Chapter 32: A Feast in Grayks (5)
“If only the Crown Prince hadn’t suddenly intervened, I could have cornered him right then and there.”
The Duke muttered to himself, occupying the study alone.
Wasting time on such a powerless territory was already a waste.
Thanks to the meddling Crown Prince, unnecessary delays ensued, souring his mood.
Weak territories are merely stepping stones. Talk of pride and independence is meaningless.
What kind of banquet is this supposed to be anyway?
Playing along with such childish games.
Even the banquets at the royal palace don’t satisfy him.
“Hmm, Medrine, what do you think of this Grayks? It’s a territory ripe for the taking. If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”
A Count title is awarded to a 7th-class wizard. However, it’s an honorary position without land.
But she wanted territory. Since they both wanted something, their interests aligned. Medrine pledged her loyalty to the Duke’s house for this reason.
The Duke gained the immense power of a 7th-class wizard, and Medrine would gain land.
“As long as the Crown Prince continues his foolish play, I’ll expand my faction of nobles. If everything goes smoothly, a territory like this is easy to grant.”
Duke Taimuran gave a sly smile to Medrine. She found it ridiculous but nodded in agreement, desiring the land.
***
Time for the banquet.
All the nobles were gathered around the long table in the lord’s castle, except for the ailing Count of Greike.
At the head of the table sat the Crown Prince.
To his sides were Duke Taimuran and Baron Greike. Next to the Duke was Countess Medrine.
“A banquet with a bet on undressing. Isn’t it amusing? Just imagining you walking around naked is delightful. Heh heh!”
The Crown Prince kept smirking at Greike, who found it hard to believe El’s words that the Crown Prince had hidden intentions.
If that were true, he was indeed living in a small world. The thought of the central capital and the broader world overwhelmed him.
This incident was shaking young Greike’s entire worldview.
A man like the Crown Prince.
A schemer like the Duke.
The path he must walk amidst all this.
If venturing to the central capital to cultivate the strength to navigate these waters was essential, Greike thought he should experience it once.
‘Of course, for now, the priority is to get through this moment as my master advised.’
Greike clenched his fist and began observing the expressions of the Crown Prince and the Duke.
The Duke wore a bored expression. He was more interested in Greike’s answer than the banquet.
While everyone at the table was lost in their own thoughts,
The butler emerged from the kitchen with the first course. El was in the kitchen preparing the meal.
The first course was water.
Each guest had a glass of water placed in front of them.
The Crown Prince and the Duke both looked puzzled at the water glasses.
Unlike ordinary water glasses, these were tall and slender, but they contained only water.
“Is this… a dish?”
The puzzled Crown Prince asked Greike. The Duke, who had been indifferent, narrowed his eyes in mockery.
“It’s not a dish. However, it’s fresh, crisp water drawn from deep underground, not from a well or river. The flower on top is a unique species from Mount Greike, known for its sweet fragrance. Think of it as a refreshing prelude to the meal.”
Young Greike explained exactly as El had instructed. He then sat and drank the water. As it went down his throat, a refreshing coolness spread throughout his body. Such refreshing water. It felt cooling to the bones, and the floral scent was very fragrant.
The Crown Prince shared the same impression. His eyebrows twitched.
“This is interesting! Very interesting!”
With his exclamation, the Crown Prince’s frivolous laughter filled the table.
Thanks to this, Greike gained a bit of confidence.
The second course was wild Uba wrap. It was an appetizer with vegetables. It was the same wild Uba that had made Greike realize he didn’t want to live a life of being mere ingredients for others.
Wild Uba has few tender parts. Thinly sliced belly and cheek meat were grilled, wrapped in a vegetable similar to lettuce, and served with ssamjang and garlic. [1]
Due to the wild Uba’s lean and savory nature, the slightly strong flavor of the ssamjang enhanced the appetite.
The wraps, tied at the top with fruit stems, looked like a vegetable dish. But inside, there was a harmonious blend of flavors.
The Duke, finding the dish interesting and tasty, kept eating the Uba wrap without a word.
In truth, the Duke had no interest in the wager between the two. He intended to mock the food, but the surprising taste and novelty kept him silently eating.
The Crown Prince was also satisfied, though his face showed it wasn’t quite enough.
“This was delicious too. But isn’t it still lacking to defeat me? The taste is there, but something decisive is missing. So, I’ll look forward to the next dish. Hahaha!”
The Crown Prince laughed, finding the wager amusing. The Duke shook his head, finding the Crown Prince pathetic.
Medrine said nothing. As a wizard, this occasion meant almost nothing to her. She just quietly ate the food.
“The next dish…”
As the third course arrived, young Greike stood up again.
“I will explain the next dish myself.”
But Greike immediately sat back down. The chef himself had brought the third dish.
The Crown Prince and the Duke were curious.
But one person had an intense reaction.
Medrine knocked over her water glass. The remaining water spilled onto the table and below, but she didn’t even try to avoid it.
El also immediately recognized her. He wondered why this wizard was here but knew questions were just that—questions.
El calmly approached Medrine. He carried a towel and wiped the spilled water. But Medrine’s face looked like she couldn’t breathe.
Her face twisted, and her legs trembled.
To El, Medrine was different from Derient.
Medrine, being the highest-class wizard in the empire at that time, had participated in the defense of the capital led by El. Thus, she knew his true identity.
But El never considered Medrine a comrade. She was just a wizard deployed by the imperial side, different from the comrades who fought from the beginning of the dragon war.
“Why did you spill the water? You should be more careful.”
“Th-th-that…”
“Just stay still. Stay still.”
Though it seemed like he meant to stay still while he wiped the table, Medrine understood differently. And that was exactly what El intended.
Don’t say anything about his identity and stay quiet.
Medrine clamped her mouth shut. What could she do when even dragons were ripped apart?
Her legs continued to tremble, but fortunately, no one was interested in what was happening under the table.
El calmly returned to his place and finally revealed the main course. When the lid was removed, an unknown lump of clay appeared. With Medrine aside, all eyes turned to El.
Among those who turned, everyone except Greike looked as if asking what he was doing.
El calmly explained.
“This is a baked clay lump.”
“Clay? You’re telling us to eat clay?”
The Crown Prince grimaced, thinking this was a ridiculous dish for a wager.
“Is this your answer?”
The Duke stood up abruptly, ready to attack, having found a pretext.
“Could you wait a moment?”
El began breaking the round lump of clay with a hammer. As the clay broke, green leaves began to emerge. Surprised faces, including the Crown Prince, the Duke, and young Greike, watched as unexpected contents appeared from the ordinary clay.
“As you can see, the outside is just ordinary clay. But even if it looks like clay on the outside, it can hide something entirely different inside.”
The Crown Prince frowned slightly as he looked at El.
“This dish hides itself in layers with clay and leaves. The delicate leaves behind the rough clay deceive you once more. And inside…”
El peeled away all the leaves.
Inside was a perfectly roasted Palenque. The aroma of chicken filled the entire table. The rich scent of the roasted chicken stimulated everyone’s appetite.
Inside the richly roasted yellow Palenque were various medicinal herbs.
“It reveals one of the rarest dishes in the world, Palenque. And not only that, but inside the Palenque are herbs beneficial to health. These herbs are peculiar. They must be handled delicately to enhance the flavor of the Palenque. If used too strongly, they ruin the taste.”
“Is that Palenque? The legendary creature that’s hard to catch?”
The Duke, enchanted by the chicken’s aroma, reached out. The smell of the clay-roasted Palenque was hard to resist.
El first tore a leg from the Palenque and served it to the Crown Prince. He gave the other leg to the Duke.
And he tore the body part and served it to Greike.
The Duke, holding the chicken leg before the Crown Prince, exclaimed with delight.
“Oh? This is delicious!”
The chewy texture and the soft aroma of the chicken leg. The rich flavor of the chicken was enough to make even the Duke rave. The fact that it was a legendary monster also added to his excitement.
But the Crown Prince, like a mute who had eaten honey, silently stared at the Palenque and then looked back at El.
“Does the noble creature living in grandeur hold its people in its embrace, harmoniously like this Palenque?”
At El’s words, the Crown Prince dropped the chicken leg he was holding.
“Why are you so startled? It’s only a culinary discussion. And if someone truly wears a proper mask, it shouldn’t come off just because you pound on it like this clay.”
***
Footnotes:
[1] Ssamjang (쌈장) is a thick, spicy paste made from a combination of doenjang (fermented soybean paste), gochujang (chili paste), sesame oil, onion, garlic, green onions, and sometimes sugar. It is commonly used as a condiment in Korean cuisine, especially when eating grilled meat wrapped in lettuce or other leafy vegetables (known as “ssam”).