well, Moshian. I heard you retired from court. Why have you returned?”
The white-haired man lay upon the massive bed.
His shoulders were broad enough to fit three men’s heads.
His face resembled a mythical statue of a charismatic middle-aged god.
Far from the rumors of him wheezing from old age.
“Her Highness Iriina has brought a lunchbox for Your Majesty.”
“A lunchbox?”
The Emperor’s thick white eyebrows twitched.
“She surely believes I am unconscious.”
“Indeed. Perhaps… she made it with the admirable hope that you would awaken soon…”
The chancellor smiled like an uncle looking at his niece.
Before presenting it to the Emperor, he opened the lunchbox container himself.
“Stew, is it.”
Steam rose with a delicious aroma.
The Emperor gazed at the stew fondly.
“And bread.”
The Conqueror King eyed the morning bread in the adjacent compartment.
But.
He soon noticed something odd.
There were two pieces of bread total.
Yet one bore clear signs of being deliberately halved.
“The guards inspected it briefly.”
“Seems so. I heard a commotion from the corridor.”
The Emperor picked up the intact bread.
He eyed it suspiciously, wondering why its interior hadn’t been checked.
“There’s something inside.”
The Emperor’s blue eyes flashed.
He split the bread and discovered a hidden note.
“Good heavens… inside the bread…?”
“Likely a wager during the scuffle. The second one is quite something.”
The Conqueror King chuckled as he read the secret message.
However, his smile faded the more he read.
In the end, the Emperor’s lips turned downward.
He muttered with a stern, expressionless face.
“Beware the Crown Prince… And beware the First Imperial Consort’s food.”
The First Imperial Consort, Rozanna’s food.
Her cooking was always delicious and skillfully prepared, often substituting for the head chef at banquets.
Yet no poison had ever been found in it.
Having read his daughter’s life-risking message, the Emperor inhaled deeply and pondered.
“Moshian.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Soon, announce that I have awakened.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
The chancellor bowed politely.
“To celebrate my recovery, I shall dine with my first wife. Of course, leave the cooking to her.”
The Emperor placed the note on his fingertip.
And…
White flames erupted, incinerating the paper.
The tiny blaze was so intense not even ashes remained.
“After entrusting her with the banquet, summon the sorcerers from her homeland separately.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Bad news piling up after rising after so long gave the Emperor a throbbing headache.
He sighed deeply and lay back on the bed.
“No other news…?”
The melancholy voice of the lion-like leader.
Moshian looked at the Emperor with pitying eyes.
“Well… Actually, lately all the princesses have been immersed in cooking.”
“Indeed, Iriina’s cooking seems quite skilled. Though I haven’t tasted it…”
Weakened as he was, he eyed his daughter’s stew with regret, unable to sample it.
“Learning to cook for my sake—truly admirable. So, when did she say she’d send it?”
The Emperor asked with a faint smile.
“Well, actually… They’ve all sent their dishes north.”
“North…?”
The Emperor asked, closing his heavy eyelids wearily.
“Yes, all three are currently eyeing a certain talented individual—likely sent to him.”
A talent all three princesses were pursuing.
At those words, the Emperor snapped his eyes wide open.
“A man?”
“Yes…?”
The Emperor jerked his head up.
The chancellor flinched in fear at his demeanor.
But he could not stay silent here.
If the talent he supported gained the Emperor’s favor, it would be perfect.
“I asked if that talent is a man.”
“Y-Yes, he is…”
A dark shadow fell under the Emperor’s eyebrows.
Like a fierce male lion eyeing an outsider threatening his family.
“No matter how precious the talent… He dares eat my daughters’ cooking before me, even now when I’m ill?”
He himself hadn’t tasted it yet due to his condition.
Yet some outsider man would taste it first.
“What is that man’s name?”
At the news, strength surged through the Emperor where there had been none.
His waning white mana and dignity surged anew.
But soon, coughs poured out again.
Panting roughly, he said.
“Bring him… before me at once…”
Moshian obeyed the imperial command.
He passed the wall displaying massive golden spears and exited through the grand door.