Bon Appétit

Sarah calmly shakes her head. Gerald claimed it took him half a year to get the antidote’s ingredients, but that was just his standard. What about if he gets help from others to search for it? The duke also soon become the emperor. With the help of the royal family, it will be possible for him to gather the ingredients in a short time. Wouldn’t that be great? The moment she thought of that, Sarah opened her mouth, but Gerald said firmly,

“I don’t want to make drugs with human help.”

“But this is your fault!”

“Yes, but I didn’t make a big problem.”

“It’s a huge problem.”

“If he can’t overcome this much, can you call it love? That’s up to the two of them.”

“You, do you know you’re acting annoying right now?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, you’re very annoying.”

Sarah sat down on the chair opposite Gerald.

“Since you’re here, would you like to eat something?”

He showed confidence in cooking that Sarah didn’t even convinced.

“What’s the menu?”

Sarah sighed and asked.

“It’s a meat stew.”

“Ahh.”

It was the menu that Gerald always cooked whenever Sarah visited, and the menu has never changed.

“Did Luana eat your cook before?”

“She did.”

“What did she say?”

“She said it was delicious.”

‘Are you sure?’

Sarah wanted to ask the question, but she chose not to ask. Yes, Luana must have been considerate to Gerald in her way, so there’s no need to add something unnecessary. Gerald was skilled at anything, but there was only one thing he couldn’t do.

He can’t cook.

He couldn’t make anything except tea. He tried to cook using Elanya’s recipe, but it was difficult. But he was living fine nonetheless because she often cooked for him when Elanya was alive. When he ate Elanya’s cooking, Gerald always smiled happily. The problem arose after Elanya died.

Gerald also began to try her recipe, looking for Elanya’s traces. He was a terrible cook, but he gradually improved as he tried and tried again. Now, he had already reached where his cook was edible, but he couldn’t improve more. Gerald’s cooking didn’t taste like Elanya’s recipe.

“You know what you’re eating was from Elanya’s recipe, right?”

“Yes.”

Luana was really considerate. Sarah still chose not to add more words. Luana, who got her hands on Elanya’s recipe, must know it didn’t taste the same.

‘No, wait?’

Then maybe Luana can implement the exact recipe? Originally, she was a good cook, and she was also a gourmet witch like her mother. She will be much better than Gerald.

“Has Luana ever made this before?”

“No, she hasn’t.”

“Yes, I see.”

Sarah quickly ate the stew that Gerald had served. She thought she should go to see Luana right now! Gerald seemed to have noticed something, but he said nothing.

***

Luana wriggled her fingers and asked Legion.

“Will this really work?”

“It should be.”

“S- Shall we?”

“Yes.”

Legion answered and pulled Luana, sitting next to him, into his arms. Luana was called to the office by Legion this morning, and he asked her to sit by his side. He used to be so cautious around Luana in the past, but was it because of the powder that made him change? He was strangely active. Perhaps because of that, his face was shaking because he kept holding back his mouth from opening.

Legion’s thought was simple. Luana’s touch and food seemed to warm his heart, so he decided to do it again and increase their meeting. In addition, this method seemed to work little by little. Compared to the attitude he showed as soon as he opened his eyes, he has changed a lot.

As she leaned in her arms according to Legion’s will, she felt like she was going to fly. She thought they could go a little further. Luana slyly moved her wiggling fingers and put her hand on Legion’s left hand. He still continued to peer through his papers without responding.

‘This means it’s okay, right?’

Luana began to fiddle with Legion’s hand with a contented expression. She caressed the back of his strong-looking hand with his tendons bulging out, gently stroking his finger. His hard, calloused fingers twitched.

Legion’s gaze shifted to Luana, but she pretended not to know. And she intertwined her fingers with all her might. How long has it passed? The moment their fingers intertwined, her eyes met with Legion’s, but she quickly turned his gaze from him. The red eyes she met smiled, and in an instant, he pulled her and put her on his lap.

‘Oh my!’

Luana screamed with joy inside. Yes, Legion recognized her deep meaning. It wasn’t because she had a different insidious intention that she was so clingy; she intended to drop the magic powder’s effect quickly. While self-justifying like that, suddenly, a person appeared as if she were falling from the air.

“Luana!”

It was Sarah. Luana looked at her sudden appearance with her eyes wide open.

“Luana! I have something to say, something urgent.”

Sarah, who had been saying so far, turned her eyes away, mumbling her words. She seemed to have come at the wrong time. Legion half hugged Luana, and they were holding hands.

“Uh, um, sorry?”

It was only after Sarah said that, that Luana understood the situation. They are displaying their affection to others!

“Oh, it’s nothing…”

Luana answered Sarah with an awkward smile. And she tried to come down from Legion’s lap, but he wouldn’t let go this time. He wrapped his arm around Luana’s waist and asked as if he didn’t care about Sarah.

“What’s your business?”

Sarah was choked up for a moment. He must have heard some stories from Luana. If it weren’t for her, would Luana have gotten there to rescue the duke? She would have somehow managed to do it herself, as long as she was a witch, but it would have been hard for her to do it alone. So when he was about to say something, Luana slapped him on the arm.

“She is a Great Witch. You can’t do that.”

“I don’t know the witches’ rank.”

“Then you should know now. I’ll introduce you. This is Sarah the Great Witch.”

“The Duke of the Empire, Legion.”

“He is also the one who will soon become emperor.”

Having said that, Legion seemed to have noticed Sarah’s intentions right away.

“Are the witches going to live in public now?”

“Wasn’t it strange that we’ve been hiding all this time? Now is the time to live outside.”

“And you need help?”

Sarah said, looking at Luana.

“Wouldn’t it be more convenient for the Duke and Luana if we came out and actively helped?”

Above all, Luana was also a witch. Even if she loved a human being, she couldn’t be entirely human. So it would be better to keep in touch with the witches. Fortunately, Legion seemed to understand her quickly, too.

“Yes, I suppose so. So what’s your business now?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t need the Duke’s help right now. I need Luana.”

“Luana?”

“Yes.”

Sarah gave a brief account of what had happened so far, including what Gerald did, that she met him, and the possible way to persuade him.

“I’ll do it!”

After hearing the whole story, Luana immediately raised her hand.

“I have my mother’s recipe, too! I’ll give it a try!”

Legion seemed displeased, but he didn’t stop Luana. He wanted to get Gerald in and torture him, but he was like an uncle to Luana. It would be nice if it could be solved well.

“Shall we go to the kitchen?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“But isn’t Legion busy?”

“I can work at the dining table.”

Legion immediately followed Luana. And the three headed to the annex’s kitchen.

“So, which of these is Gerald makes every time?”

Luana opened the recipe to Sarah.

“This, this one. A meat stew. It was a dish that Elanya often made during her lifetime.”

Sarah spoke informally to Luana as usual. Then Legion, who was looking into the document, frowned.

“Luana is the future empress. Give your respect.”

When he said that, Luana quickly intervened in the middle.

“Talk about that later! Oh, is this the recipe?”

Luana went through her recipe meticulously. The ingredients needed for the sauce are tomatoes, chicken stock, salt, butter, wine, and flour. And a little bit of black water? She tilted her head at the last ingredient.

‘What’s black water?’

“He has been working hard every time to make it, but somehow it didn’t taste good enough compared to what Elanya made. Yeah, I heard he doesn’t know this ingredient. I think he put in an ingredient that he thought would replace Elanya’s ingredient, but the result tasted weird. I even shuddered.”

Sarah said so and pointed to the black water.

“I think… Isn’t it possible because she was a gourmet witch?”

“Well, I’ll take this out and make it.”

The finished dish was an ordinary tomato meat stew. Of course, as Luana made it, it seemed more delicious than Gerald’s. Sarah exclaimed after eating.

“But it lacks something.”

“Because I didn’t add black water.”

Luana pondered, and without a second thought, she looked at the spices she had put in her barrel; then, she saw the jars she could see from the window.

‘Maybe it’s soy sauce?’

However, most of the dishes here are Western-style. Could it be soy sauce? As she pondered, she thought of soy sauce for a moment.

“It’s black, though?”

Sarah looked at the soy sauce with her eyes widened.