“My head is still throbbing.”

The furrowed brow indicating a headache was evidence that his patience was wearing thin.

“…It’s because you haven’t eaten! Breakfast is the best medicine, you know?”

It wasn’t a lie.

I started setting the table while trying to calm my pounding heart.

Emma helped me move the dishes.

Soon, a splendid breakfast table was complete with rice, pollack soup in an earthenware pot, baba kimchi, and stir-fried anchovies.

“Please eat.”

With those words, I carefully stepped back.

“Wow. Another new dish!”

Louis excitedly picked up his fork and spoon.

“I’ll eat well!”

“…I’ll enjoy the meal.”

In contrast, Evan picked up the chopsticks first. It was an elegant and proper use of chopsticks.

I knew it was the result of a week’s effort of moving beans to the opposite side with chopsticks, but I pretended not to notice.

While it was a familiar breakfast for the children, it wasn’t for Kashar.

“…What’s this?”

His eyes sharpened at the earthenware pot, identical to the one that had cracked his head.

“It’s food from my hometown… I mean, my hometown, darling.”

Before I could finish speaking properly, Louis looked at me with suspicious eyes.

I hurriedly corrected my speech.

Kashar, now seemingly indifferent to speech patterns, picked up one chopstick and glared at its tip.

‘How scary!’

Could a handsome man be this frightening?

If left alone, it seemed he might stab me with the chopsticks.

I snatched away the chopsticks that had transformed into a weapon and placed a spoon in his empty hand.

“Try the soup before it gets cold. It’s a soup… similar to dried fish soup.”

A refreshing hangover soup made with carefully shredded pollack, please try it!

At my urging, Kashar glared at the yellow-tinted soup.

The yellow broth with soft dried fish, tender cooked egg, and green onions was harmonious.

‘I’ll show you how amazing this breakfast is.’

Having already risked my life, I had nothing more to lose, so I encouraged him with a smiling face.

Finally, he scooped up a spoonful of pollack soup.

“Eat something delicious and cheer up.”

It was an extremely tense moment.

If there was an advantage for me, it was knowing that he liked fish and seafood.

‘There was a scene in the story where he ate seafood dishes.’

At last, the spoon filled with yellow broth entered his mouth.

As the spoon slowly came out and the broth went down his throat, his eyes widened.

‘Oh no, does he not like it?’

I held my breath, swallowing Kashar’s reaction.

But instead of looking at me, he took another spoonful of the broth.

After elegant hand movements that made even the ginseng-patterned spoon look high-class, Kashar opened his mouth.

“…Not bad.”

He muttered as if surprised.

“Really? How much?!”

Enough to spare my life?!

Fortunately, it seemed I had successfully hit his taste buds.

Unable to hide my joy, I asked, and he smiled at me with that usual smile of his.

“Enough to cure the headache you caused by hitting me.”

“…Ah, haha. Pollack soup is good for hangovers.”

“But I didn’t drink.”

“Well, since you fainted and woke up, it’s similar… Never mind. Try it this way too!”

I misspoke. I hurriedly took his spoon, dipped some rice in the broth, and held it out to his mouth.

“…What are you doing?”

“Come on, say ‘ah’!”

The essential element for improving mood was carbohydrates.

I took advantage of the moment Kashar opened his mouth to feed him.

“Ah, Eileen. Feed me too!”

I heard Louis’s voice from the side, but this time I had to pretend not to hear.

“This too, and this.”

I stuck close to Kashar’s side and put side dishes on his spoon.

‘I feel like a court lady.’

Eventually, Kashar finished all the food served, pushed by my persistence.

He pondered over the empty bowl for a moment and then asked.

“…How long has it been since we met?”

It seemed Kashar had decided to play along with my act.

I saw Louis, who had been eating quietly, prick up his ears.

If my act was exposed, he looked ready to cause a scene with the earthenware pot.

I had no choice but to continue the act.

“About a year… no, it’s been three years!”

Why is the conversation suddenly going in this direction?

The atmosphere that seemed ready to kill someone had long since dissipated.

But why did I feel like something had gone wrong?

Kashar took my frozen hand and said.

“Eileen. I want to have a more serious relationship with you.”

Kashar was whispering my name, which he had picked up from the princes.

The warm temperature enveloping my hand and the languid gaze almost made me fall for it in a blink.

‘Did you go crazy from being hit on the head wrong?’

I had hoped he would get amnesia, not lose his mind like this.

“Yes. It’s too sudden. As if you had struck me down.”

“Ah, that’s…”

I couldn’t answer properly because of the crime I had committed.

But it was perfect for misunderstanding if others saw it. Emma’s eyes were just like an avid viewer of morning dramas.

‘Me rejecting Kashar and him clinging to me… such an absurd thing.’

I tried to appeal to Emma silently that it wasn’t like that, but she wasn’t listening at all.

Kashar stood up from his seat. His back view looked pitiable, as if rejected by the female lead.

“Are you leaving?!”

But I couldn’t see anything else.

Yes. A person might go crazy for a moment when hit on the head. But seeing him trying to leave immediately, it seemed he had come back to his senses.

‘I hope he exchanges the meal’s worth for my sin.’

I was full of hope that he would disappear like this.

“Yes.”

Kashar slowly nodded. I felt like crying with joy.

‘If I let him go now, it’s really goodbye.’

He ate well, so his anger seemed to have subsided.

Things seemed to have worked out better than expected.

“Take care!”

Still, it was nice to see a handsome man, no, a secondary male lead.

As I bowed my head with all my heart, Kashar approached with his long legs and took my hand. Hot lips touched the back of my hand.

Such a close distance.

He whispered so that only I could hear.

“The meal was good. So let me return the favor.”

“What?”

“Wait obediently. It won’t be fun if you run away.”

A sweet yet chilling voice echoed in my ear.

***

Inside the carriage returning to Ruben Castle.

Sitting across from Kashar was a man with tied-up gray hair. He was Mihail Evans, the aide-de-camp.

Mihail’s gray eyes observed his master. Kashar had been looking out the window for a while.

He maintained an expressionless face, occasionally bursting into laughter. He looked just like a handsome madman.

‘Has he finally gone mad?’

Although suppressed by poison, he was originally a madman, so it wouldn’t be strange for him to go mad at any time.

Judging by his innate physical abilities and recovery power, it’s not even appropriate to call him human.

From the first war where Kashar was driven out as the discarded crown prince, Mihail had stood by his side as his aide-de-camp and magician.

‘The Bladis War.’

Bladis, which was a medium-sized country, had begun to antagonize Rihart by aligning with the allied countries at some point.

Eventually, war broke out over the golden land.

The first to be sent to war was Kashar.

It was a war he was sent to die in, but he survived. Rather…

‘Bladis was pitiful.’

At the age of 15, Kashar awakened the abilities of the royal family on the battlefield.

Everything Kashar held in his hands became a weapon, and he could tear out the enemy general’s neck even when alone.

Scholars who had long studied the abilities of the royal family defined his ability as transcending the inhuman.

But looking at historical records, there were no monstrous abilities to this extent.

The war ended in one-sided slaughter.

Bladis collapsed after just three clashes, and after beheading the king, the entire country was merged with Rihart.

This was why Kashar’s duke title was Bladis.

It was impossible to read the master’s psychology then or now, but there were things an aide should know.

What problem had there been when checking the anniversary of former Empress Viviana’s death?

Just as Mihail was about to cautiously speak up.

“Did something happen…”

“‘Darling,’ she said.”

Flinch.

Mihail furrowed his brow at Kashar’s sudden words.

Surely he’s not talking about me.

Mihail shuddered expressionlessly at the strange imagination.

“I saw an interesting woman.”

Mihail visibly relaxed at the word ‘woman’.

Despite such a reaction from his aide, Kashar was thinking of something entirely different.

Long brown hair and light green eyes.

The image of an ordinary-looking maid lingered before Kashar’s eyes.

On his way out after spending time in the tower as ordered, a certain scent captivated him.

‘A delicious smell.’

A savory yet special fragrance was wafting from the back door.

He couldn’t believe it. It had been a long time since he had smelled such a fragrant aroma.

His feet involuntarily moved towards it.

Just as he reached the source of the fragrance and lost his senses for a moment, something blunt struck his head.

He fainted right there.

It was unbelievable enough to be hit on the back of the head. But the maid went even further, attempting to dispose of him to cover up the incident.

‘Crazy woman.’

Literally.

He had thought of killing her when the crazy woman pretended to be his lover.

But.

Just before drawing his sword, the smell he had caught before fainting tickled his nose.

The perfect scent that had captivated him.

In the end, he stayed in place with a glimmer of hope.

And soon the breakfast table was set.

Among the unfamiliar foods, a yellow soup-like dish caught his eye.

‘That’s the smell.’

It was even more fragrant than what he had smelled.

Kashar finally picked up his spoon.

As soon as the broth touched his tongue, a deep, savory, and slightly salty taste spread.

At first, he was just surprised by how delicious it was. But the moment it went down his throat, his body reacted immediately.

‘The pain is disappearing.’

Alubi fruit prevents madness but causes immense pain.

The fact that the pain like his insides were burning was disappearing was evidence that the madness was subsiding.

The more he swallowed this yellow broth, the more the pain decreased.

Eventually, his body became languid, and he even felt like forgiving anything.

‘…Pollack soup, she called it?’

The soft, refreshing, and deep taste reminded him of the sea.

Along with the savory taste that coated his mouth, the warm temperature made him feel comfortable to his core.

‘Maybe I can recover.’

Taste and smell. And even the gradually disappearing sense of touch.

Alubi fruit may prevent madness, but it’s close to poison.

The reason for taking the fruit despite knowing this is that there’s no other way.

But if the poison can be neutralized, it’s a different story.

“Mihail, are there any royal family members living near the tower?”

“Ah, yes. I believe the abandoned princes are residing in the Cold Palace.”

Mihail answered while racking his brain. Soon, he concluded that there must have been a problem there.

He was about to conclude that it would be good to send personnel to deal with the bodies that must have been created when Kashar’s words were completely different from his expectations.

“Look into the nanny there.”

“May I ask the reason?”

“I’m indebted to the nanny there. I’d like to send a token of gratitude.”

Kashar’s eyes curved gently.

His expression resembled the smile just before drawing a sword to slaughter an enemy.

“I will prepare accordingly.”

It seemed better not to ask further.

Mihail accepted the order.

***

“Lady Eileen, it’s started!”

“…Again today?”

I rubbed my dry face at Emma’s call.

Since the day after Kashar left, a rain of gifts had been pouring into the Cold Palace, which no one had visited before.