Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“There is a wonderful food called chicken that’s beautifully crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Would I ever lie to Your Highness?”

“You’re not that good at cooking.”

“But don’t you know that no matter who cooks the godly chicken, it’ll be delicious? Hm? Hmm? Priiiiince.”

With an iron plate over my face that knows no shame, I held his hand firmly and shook it.

Pride does not exist when asking for pets! I am a faithful cat butler! Pets are the best!

Albert stared at me for a long time then sighed.

“Can you let go of my hand first?”

“I’ve let go right away, sir.”

“Do as you please.”

“Ooh, really?!”

“If you can manage to smuggle one in here, sure.”

Albert smirked.

…I feel like I’ve been bamboozled, but it might just be my imagination.

“But you’ve given me your permission, right…? Then, I’ll go down and prepare lunch.”

“Sure, go do that.”

Albert casually replied and turned back to his book. I could now feel the hunger gnawing at my stomach because I used my head for too long.

Grooowl. A strange sound came from my tummy.

It must be ready to have some delicious lunch.

Today’s menu is spicy tteokbokki that has the power to relieve stress from being cooped up in this tower! Red pepper powder for Koreans! As long as there’s red pepper powder, it’s Korean! As expected, these two are inseparable!

The kitchen had a faucet connected to the pipes at the outskirts of the capital, so water could be used any time.

Actually, Rosteratu spent quite a lot of time building this tower.

What he wanted the most was for Albert to suffer mentally here, rather than physically. Albert had already been abused physically as he was growing up.

He didn’t want Albert to die of anything but mental distress, so the tower was all decked up with the necessary aspects to ensure survival.

Rosé was the one who suggested setting up the tower in this way. She loved Albert so much that she wanted to take good care of him—and this was the only thing I was grateful to her for. I had almost everything to properly serve Albert.

Shaaa.

When I turned the faucet on, clean water flowed out.

I filled the pot with just the right amount of water and mixed red pepper powder and red pepper paste. The transparent water turned red in no time.

Then, I picked out the ingredients that I had already set aside. Rice cake, vegetables, and fish cake. I’ve only just seen the ingredients, but my mouth was watering already.

Writer-nim, thank you very much for letting me reincarnate in this ridiculous world. If it were really the Middle Ages, I would have already died without being able to bear with it. Since it’s Romance Fantasy, it really is the best to mess with the worldbuilding!

“Okay, let’s get started!”

After stretching my upper body, I started making tteokbokki.

First, I placed the pot over fire.

As I waited for the tteokbokki sauce to thicken, I cut the vegetables. It’s a shame that there’s no ramen, but who was I to complain? Even tteok-beokki hasn’t been invented here yet.

Fortunately, all the ingredients I requested from the guards were delivered.

It played a part that I got quite close to them after I found out that they were already fathers. I had a few short conversations with them while handing out snacks.

Of course, it’s the acting skills I honed from adulting before that truly helped me develop (?) the relationships I had with people around me.

I was stuck between the handsome yet picky prince while being pressured by the impotent king. That’s why the guards felt sorry for me for being locked up alone with the notorious prince.

All of this was possible only because the agreement between Rosé and the impotent king was a secret. The guards and I even speak without honorifics now and we greet each other casually. There was a tremendous change after just talking to them for a few minutes once a week.

What can I say, I’m a Korean who can survive under the extreme pressure from my boss.

The sauce began to boil just then.

“Oh, it’s boiling.”

I added the chopped vegetables and square fish cakes into the pot.

The way they fell into the sauce was like divers at a pool.

“If it’s tteokbokki, there should be boiled eggs of course.”

Today I shall prepare these for Albert agai… Nah, these boiled eggs are for me. They taste immaculate when paired with tteokbokki sauce.

Mmm. Just thinking about it made my mouth water.

Will Albert be able to eat this well? What if it’s too spicy for him?

I thought of his cheeky face.

“I’d like to see if he can take it.”

I made a silent prayer for him to have an upset stomach. It’s a small revenge.

I added more red pepper paste while thinking of Albert’s handsome but mean face. Spicy spicy, even more spicy! After mixing it and having a taste, I nodded in satisfaction.

Mm, yep, that’s it. The addictive spicy taste of f*re chicken stir-fry noodles. The dish is finally ready.

Transferring the steaming tteokbokki to a bowl, I placed one egg each on Albert’s serving and mine. Then, I placed them on a tray and climbed the stairs.

“Your Highness, lunch is ready~”

As I entered the room, Albert took the tray from my hands as usual.

His eyes naturally turned to the tteokbokki and he fell silent.

No, I think he’s a bit speechless.

“…What’s this?”

“You’ve already eaten the spicy potato soup before, but is this still strange for you? This is spicy tteokbokki.”

Albert placed the tray on the desk and I quickly sat down on a chair. His eyes were narrowed.

“I hope you’re not trying to poison me.”

“What a terrible thing to say! Prince, this is one of my absolute favorite dishes in the world!”

But Albert didn’t seem to believe me at all. Well fine, more for me. I can just eat all the tteokbokki by myself.

“…You eat first.”

Albert seemed to be at a loss in front of the food.

Just the smell was already super spicy of course.

“I’d be happy to dig in first.”

I contemplated which one to eat first, vegetables, rice cakes or fish cakes—but I settled with a rice cake first and put one in my mouth.

It was a soft yet chewy rice cake enriched by a spicy flavor.

“Uwah… So yummy.”

It’s been a while since I ate this, so it was all the more delicious. Ha, hoo, ha, ahh so spicy.

I ate another rice cake and fanned myself. But I’m happy!

Meanwhile, Albert was looking at me like I was some kind of ghost. After coughing in vain under that serious gaze of his, I spoke.

“You know what, Your Highness? People feel a whole lot better whenever they eat spicy food.”

“I’ve never heard that before.”

“Trust me. Just try it.”

The tone in which I spoke was reminiscent of a dealer selling illegal substances, but I forged ahead.

I poked a rice cake with a fork and stuck it out to Albert.

“Here you go.”

“……”

“Aren’t you hungry? You had a light breakfast.”

Albert’s hesitant hand took the fork from me. He’s almost convinced!

“Just trust me once and taste it.”

Eventually, he bit the rice cake. A rice cake full of spices went into his mouth!

As he chewed, his reluctant expression changed subtly.

How did I know, you ask? It’s because one corner of his lips went up.

After swallowing the rice cake, he breathed out afterwards.

“It’s spicy.”

“If you sweat while eating something spicy like this, you’ll definitely feel better afterwards. And Your Highness liked it, right?”

Albert looked towards me.

“Did my lips curl up again?”

“Of course~ Your Highness, if you put some of the sauce on the eggs, it’ll be delicious.”

I sliced the egg in half with a fork and evenly coated it with tteokbokki sauce. Then, pop! I put it in my mouth, where a fantastic taste started to spread.

Closing my eyes to savor the tteokbokki, now I was confident that my tteokbokki was as good as YeopX Tteokbokki and ShinX Tteokbokki.

I dipped the fish cake and rice cakes together, and the chopped vegetables were also crunchy and delicious.

“Uwahh… I’m so happy.”

Today, I had the most perfect meal in the tower.

“Happy, you say.”

His eyes blinked somewhat in surprise, like he saw something unexpected.

“So it’s that easy to make you happy, Rosé.”

“There’s a saying that people live to eat. There’s no surefire way to achieve happiness, but there’s still some happiness in eating delicious food and having fun.”

“That’s a simple kind of happiness.”

“It’s better to look at the brighter side of things than to just be depressed every day. That’s why I’m looking for reasons to be happy in my own way.”

What I said made him laugh, but with a sense that he had nothing to say. It felt like he was denying what I said.

“I didn’t know happiness was so easy.”

His eyes momentarily flashed with loneliness, but he laughed again and ate more tteokbokki.

It seemed to be spicy for him, but he’s trying not to let it show, like someone who was used to keeping everything to himself.

When I saw him pausing in between chewing, it was clear that his mouth was burning.

I took the glass of milk from the tray and offered it to him.

“…What is this?”

“If you drink milk, it won’t be spicy anymore.”

“It must be obvious to you.”

“No. It’s not that easy to read Your Highness’ expression, it’s just that I expected it. Was I correct?”

Albert picked up the glass instead of answering, then drew the glass closer to his lips. Ah, what a champ, this guy. Even when drinking milk, he’s perfect…

Then, the meal continued with me saying one or two more silly comments.

Albert succeeded in clearing his serving of tteokbokki after drinking some milk. I was actually surprised that he got through it and ate better than I thought.

“Do you feel better after eating spicy food?”

He must be under a lot of stress after being locked up here, but I asked anyway. I hope the tteokbokki helped even a little.

Albert stared at me.

“I feel pretty good, but I’m not as happy as you.”

Speaking in a low voice, he stroked my head gently. I felt like a cat for a moment.

“It’s been a while since I’ve felt this way.”

His eyes narrowed as though he was lost in thought.

As I listened to his languid tone, it felt like I was watching an ASMR video.

Still, the slender fingers were caressing my hair as carefully as possible.

I felt weird.

It’s always like this whenever Albert touches me—I don’t know how to act in this situation. Sometimes, as if I’d been enchanted, I get compelled enough to wish that I could give him everything.

Like a sailor who’s heard a siren’s voice.

But at the same time, I knew that he had no feelings for me.

For him, this physical contact was just a means for controlling me.

As I thought about this, my confusion subsided.

This is strictly a business relationship.

Party A and Party B.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the dish.”

I smiled brightly.

The smile on my face was my best defense.

It’s not difficult at all to smile.

But then, a problem happened later that evening.

“Oh… I can feel it cramping up…”

I felt a slight pain in my stomach.”

My body wasn’t prepared to eat something spicy.

It was Rosé’s first time eating tteokbokki with her body, so this was an inevitable outcome.

I stayed in bed in the attic hoping that I’d feel better, but I don’t think it’s working.

It got worse. I started to break out in cold sweat.

After curling into myself and groaning, I finally decided to prick my finger.

“A needle…”

Where is it? There should be a basket with sewing supplies around here…

While searching the attic, I realized that I left the basket downstairs. In fact, it was more accurate to say that all the things related to housework were downstairs in the bedroom.

That means I’ll have to go down and run into Albert.