CH 21

After Luana fixed her messy hair, she heard a little noise coming from the corner of the garden. Luana turned around unconsciously and she saw a large black silhouette standing still and looking at her.

There was a lookout, they hid and watched Luana.

“Your life is mine now.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.”

“Shall we make a bet?”

He invited Luana to make a bet with a smile. Luana hesitated for a moment and shook her head. It was because she felt that it was a useless bet.

There was a moment of silence between the two. In the meantime, the duke seemed to have eaten all the bread porridge. In an instant, all the bread porridge she was trying to fly away like the night.

“Is it delicious?”

But, surprisingly, she wasn’t in a bad mood. There was no reply saying it was delicious, but she could tell just by looking at the duke’s expression. His sharp expression on his face subsided.

“Next time, don’t let yourself starve.”

The duke looked at Luana and she spouted a remark.

“I’ll make lots of delicious food.”

“You…”

The duke was about to say something more, but he shut his mouth. It was surprising that Luana was so cheerful even though she was forced to be brought in and forced to be here. She doesn’t have anything, but she declared that she’ll cook for him.

Is it a good or bad decision?

The duke grinned. As he was full, his sense that had been standing on the edge calmed down. He looked at the sky, somehow it looked different from before.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I know right?”

Luana, who was looking up at the sky together with Legion, smiled. Then she suddenly held out her pinky finger. The duke’s eyes looked at her pinky. Was it because she noticed the wonder in his eyes? She talked again,

“It’s a promise.”

“Promise?”

“I told you earlier that I would make you lots of delicious food. I’ll make you gain weight, Sir Legion!”

“That’s like something a witch would say.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t it the witch’s job to eat fat people?”

“I don’t think so?”

Luana frowned and pouted her lips. She can’t believe that he doesn’t receive a favor purely as a favor. She doesn’t know what’s wrong with his personality. She shook her feet as she sat on the chair.

“Anyway, duke, you’re tough to eat.”

“Tough?”

“You have a lot of muscles.”

At the very least, a chicken that runs outdoors, the meat will be firmer and tougher. Of course it’s delicious, but Luana didn’t mean to eat anyone.

“And there are so many delicious foods in the world, why should I eat people?”

There was no end to the foods she wanted to eat. If she could eat all of it, why should she struggle to eat her own kind?

“There’s a lot?”

“Yes. So let’s make a promise.”

“How do I make this promise?”

It was a promise made with the witch. Legion knew it was better not to, but he asked without realizing it. Then Luana replied with a big smile.

“Like this.”

Luana grabbed the duke’s pinky and locked it with her pinky.

“And lock the pinkies together.”

“What a strange way.”

And it was also embarrassing for the duke. 

‘How can a man and a woman get together so easily? Are witches all like this?’

Legion felt the need to give Luana a word.

“A woman and a man shouldn’t put their hands together so easily.”

“It’s a way to make a promise, so it’s okay.”

However, even if Legion did what he was told, he couldn’t feel anything change.

“I don’t feel any change.”

Originally, it was only a simple promise gesture usually made by children, so of course there would be no change. Luana said with a smirk,

“It’s a promise made by heart.”

“Is it okay to break it?”

“Do you think it’s okay?”

“What’s the point of making a promise?”

“It’s all from the heart!”

Luana said firmly.

“It’s not a promise to bet on something material.”

Is that true? Who can desperately keep a promise that has nothing on the table? Many things came and went between the loyalty between the emperor and the knight. There could be no one who swore pure allegiance without anything.

Although the duke thought so, he did not deny it any more. It was because he ate warm food and his stomach was somewhat full and his heart was enriched. Sometimes this doesn’t seem too bad. He put down the pot he had finished eating and looked up at the sky with Luana.

They sat side by side staring at the stars. They didn’t even know anyone in the mansion was watching them.

***

“Haha.”

Seeing the woman sitting next to the duke, the butler smiled involuntarily. He has been working as a butler for the duke’s family for over 40 years. For him, who has been here since the previous duke, the duke of the present day was invaluable. Therefore, he wanted him to be happy, but the only thing he did on a fictitious day was to follow the emperor’s orders and go to war.

The duke, who has a picky taste due to the curse, lost weight every time he went outside. He tried to gain weight again somehow, but it was not easy to recover.

“It tastes awful.”

He remembered the little duke who was crying and spitting out food. He got a little better with it as he grew up, but that didn’t mean he ate more. He hid his body as much as possible with his clothes, but it was as if a skin had been put over his bones. As a butler who saw him, his heart ached.

“That witch!”

Naturally, he, too, had no choice but to hate the witch that had cast the curse on. He couldn’t eat, so it was not easy to get along with people because he was sensitive. Many people approached him, but the duke himself refused.

“I’ll be the one who will fall apart anyway.”

Legion said so and didn’t make any friends. So the butler almost gave up on the duke’s marriage issue. The butler never thought that he would be in a relationship because he thought it was a luxury to love someone. Later, through arranged marriage, he will be forced to marry and have an heir. That’s what he had been thinking, but to his surprise, an amazing thing happened!

He went to occupy a small kingdom and brought a woman back with him. The woman who said she was a princess of the kingdom was not an outstanding beauty. However, she looked pretty cute and seemed to have no qualms about dealing with the duke.

‘She passed that point.’

Above all, a great additional point was given in that she was the first woman the duke brought in himself. So the butler served her with all his heart. She is the princess of the occupied kingdom, he doesn’t know how she feels towards the duke, but just in case.

‘Because the relationship between a man and a woman is something you never know.’

In addition, the duke came back with his weight gained. The reason was unknown, but a smile naturally came to the butler’s mind as Legion looked better than before.

‘I wish you could gain a little more weight.’

There was a limit to the chef’s efforts, so it was just a pity. It was impossible for even the best chef in the empire to feed the duke.

***

And the next day, the butler saw a miracle.

“Good morning!”

The princess, who had woken up early in the morning and locked herself in the kitchen of the annex, approached pushing the tray.

It was unusual to see her in a short dress that exposed her ankles, low shoes, and an apron. She also pushes the tray, so people might have mistaken her for a maid at first glance.

“Where does the duke eat?”

“Oh, he doesn’t eat well in the morning.”

“What?”

The butler looked bitter at Luana, who asked back with round eyes.

“People don’t normally have an appetite in the morning, right?

“That’s not me.”

“The duke doesn’t.”

“Hmm”

Luana gave a slightly perplexed expression. So far, she knew the duke had eaten a mountain of food in the morning, but she didn’t understand what the butler said. But he couldn’t be wrong if someone who had been with the duke for a long time said so.

After a moment’s hesitation, Luana asked the butler again.

“So where is he now?”

“He’s probably back in the bedroom after morning training.”

“May I ask for your guidance?”

The butler hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Yes, but Princess, what is on the tray?”

“It’s breakfast.”

The butler thinks the duke won’t eat it. Thinking so, the butler still could not stop Luana. It was because of the faint hope that rose in his heart.

“I decided to take responsibility to help the duke gain weight!”

What a lovely thing to say. The butler further raised his assessment of Luana. As expected, this seemed to be love. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to cook meals for the duke who dragged her here from another kingdom!

Besides, the duke brought her with him, so maybe he could look forward to something good.

“Princess.”

“Call me Luana. I’m not a princess now.”

“Then, Miss Luana, I’ll push the tray.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“No, it’s a matter of course. By the way, what is the menu?”

“Souffle pancakes with grilled sausages and bacon!”

“I know pancakes, but I’ve never heard of souffle before.”

“Is that so? It’s delicious though. Bacon on a hot pancake. I don’t think there’s anyone who hates it.”

As she said that with a smile, he didn’t think to tell the truth. All the butler could do was smile from ear to ear.

Knock knock

When they arrived at the Duke’s room, the butler knocked on the door first.

“Sir Legion, it’s Kane.”

“Enter.”

Upon entering the room, the duke, lightly dressed in a shirt, turned around. Luana’s eyes widened at the chest exposed to the shirt he was wearing.

“Oh my!”

Then she muttered an exclamation. She picked up the plate from the tray and began to place it on the table. Then, when the lid on the plate was lifted, deliciously baked pancakes, sausages and bacon were revealed.

“There’s also salad. I also brewed the tea myself.”

The duke stared down at the food and the butler was nervous.