Chapter 32
“What? Me?”
“How did you even come up with the idea to invent something like this? Please come to the Mage Tower and assist in my research. I’ll make sure you’re treated with the utmost care.”
“Ah, I’m fine, really……”
“The tower itself is hot, but the underground is rather cool and comfortable. We’ve even got stone beds that stay nice and chilly all year round. Ah, and don’t worry about security. We’ve installed thick iron bars in a tight grid so no one can trespass.”
Excuse me, but that’s literally what people call a dungeon.
Watching Ariness startle in fright, I shook my head.
No matter how I looked at it, these two were a doomed ship before they even set sail.
Bang.
The moment the Tower Master left and the door shut, I started scolding Ariness.
“What’s wrong with you today? That’s the very same Tower Master you’ve been dying to meet. Why didn’t you say a single word?”
Ariness had barely spoken the entire time he was here.
We live in an age where self-promotion is everything. Sitting there pretending to be demure and proper with your mouth shut doesn’t get you anywhere!
I clutched my chest in frustration.
“Don’t tell me you’re suddenly feeling shy? Or is it that you’ve gone off him?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it? I went through all the trouble of bringing the Tower Master to the palace for you. Shouldn’t you at least try to win him over?”
“I should have. I really should have, but……”
Ariness’s face twisted into a pitiful frown as she said to me:
“Hey, remember when I used to fangirl over boy groups?”
“Of course I remember. You’d flip the whole house upside down every time you won a fansign lottery, how could I forget?”
Ariness—no, Choi Dahye—was the type who fell in love at first sight, her favorite idol changing practically every season.
And every time her bias changed, she would fight tooth and nail to attend fan signings.
She always said she had to see the person she liked in real life—that it was her kind of welfare.
“And do you remember what I always said after I came back from those signings?”
“Uh… that you were going to quit being a fan. Every single time.”
“Exactly. That’s how I feel right now. I don’t want to be a fan anymore.”
“Sigh……”
I shook my head and rubbed my forehead.
Just when I thought she’d calmed down, her true nature was raising its head again.
“Honestly, he’s gorgeous. Rio Blair is so, so handsome. When he walked into the room just now, I swear I couldn’t breathe for a second.”
“Then why is the switch flipping again?”
“That’s the thing! That’s where it ends! It’s driving me crazy!”
Ariness grabbed fistfuls of her silky pink hair and let out a scream.
“I must be cursed! How can I look at such a handsome man and not feel anything in my heart? I poured every ounce of my taste into creating the perfect guy. His face practically glows! And yet… it just stops there?”
“Um… you might be exaggerating a little.”
“My life is so tragic. I want to meet a man who’s my type, date him, fall into a fiery romance—but why can’t it happen for me? Am I doomed to live as some lonely engineer tinkering with machines like an electric fan for the rest of my life?”
“I already told you, that’s not true.”
Watching her gaze at the fan’s blueprint with such misplaced affection, I said firmly:
“Strictly speaking, what you made is nothing more than a pinwheel. The fan you handed to the Tower Master? That was my work. For the record, you’re terrible with your hands.”
How did I even end up stuck in this mess?
Ugh.
“If you really can’t bring yourself to meet the Tower Master, then just hand him over to me. I’ll tell him the truth—that I made the fan—and deal with him myself.”
“No way!”
Ariness, who had been tearing at her hair, instantly let go and looked startled.
“I still want to meet him a few more times. I… I want to change. I don’t want to waste my whole life without ever being with a man!”
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”
I replied half-heartedly and got up from my seat.
Suddenly there was me—an existence who shouldn’t even be here. A princess, Ariness, who doesn’t love Duke Rupellen. A Tower Master, Rio Blair, who doesn’t fall for the princess at first sight.
And on top of that, the final boss dragon was snoring peacefully away in some inn.
‘Seriously, where on earth is this story even trying to go?’
I couldn’t begin to guess.
I stopped by the market to buy a basket of clams before returning to the inn.
It was so I could cook a seafood dish for the duke.
I was just rinsing the clams and tossing them into a pot when—
“Jiana?”
“Ah, you scared me!”
Duke Rupellen appeared behind me without making a sound.
“You startled me so much I almost boiled my finger along with the clams!”
I grumbled as I turned, only to notice the duke’s strange expression as he looked at the pot. Hesitantly, I asked:
“What’s… wrong? Is there a problem?”
“Jiana, is today’s seafood dish clam soup again?”
“…Yes. Why?”
“Do you remember how many days in a row it’s been?”
“Three…? Or maybe four?”
“Exactly ten days. My personal diver has been cooking nothing but clam soup for me ten days straight.”
Wait, had I really been that shameless?
“I only meant to repeat dishes for a little while since I was busy… Besides, you said you liked clam soup!”
He didn’t answer, just looked back and forth between me and the pot of clams.
“…Alright. I suppose I did go too far.”
“Good thing you realize. I was starting to think my diver had boiled her conscience along with the clams.”
I sighed lightly and asked:
“So what would you like to eat today then?”
“Would you really make it if I told you?”
“If it’s something I can cook, of course.”
He tore his gaze away from the pot and fixed his eyes on me, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“Grilled king prawns with salt.”
“…What?”
I blinked in surprise at the unexpected request.
“King prawn salt grill?”
“The one you made for Princess Ariness last time. It looked quite tasty.”
Oh, so he remembered that? This was easier than I thought.
“That’s simple! I could make it ten times over. I’ll run to the market right now.”
As I busied myself clearing away the clams, the duke chuckled and tugged me back by the arm.
“You should let people finish their sentences.”
“Why? If I go now, I can buy the prawns and have them ready by dinner.”
“Not the ones from the market.”
“Then…?”
I blinked rapidly at him.
“Use prawns freshly caught from the sea. My palate is a bit refined, you see.”
“…Are you seriously saying…”
“You want me to go out to sea and catch them myself?”
“What’s the problem? Didn’t you say you have plenty of time now? And ever since you took down that dragon, you don’t even get seasick anymore.”
“Wow, what a tyrannical employer! You know I hate the sea, and yet you’re sending me out again?”
“I thought it was islands you hated?”
“I hate islands because I hate the sea!”
“Still, don’t you think clam soup ten days in a row is excessive? Some people pay ten gold coins a day faithfully, while others try to skimp by serving clam soup just because they’re too busy or lazy.”
How does he always manage to hit me right where my conscience hurts?
Seeing me pout, the duke smiled faintly.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t dream of sending my diver out alone. That would be heartless.”
“…Then what?”
“I’ll come with you. To the Kinsia Sea, where you can catch the freshest prawns. What do you say?”
“Kinsia Sea? That’s so far away…”
“The Bellertine needs a lot more time before it’s fully repaired anyway. Since Kinsia is down south, we can make a trip of it. Think of it as a vacation.”
“Hmmm……”
“I’ll rent the best luxury yacht for my diver. And while we’re gone, I’ll even pay you double wages. How about that?”
The capitalist devil whispered sweetly into my ears—and I couldn’t help but perk up.
“I have one more condition.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“Rewrite the contract. Honestly, it’s way too unfair right now. No holidays, no time off. I’m human too—I deserve a break now and then!”
The truth was, the clam soup marathon had been because I was exhausted. Do you know how hard it is to come up with a new dish every single day?
“Hmm……”
The duke looked genuinely troubled.
“From where I stand, that sounds like a loss.”
“If you won’t even agree to that much, then no king prawn grill. I’ll just go back to making clam soup.”
“Alright, Jiana. We’ll rewrite the contract once we return from the Kinsia Sea.”
“Really? No take-backs?”
“But I have one condition of my own.”
“What is it?”
“From now on, you only cook seafood dishes for me.”
“That’s not much of a demand. Fine! In that case, let’s leave right away!”
And just like that, with a new contract as bait, we suddenly set off for the Kinsia Sea.
