Lucas Is Further South
Lucas Is Further South
Astride a red-maned horse, clad in practical riding clothes and a crimson cape that matched her hair, Camilla Wagon drew to a halt before Princess Diana.
Behind her rode the Golden Wagon's escort knights.
Over a hundred knights had formed ranks at her back.
"Your Highness, the time has come to lead your soldiers back to the Imperial Palace."
Diana fixed her gaze on the woman blocking her path, displeasure flickering across her face.
"Back, you say. Has the young lady of Wagon failed to notice that I am still in the midst of hunting down Demon King worshippers?"
"I am aware. But I've heard you located Count Bellosa, who appears to have been the ringleader. His body has been recovered, and Count Purt, believed to be an accomplice, has reportedly been captured as well."
"House Wagon keeps remarkably sharp eyes and ears."
"Information is a merchant's lifeblood."
"I am merely proceeding to Lilyan for further investigation. You needn't trouble yourself."
"Forgive me, but we have just returned from Lilyan, where we've already completed our own investigation."
"..."
Diana's brow furrowed at Camilla's words.
"You have no proof that the young lady actually investigated anything."
"Proof exists."
Camilla gave a slight flick of her fingers, and a cluster of people was dragged forward from the rear of the knight formation.
"Those are..."
"Suspected Demon King worshippers. We intended to escort them directly to the capital, but upon hearing that Your Highness had seized Purt, we turned our course in that direction."
"..."
So she had already investigated Lilyan and rounded up the cultists herself.
Camilla had neatly undercut every pretense Diana might have used to justify heading to Lilyan.
If Diana disregarded this and pushed southward anyway, she would effectively be admitting that investigating Demon King worshippers had never been her true objective.
An imperial princess expending the strength of the Imperial Household on pursuits other than rooting out and destroying demon-worshipping cultists—
In her current position, with the title of Crown Princess still not secured, that was a line she could not afford to cross.
There were still too many hyenas circling, waiting for a chance at her throat.
"Lilyan is a city we've invested in. I'd prefer it not be turned into a wreck. We prepared in advance. For reference, the other cities and territories are all under investigation as well, so you may rest easy."
Her path south to Lilyan had been sealed off entirely.
"Camilla..."
"I told you plainly. In exchange for aiding Your Highness, I would set the condition that you not take my person from me."
"You did."
"So why were you heading to Lilyan, my city? Isn't that just a little too transparent?"
"Has that man truly become so precious to the young lady?"
"He has."
"..."
Princess Diana ground her teeth.
"The young lady seems to obstruct me at every turn."
"I am merely helping Your Highness avoid crossing lines you ought not cross. Deploying His Majesty the Emperor's direct soldiers for personal purposes invites misunderstanding. When the position of Crown Prince remains undecided, an overaggressive military expedition becomes poison."
Camilla had aimed straight at the Crown Princess seat.
One misstep now would not cost her the Emperor's trust—she was certain His Majesty's faith in her ran deep.
But the nobility was another matter.
The newly aligned noble factions that had only just begun to join her cause had not yet built up any real trust in her.
If she failed to show them a proper image of herself crushing Demon King worshippers in this moment, the hard-won coalition she had carefully gathered might well slip away.
"...Fine."
The moment Camilla returned, having already completed the Lilyan investigation, any road farther south was effectively closed.
She could advance no farther, yet gains had been made.
Lucas is in the south.
He'd opened a restaurant in a southern city and was living there.
That Lucas—who had said he wanted to open a shop in the countryside—had chosen Lilyan was unexpected, but when you thought about it, the entire southern region of the empire was indeed the countryside compared to the capital.
Such a minor detour is something I ought to forgive with a broad and generous heart.
Had Lucas not spent years patiently carrying out his duties for her sake without voicing a single complaint?
Overlooking a subordinate's small act of stubbornness was a virtue befitting a sovereign.
It stung to retreat now, but she could endure it.
Once I ascend to the position of Crown Princess, nothing will be able to stop me.
Princess Diana closed her eyes, steadied her breathing, and nodded.
"Very well. I will withdraw. What the young lady says is not, after all, entirely without merit."
"A wise decision."
Sometimes, stepping back was the surest path forward.
Just like now.
Princess Diana wheeled her mount northward—to return to Purt, conclude her investigation, and head back to the Imperial Palace.
A visit to Lilyan would have to wait for another opportunity.
***
"That was far too close."
Watching Diana turn her cavalry around and withdraw, Camilla broke out in a cold sweat.
She'd feared, the whole time, that Diana might simply refuse to bend—that she would dig in her heels and push south regardless of the circumstances.
If Diana had continued south, the complications would have been anything but small.
For one thing, Camilla had already gone all in on backing Diana.
If Diana's position were shaken by a moment of carelessness, Camilla's own footing would inevitably become uncomfortable as well.
I hadn't planned on confronting her personally...
But there'd been no other viable choice.
The options available to her had numbered four.
Option 1 — Send Kobi and other Golden Wagon officers, along with their escort knights, to block her path.
Would Diana retreat just because a group of merchants warned her off?
No. Diana would never back down.
She knew full well that the princess was not the sort of person who yielded meekly.
Option 2 — Send a warning to Lucas and convince him to leave Britten.
Whether Lucas would even listen was uncertain, and the plan meant throwing away all the time and money already invested in Britten.
I don't want to force him out of a space he worked so hard to build.
And if he left there—where would he even go?
The same cycle would simply repeat itself.
Better that I stop Diana myself.
Option 3 — Ask the Perdes household for help in forcing Diana to withdraw.
Functionally, this option had zero chance of working.
It was as good as publicly exposing one of Diana's weaknesses.
She'd shelved it.
Which left the final resort: inserting herself directly to halt Diana's southward advance.
It practically amounted to advertising that Lucas was here, but—
I have an agreement with Diana. She won't act recklessly.
The pact: in exchange for helping Diana ascend to the throne, Camilla's person would not be taken from her without consent.
That was why she'd forced the issue to stop Diana, even knowing it was premature.
She recognized her own haste, but there'd been no other path.
Lucas must not be allowed back into Princess Diana's hands.
She was finally beginning to build something real with him.
She would need more time—considerably more—before she could ensure that he would wake every morning to prepare her breakfast.
For now, he says he's content running his business in Britten.
The priority was to dissolve that contentment and make him her personal chef.
Personal chef, household steward, and consort.
*Cough—!*
The moment her imagination reached that point, Camilla's face flushed crimson unbidden.
She might have been a cold-blooded and ruthlessly rational merchant when it came to business, but she remained profoundly awkward with human emotion.
Every time her thoughts wandered in this direction, her face burned and her heart pounded.
The thudding pulse in her chest had never felt so terribly, painfully unfamiliar.
I want to see him.
If it weren't for the capital's affairs, she'd head south this very moment.
But—
I still have far too much left to settle.
She would wrap up everything and wait for the day after Diana was secured as Crown Princess.
Then she'd go to Lucas's restaurant, stay for several days, and eat her way through every single item on the menu.
She might gain a little weight, but exercise would take care of that.
Perhaps I should purchase a house in Britten, just in case.
Investments were already pouring into the area.
Securing a villa for herself would hardly be difficult.
The urge to set up a household there immediately was strong, but Princess Diana's existence kept making her hesitate.
Diana, too, seemed to hold a rather keen interest in Lucas.
No doubt she thought of him as a highly capable chef.
Her entire manner reeked of wanting to haul him back into service for the Imperial Household.
Absolutely not.
If Lucas returned to the imperial fold, her investment would evaporate into nothing—that much was obvious.
His return to the capital had to wait until the commercial district there was fully established and the reputation of Lucas's Knight Restaurant had spread so far that even the capital's nobles had heard the name.
Only after he'd returned to the capital and begun serving his food to the nobility would the main restaurant in Britten become a destination—a pilgrimage worth making.
Until then, Diana was nothing but an irritating obstacle.
Far too large an obstacle to dismiss as a mere pebble in the road.
"Haaah."
And yet—what if Lucas truly wanted to keep his restaurant in Britten forever?
She didn't know.
She hadn't entertained that possibility at all.
"It hasn't happened yet..."
She might need to prepare for it, but there was no need to worry beyond what necessity demanded.
"I should at least send him a warning."
That Diana now knew his location.
Camilla's red hair caught the wind as she gazed southward.
A tinge of pink lingered about her face, as if it belonged there.
***
"Behold—Jeyuk Bokkeum, crafted with the utmost effort to embody all I have learned under my master's instruction."
After nearly a month of relentless wok practice and watching my every move over my shoulder, Ivan proudly presented his first finished dish.
It was Jeyuk Bokkeum, the red seasoning glistening on the meat. Thin-sliced Pog front leg, stir-fried with green onion and onion, sesame seeds scattered properly on top.
"Everyone, please, try it!"
He held it out to the staff with a look of pure expectation.
"It smells good."
"Looks decent, actually?"
The knights, at least, offered approving first reactions to its quite presentable appearance.
"Th-th-the Black Knight's cooking is... n-not to my taste..."
Bldi, apparently registering the lighter hand on the garlic, looked deeply unimpressed.
And—
"Looks tasteless at a glance."
—Andrea, true to her prickly nature.
The staff's responses to Ivan's dish ran the full spectrum.
"And how does my master see it?"
At Ivan's question, every gaze in the room fixed on me.
"...The appearance is passable."
Honestly, I was surprised.
I hadn't expected Ivan, who initially had zero talent for wok work, to advance this rapidly in a single month.
The garlic was slightly underdone by Korean standards, which was a shame, but the aroma was genuinely convincing.
"But what matters is the taste."
I lifted my chopsticks and took a piece of the meat.
"Hmm..."
Everyone focused on my mouth.
Andrea watched me with the expression of someone hoping I would grab the plate and hurl it.
Better than I expected.
The fire on the meat was about right, and the wok hei came through strong. The sauce had soaked well into the vegetables, so eating them together didn't feel off. Jeyuk Bokkeum isn't a complicated dish to begin with—if you cook the pork properly, you've halfway won.
Of course.
It wasn't good enough to serve a customer.
Still needs work.
The sauce had scorched slightly in places. The seasoning was underseasoned. And the meat was over-fired—dry, almost mealy.
"A little too rough around the edges for a passing grade."
"Guh—!"
"I knew it! Getting anywhere close to the boss's cooking is a tall order!"
Andrea nodded with visible satisfaction, then picked up her own chopsticks and tasted the pork. Her expression turned carefully noncommittal.
"Yeah, I definitely prefer the boss's Bulgogi."
The other knights all shared the same verdict: smell and appearance were fine—the flavor itself landed in an awkward middle ground.
"I clearly require further refinement. I shall continue practicing until the day I can make Gukbap with my own hands."
His cooking still fell short, but thanks to Ivan, the workload in the kitchen had genuinely loosened up lately.
These days, I could actually rest during break times instead of doing ingredient prep. That alone was miles better than before.
If Ivan eventually masters the cooking side too, I might actually get to enjoy a genuine slow life.
Would that really be okay?
He was, more or less, a romance-fantasy male lead.
A romance-fantasy protagonist spending his days as a cook in a Gukbap joint felt a little odd, visually speaking.
What happens when House Perdes eventually comes looking for him?
In the novel's timeline, Duke Perdes found Ivan around the time Princess Diana became emperor.
Though I doubt events will follow the novel exactly anymore...
The mere fact that the saintess had survived and returned had already shifted far too much.
Word from the capital was that her return had thrown everything into chaos. There were also reports that Princess Diana had been granted the Emperor's troops to subjugate Lord Bellosa and the western nobility.
Things really have changed.
The thought crossed my mind: the novel I remembered might never begin at all.
That didn't mean I intended to stop working here, though. The currents in the capital had shifted, sure, but—
I have no reason to wade into a war zone where anything could happen.
That was when it happened.
"Oh, you're inside after all."
Kobi of the Golden Wagon Merchant Group.
"Kobi, what brings you?"
"Message from the Danju. Here."
The paper he handed me bore the seal of House Wagon.
—To Lucas.
If Camilla was sending Kobi, things had to be moving fast.
—Princess Diana believes you are in Lilyan.
—Be careful. I've turned her back for now, but she could return at any time.
—Keep this firmly in mind: I will not allow you to be sent to the Imperial Palace until you've built Britten into a proper culinary destination.
—And know that I will be collecting on this as a debt.
—From, Camilla.
Camilla had intercepted Diana all the way at Lilyan and sent her back?
"...Is this true?"
"Yes. The Danju personally convinced Her Highness the Princess to return to the palace."
Princess Diana had learned I was in the south?