Greek Feast (5)

“If the Crown Prince hadn’t suddenly intervened, I could have pushed him there.”

The Duke grumbled alone, occupying the study.

Spending time on such a powerless territory is a waste in itself.

Thanks to the Crown Prince, unnecessary time was delayed, and he was not in a good mood.

A powerless territory is just his stepping stone. Stories of self-esteem or independence are useless.

What kind of banquet is this?

Having to go along with such childish games.

Even the banquets of the Imperial Palace don’t satisfy.

“Hmm, more importantly, Medlinne. What do you think of this Greek? It’s a good territory to snatch. If you like it, I’ll give you Greek City.”

A 7th-class mage is awarded the title of Count. However, it’s only an honorary position. No territory is given.

But she wanted a territory. They matched because they both wanted something. That’s why Medlinne swore loyalty to the Duke.

The Duke gains the immense power of a 7th-class mage, and Medlinne gains a territory.

“As long as the Crown Prince continues to play around aimlessly, I’ll increase the nobles in my faction. If everything goes smoothly, I can give away a territory like this.”

The Duke of Taemuran gave Medlinne a sly smile. Medlinne thought it was laughable inside, but she wanted the territory, so she nodded quietly.

Time for the banquet.

All the nobles were gathered at the long table in the Lord’s castle, except for the Count of Greek, who was terminally ill.

At the head of the table was the Crown Prince.

And on either side were the Duke of Taemuran and Baron Greek. Next to the Duke was Count Medlinne.

“Well, a banquet with a strip bet. Isn’t it fun? Thinking about you walking around naked. Hahaha!”

The Crown Prince kept smirking and taunting Greek. The more he did, the less the Greek boy could believe El’s words that he had other intentions.

If that’s true, it means he really lives in a well. As Greek felt that way, his worries accelerated about the central and the wider world.

This event had completely shaken young Greek’s values.

A man like the Crown Prince.

An ambition-filled man like the Duke.

The path he must take within it.

If advancing to the center could give him the strength to navigate all of this, Greek wanted to experience it once.

‘Of course, for now, I must escape this situation first. As my Master said.’

Greek clenched his fists and began to observe the expressions of the Crown Prince and the Duke.

The Duke had an indifferent expression. He seemed more interested in Greek’s answer than the banquet.

When everyone at the table was lost in their own thoughts,

the butler appeared from the kitchen with the first dish. El was cooking in that kitchen.

The first dish was water.

A glass of water was placed in front of each person.

The Crown Prince and the Duke looked puzzled at the glass of water.

Unlike usual water glasses, these were thin and long. But it was just water inside.

“Is this… a dish?”

The puzzled Crown Prince asked Greek. The indifferent Duke narrowed his brow and sneered.

“It’s not a dish. But it’s fresh and refreshing water drawn from deep underground, not from a well or river. And the flower on top is a unique species from Greek Mountain, with a sweet scent. Think of it as a fragrant water to cleanse your palate first.”

Greek finished the explanation exactly as El had told him. Then he sat down and drank the water. The water went down his throat and spread coolness deep inside his body. Such refreshing water. It felt cool to his bones. Moreover, the floral scent was very rich.

The Crown Prince had the same impression. His eyebrows twitched wildly.

“This is interesting? It’s fun!”

With admiration, the Crown Prince’s frivolous laughter spread across the table.

Thanks to this, Greek gained a bit of confidence.

The second dish was wild uba wrap. A sort of appetizer with vegetables. The wild uba that made Greek not want to live as an ingredient. It was that very one.

Wild uba doesn’t have many tender parts. Belly and cheek parts were thinly sliced and grilled, then wrapped in a vegetable similar to lettuce, with ssamjang (Korean dipping sauce) and garlic.

Due to the characteristics of wild uba, it is lean and light, and since it was sliced very thinly, the taste of the ssamjang was stronger, enhancing the appetite.

Wrapped in lettuce and tied at the top with a fruit stem, it looked like a vegetable dish. But inside, it was a harmony of flavors.

The Duke, having tasted it, just kept putting the uba wrap in his mouth.

In fact, the Duke had no interest in the bet between the two. He just wanted to mock the dish, but unexpectedly, the dish was fascinating and delicious, so he just ate it quietly.

The Crown Prince also looked satisfied. But he showed an expression that it was still lacking.

“This was also delicious. But isn’t it still lacking to beat me? It surely tastes good, but there’s nothing decisive about it. So, I’ll look forward to the next dish. Hahaha!”

The Crown Prince laughed, saying he was having fun with the bet. The Duke shook his head, looking at the Crown Prince as if he were pathetic.

Medlinne said nothing. As a mage, this place had almost no meaning to her. She just quietly ate her food.

“The next dish is…”

When the third dish appeared, Greek stood up again.

“I will explain the next dish myself.”

But Greek quickly sat down. It was because the chef himself brought the third dish.

The Crown Prince and the Duke just looked curious as to what this dish was.

But there was one person who reacted intensely.

Medlinne knocked over her glass of water. More than half of the water spilled onto the table and under the table. But Medlinne didn’t even think to avoid the water.

El recognized her at once also. He wondered why this mage was here. But a question is just a question.

El approached Medlinne calmly. He took a towel and began to wipe the spilled water, a normal action. But Medlinne had a breathless expression.

Her face crumpled, and her legs trembled.

To El, Medlinne was different from Derient.

Medlinne was the highest-class mage in the Empire at the time, so she participated in the capital defense led by El. Therefore, she knew El’s true identity.

But El had never considered Medlinne a comrade. She was just a mage put forward by the Imperial Palace, a completely different existence from the comrades who had won the Dragon War from the beginning.

“Why did you spill your glass? You should be careful.”

“The, the… the…”

“Just stay still. Stay still, I mean.”

It sounded like he was telling her to stay still while he wiped the table, but Medlinne understood it differently. Of course, that was El’s intention exactly.

It meant not to say anything about his identity and just stay still.

Medlinne kept her mouth shut. In a situation where even dragons are torn and killed, what could she possibly do?

Her legs kept trembling, but fortunately, no one was interested in the scene under the table.

El calmly returned to his seat. Then he finally brought out the main dish. When he opened the lid, an unknown stone appeared. At this, all eyes, except Medlinne’s, turned to El.

Among those who turned their gaze, except for Greek, everyone had faces that asked what this was.

El calmly explained to them.

“This is a stone baked with clay.”

“Clay? Are you telling us to eat clay?”

The Crown Prince’s face twisted. He thought El brought out an absurd dish because of the bet.

“Is this your answer?”

The Duke also stood up with a rather pleased face. His expression showed he was ready to attack gleefully, having found a flaw.

“Could you wait a moment?”

El began to break the round lump of clay with a hammer. The clay broke, revealing green leaves. When something unexpected came out from the mere clay, not only the Crown Prince and the Duke but also Greek had surprised faces.

“As you can see, the exterior is just insignificant clay. But even if it looks like clay on the outside, it can hide something else inside.”

Hearing those words, the Crown Prince looked at El, frowning slightly.

“This dish hides itself in multiple layers using clay and leaves. The delicate leaf behind the insignificant and crude clay deceives once more. And inside…”

El removed all the leaves.

Inside, a nicely browned Palenque appeared. The smell of chicken. The aroma of chicken grilled with clay spread throughout the table. The rich scent of chicken unique to Palenque stimulated the appetite.

Inside the well-cooked yellowish Palenque were various medicinal herbs.

“The Palenque, one of the rarest foods in the world, appears. Moreover, inside the Palenque are medicinal herbs beneficial to the body. These herbs are peculiar. They must be handled well to enhance the flavor of the Palenque. If used too strongly, they spoil the taste of the Palenque.”

“Is that the Palenque? The one that’s called a legend because it’s hard to catch?”

The Duke, seemingly intoxicated by the smell of chicken, reacted intensely and reached out. The aroma of the clay-baked Palenque was that irresistible.

El first tore a leg of the Palenque and placed it on a plate for the Crown Prince. Then, he did the same for the Duke with the other leg.

And he tore a body part and gave it to Greek.

The Duke, who held the chicken leg before the Crown Prince, exclaimed in admiration.

“Oh? This is delicious?”

The chewy texture combined with the soft chicken leg was a feast. The rich flavor of the chicken was enough to make the Duke rave. The fact that it was a legendary monster he had never tasted before was also a seasoning that heightened the Duke’s interest.

But the Crown Prince, like a dumb person with honey in his mouth, just stared at the Palenque and then looked back at El.

“Would a noble being living somewhere hold the people in his bosom? Harmoniously, like this Palenque.”

At El’s words, the Crown Prince dropped the chicken leg he was holding.

“Why are you so flustered? It’s just a story about the dish. And if you really wore a proper mask, it shouldn’t be removed by hitting it like this clay.”