T/N: I’m back~! Enjoy!!
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It was probably a question that the emperor ordered him to ask, so for a moment, I wondered if I had been too harsh. While I was busy in thought, a new dish was brought out.
“…”
Like that, the meal began in silence, like it was planned that way.
“Your Holiness, is it to your liking this time?”
The meat had a clear firm and savory texture. I put the juicy steak in my mouth, noting that it was the perfect amount of cooked—not overdone or underdone and nodded.
It tasted a little empty without any sauce, but from what I could tell, they didn’t use sauces much with their food in this country…
“The last one was overcooked, so the juices were completely gone.”
“We’ll keep that in mind moving forward.”
His eyes narrowed again like a snake.
The way he smiled was so similar to Alois, yet it was so different that I was baffled at how different they were.
If Alois’s smile was laid-back and relaxed with a smile in his eyes that made you want to be at ease…
King Vermont’s smile reeked of so much greed that it made you want to look away.
“…In that case, I shall be expectant.”
“Consider it handled. Nothing is impossible to serve Your Holiness.”
I bit down lightly on the edge of my wine glass. If it had been a straw, it would’ve been torn to shreds by now.
In the end, even the newly served food failed to satisfy my palate.
Although Alois had told me to do whatever I want, nothing had really happened to warrant such a bold statement.
“Speaking of which, Lady Saintess,” King Vermont began.
Ack, it’s like he read my mind.
Somehow, whenever King Vermont spoke to me, an inexplicable stench seemed to creep up to the tip of my nose.
We had just finished eating and desserts were timely placed in front of us. It seemed to signal the start of “talk time”.
In the Empire, desserts weren’t served right after the meal. Because of that, it felt new and I raised my head to look at the visually appealing cakes.
“By any chance, are you looking for a place to settle now that you’ve left the Empire?”
“…Hmm?”
“After all, you’ve left a great power like the Empire to visit our kingdom…”
I could almost see his tongue flickering like a snake’s.
In fact, that was wrong. Calling someone a snake at least implied that they were clever, and in that vein, King Vermont wasn’t similar to a snake at all.
He was more like a foolish, indulgent king who would end up facing a coup one day and dethroned.
“Or as expected, you plan to make the Prince of Eseah and the Kingdom of Eseah your final destination?”
“Just as I said earlier, if I were to stay in the country before returning to the Empire, that would be Eseah.”
“Hoho, I have heard of the prosperity of the Kingdom of Eseah.”
The information about King Vermont would likely be summed up in just a few lines in future history books.
A king who indulged in luxury and debauchery, ruled tyrannically, and ultimately lost the trust of his people—eventually dethroned or killed by some subordinate or citizen. Something along those lines.
“Prince, perhaps you could share some stories about the Kingdom of Eseah with us.”
“What stories might you mean?”
“It’s a kingdom that rivals the Empire in wealth, isn’t it? I’m merely curious about the kind of beauty it strives for.”
“Beauty, you say…”
The focus shifted from me to Alois.
If Reneben was the target, I might’ve been a little nervous but considering who it was, I relaxed and picked up a macaron that looked as though it had been dusted with gold.
“…??”
“Oh my goodness.”
“What is she—.”
“Is she eating the dessert with her hand?”
And just as I picked the macaron between my fingers and took a small bite.
The previously noisy room instantly fell silent, and everyone turned to look at me, their mouths babbling in surprise.
…I’d say they were the odd ones for cutting a macaron with a knife and eating it with a fork.
Unconcerned, I took another bite of the macaron and licked the crumbs off my upper lip.
“Sweet desserts, just to my liking.”
“…I-I see.”
You couldn’t exactly call it a cultural difference since even the people of the Empire were surprised when I ate desserts with my hands. Maybe it was simply considered bad manners.
That said, when I ate like this in the empire, they just looked at me with curiosity, and quickly turned their heads away and later on, I found some even copying my manners.
I leaned forward slightly, carefully taking in the meaningful expressions of the nobles of the Kingdom of Vermont.
I leaned against the table, resting my elbows on it and finished another macaron.
I didn’t make a sound, nor drop any crumbs nor cause a single disruption to the people around.
So, I felt no need to hesitate about eating this way.
Honestly, it was intriguing that people preferred to slice a macaron with a knife and create unnecessary crumbs.
“Ah… Ahem. R, Right, we were talking about Prince Eseah and stopped midway. Prince, you must know a lot about the Eseah Kingdom as you were born there, yes?”
“Of course. As per the wishes of my royal father, us royals strive to learn and understand as much as we can.”
“Oho, then you can describe to me the beauty of the kingdom of Eseah, Prince.”
I still couldn’t figure out what exactly he meant by ‘beauty.’
It might’ve been more straightforward to ask about the country’s prosperity or secrets to its success.
Of course, since he’s the king, he wouldn’t say something so thoughtless.
I blinked and reached for a biscuit, only to stop when I noticed that plate was filled with white chocolate treats.
Noticing this, Reneben thoughtfully pushed his plate towards me, and I smiled as I picked up a dark chocolate-coated biscuit.
I didn’t really like white chocolate because to me, it didn’t really taste like chocolate, it was just incredibly sweet.
“Want one, Reneben?”
Since Alois was dealing with King Vermont, I figured I could snack on some dessert while I was at it and offered one to Reneben while munching on a cookie.
“I’m good.”
Reneben didn’t really like sweets so he declined and instead picked up some candy that I wasn’t quite sure if it was supposed to be desert.
“Oh, I’ve tried that before.”
I remember wanting to buy a bunch of it because it was a palate-cleanser type candy with a refreshing taste.
I tried it once and it was so good that I fell in love with it then I completely forgot about it.
Reneben placed the candy in his mouth, and he shut his eyes once the refreshing taste hit.
“…The flavor is strong.”
“Right? But it clears your head.”
“Your taste is remarkably consistent, Saintess.”
Although he wanted to spit it out, Reneben pretended nothing was wrong and rolled the candy around in his mouth, then he exhaled slowly.
My taste, huh… Now that I think about it, the candy was a little similar to the mint-flavored ones I used to enjoy.
They were effective for clearing the mind, so I’d always kept them on hand.
“Normal people would have a hard time eating this.”
“But the nobles of the Vermont look fine to me.”
I whispered to Reneben as I glanced at Alois, who was expertly handling King Vermont.
I was gesturing towards a slightly plump young lady who was stuffing a candy into her mouth.
“I…see. Now that you mention it, something’s been on my mind since earlier.”
“What?”
At that moment, Alois was explaining the women of his country to King Vermont.
Unlike the king, whose face failed to hide his wandering thoughts, Alois maintained a composed and innocent expression as he spoke about his nation. I rolled my eyes as I looked at him.
“I thought nobles usually place emphasis on maintaining their figure.”
“Ah…you’re right.”
Reneben’s comment was aimed at the Vermont nobles, two-thirds of which were so overweight that they couldn’t even wear corsets.
I nodded in agreement and plopped another snack into my mouth.
Unlike me, who kept eating desserts, the nobles were restraining themselves so I had to wonder how they even put on the weight. Just as I was thinking that, Alois’s distinctive low voice pierced my ears.
“I doubt any of my sisters are suitable for Your Majesty the King.”
“Don’t say such disappointing words. I dare say that the Kingdom of Eseah doesn’t fall short when compared to Vermont!”
Wow… What kind of ridiculous nonsense was he spouting?
The Kingdom of Eseah was a great power even the Empire wouldn’t dare to treat lightly, yet King Vermont spoke as if his kingdom was superior to it. I couldn’t help but shake my head.
That remark must have irritated Alois as well.
Despite how he appeared, Alois hated having the country he intended to claim for himself be belittled by anyone.
“No, after all, this is something Royal father would disapprove of…”
Why do I say that? Because his eyes weren’t smiling.
A sharp crunch echoed as I bit into my snack.
Others might not notice, but after observing him a few times, I could now catch it.
“It has already been three months since the Queen passed so imagine how great it would be if a princess who resembles Prince Eseah were to sit in that seat.”
Uck.
He was bubbling with greed.
The fact that he wanted someone who looked like Alois was already too much… But a princess for a grandpa in his fifties?
And to make it worse, his wife had passed away only three months ago.
“King Vermont.”
I opened my mouth.
I picked up a yellowish muffin, tore off a piece, and popped it into my mouth.
“Personally, I’d prefer that you deal with that tacky uniform first before asking Alois for such a favor.”
The muffin was surprisingly sweet.
I turned my head and smiled, but it was practically a sneer.
“With all the expensive jewels and expensive materials, that’s the best they could come up with? Even I’m embarrassed.”
“Lady Saintess! What do you mean by..!”
“King Vermont, what is this insolent behavior!”
The room was on the verge of chaos.
The moment King Vermont raised his voice, Reneben sprang to his feet and raised his voice, and all manners of politeness disappeared from his voice.
The King seemed to finally realize his mistake and froze, visibly flustered.
“Reneben.”
“…I’m here.”
In any case, it was Alois was the one who told me to go nuts.
Since I was stepping in for his sake, I figured I could step up the intensity a bit. I pointed my chin up and hummed like I was thinking about something.
“Remind me, how did I say you should treat those who don’t understand words?”
There was a time when I visited the slums and there, I found many children with hearing issues.
While I couldn’t fix their broken and already set-in-place legs, I could treat their ear pains and blindness.
Of course, even though Reneben was the high priest, he wasn’t capable of such feats as the gap between him and a saint was that significant.
Because of that, I taught him a simple method to soothe the children who were waiting for their treatment.
“…You said to smile gently at them.”
Translator’s Corner:
*Alrighty, ladies & gentlemen. I’m not sure how much I missed but I know it’s at least 2 chapters. I’m working on it so expect at least 2 chapters this week and another 2 for this weekend. Busy week for meeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Patreon is now up to 6 chapters in advance! Woohoo!
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 68 - January 6, 2025
- Notice – 12/24/2024 - December 24, 2024
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 67 - December 21, 2024