Chapter 5 - Rice Balls (1/2)

The Duke opened his mouth seeing Luana become restless.

“Before the Emperor sent me here, he promised me one thing.”

“What..what could it be?”

“He said after destroying the kingdom, if there is anything I want, I can take it.”

“Well, I see. That’s great! Even though the kingdom is small, there are some good treasures here.”

Hey, don’t think ill of me for being servile! No one will be like me in this situation. Luana was confident of giving information of whatever Alluin kingdom’s treasure that the Duke desired.

“Yes, originally, I didn’t really want anything.”

“Really? Nothing?”

“It looks like it just happened.”

The Duke, who said so, looked at Luana. Looking around, Luana pointed at herself with her fingers, sweating profusely.

“Well, you don’t mean me right?”

The Duke was still looking at Luana.

“I’m not a thing.”

“It’s not different.”

“It is very different.”

“So are you saying you hate it?”

The Duke’s hand headed for his sword. It seemed that if she said no, her head would be cut off immediately. Luana was scared by his sudden aura of menace.

“No! No! It’s great! I love it!”

What a load of bullshit! Luana sobbed inside.

“Hey, by the way.”

“What is it?”

“Is there anyone else you want besides me? A pretty princess with blond hair and blue eyes!”

First, she mentioned Ingrid, who was considered as the most beautiful among all the princesses. Even in the original novel, the Duke had a crush on her. It was quite sad that he couldn’t act on it because of his loyalty to the Emperor.

“Not really?”

“Or a charming princess with red hair?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“No, think again. There must be someone who makes your heart beat just by looking at her!”

So take someone like that with you! Luana looked at the Duke with an expectant look. One should believe in a man’s heart rather than his appetite!

The Duke gave a troubled look and answered.

“Well, there is one person who makes my heart pound. Looking at her makes me want to torment her.”

Then he looked straight at Luana.

‘Why are you looking at me?’

I’ll probably go crazy. The Duke was rumored to be a great sadist. She felt a bad premonition about this.

When she looked up, his eyes were fierce. Long eyelashes.. bright red eyes.. a straight elegant nose and red lips. Legion was an unusually beautiful man. He would have been very popular with young children if he could fix his poor temper.

Luana raised her hand unknowingly. But before her fingers touched the white, smooth looking skin, she hit the back of her head against the wall.

Bang!

The Duke looked bewildered at the sudden sound. But Luana had no time to care about it. It was because the back of her head was so painful that she wrapped both her arms around it and rolled around in agony.

“Ahhhh!”

She had actually hit her head to get it together, but it turned out to be a little too much. As she rolled around trying to get rid of the pain, she felt the pathetic gazes from Rugard and the Duke.

“I can’t understand what she’s doing.”

“I think she’s crazy. Why don’t you reconsider?”

The sound of clicking tongues from above made her anger increase. Who’s crazy! You’re the crazy one! But Luana, an absolute underdog, only thought about it and did not dare to say it out loud. Because she didn’t want to face a terrible end.

Only after some pain had passed, did she get up and brushed off her clothes. As expected of the king’s office, it was very clean, so there was hardly any dust in it.

If she had been rolling around in her deserted palace, she would have to change her clothes. Luana cleared the desk in admiration. When she put the empty bowl on the tray, Rugard opened the door for her. Even though he saw Luana as a madwoman,his manners as a Knight were excellent. At that moment, a thunderous sound echoed inside the room.

Rumble!

Although she was an abandoned princess, she regularly ate three meals a day without ever missing a meal. She looked back in the hopes that no one else might have heard it, but she was soon disappointed. Both Duke and Rugard were already looking at her.

“Why, why! If one’s hungry, one might make some noise!”

“Yes, it can happen.”

For some reason, the Duke defended Luana. Why is this madman defending me? Luana looked at him suspiciously. Oh, is that it? Since he said he didn’t enjoy eating, maybe he must have starved once because he couldn’t sense the taste. Is that why you empathize with me?

“Yes it can happen.”

Rugard, who at first looked at her with a strange look, nodded at the Duke’s words. You’re strong against the weak and weak against the strong! Luana whined and pushed the tray. It hadn’t even been a day yet, but it seemed like a lot of time had passed.

After returning to the kitchen, Luana arranged the bowls in the wooden barrel and took out a new pot.