Bon Appétit

“The savory and salty cheese is added, so even without adding other seasoning, the taste is doubled! Chewing on freshly grilled meat is delicious, but sometimes you want to eat or chew some jerky. I made it by following that instinct.”

She talked a lot, but the words she uttered were all nonsense. Even Ingrid, who had been defending her now, was turning her gaze away.

“How can you eat in this situation?”

Even the Duke, who never lost his composure at any time and anywhere, seemed to be ecstatic this time.

“Of course! As I said before, if you eat well, then you’ll die with no regrets. Would you like to try?”

Luana approached and offered him a piece of jerky.

If it was a normal situation, the Duke might have cut her throat right away without any consideration. But it’s also strange. The Duke felt like his body craved that food. Although Luana was not aware of it now, there was a curse passed down from generation to generation in the Duke’s family. That curse grew stronger as the years went on, and the current Duke was almost losing his sense of taste.

‘Will it be fun to eat food when you can’t even taste it?’ The Duke had only managed to eat food just to survive. Therefore, it was impossible for the Duke to want food that he was even unfamiliar with.

The Duke took the jerky from Luana. On the surface, it was no different from any other beef jerky. However, a new world opened up after taking a bite. Originally, he didn’t like jerky. Even though he can’t taste it, he can feel the texture. So, he had no choice but to dislike the tough jerky. Fortunately, he ate reluctantly during the war, but he did not speak of it in the mansion. But this jerky felt different.

The beef jerky given by the abandoned princess was softer. The tooth sinks into the dry surface and cuts the jerky off easily. The meat was chewed and crushed between the teeth, and the flavor of the condensed meat spread. It was just as she said.

He can feel the savory and salty taste of the meat, and in the end, a sweet taste remains on the tip of his tongue. He craved for more. It was a desire that had been forgotten for a while. The Duke Legion took another bite of the jerky without realizing it.

It was delicious.

“Is it delicious?”

Luana, who saw him, asked triumphantly. He couldn’t answer, but Legion’s actions were telling everything. The knights widened their eyes with a surprised expression on their faces. ‘Our Duke is eating it! Does that mean it’s so delicious?’

The knight who was questioning Luana while holding the jerky, looked down at his palm with a hesitant look. Yes, he was holding a jerky now. Even though he knew he shouldn’t eat it, his instincts urged him.

‘Take a bite and then you’ll know it’s tasty.’ It sounded like the jerky whispered to him. It was the devil’s whisper.

“No!”

The knight barely managed to endure the temptation. If he had a little more shallow mental discipline, he would have eaten. But he endured it to keep his dignity as a proud Leviathan Knight!

A strange peace came to the place where the smell of blood was lingering. Everyone was bewildered by the changed atmosphere. She had no choice but to do so, because they were people who had threatened to kill her a while ago..

All this was peace made by the cheese jerky.

She thought that peace would come, but she was mistaken.

“Get in.”

“Wait a minute! Why are you taking me to a dungeon?”

When Luana desperately grabbed the door and asked, the knight looked at him with a blank look.

‘Huh? What? Why? The Duke enjoyed the beef jerky!’ The moment she was about to say more, the knight pushed her back and she rolled forward to the dungeon.

She quickly got up again, but the knight had already closed the door and turned around.

“Wait a minute! Stop there! Hey! Stop!”

She shouted out desperately, but the knight disappeared without looking back. Drops of water dripped from the damp ceiling in the gloomy atmosphere. The floor was cracked and dirty with creepy dark red traces. ‘Why do I have to come here?! This is so unfair.’

Luana climbed onto the bed fixed to the wall with a sour expression. It was embarrassing to even call it a bed, but she thought it would still be better than the floor. It wasn’t long before she realized that thought was an illusion. In the bed, there were other bugs living together.

“It’s unfair!”

She tried to move her feet, but to no avail.

“This is not it.”

Luana found a spot that was quite clean and sat down. As she sat and pondered, she got goosebumps on her back due to an ominous feeling. ‘N-No way! Are they going to torment the abandoned princess? What kind of pleasure would they get from it?’ Luana shook her head quickly.

‘I don’t like being in pain and suffering!’

Luana jumped up and grabbed the dungeon bars and shook it.

“Excuse me! Please release me! It’s not me! It must be a misunderstanding!”

“You’re too noisy.”

How many times has it been? As she was shouting loudly with her stamina that she had grown after eating well, she heard someone else’s voice. It was a raspy voice which made the atmosphere more creepy. Luana scratched her forearm without realizing it.

The Duke looked at her with contempt. ‘But why is your face like that?’ Luana, who was scratching her forearm, quickly shouted at the fact that she remembered belatedly.

“No!”

She tried to explain it in a hurry, but it didn’t seem to make much sense.

“I’m telling you… Really… I want to… wash myself”

“Shut up!”

The knight who followed made Luana’s mouth shut instead of the Duke. It was a knight named Lugard who first brought Luana. At least she was a little reassured that she had knew him a little.

“You misunderstood! This is not my place!”

“You are at the right place.”

“No, that’s not true!”

“Yes, it is.”

“No!”

“Yes, it is!”

When Lugard and Luana were fighting over whether they were right or not, the Duke got annoyed and intervened.

“What are you doing now?”

“Hmph!”

Lugard, who came to his senses, shut his mouth, and Luana was the only one who was babbling.

“You’re not right at all. Why do I have to be locked up here?”

“It’s because you are a witch.”

The answer was given by the Duke instead of Lugard.

“Huh?”

Luana looked at the Duke with a sympathetic look. No, there were no witches in the world anymore. Aren’t their kinds already gone?

“You look displeased.”

The Duke expressed his displeasure.

“No, well, are there still witches these days?”

“There is. Here you are.”

“No I am not. I don’t have a broom, and I can’t fly.”

“Why does a witch fly in the sky?”

“Oh, don’t they fly?”

“No matter how much power they get from a contract with the devil, their essence is still human. They can’t fly.”

‘How do you know about witches in such detail?’ Luana swallowed her words that she wanted to shout.

“I have been searching for a witch for a while, but this is the first time I have found one. There are so many things I want to ask you.”

While saying that, he raised the corners of his mouth, but it wasn’t usually scary. ‘This is it. That is a look that’s trying to torment me!’ Luana took a step back from the bars that she had been clinging to.

“I am not a witch!”

“Can a witch call herself a witch?”

“Why do you think I am a witch?!”

“You know the curses that are passed down from generation to generation?”

‘I know I know! Because I read the novel!’ But she wanted to pretend she didn’t know. She decided to go with the setting that she is an abandoned princess who doesn’t know about the outside world.

“The curse dulled my senses, and I almost lost my sense of taste. As a result, I can hardly eat any food. I didn’t want to eat it, because I couldn’t taste it. But the beef jerky tastes good. It’s a curse that could not be resolved no matter what. Without a witch, that wouldn’t be possible.”

The duke beckoned, and Lugard took a bag and opened it. It contained several tools that she didn’t know. After a closer look, ‘I know that!’ Luana was drenched in cold sweat. ‘It’s torture tools! This crazy bastard!’.

“B-But I’m really not a witch!”

“It’s up to me to judge.”

‘I’m not even a witch, so why are you judging me?’ The dungeon door opened and the Duke entered. Luana ran quickly and stood opposite of the Duke.

“No. Absolutely not!”

“Then how do you explain the beef jerky? I can’t really taste the food. But,”

The Duke’s expression changed for a moment in ecstasy. He seems to be thinking of the taste of the beef jerky.

“The jerky you gave me was delicious. Is there any more convincing evidence than this?”

Luana waved her arms.

“T-that’s just because I make good jerky!”

“Even the Imperial Chef couldn’t satisfy my tongue.”

“I guess I’m better off!”

“An abandoned princess of a little kingdom?”

“I’m prejudiced! I could do better!”

“It’s okay, come here quietly.”

The Duke stepped forward. As he approached, Luana ran away. But since the entrance was blocked, there wasn’t much they could do.

“Come here.”

The duke called for Luana. ‘Would you like to go?’ Luana shook her head.

“If you behave, I’ll go easy on you.”

‘I’m not saying I will!’ she shook her head again. ‘How long has it been?’ Her legs were trembling because she was so nervous. Still, she moved with the will of not wanting to get tortured, but in the end she was caught by the Duke.

“Ugh… Aaahh!”

Luana wept and held onto the Duke’s feet.

“I-I’ll tell you the truth!”

The Duke, who had just taken out a strange-looking tongs from his bag, stopped what he was doing and looked at Luana. There was only one way to get out of this.

“Yes, I am actually a witch! But I’m like an… apprentice witch, so there’s almost nothing I can do! I can’t cast a curse, I can’t break any curse!”

It is to admit to being a witch.