A Princess's Cooking Conquers the Stronghold
The clear, elegant ring of metal striking metal filled the office. Normally, Rodin would have been clutching his temples while drowning in a sea of 'paper scraps,' but today he found the sight before him rather impressive.
On the worn desk, sacks of gold coins gleamed in brilliant golden piles.
"Hey, princess. Is all this money really ours? Why does it look like there's even more than yesterday? Did someone sprinkle fertilizer on the coins or something?"
Rodin picked up a gold coin with a bored expression. When he applied the slightest pressure, his fingerprint pressed clearly into its surface—a display of grip strength that would have been difficult even for a sword master. Yet Rodin's only concern right now was what these numbers actually meant.
"I already explained it to you, Rodin. You should trust my management skills. This is only the beginning. When you add the toll booth revenue, escort insurance premiums, and yesterday's payment for the ogre hides, this amount is only natural."
Veronica twirled her quill pen elegantly before placing a final period in the ledger. Her eyes already sparkled brightly as she envisioned next quarter's profit model.
"It's nice having money coming in, but... those merchant bastards keep bothering me to sign some papers. Writing signatures or whatever is eating into my precious pickaxe-swinging time."
"That's because you demonstrated how you beat an ogre with a pickaxe handle. Among the merchants, you're already revered as the 'Guardian of the Forest' and the 'Saint of the Pickaxe.' Consider it a kind of fan service."
"I was just giving a proper lesson to the bugs that stepped on my cabbages. Fan service? What kind of bug talk is that? It's such a pain in the ass."
Rodin grumbled, but he quickly shut his mouth when he saw the next document Veronica handed him.
"Anyway, with this money I've already ordered the entire set of that premium southern fertilizer you were singing about, along with a full titanium alloy farming tool kit. No complaints, right? Oh, and I selected only the highest-grade seeds of every variety."
"...Yeah. None. I'm very satisfied. You're doing a great job, our chief administrator. Very capable."
Rodin's tightly sealed mouth-cave cracked open slightly. The power of capital was enough to make even the legendary Mercenary King generous.
"Save the compliments. I'll be preparing lunch myself today, so look forward to it. All this ledger work has worn me out, and I feel like eating something delicious too."
"Cooking? You? Wouldn't it be a national loss if the princess got her hands dirty? Just tell those Dagan guys to grill some meat."
"What those men make isn't cooking—it's 'charcoal.' I can't let them contaminate my palate. Just wait, Rodin. I'll be 'managing' your stomach from now on."
Veronica left the office with a meaningful smile. Rodin felt an inexplicable chill, but the thought of the fertilizer that would soon arrive quickly plunged him into happy contemplation.
"Hiiik! Princess! No, Sister-in-law! How can you hold a knife with those precious hands! This is completely unacceptable!"
The mountain stronghold's dining hall had turned into complete chaos. The moment Veronica, wearing a tightly tied apron, picked up a large kitchen knife, Dagan and Gil came running with deathly pale faces.
"We'll grill the meat! Lighting fires is our specialty, isn't it!"
"Dagan, just think about the meat you grilled yesterday. The outside was burnt like rocks and the inside was dripping with blood. That wasn't cooking. Get out of the way. I want to eat properly today."
At Veronica's cold rebuke, the two bandits shrank back. But they couldn't hide the suspicion in their eyes.
"No way, an imperial princess cooking... You're not planning to poison us all in one go and take over the stronghold, are you?"
"Gil, instead of coming up with such creative nonsense, why don't you peel some potatoes? My mother was a maid. To survive as a forgotten princess in the corner of the imperial palace, I had to learn how to prepare at least the food that would go into my own mouth."
Veronica's calm confession brought a strange silence over the dining hall. It was a glimpse of the desperate survival scars hidden behind her glamorous dress.
But the silence didn't last long. As soon as Veronica began stir-frying meat and vegetables in the pot, an unbelievable aroma started to rise.
"...Huh? Boss, what is this smell? It feels like my nose is going numb. It's too good?"
Gil sniffed and crept closer to the pot. The savory scent of butter, the sharp aroma of herbs, and the rich meaty fragrance combined to assault their brain cells.
"It's just a regular stew. I only used the wild greens from the stronghold storage, the vegetables Rodin grew, and the deer meat that Dagan caught earlier."
"This isn't a normal smell! This is a sacred fragrance you couldn't even encounter in the empire's finest restaurant, or even the imperial banquet hall! My salivary glands are exploding and my mouth is flooding!"
Dagan cried out as he fell to his knees. Veronica elegantly tasted the broth with a ladle and smiled brightly.
"Be quiet. Just clean the bowls properly. We need everything perfectly set before Rodin arrives."
The bandits had completely abandoned any suspicion, staring in awe at the 'divine blessing' bubbling away in the pot.
When lunchtime arrived, Rodin entered the dining hall as usual, brushing the dirt off his clothes.
"What a pain with the cooking... We could just fill our stomachs roughly. Even eating time feels like a waste."
He grumbled as he sat down. But the moment he saw the steaming stew placed before him, his words caught in his throat. Even though it was served in a crude wooden bowl, the dish seemed to radiate a brilliant glow.
"Stop complaining and just try it. I put plenty of the cabbages and radishes you raised so carefully."
Veronica placed a spoon in front of Rodin with a confident expression. Rodin took a spoonful of broth with some skepticism.
"...!"
Rodin's eyes widened instantly. The moment it touched his tongue, all the dried-up senses from his years roaming brutal battlefields exploded at once.
"Hey, what is this? Why is it so sweet? Did you secretly add sugar? Or did you use some kind of magic?"
"It's the natural sweetness of the vegetables. I lightly stir-fried the cabbage to draw out its sweetness before adding the broth. Does it not suit your taste?"
"No... it's not that it doesn't suit..."
Before he could even finish speaking, Rodin hurriedly took two, then three more spoonfuls. The blunt Mercenary King's spoon moved so fast it left afterimages.
"Mm, it's edible. Just a tiny bit, maybe 0.1% decent."
"Boss! You're scraping the bowl so hard you're about to put a hole in it! Playing the drums with your spoon and calling it 0.1%? Be honest—this is the taste of heaven, isn't it?"
Dagan shouted while frantically gulping down his own portion. Tears of emotion glistened in his eyes.
"Uwaaaah! Sister-in-law! I'm crying right now! In ten years of bandit life, this is the first truly human food I've had! I've been eating garbage all this time!"
Gil wailed while lifting the entire bowl to his mouth. The dining hall quickly filled with the rough breathing of men who had sold their souls to Veronica's cooking.
"I'm glad you like it. Rodin, would you like another bowl?"
At Veronica's question, Rodin stared at his empty bowl for a moment before turning his head, his ears flushed red.
"...It's a pain, so just leave the whole pot here. I'll serve myself. All that coming and going kicks up dust."
It was the highest praise the legendary Mercenary King could offer. Veronica smiled radiantly like a general who had just heard the sound of victory trumpets.
Satiety was a magic that made people endlessly generous. Rodin patted his full belly and strolled through the cabbage field in a good mood. Normally he would have grumbled about 'these bothersome things' while catching cabbage worms, but today the green leaves seemed to sparkle like jewels under the sunlight.
"Definitely... when your stomach's full, the cabbages look prettier. Is it just my mood? The leaves look so plump and appetizing."
At Rodin's mutter, Veronica quietly approached from behind and stood beside him.
"You need a full stomach to farm well. So? Don't you think hiring me as chief administrator was the best decision of your life?"
"You bring in money well, and the food is surprisingly... just a tiny bit tasty. Yeah, you're pretty capable. I thought you were just dead weight, but you're actually useful."
At Rodin's casual compliment, Veronica lifted her chin proudly.
"It's not just capable. I can even cure that terrible insomnia of yours with my cooking. Delicious food heals the heart's wounds, after all."
"My insomnia isn't something that can be fixed with one bowl of food! My trauma isn't that easy to deal with."
"Just wait and see. Every night I'll serve you warm milk and a late-night snack filled with my sincerity. I'll melt away those sharp nerves of yours one by one."
"Late-night snacks are welcome, but... stop hovering around me. It's distracting when I'm picking cabbage leaves. Such a pain."
Rodin grumbled tsundere-style while touching the cabbage leaves, but he didn't push Veronica away.
"It's not distracting—you're just getting used to it. Rodin, soon you'll feel that life in this stronghold is unbearably dull and empty without me! I'm already looking forward to that day, you know?"
At Veronica's provocative smile, Rodin pretended not to hear and pulled weeds. But his hands moved much lighter than usual, and they couldn't lie.
In the mountain stronghold's front yard at sunset, the bandits who had finished their day's work gathered together. But the old scene of them drinking and spewing curses had vanished. There was only one topic of conversation.
"Hey, from today on, anyone who doesn't listen to the princess... no, to Sister-in-law, I'll bury them myself. Got it?"
Dagan flexed his thick forearms as he issued the threat. The bandits all nodded at once.
"Of course, Big Bro Dagan! If we can eat food like that every day, I'd fight the Demon King's army, not the imperial knights! Food is the best!"
"The boss couldn't even move in front of Sister-in-law earlier. It's that tsundere thing, tsundere. He kept saying it was bothersome, but he was practically licking the bowl clean."
When Gil chuckled, laughter bloomed all around.
"Shh! She might hear! Anyway, our stronghold isn't just a simple bandit den anymore. It's the 'Fortress of Flavor'! Plundering has become less important than food!"
"That's right! Sister-in-law said she's making meat pie tomorrow! I'm going to fast from morning so I can fully appreciate that taste!"
The bandits' eyes were now filled with both reverence for the princess and a primal loyalty toward delicious food. With Rodin's overwhelming strength and Veronica's perfect management disguised as devoted care working in perfect harmony, the stronghold's hierarchy had already become rock solid.
"Hey, but don't you think Sister-in-law's eyes are scary sometimes? Especially when she looks at the boss. It's like she's a predator eyeing her prey..."
At one bandit's words, Dagan lightly smacked his head.
"That's all affection! What would a solo guy like you know? Go fetch some water! It's for when Sister-in-law cooks!"
As night deepened, Rodin lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Normally this was the time when the screams from the battlefield would echo in his ears, but tonight, for some strange reason, the fragrant smell of the stew he'd eaten during the day lingered at the tip of his nose. With a warm belly, his mind felt strangely languid.
Then—
Knock knock—
"Hey, princess. Why are you here again? I was trying to get some sleep."
Rodin turned his head with an annoyed look. Veronica, who had opened the door and entered, was holding a steaming mug.
"Drink this tea before you sleep. It helps with digestion and is perfect for loosening the muscles that got tense from cabbage farming. It's a special herbal blend I made myself."
"What am I, some old man? I'm as sturdy as a log without drinking stuff like this. Just go sleep."
"If that's what you say, then why are you taking the cup? Drink it slowly—it's hot, so don't burn the roof of your mouth."
At Veronica's scolding, Rodin found himself already holding the cup and sipping from it.
"...Such a pain. ...Mm, the aroma is nice. Sweet and slightly bitter—not bad."
"Tomorrow I should buy more meat at the market. You seem a bit low on energy lately from worrying about fertilizer."
"Do as you like. Just make sure the books stay balanced."
"Don't worry. From now on, I'll be perfectly managing your life. Your money, your meals, and even your nights."
Veronica sat beside Rodin's bed as his eyelids grew heavy from the tea. She very carefully brushed his messy hair, as if handling a precious treasure.
"Sleep well, Rodin. I'll wake you tomorrow morning with delicious smells too. So you won't have those terrible dreams anymore."
Even as Rodin thought, 'This feels somehow dangerous...', the comfort enveloping his body and Veronica's gentle touch caused him to helplessly lose consciousness. The legendary Mercenary King was happily sinking into the perfect 'management' of his lady of the house.