Chapter 99
Chapter 99
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Emperor's Bento (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Irina slowly rubbed her soft cheek against my collarbone.
Thanks to that, our skin pressed together, mingling our scents.
She left her fragrance on my body.
Then, bashfully rising, she gazed up at me intently.
“...”
Our eyes met, and Irina's face flushed hot.
She hurriedly lowered her head and pulled away from me.
Her expression showed she couldn't comprehend her own actions from moments ago, at a complete loss.
It felt like she'd just discovered this instinct within herself for the first time.
“W-Well then, see you later.”
She fled from me like a shot.
Her silver ponytail danced like a tail.
Just like a wolf in the forest expressing affection before vanishing.
“...”
I stared fixedly at her retreating figure.
Then, my eyes caught a strand of her silver hair clinging to the nape of my neck.
I picked it up and slowly gazed down at it.
Irina, who had kept an eye on me even in my previous life.
She hadn't recoiled in disgust at my ravaged form, hardened by life and death on the northern frontlines.
And now, in this life, our paths intertwined once more.
Fate truly is wondrous.
I let the strand drift away on the spring breeze.
Turning my head, I looked toward Miya, who had already arrived.
“Veil, you there?”
Miya waved to me from the training grounds hill.
Beside her stood a man I'd never seen before.
“Introduce yourself. This is a reporter covering imperial affairs.”
A young man in a hunting cap.
He placed his fist against his left chest and bowed formally.
“Pleased to meet you, Sir Veil. I'm Victor, the reporter.”
“Yes. What brings you to me?”
Reporters authorized by the imperial court.
They were famous for covering major stories unfolding in the capital.
“You've become the first from the Capital Guard Division to rank in the top tier in this semester's knight evaluations, haven't you?”
Victor beamed, pulling out a notepad and pen.
His blue eyes sparkled as he spoke.
“I'd like a brief interview about it.”
“I'm not sure it's worth covering just because of good evaluation scores.”
I gave an awkward smile, but the imperial reporter nodded reassuringly.
“Ah... I understand.”
He showed his notepad to me.
Then, with deft finger movements, he flipped through various articles.
“The empire currently has no major good news, even with the founding festival approaching.”
Indeed, the topics he'd jotted down were mostly trivial.
“Of course, there's the joyful news that His Imperial Majesty will soon open his eyes...”
He pulled the notepad back toward himself.
Tapping his pen against a blank page, he continued.
“Wouldn't it be better if he awakens to at least some positive tidings to aid his swift recovery?”
A chance to boost festival spirits, using me and my senior.
Getting featured in such breaking news wouldn't do me any favors.
Not when I'm the one who formed a secret knight order to strike the crown prince from behind.
So, better to decline...
I glanced sideways.
There was Miya, looking up at me desperately like a cat in boots.
Her eyes, swollen with anticipation of seeing her name in the papers, pierced right through me.
'Haa...'
“The Capital Guard Division, notorious for sloth, produced not one but two upstanding knights. His Majesty, upon awakening soon, will surely be delighted.”
Victor pleaded with earnest eyes as well.
“Alright, I understand. But keep it short.”
Miya clenched both my hands; upon hearing my permission, her lips curved into a wide grin.
She stepped forward first, earnestly answering the reporter's questions.
I watched her proudly recount her family and achievements at leisure.
“Now... it's Sir Veil's turn.”
Victor had already heard about the evaluation matches from Miya, so he only asked me personal questions.
Who was my mentor? What was the secret to my Capital Guard scores? Things like that...
However, he didn't get satisfying answers.
My story of rising from commoner roots through battlefield experience wasn't all that thrilling.
“Then, one final question.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
Ask away a hundred times.
You'll never hear the answer you're after.
I closed my eyes and waited leisurely for his question.
I planned to slip away from whatever it was, sly as a fox.
But...
“Sir Veil, you're quite handsome, as one can see...”
The reporter's question was utterly ridiculous, contrary to my expectations.
“By any chance—what's your ideal type—?”
“My ideal type...?”
As I echoed him, Victor smirked.
The seasoned reporter had finally thrust a dagger at me, after I'd slyly evaded every prior question.
“Yes, the type of woman you like.”
Only then did I notice a small gold badge pinned to the inside pocket of his jacket.
And that badge was...
The honorary reporter's mark of Samard, in the capital's east district.
'No way... Is Lydia investigating me...?'
“Ahem...”
I clamped my lips shut upon hearing that.
It wasn't that Victor's question felt rude.
I'd simply never given any thought to what my ideal type might be.
I'd spent my life on the frontlines.
Tasting enemy blood far more than liquor.
How would someone like me know anything about women?
“Well...”
As I hesitated, Victor chimed in.
“You know, like, 'Ah, I want to marry this woman. I want to be her husband.' That kind of type—”
His sly gaze.
It resembled the look I'd given the princesses.
A woman, huh...
I recalled the memories of the women I'd encountered.
「I'll make you depend on me even more from now on.」
「I claimed you first.」
「You've taken part of my body, so you have to take responsibility, right?」
“...”
Memories that made my head spin and breath catch just thinking about them.
Thanks to those, a hollow laugh escaped me naturally.
“If I had to pick... someone family-oriented, I suppose.”
I forced a smile and answered.
The opposite of those memories.
“Hoo... Family-oriented. Could you elaborate a bit more?”
“Just the usual. Like other men. The type who packs a lunch bento for me and greets me with a bright smile when I get home from work.”
Victor nodded along the whole time.
He jotted down every word I said in great detail.
“Hmm—excellent. Family-oriented and gentle type... lunch bento...”
His blue eyes gleamed.
'No, is this really that important?'
“Is this enough to satisfy you?”
I asked Victor indifferently.
The reporter grinned broadly and nodded.
“Yes! I'm very satisfied with these specifics!”
The man snapped his notepad shut emphatically.
As he tucked it away, he said.
“Good news will pour in soon, so look forward to it!”
“Sure, whatever. I will.”
I replied indifferently to the reporter.
Then, I stared at him as he headed east.
“Well, nothing will come of it.”
I thought, letting out a deep sigh.
But...
I would soon regret that interview.
This tiny spark would draw the awakened emperor's gaze upon me instead.
「――――――.」
Several days later.
A freshly printed newspaper arrived at an office in the eastern district.
It was placed on an ornate desk emblazoned with a leopard emblem.
Slender, delicate fingers picked up the paper.
Their owner leisurely read the text.
“A top-performing knight emerges from the Capital Defense Knight Order, long suspected of negligence...”
Soft, moist lips sipped from a teacup.
After a sip of the mature Eastern coffee, the corners of her mouth curved up.
“His ideal type is a family-oriented woman...”
Lydia rested her chin on the back of her hand, newspaper in view.
Her red eyes sparkled as she murmured to herself.
“The gentle type who packs a lunch bento?”
The princess set down her teacup.
She narrowed her eyes at the paper.
“Unlike his skills, he has such cute tastes, Veil Mikhail.”
Lydia neatly folded the read newspaper.
She tossed it indifferently into the trash bin.
“Mother was right. All men are just boys.”
The Eastern sovereign smiled with a mischievous glint.
She rose confidently from her desk and called out.
“Guards!”
Her chilling command.
The office door opened at her word.
Eastern knights, waiting in advance, filed in a line.
They wore humble expressions, ready to do anything for their princess.
“Today, I shall give you a most important order.”
The men bowed their heads and swallowed hard.
Awaiting their lord's command.
And that command was...
“Escort me at once to the capital's most renowned head chef.”
Head chef.
The knights had expected a noble mission, like hunting continental demons or escorting VIPs.
“And make sure it's someone remote enough that a secret visit won't raise alarms.”
Bewildered by the order to fetch a chef, they nonetheless accepted it under their sovereign's piercing gaze.
[Restaurant Mancini]
Thus, the knights arrived at a small eatery run by a former imperial head chef.
In the quiet northeast of the capital, these intimidating Eastern men burst in.
“Wh-What brings you here...?”
Mancini, the chef confronted by the fierce Eastern knight order.
The man, just past thirty, trembled under their menacing stares.
But that was merely the beginning.
Soon, a red-eyed beast strode through their midst.
Though shorter than him by far, her aura rivaled a great general's.
“Are you Mancini, disciple of the previous imperial head chef?”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness...”
Mancini dropped to his knees on the restaurant floor.
He bowed low before the daughter of the Conqueror King.
“To what do I owe the visit to this humble establishment...”
The young chef asked cautiously.
At that moment.
Thud!
He jumped at the sound of a knight stomping the floor with his boot.
“Eek...!”
The Third Imperial Princess approached him slowly.
Arms crossed alone, she gazed down intently and asked.
“You...”
Her twin tails swayed.
Yet to the chef, even that sway felt like a gale.
He squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting the princess's order.
And then...
“Teach me to cook.”
“Yes...?”
He blinked in shock at the princess's utterly unforeseen command.
“What? You don't want to teach me?”
Lydia narrowed her eyes, grilling the chef.
He frantically shook his head.
“Of course not! I shall obey your command.”
Satisfied with the response, the princess smiled sweetly.
“Don't worry too much. There's nothing this body can't master. Is mere cooking harder than governing the empire?”
Lydia held her head high and headed to the kitchen.
She paused at the sounds of movement from within.
“What's this? I heard you run this place alone.”
The princess scowled.
Learning to cook herself was a top-secret matter.
That's why she'd chosen Mancini specifically, not some other chef.
If word got out, it'd be a laughingstock, so she planned utmost secrecy.
She glared murderously at the chef over the rustling from inside.
“Th-That's true, but... I have one other student here right now.”
“What...?”
Lydia furrowed her brows and marched to the kitchen.
Intent on ejecting whoever was inside, no matter who.
But.
Upon entering the kitchen, what she saw was...
Very familiar silver hair.
“Wh-What...?”
Irina, her face dusted with flour, whisking egg batter.
Her apron was already caked white from a prior mess.
“Lydia...?”
Irina, facing her youngest sister.
Her hair bristled in embarrassment at exposing such a shameful sight.
“...”
The princesses glared at each other through the flour smoke.
The restaurant's atmosphere grew even more tense.