Bon Appétit

TL/N: Chillelujah is an abbreviation of Chicken and Hallelujah.

“Come up here.”

The Duke’s voice becomes terrifying. It still sounds like the whispers of the devil from hell. Luana shuddered and climbed the stairs.

‘Sis, I will definitely come to get you out! No matter what, there must be a way!’

When she looked at Ingrid, she returned a gentle smile.

When she came out feeling uncomfortable, the fresh air pricked her nose. The air above the ground was much better than the underground.

‘By the way, what’s going to happen now that things are going this way?’ First, she needed to figure out the situation. Luana asked Legion carefully.

“Is the King alive?”

“Yes.”

“Well, is there any part of his body missing?”

“He has his limbs intact.”

“Then are his eyes, nose, and lips okay?”

“It’s fine.”

They were known as a notorious army, but they were not as cruel as she thought. Of course, they killed some people, but the royals are still alive. Some parts didn’t match what I’ve heard.

Luana asked again.

“Are the other princesses alive?”

“They are.”

“That’s a relief.”

Seeing that even the princesses were kept alive, She lessened her fear of dying. As she was thinking, the Duke spoke as if he had suddenly remembered.

“Oh, right. they are not given food, but people can last more than two weeks without eating.”

“…Are you giving them water?”

“No.”

“Won’t they die faster that way?”

“Hmm. I think so.”

‘I think so, my ass! Don’t talk about people dying so casually! Of course, I don’t have any affection for the King or other princesses I haven’t seen properly. But still, it’s not comfortable hearing someone die.’

“Wouldn’t it be better to give them something to eat?”

“Why?”

“Because they’ll die if not eat?”

“They are going to be killed anyway. Do I have to give them that?”

‘I see.. you are going to kill them anyway.’ Luana’s face was hardened at the words. The corners of her lips trembled.

“Can you spare me?”

“You’re not worthy to be kept alive.”

The Duke was merciless. He was so ruthless that it was hard to say anything more. Therefore, as she was following the Duke, two armored knights approached us suddenly. They knelt and shouted.

“My lord! I’m Lugard! Reporting, I have done as commanded!”

“My lord! I’m Henry! Reporting, I have done as commanded!”

It was a familiar name. The two of them had very dirty armor, and their legs were shaking.

“Did you finish?”

“Yes!”

“I see. Then run ten more laps.”

The Duke calmly declared hell to the knights. The knights flinched but stood up without hesitation and ran again.

“Why are you doing that to the knights all of a sudden?”

As she was curious, the Duke answered Luana’s doubts.

“On that day, they were the ones who ate the lump of rice.”

“Do you mean rice balls?”

“Is that rice ball?”

“Yes.”

“Then that one.”

‘I can’t tell you that even the princesses ate it. If I made a mistake, I ended up rolling the delicate princesses.’ Luana decided to keep her mouth shut in the future.

After the long walk, Luana locked herself in the kitchen again. She was about to prepare lunch. But she remembered the princesses who were starving throughout her cooking.

‘God, the rice ball I gave them was their last meal. Being starving is painful and sad. We weren’t really close, but at least I wanted to feed them.’

“Should I negotiate?”

Ugh.

Luana grabbed her hair and pondered.

“Yes, it wouldn’t hurt to try!”

Luana decided to sneak a peek. For now, it was necessary to make the Duke feel as good as possible. Even if it doesn’t work, she’ll try to be excellent. To do that, she had to make something as delicious as possible. The dishes that she had made so far passed through her mind.

‘Yes! If you’re a Korean, this is it! It was loved so much by Koreans that it later became like a religion. Some sang praises and prayers to the dish.’

This dish is especially developed in Korea! It was said that foreigners eat and admire it.

The name of the dish is…

Chop!

She placed a neatly trimmed chicken on the chopping board. It was an organic chicken raised on a healthy diet and roaming freely on a grass field. It’s not as soft as a chicken raised in a confined space, but the more you chew it, the deeper the taste.

What’s more, the chicken was raised for the King to eat! It can’t even be compared to a regular chicken. It was a free-range and freshly caught chicken. Incomparable! Even before the chicken was cooked, she smiled just by looking at the raw chicken. The knight was startled to see her smiling, but Luana was unaware of it.

Whoosh-

Stroking the smooth raw chicken is fantastic.

Chop!

A large kitchen knife began to slice through the chicken. Luana cut it into bite-size pieces and marinated it in a pre-prepared seasoning. She chopped the onions, ginger, red pepper, and ginger and seasoned them with pepper, salt, and cooking wine.

She prepared a seasoning flour while the chicken was being marinated. She would have used chicken seasoning flour in her past life, but unfortunately, there was no such thing here. She properly mixed rice flour and starch powder and poured them into a plate to replace it.

She started to prepare food to eat with the chicken. It was fried potatoes and beer. She wished there was some pickled radish, but it takes time to prepare. In the meantime, the chicken has been marinated.

“Phew.”

She generously poured the expensive oil into the pot. In this era, oil is difficult to obtain and expensive. Naturally, fried dishes are also scarce. It can be said that it was not adequately developed in the first place.

‘Money is the best!’ Then, when the temperature was right, She put the floured chicken into the hot oil.

Sizzle-

As she heard oil sizzling, the white floured chicken turned to a delicious-looking yellow color.

‘Chillelujah! Save me!’

It was often said that even shoes would be delicious when fried in oil. Here, Luana fried the well-seasoned chicken. Then there is only one conclusion; it would taste delicious!

‘Fried chicken is never wrong!’

“Besides, I didn’t just simply fried it!”

She removed the chicken from the oil, then fried it again. Yes, Luana thought of deep-frying the chicken twice to make it more crispy.

Sizzle-

The chicken turned golden in the splashing oil. The color won’t change even if you bring any gold nuggets. Luana placed the perfectly fried chicken on a large plate, and she plated it with parsley and potatoes. She thought she needed some garnish to bring more color to the dish. Luana, who was hesitating, chopped something else and put it on top.

Chicken should be thoroughly enjoyed as a chicken. Then she poured a large cup of beer. Since Legion is a Duke, he might only drink wine, but it still goes well with chicken. This was the only belief that could not be yielded.

“Sigh.”

When she was done with everything, she was sweating profusely. The pretty dress she has been wearing for a while has been a mess. But she changed into a maid’s uniform because it was uncomfortable in the middle to wear a fancy dress while cooking. She thought the maid’s uniform had a better quality than her dress. But what can she do? She was just a princess that the King abandoned.

Above all, she was happier to spend her money on food rather than buying fancy dresses.

She took the fried chicken and put it in her mouth, and the juices in the chicken burst out. It’s a familiar taste, but it’s never enough no matter how much she ate. The outside was crispy and savory, and yet the inside was tender.

‘I made it perfect!’

While eating chicken, Luana wrapped her hand around her cheek and exclaimed.

The knight, who was strangely curious by the smell of fried chicken, swallowed his saliva. The sound of him gulping the saliva was heard by Luana. At first, she thought it was an illusion but soon found out it wasn’t.

“Would you like to try one?”

Luana took one of the fried chicken and handed it to the knight.

“No need.”

The knight flatly refused. But his eyes stayed on the chicken.

‘Well then, if you don’t want it,’

Luana put another fried chicken in her mouth.

Crunch-

She bit the crispy fried chicken and ripped through the meat inside.

“Delicious!”

It was a taste that made her excited. She shivered in happiness as she took a sip of the beer she had poured into a large glass.

‘As expected of Chimaek*!’

TL/N: Chimaek [치맥; Chicken (치킨) and Maekju (맥주)] is a combination of chicken and beer.

She also tried one of the french fries. The potatoes are sweet and crispy! The salt and pepper she sprinkled accentuated the sweetness! Luana banged her fist on the workbench.

“Woo-hoo!”

‘I wish I could live in the King’s palace for the rest of my life. I can use whatever ingredients I want and use it to my heart’s content. I can’t believe there’s such a happy place like this!’

The knight looked at her with a blank expression. Luana also felt the gaze. This time she lifted a piece of chicken without saying a word. The knight’s eye stared at the chicken. He was still hesitating. But the moment he saw the last piece of chicken she had set aside, he closed his eyes.

He quietly approached Luana and held out his hand. Luana handed him the chicken with a fork. The moment his trembling hand put the chicken to his mouth and finally took a bite. The knight staggered.

His knees, which could not bend by any spear knife, were almost bent because of her cooking.

“W-what taste is this?”

The words he had been thinking in his mind blurted out. He had eaten grilled chicken often, but it was his first time eating a fried chicken.

“That’s the taste of fried chicken.”

Luana said to the knight gently.