Bon Appétit

Luana rolled up Legion’s wrists again. Although he looks skinny, he is a man, and his occupation is a knight. Luana looked at his strong, thin wrists, but she seemed to feel something different. Her gaze looked sad as she looked at his wrists.

“Oh, my. Something like this on this boney wrists.”

No, that’s not right, is it? Sarah managed to swallow the words she was about to say because Legion was staring at her with terrifying eyes. She was confident she could run away but didn’t want her to get his grudge for nothing.

“But how do I take this off?”

The restraint had a key lock, but there was no key. She looked through the clothes of the knights at the entrance just in case, but there was nothing.

‘No, from the outside, it seemed the restrain looked intact, but it actually has broken.”

It seemed invisible to Luana.

‘That’s what love is.’

Sarah took a deep breath and said.

“For now, let’s hold on to it. The knights will wake up too.”

“What? Why?”

“Something happened. You’d better have someone to prove your innocence.”

“Something happened?”

“Yeah, something happened to the emperor.”

“Oh, you didn’t do it here, did you?”

“No, why would we kill the emperor?”

“Did he die?”

Luana opened her eyes wide with a look of surprise.

“The last time I saw him, he was still alive.”

But speaking like that, she thought he would have been hurt quite badly. Luana, who was about to say something, soon closed her mouth again. The story has already been badly twisted. But now, what about the death of the emperor? Luana shook her head. Rather than mourning his death immediately, she felt she had to think about what to do in the future.

“Come on, get up.”

Meanwhile, Sarah woke up the knights. Her credibility may be diminished as she has invaded the place she’s locked up, but it’s better than nothing. And not long after, the knights were awakened by Sarah. Of course, it was after Sarah disappeared.

As soon as the knights woke up, they were surprised to see Luana.

“Who are you?”

Then they were surprised for the second time when they saw the food on the floor.

“What is this?”

“Oh, it’s food.”

“I know that! Why the hell is the food here?”

The knight was about to say more but soon bit their lips because they could feel the duke’s sharp gaze. He’s in custody, and he is strangely terrifying.

“Well, let me introduce myself again. My name is Luana. I’m here to save Legion.”

“Ah, the princess of the fallen kingdom.”

The knight himself bowed and mumbled his words. Then, surprised by his colleague poking him in the side, he quickly raised his head again.

“No, but what are you doing here?”

“I’m feeding Legion?”

The knight was speechless for a moment. All she did come here was to feed the duke who was locked up by putting the knights to sleep. It was a crazy act. But the knight couldn’t say it out loud and kept his mouth shut. The two became restless and eventually decided to report this to their superior. It was not for them to judge and act.

They reported it to Albert. He looked at the two with a very tired face, and his expression hardened.

“Did you do this?”

“What?”

“The assassination of His Majesty.”

Albert asked seriously and shook his head immediately. It didn’t seem like the people who were eating piled up on the hut floor would have done that. Doubts are gone; they won’t do something like that. It shouldn’t have been. Because since the emperor died without children or wives, there was only one heir after him.

“Follow me for now.”

Albert released Legion’s restrain.

***

The emperor is dead.

It was a miserable death considering the power he had enjoyed. He was stabbed to death by an unknown person in a place where no one saw him. It was known that way, but Luana seemed to know who the culprit was. She thought of someone who hated the emperor enough to kill him.

‘Ingrid.’

But how? Did she break through this border and kill the emperor? It wasn’t difficult to know because the witches had scattered the mist around that time and blurred the boundaries. Maybe Ingrid took advantage of it to infiltrate. But why? Luana sighed and drooped.

A few days after the emperor’s death, Sarah was still missing, and Legion, whose restrain was released, was busy. And Luana was left alone in a barracks designated as Legion’s residence.

‘What’s going to happen now?’

She tapped her feet in agony and suddenly felt something. Someone was coming, and when she turned around, a witch was standing.

“Gerald.”

He must have come in using magic powder.

“Luana, are you okay?”

“I’m just sitting there, is there any reason not to be okay?”

Luana replied with a cheerful smile. Gerald, who was staring at her, suddenly asked.

“Luana, I’m sorry to say this out of the blue, but why don’t you go with me?”

“What?”

She was startled, and she seemed to wake up. Surprised by the unexpected offer, Gerald continued to speak calmly.

“Luana seems to be in danger everytime I see you. Either you were imprisoned in a dungeon, kidnapped, or detained by the emperor. The human world seemes dangerous to you. That’s why I ask, would you like to leave with me?”

She thought Gerald might have changed his mind because he helped save Legion. But, it didn’t seem like it.

“Does Miss Sarah know this?”

“Sarah doesn’t know yet. And this has nothing to do with her.”

“Umm, where will you be going?”

“Anywhere. We can go back to where I originally lived, or you can go on a trip. Then, if there is a place you want, we can settle there.”

Luana scratched her head with a puzzled look. Now that she managed to return to Legion and stay with him, she was offered to leave.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m happy here.”

“I see, it must be because of the duke.”

“I can’t say no.”

She would gladly take Gerald’s hand if it weren’t for Legion because she liked to travel. She can get access to a lot of ingredients and eat dishes from different countries.

“Luana, you’re not deeply bound by humans.”

“It’s already late. And I was a human being, too.”

“No, you’re a witch.”

“No, I refuse the offer anyway.”

Luana shook her head. The two were still in a contractual relationship. She just had another chance, and she didn’t want to leave. What if someone aims for an empty seat? She hated it just imagining it.

At her words, Gerald turned his gaze for a moment and looked at the ceiling. He seemed to be thinking of something. After some time, Gerald spoke again.

“Yeah, so did Elanya.”

“Do you mean mother?”

“She shouldn’t trusted in humans, but she did. And she fell in love. It was very unfortunate. How can a witch who loves knowing that she will end up with an unfortunate end be so pitiful? If only I could go back to that time.”

Gerald’s eyes gleamed strangely. The sight of his eyes made her feel strange.

“I wish I could have prevented that from happening.”

How? Luana managed to hold back what she wanted to ask because she didn’t think a good answer would come back in any way. She knew that Gerald was special to her mother, Elanya. But was it this affectionate? It didn’t seem like a normal friendship.

“Luana, think again. Human promises are futile. They break promises from time to time. There is no such thing as eternity.”

“It’s the same no matter how many times I think about it. My opinion has not changed.”

“How can I persuade you?”

“What?!”

Luana answered, slowly stepping back. He then tried to reach her, but he stopped. She would hit Gerald if she had to, but he didn’t come any closer. He just looked at her with a sad expression.

“I’ll give you time.”

“Giving me time doesn’t change my mind.”

“A week. That would be enough. There will be big changes around you. In the meantime, think again.”

Gerald left behind those words and went out of the house. Luana looked carefully outside, but she didn’t see him.

***

And it wasn’t long before she realized the meaning of what Gerald said.

Legion was busy gathering his forces and then back to the Empire. In the process, Luana learned many things, one of which was about the next emperor.

It was Albert who spoke to her first. Until a few days ago, he served the emperor and casually approached Luana. Then he asked, driving by the carriage.

“Do you know about the next emperor?”

Of course, Luana didn’t know about him. Rather, he was surprised by Albert’s attitude. It was a surprisingly changed attitude considering the past. He didn’t look like a power-oriented person.