NO, I THINK IT’S BETTER THAT HE’D GO BLIND, that dangerous man. He should at least have a handicap or something. Ah, but no, it might be too much. The spirit of darkness was said to feed on people’s dark emotions and fears, and because of that, the food that it eats was everlasting.
Anyway, I was starving and the very delicious-looking spicy finger food was very tempting.
Can I have one?
But Lucian grabbed my wrist the moment I tried to reach for the egg tart with the darkest red hue out of the bunch.
“Why, Brother?”
Lucian glared at the dark red egg tarts instead of me.
“What’s wrong with this color?”
Indeed, if you aren’t used to spicy food, you’d be suspicious of it. But really, was someone in the Imperial family a fan of spicy food? Otherwise, there’d be no way these would be served in an Imperial banquet.
“I don’t think you should eat this.”
“Why?”
“The color is questionable.”
“Keuh.”
I hurriedly covered my lips with my hands. The way my bias said that so seriously was so funny.
Well actually, it’s true that the color is suspicious.
But I want to know how spicy it’ll be…
A mischievous thought occurred to me at that moment. My bias has never eaten spicy food.
Should I give you a taste?
I looked up at Lucian with puppy dog eyes.
“Then, why don’t you try a little first?”
I can’t believe I’m going to see Lucian eat spicy food for the first time right in front of me!
I’m such a successful fan!
And without hesitation, Lucian ate one entire dark red egg tart in his mouth.
“No, just a little…”
The egg tart had already disappeared before I could finish my sentence. Lucian chewed with a blank face, then gulped it all down still with an unreadable face.
No… I think his eyes are a little red… and a bit watery…
“Huu…”
Lucian exhaled deeply and looked at me seriously, yet with moist eyes.
“I think the person who decided to serve this food should be punished.”
Every time he breathed out as he spoke, the distinct scent of peppers came out.
It certainly wasn’t a normal spicy level.
What made anyone serve such dangerous food at an Imperial banquet?
Well of course—I totally like it.
I ate the egg tarts despite Lucian’s dissuasion.
Tears welled up in my eyes the very moment I took a bite, and a throbbing sensation hit my tongue immediately, but then it quickly subsided.
I was very satisfied by the tingling sensation on my tongue.
“Ray!”
Surprised, Lucian grabbed my shoulder and stared at my lips.
“It’s okay. I can take it better than Brother. I like spicy food.”
I’d been away for seven long years, so it was enough time to train my taste buds. I was twelve when I got separated from Lucian, but back then, I couldn’t eat spicy food even if I desperately wanted to.
But the South was my kind of place.
The seafood was abundant, so I ate fresh oysters with spicy sauce, lemon juice and finely chopped pineapples every day.
That, or I had spicy seafood pasta.
My longing for spicy food was appeased by this spicy sauce.
Lucian quickly brought my face closer to his, his worries clear. But I simply smiled at him as he looked at me—his face was redder than mine.
It wasn’t until he made sure that I was truly alright that Lucian leaned back.
And only then did I realize that everyone around us was staring at us openly.
Feeling burdened by the crowd’s pointed gazes, even as they couldn’t approach us, a welcome voice cut through the air.
“Raphael!”
Seeing my only friend who was my age, I smiled.
Belissa, the young lady of the Bourne Marquisate, was someone I continued exchanging letters with even after I went to the South. And very occasionally, she came to the South to spend her vacations with me, so we were quite close.
“Belissa!”
With her intense red hair and bright green hair, she was wearing a red dress to match her colors.
Standing side by side with me as I was in a dark blue suit, I feel like we contrasted each other well.
Belissa curtsied politely to Lucian who was next to me.
“I am Belissa of the Bourne Marquisate. I am debuting alongside Raphael today.”
I stole a peek at Lucian’s expression at that moment—just in case he’s also interested in women.
Since the original narrative got distorted, I decided to keep an open mind and consider all possibilities.
Whoever it is, I just want my bias to be happy.
Yup, that’s right.
Our Lucian isn’t just a run-of-the mill guy. Don’t worry, this Hyung will be on the lookout for your sake.
But contrary to my expectations, Lucian reciprocated Belissa’s greetings with an aloof face.
Very light, very brief.
“Nice to meet you.”
With Belissa’s entrance, those who were lying in the wait for an opening crept up on us.
No, to be exact, on Lucian.
Of course, it’s natural since he’s the heir to the Duchy.
“You look so good in that suit, Raphael.”
“You look amazing, too, Belissa.”
We gave each other compliments and grinned.
To be honest, Belissa had a pretty fiery temper. Or rather, she was ready to take initiative anytime, to the point that she ran to my side to the South after just one letter telling her that I was feeling bored.
I was so comfortable around her.
Even if she’s a noblewoman, Belissa would rather be in the company of people who would curse out at her to her face rather than be angelic in front of her, then backstab her later.
“Young Duke Leon, I’m Eric from the Rosen region. At this time, our guild…”
During my brief conversation with Belissa, so many people had already swarmed around Lucian.
Swept by their vigor, I had to step back a little bit with Belissa.
“Huh? I’ve never seen finger food like this before.”
Belissa picked up one of the spicy finger foods. She also ate some spicy stuff when she came to the South, so I was about to say something about it, but someone from the crowd exclaimed.
“Lucian!”
A refreshing, cheerful voice made me turn my head. Noah approached Lucian with a bright smile.
Oooh, what’s this?
I thought you were dating another guy.
Lucian’s expression didn’t change much when he saw Noah, but he wasn’t as cold as he was with everyone else.
I stared blankly at the two people standing together.
Oh my gosh!
Oh. My. Gosh!
They looked so much better together than they looked in the webtoon. Noah, with his bubbly personality, and Lucian, who was always detachedly cool, stood out enough to draw considerable attention at the banquet hall.
People around them faltered at the sight of them together.
Lucian, who was tall and sturdy, and Noah, who was soft and small, really fit well together so much that they deserved the Best Couple Award.
“Ah, Lucian. The people from our salon are over there. Let’s go and say hello.”
Noah was speaking to Lucian informally, but he didn’t seem to care. My gaze was persistent on Noah. No matter how much I looked at him, any traces of him seeming to have the air of a middle-aged man[1] were all gone.
Back then, his eyes felt so sleazy and his hands felt so icky, but now the tinkling laughter from him was so refreshing.
Wow, it’s like I could taste the refreshing citrus of oranges.
When I couldn’t take my eyes off him, Belissa was quick to notice, and she whispered in my ear.
“That young man is Noah de Castilla. He’s famous nowadays. Although he hails from a Baron family, his social and business activities don’t seem bad overall.”
“Business?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I think he’s in the restaurant line of business.”
Did Noah ever pursue any businesses in the original?
With all this new information, my mind was occupied with processing it. I didn’t know anymore which one personality was right.
Maybe Noah’s personality changed just as much as Lucian’s?
Yet, however much he had changed and no matter how close they were, it wasn’t considered nice to talk informally at a banquet hall.
A Baron heir’s lack of self-awareness around a Duke’s heir seemed to have drawn great interest, so the number of people flocking around them increased.
While everyone was trying to overhear much of their conversation, people around Noah even started clicking their tongues at him. But then, the loud voice of the attendant by the door echoed throughout the room.
“Here comes the Great Lion of the Leonis Empire, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor! Her Majesty the Emperor Dowager! And the Little Lion of the Empire, His Highness the Crown Prince and his consort Her Highness the Crown Princess!”
It was a banquet that the Imperial family was hosting, so it was no surprise that the hosts would also appear. The nobles in attendance bowed down.
I also bow according to the Imperial etiquette taught to me. As the Emperor reached his throne, he turned to the nobles and spoke.
“Everyone, raise your heads.”
Ah, really.
Our Emperor, you still have such a great voice.
I only saw him once when I was young, but that charming voice of his was the same one I remembered.
Slowly raising my head, I turned to the Emperor, but I averted my gaze slightly because it would be considered uncouth to stare directly.
However, as I saw the Emperor’s familiar appearance, my eyes widened without me realizing it.
Near the silver-haired, emerald-eyed Emperor and Crown Prince, there was a gaze that was distinctly different from the Imperial family. Those purple eyes were looking at me directly.
No, why… Why are you here?!
With an absurd expression on my face, my gaze met with those purple eyes.
Elliot Aiden.
Standing at a place where only the Imperial family was allowed to be in, the crazy booger king was smiling as though he had found something interesting.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
[1] Raphael describes Noah’s previous atmosphere as 아재 (ajae), which is short for ì•„ì €ì”¨ (ahjusshi), meaning a middle-aged or married man, or a guy who’s somewhat like an uncle.
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