I Hoped You Weren't Alive At Times ✓

Ch 115

17.5 Lilian And Karloi (1)
*
*
*

Chef Vex has everything in store for today. Perfect ingredients, perfect recipe, perfect assistance. It was simply perfection commensurate with the beauty of Lexem Sorta.

At lunch today, Vex's skills were to be judged coolly by the Imperial family. The Sortans tended to overdo Vex's nose. It was not surprising that one day his nose turned as sharp as a Lartuan. He wanted an objective assessment. Everything from soup to meat, and poultry to vegetables, and desserts to drinks was perfect.

Vex waited for the Empress' response with a nervous face. The Empress entered the restaurant with her usual expressionless face. Vex swallowed his saliva with tension on his seemingly tight face. The Empress, who looked indifferently at the long table, opened her mouth pointing to the badger's dish.

"Is that an Operim?"

"Oh, yes! That's right. Have you ever tried it?"

"...No. I heard it's a famous traditional Sorta dish."

The Empress' voice was as calm as Lake Mexus. But there was a tremor that seemed to be a wave. Suddenly, Vex thought that the Empress looked sad. Upon closer inspection, it was more of a disappointed face than a cold one.

Ignoring the order of meals, the Empress said she would eat the Operim first. The servants put the dish on the Empress' plate. The Empress chewed the food very slowly for a long time. Even after swallowing it all, she had no reaction, so Vex's self-esteem, which had already been sluggish, was about to hit the bottom.

"Your Majesty..."

Tears fell from the eyes of the Empress. Vex was speechless in shock. Does that mean it's that bad? Well, there must have been a reason why the food returned more than half every time.

The head court lady, who was sitting next to her, held out a handkerchief with a bewildered look on her face. Tears did not stop in the eyes of the Empress.

"Are you having any discomfort?"

Instead of the panicked chef, Olivia asked the Empress instead. The Empress shook her head.

"No, it's delicious..."

Why did that one phrase sound so sad?

"It's so delicious..."

The Empress wiped her tears with the handkerchief and took another bite. Tears were still in her eyes.

"I understand now why it's so famous. Why people... Want to eat this so much."

Vex had pride in his food but didn't think it was delicious enough to make people cry. Besides, the Empress said it was delicious, but she also left half of her lunch. There were a lot of foods that she didn't even touch.

Nevertheless, Vex was able to tell. The Empress' words were sincere. Nevertheless, the Vex knew. The Queen's words are sincere. It was the first time in his forty years of life that his heart ached so much. It was the saddest compliment he had ever heard.

Vex sincerely wanted to give the Empress a delicious meal. A food that the sick Empress could eat without shedding tears. Vex knew the power of food. It might be hard to make people cry, but it might be able to make one feel alive for a while.

------------------

Because of Bernie's magic, delegates from all over the continent decided to gather in Croysen. Since Karloi provided a huge amount of research to the Croysen Magic Society, he would find out more than now, and it was necessary to share it in order to come up with a countermeasure and hold Bernie accountable.