Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Fortunately enough, since we were out of the tower for a week, the food that had been delivered last week still remained the same amount.

And in the first place, we had an abundant stock of red pepper powder and red pepper paste in the pantry, then we also still had some rice. If there’s nothing else, we might still be able to survive with egg over rice seasoned with soy sauce.

I went into the pantry and took stock of the leftover ingredients, checking them one by one. The first thing that caught my eye were the potatoes, then next the pumpkins.

It’s raining a lot outside anyway, so I wonder if I should make veggie pancakes later. The thought of crispy fried pancakes made my mouth water.

“First though, I gotta make breakfast.”

I took out some potatoes, cabbages, seasonings, then I headed towards the kitchen.

It was a peaceful morning here at the tower. It’s been a while.

I sliced the potatoes and scallions, and sprinkled them with some red pepper powder, which I missed all this time. After boiling the ingredients for some time, I did a taste test. Tastes spicy and good.

As expected, Koreans should eat spicy food. I appreciated this motto even more because I didn’t have any red pepper powder and red pepper paste the entire time we were out. This exciting, exhilarating taste— the best flavor!

“What are you makiiing?”

I must have woken him up. Blanc fluttered towards me while rubbing his eyes. It was so adorable seeing him fly with those very tiny wings that almost couldn’t be seen behind him.

“Did you sleep well, Blanc?”

“Yeeeah.”

Blanc nodded. Since he was peeking at what I was cooking, he seemed to be looking for food. It’s understandable since he was tired yesterday and just slept.

Just in time, the rice was ready. I opened the pot and scooped some out with a spoon. The grains of rice had a sparkling luster to them.

Look at that, isn’t rice so delicious? I brought the spoon of rice towards Blanc, which he snapped up to eat.

Munch, munch. After he gulped it down, Blanc smiled and opened his lips.

“Yummyyy…”

“We’re going to eat something more delicious during lunch, so you can look forward to that.”

Today’s menu was going to be Korean veggie pancakes. Blanc’s eyes twinkled, expressing how much he was already looking forward to it.

Then, strangely enough, unfamiliar emotions washed over me. It felt like excitement and joy, but they didn’t come from within me. They’re not my own emotions.

I looked at Blanc. As if to answer my question, Blanc nodded.

“So this is how you feel.”

I could feel exactly just how excited Blanc was. And more emotions that were difficult to express in just words because of how vividly I felt them now. It was so amazing to experience such feelings that I otherwise wouldn’t have understood before.

“Do we share all our feelings with each other now?”

“Only when you waaant.”

That’s a relief. It would be difficult if Blanc would also feel all the feelings I had whenever I saw Albert. And whenever I saw Albert, my emotions would just run rampant.

I didn’t want to let Blanc know all of those emotions second hand. It would be nice if he could experience it himself later in the future.

But if I look at how pure and innocent Blanc was right now, that might still be far away. I patted Blanc over his back.

“Thank you for letting me know how you feel.”

Blanc grinned. It was a child-like smile that would make anyone who saw it happy as well.

“I always wanted to tell you my feelings like thiiis.”

“Why?”

“My explanations are always… not enough.”

Unlike Alexander, who seemed to be used to speaking the human language, Blanc was still not very familiar with it. The difference between them was from experience.

But I didn’t know Blanc would be so conscious of that.

“I like the food that Rosé makes for me.”

“……”

“I like Rosé, too.”

Blanc held nothing back at all. He expressed his emotions with fastballs right away. That’s what makes me like him, too.

Blanc’s pure, unfiltered feelings made me feel emotional. How could I ever regret entering the contract when Blanc was so happy right now? I could never turn away from him.

I set the soup at the side and filled another pot with water. This was so that I could make the boiled eggs that I always served Albert with care.

After I handed him his food, Blanc flew back and opened the book. His face looked very serious as he turned the pages with his front paws.

“How’s the book so far?”

“There’s so many things I don’t knooow…”

Blanc frowned.

“It said each dragon has different paces when evolving, and…”

Although Blanc was born a dragon, the only things he knew about himself were by instinct. And on his 500th birthday, his evolution would happen. It was an instinct that was known by all dragons from the start.

“Don’t push yourself too much.”

I was going to study hard from today onwards, too. I’ll be learning the basics from Albert.

“Let’s do our best.”

I patted Blanc’s head and encouraged him. Blanc nodded with sparkling eyes.

He seemed to be filled with more determination to live. Because back then, there was no place he could return to, unlike now.

After putting the eggs into the boiling water, I read the book that Blanc was also reading.

The book recounted the experiences of those who survived the torment of a dragon’s ordeal to become an adult, but actually, there weren’t many stories.

Still, there’s one part that stuck out to me.

—The place where a dragon is born is called the Dragon’s Nest, or Tomb. This is due to the fact that many have died there just as much as many have been born. The contractors who have successfully survived with their adult dragon have left their records as murals.

It was about the Dragon’s Nest.

However, not just anyone could go to the nest, and its exact location was unknown. It was impossible to locate it unless you’re a high mage.

I wonder if Albert knows where it is. I’ll have to ask later.

I took out the eggs from the boiling water and finished preparing breakfast.

The fresh kimchi, which I made a while ago, and the rolled omelet were transferred to a bowl. And when the potato soup and boiled eggs were placed on the tray as well, the perfect breakfast was complete.

I think there might be a tad too many eggs in this meal, but… I’m confident. Am I becoming a cook specializing in eggs?

With a tray full of dishes, I slowly began to go up the stairs. It’s quite heavy because there’s a lot of food on it.

…Should I have held back a little? As soon as I worried about it, the door to the bedroom opened.

“Oh…”

Before I could even say, ‘Prince,’ Albert took the tray from my hands. His swiftness made me stop there blankly. On the other hand, Albert just carried the tray naturally and moved it up and down as though measuring the weight. His eyebrows were furrowed.

“What if you get hurt…”

“How can I get hurt when you’re here, Prince?”

I volleyed the words back with ease. I’m glad Albert came out here though.

It’s strange. Albert always stepped up and helped me before I’d say anything. He’s always the first to know what I wish to say, the first to predict what I’ll do.

With him being so thoughtful, I was reminded again about how much I like him.¹

We placed the dishes on the desk one after another. When he saw the potato soup, Albert smirked and said that spicy was the best for him.

But as he stared at the boiled eggs in front of us, he had an unreadable expression. Like when it’s difficult to read his thoughts.

“Prince, you must have trained early in the morning today, so I prepared a protein-packed meal for your muscles.”

“Of course.”

“If you don’t want to eat it, you don’t have to.”

“No, I want to. You made this for me after all.”

…How can you swoop in just like that? My heart skipped a beat. I took a deep breath and picked up a spoon.

“That’s good. I’m a little worried because your expression just…”

“What was my expression like?”

“Um, it was difficult to read, so I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but… it’s strange.”

As I said this, Albert sighed lightly and lowered his gaze. His half-lidded eyes showed a hint of bitterness.

“I had a passing thought that I’ll miss this moment.”

As I was still smiling, the corners of my lips faltered a little. He said exactly what I couldn’t bring myself to say easily.

He knew what’s going to happen. Once we leave the tower, we can never return to the life we had here.

We would no longer have this normal life, where we didn’t have to worry about other people’s eyes, a life where our responsibilities didn’t rule over ourselves.

It was the mundane, everyday life that didn’t exist for him before.

“I’m thankful that I met you here, Rosé.”

Albert’s eyes curved gracefully. His smiling face was as beautiful as a blooming flower, but his voice, his words and his actions made my heart pound even louder.

His voice as he said this melted deep into my heart.

“I’m also thankful that I met you here, Prince.”

When I first transmigrated into Rosé’s body, I wondered why on earth I became her, and there were times when I got depressed because of how long we’ve been locked up here. However, I could leave all those negative feelings behind because I was given the chance to meet Albert in this place after all.

And I can say for sure that, in my whole life, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to meet a man as perfect as Albert.

The rain poured down heavily, and as the raindrops drummed on the windows, the noise drowned out the rest.

I finished washing the dishes and went upstairs with Blanc. He already read the book diligently, and I asked Albert to teach me about magic. However, Albert turned me down sternly.

“Because it’s impossible to use magic here.”

“Why?”

“There’s still a barrier up to restrict magic. If you don’t have enough magical power to surmount the power of the mages who cursed the tower, then you’ll hardly be able to use any magic here. I can solve it if you want, but… it’ll be removed in about a week anyway, so I wonder if it’s still necessary.”

While I was washing the dishes earlier, Mercy and Liam had contacted Albert through the wand.

“I was told that Rosteratu is gathering the nobles’ troops. He must be afraid of me.”

As Albert smiled delightedly, he propped up his chin on one hand.

“And all those soldiers are being gathered at the palace. Isn’t this such a great display of paternal love?”

It was baffling just hearing about it, to say the least.

The number of soldiers we could see outside the tower was just the appetizer.

There were 30,000 soldiers called just to deal with one of Albert. It even looked like they were going to war.

I guess this was enough of a reason to mobilize this many people. And they’re not just coming in empty-handed, they’d be armed with weapons, too…

I couldn’t imagine that many people surrounding the tower.

Regardless of what aftermath he’ll face later, Rosteratu was truly going all out to make sure he could kill Albert.

——