Chapter 246
* * *
Leaning his back against the wall beside the bed, Rufus folded his arms and looked out the window.
‘By now the Crown Prince must have summoned the fake ghost of the Queen and heard the story.’
Dusk had already settled beyond the curtain covered window. Perhaps because it was winter, the sun seemed to set unusually quickly.
Soft breathing could be heard nearby. Sarubia was curled up asleep. Rufus stared quietly at her face for a moment, then gave a faint smile. Worried that the cold might harm her, he pulled the blanket up over her shoulders.
Sarubia made a small “Mmm…” sound and kicked the blanket away.
“……”
She had said she really hated heat, and apparently that hadn’t been a lie.
Rufus picked the blanket up from the carpet and pulled it back over her, then recalled what had happened a few hours earlier.
.
.
After the doctor left, a small commotion had occurred. They had been holding each other and spending a tender moment together when a loud rumble came from Sarubia’s stomach.
“…Are you hungry?”
“I guess I rushed through lunch too much.”
“Why.”
“I was going to eat together with you when you came back… but you returned late.”
As soon as he heard that, Rufus immediately yanked the bell rope without mercy. He pulled it so aggressively that the servants waiting downstairs nearly jumped in shock.
“Prepare Lady Sarubia’s meal at once.”
Rufus gave the order to the servants who ran up the stairs.
“Yes, we will bring it immediately.”
“No, wait. I will go as well.”
A sudden thought crossed his mind, and Rufus went down to the kitchen with the servants.
His unexpected appearance made the servants in the kitchen gasp.
Sometimes young Princess Esmeral, the Crown Prince’s only daughter, would sneak into the kitchen to get candy or sweets. Aside from that, people of high status never came to the kitchen.
The flustered kitchen servants hurried to find cleaning tools so they could at least make the place presentable. But Rufus stopped them with a single word.
“Fish.”
“…Pardon?”
“Grill fish.”
“Um… since it is winter, there is no fish prepared in the kitchen right now.”
“Is that so?”
Rufus looked as if he was thinking for a moment. The servants assumed he would ask for a different ingredient.
But a moment later.
“I will obtain it myself.”
“…Pardon?”
“Prepare the other ingredients first. I will return in half an hour.”
With those words, Rufus left the kitchen.
The servants left behind looked at each other in confusion. Where could someone possibly obtain fish in the middle of winter? And he said he would return in thirty minutes. How could that even be possible?
Rufus immediately borrowed a horse and rode out of the royal palace. He galloped straight to the largest lake in the capital.
The moment he arrived, Rufus jumped down from the horse and drew the sword hanging at his waist.
BAAAAM! The sword infused with magic split the middle of the lake.
“W-What was that?”
“My goodness!”
People who had been gathering firewood nearby clapped their hands over their mouths in shock. The frozen surface of the lake cracked like a shattered mirror. At the same time, fish that had been hibernating beneath the water floated up to the surface as if they had been waiting.
Rufus lifted several large fish floating in the center of the lake with magic, then jumped back onto his horse. The next moment, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The people standing near the lake stared with their jaws hanging open.
“W-What was that just now?”
“That person had incredible magic!”
A man who appeared suddenly, shattered the lake ice, hunted fish, then disappeared calmly. Everything happened so quickly that no one managed to see his face clearly.
“That man just now looked like the hero Lord Rufus…”
“Hey now, haven’t you heard the rumors? If it were Lord Rufus, he would have returned to the Inferna territory because of His Majesty the King.”
“That’s true. Besides, the hero Lord Rufus wouldn’t be catching fish with the legendary spirit sword.”
After exchanging such remarks, the people soon came to an agreement and borrowed a boat docked near the lake. They rowed out and scooped up all the fish floating on the surface.
That evening it was said that the people, who had been filling their empty stomachs with dry bread every day, enjoyed a small feast while picking fish meat for the first time in a long while.
Rufus rode his horse straight back to the palace and ran directly to the kitchen.
“I’ve returned.”
“Goodness!”
The head chef, who had been cutting lemons, dropped his knife. The knife spun across the marble floor.
“Y-You returned quickly… it has only been about ten minutes… ha ha…”
As he spoke, cold sweat ran down the chef’s back. Just a few minutes earlier he had been mocking the other kitchen servants, saying that no matter how capable Lord Rufus was, there was no way he could obtain fish in the middle of winter.
“Here. Fish.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Grill them.”
Holding two fish by the tails in each hand with his bare hands, Rufus spoke to the chef with a serious expression. Overwhelmed by an indescribable pressure, the chef began grilling the fish using a magical tool he normally kept reserved.
A moment later, the freshly grilled fish was finished.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.