“You’ve succeeded in awakening. Congratulations…!”

“Thank you.”

Diana’s expression brightened as she gently closed her eyes and clasped her hands.

Wiggling her adorable fingers, Diana muttered to herself, then suddenly clapped her hands together and nodded.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m taking a short break!”

“Are you already going… to…?”

Before the words could finish, the small body scurried out the door. Raoul looked at the closed door and gave a hollow laugh.

He wondered what she was thinking so hard about with that small head of hers.

Diana quickly crossed the hallway with short strides.

“What should I do first? It would be good to have musk deer meat, but it’ll probably be hard to find within the territory. I’ll have to substitute with beef. I need to make pickled food and stew too, and above all, I need azalea flowers.”

A Lycan’s first awakening is a momentous event that happens only once in a lifetime.

In her past life, she was so surprised when it happened without knowing when or how it appeared.

Even though she tried to help with the celebration belatedly, Raoul at that time was strangely wary of Diana.

But this life was different. She hurriedly returned to her room, wrote a list of necessary items, and pulled the bell cord. A maid entered and bowed her head.

“Did you call, young lady?”

“Go down to the village and get the items written here. Right now.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Diana headed straight to the kitchen. She intended to personally prepare a thick beef steak and desserts that Raoul enjoyed eating.

She wanted to make it as traditional as possible, but wasn’t sure if it would be possible.

“Young lady?”

The experienced assistant Tina blinked her orange eyes and awkwardly bowed her head.

The chef Luka also slowly put down the spoon he was using to taste the stew and blinked slowly.

“What brings you here…”

“I’m sorry to disturb you when you’re all busy. I was wondering if you could help me with a dish I want to make.”

Diana looked up at the two, hugging a thick cookbook to her chest.

“If you just tell me, I can make it and bring it up.”

“I want to do it myself.”

Luka touched his chin, showing signs of difficulty.

“But the knives are too heavy. And the fire is hot too.”

“Please…”

Diana looked up at Luka with cat-like eyes sparkling.

The fierce eyes, more reminiscent of a hunter than a chef, flinched.

Tina, who was standing beside watching this, struck Luka’s side.

Ugh! Ignoring the pain-filled groan, Tina guided Diana to the inner part of the kitchen.

“Come in, young lady. We have small knives too.”

Tina smiled down at the girl wearing a headscarf.

‘How can they say the young lady is gloomy and fierce? She’s just an innocent and kind teenage girl.’

The late Duchess Merius was from the Eastern Continent, classified as an unexplored land.

The child of a foreigner with delicate features and black hair was naturally the target of finger-pointing.

‘The reason Eastern Continent people have black hair is because of the black mana emanating from their hearts. They are heretics who worship evil spirits.’

All sorts of baseless rumors persistently followed her life.

However, contrary to people’s expectations, Merius was a late-manifesting saint.

Prophecy, healing, exorcism. Among these, Merius was a healer, and she rose to the position of duchess by breaking the curse of obedience passed down through generations in the duke’s family.

But the rise in status of a woman they had considered insignificant brought resentment from people.

In fact, they said the duchess wasn’t a saint but a black magician.

She didn’t break the duke’s curse, but rather placed a curse on him. Rumors that fed the superiority complex of discriminators spread quickly.

After the duchess passed away from childbirth, people said:

‘The black magician lost her life to the backlash of the curse.’

But this was a groundless rumor.

Among the old maids of the castle, there were still those who revered Merius.

They all said in unison:

‘The madam was not a black magician, but a saint born in the wrong era.’

Those who had received the duchess’s grace remained in the castle and secured key positions.

The current head maid and Angela, who serves as Diana’s nanny and maid, were such people.

Tina, the daughter of the head maid, also knew through her mother how wise and kind the late duchess was, having heard it so many times it was etched in her ears.

‘She created childcare facilities in the castle so that single parents wouldn’t have to live apart from their children, and she consistently carried out welfare activities to support war orphans. At that time, even mixed-race individuals could submit applications without discrimination, but after the madam passed away, it fizzled out…’

Tina was also a beneficiary of the welfare projects the duchess had implemented. She remembered seeing the duchess when she was young.

‘She was a very kind and benevolent person…’

And Diana’s smile was exactly like that of Duchess Merius she had seen back then.

Tina always took extra care in preparing Diana’s meals.

She was relieved to see Diana, who was always intimidated by people’s glares, showing such a lively appearance even in this way.

Diana opened a page of the book and pointed at an illustration with her index finger.

“I want to make this.”

“It’s roasted goat. We don’t have goat, but we can substitute with beef. Shall we try that?”

“Yes…!”

“Luckily, we have some pickled vegetables to go with it.”

“I also want to make stew and dessert for after the meal.”

“Hmm… It’s a pie made with wild berries. If Luka helps, we can make it quickly.”

Diana’s eyes gently closed as she smiled brightly.

“Thank you…”

The feeling that light was sparkling around her made both Tina and Luka blink rapidly like fools.

Ahem. Ahem. Luka cleared his throat unnecessarily as he approached Diana.

“Then shall we start by learning how to hold a knife?”

“Yes!”

Luka rolled up his sleeves and placed a small knife in Diana’s hand. It was the first time she had held a kitchen knife as a duke’s daughter.

By the time all preparations were complete, the sun was already peeking over the horizon.

Diana wrapped bandages tightly around her messed-up fingers and wiped away beads of sweat.

“You’ve worked hard.”

In fact, Tina and Luka had worked the hardest.

They didn’t know what to do as they watched blood seeping from the young lady’s fingers.

They tried to persuade her to stop several times, but Diana was quietly stubborn.

Finally, only after creating the desired result did Diana leave the kitchen.

Although she felt sorry for the two, Diana really wanted to prepare Raoul’s food herself.

The tradition was for parents to prepare goat meat and stew for their child to eat after the growth ceremony.

Since his parents weren’t here now, it was appropriate for Diana to take care of it.

Knock knock…

As expected, the door opened before the sound could ring out twice.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Raoul’s eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised by the sight of maids filing in one after another.

Diana sat the dumbfounded Raoul at the bedside and set down the basket she had brought on the side table.

The maids who followed unfolded a portable table and laid out the steak, stew, and dessert Diana had prepared.

Cool milk and wild berry juice were also included.

After the maids withdrew, Diana pulled a chair from beside the desk and took a seat in front of Raoul.

“What’s all this…”

“I tried to prepare it in the traditional Lycan style, but I’m not sure if it’ll suit your taste.”

Diana scratched her cheek and lowered her gaze. Raoul was silent for a moment before picking up the fork and knife.

He took a large bite of the thickly cut beef, as if to meet Diana’s expectant gaze.

Tense eyes anxiously observed Raoul’s expression.

“How… is it? It might taste a bit different from goat…”

The corners of Raoul’s mouth curved gently.

“It’s similar to what mother used to make. Thank you, Diana.”

Raoul cut another piece of meat and brought it to Diana’s mouth.

“Try it.”

“You eat it. I ate a lot in the kitchen earlier.”

“In the kitchen?”

“Yes.”

Raoul looked down at Diana’s hands and asked.

“Did you make this yourself…?”

“Ah, yes…! I heard it’s tradition for family to prepare the feast after awakening. I wanted to do it for you…”

Silence fell for a moment.

‘Why isn’t he saying anything? Oh no! I thought we were close enough to be like family… was it too much?’

Diana rolled her black eyes and twisted her fingers nervously.

“I’m sorry… was it unnecessary meddling?”

Raoul bowed his head deeply and shook it.

“No. On the contrary… I’m so… grateful… and happy… I don’t know how to express it.”

Covering his mouth and turning his gaze sideways, Raoul soon closed his eyes tightly and let out a small sigh.

The warm breath that escaped between his plump lips was thickly coated with happiness.

“How did you think to prepare this yourself?”

“…Before, I read about it in a book. The first awakening is celebrated grandly by gathering all relatives… It’s quite modest with just me, but I still wanted to commemorate it. Because it’s really admirable.”

“It’s not modest at all. It’s the happiest table in the world.”

Raoul cut the meat into small pieces again and brought it to Diana’s lips.

It was a size that could fit in one bite.

“Let’s eat together. It’s a feast, after all.”

“You’re right. It wouldn’t make sense to eat alone at a feast.”

Diana tucked her hair behind her ear and opened her mouth slightly.

Perhaps because Raoul fed her, the meat juice that touched her tongue tasted sweetly.

‘I’m glad I prepared this after all.’

“It’s delicious. I should make this often from now on.”

As she chewed the meat and gave a thumbs up, Raoul licked the sauce off his lips and gently closed his eyes.

‘What a warm-hearted child, whoever’s he is.’

It felt like all the day’s hard work was being washed away.