Chapter 136

Chapter 136: The Cream Pasta That Won Over an Italian

The Crown Prince had been hanging his head with the look of a man who had lost his country.

He glanced at the unconscious Lord Almor, then turned to Ria with a hollow expression.

"Emeria, everything you said is true. However......"

He gazed at Ria with longing eyes and continued.

"If I had been at the Imperial Capital, I would have done everything in my power to prevent the tragedy that befell your family. But His Majesty had sent me to inspect the mining operations on the Isle of Crem, so I did not learn of the incident until long after it happened......"

If the Crown Prince was telling the truth, that meant the Emperor had deliberately sent him to the island?

Then the Emperor had known in advance that the rival factions would ambush the Aveline ducal family.

In that raid, more than two-thirds of the servants, knights, and soldiers stationed at the ducal castle had lost their lives.

Ria's father, Duke Aveline, had fought at the forefront with his life on the line and ultimately repelled the attackers.

But in the process, he had sustained wounds beyond healing, and the poisoned weapons that had cut him eventually claimed his life.

'The Duke had been significantly weakened because he had passed his power to Ria.'

Ria had once said that if her father had not been weakened, the rival factions would never have dared send forces to ambush him.

The Crown Prince continued.

"After learning of both the tragedy that befell your family and that you, Emeria, had gone missing with serious injuries, I raged and swore to the heavens that once I ascended the throne, I would purge every noble who had a hand in attacking your family."

His anger as he spoke did not seem like a lie.

Though it could have been an act.

Hearing his words, Ria's brow furrowed.

"If what you say is true, then your father the Emperor knew about the attack on my family and turned a blind eye?"

"......That is the truth. I have no excuse to offer you."

"I expected as much. The Emperor is a jealous and conniving man."

"......"

Ria then looked at him with cold eyes.

"So what is your real purpose in telling me all this?"

"I simply wanted you to know my true feelings. That if I had been at the Imperial Capital, I would have risked my life to persuade His Majesty and prevented such a tragedy. And that the feelings I harbored for you were sincere, without a shred of falsehood."

"Those words mean nothing now."

"I suppose so......"

The Crown Prince wore a hollow, desolate expression as he watched Ria respond coldly.

Then he turned his gaze to me.

"You. How on earth did you manage it......?"

"Manage what?"

"How did you win the heart of a woman colder than a sheet of ice?"

"You do not know a single thing about Ria."

"What do you mean I do not know......?"

"Ria is endlessly warm to people who are kind and considerate. On the other hand, she is endlessly cold to people who are full of themselves and disrespectful."

"......"

In other words, I had just told him that Ria despised people like him most of all.

Conversely, I had never once felt coldness from Ria.

She had only ever been warm.

Beside me, Ria nodded as if to confirm it.

"Even if I had never met Seon-u, I would never, ever have given you my heart."

"......"

"And you should be grateful to my husband, Seon-u. If not for him, I would have been consumed by vengeance and drowned the Empire in a sea of blood. That blade might have reached all the way to the Emperor and to you."

"......I see."

He then let out a hollow smile and added.

"Perhaps if that had happened and I had lost my head to your sword, I would have been less wretched than I am now......"

It seemed that hard for him to accept the reality that Ria had married me and become a mother of two.

The commotion drew a crowd of Hunters.

Among them were the Imperial Knights and mages who had accompanied the Crown Prince.

"Lord Almor! Pull yourself together!"

"Your Highness! What is the meaning of this?! Did they do this?!"

They said this while drawing their weapons.

Behind Ria and me, the sound of weapons being drawn answered them.

SHING!

"Sheathe your weapons! Unless you want to regret it!"

Vice Commander Zephyr Garrett's commanding shout.

And then.

"You want to have a go at us?"

"Things have been so peaceful lately, I have been feeling restless. Shall we?"

Neville and Benny flared with fighting spirit.

"The audacity, in a place like this......!"

Even Ruina, who was visibly furious.

The previous evening, Ria had assembled the former Knight Order officers and informed them that the Crown Prince's party had entered the Outpost.

Upon hearing that, the former officers had been enraged.

Not just Ria, but they too held deep resentment toward the Imperial Family's policy of standing by.

Ria had calmed them down and asked them to watch over me for the time being.

She had prepared for the possibility that the Crown Prince, upon learning I was Ria's husband, might try to kill me.

They had been watching the situation from a distance, and when the Imperial Knights and mages swarmed in, they had stepped forward to face them.

The Crown Prince extended his right arm to restrain his people.

"Everyone, sheathe your weapons!"

"But, Your Highness......!"

"Lord Almor was humiliated......!"

When they did not obey, Crown Prince Aslan barked.

"That is an order! Sheathe your weapons!"

"As you command...... Everyone, sheathe your weapons."

Once the subordinates complied, Crown Prince Aslan turned his gaze to the former Northern Knights officers.

"So you were with Emeria as well...... Let me ask you. Is it truly the case that your commander Emeria has married and given birth, becoming a mother of two?"

Not satisfied with what Ria and I had told him, he was going for a third confirmation.

Ruina stepped forward and answered.

"It is true."

"......I see. Is Emeria living happily?"

"Absolutely. Lady Ria is deeply content with her current life and living very happily. The happy smiles never stop."

"......Thank you for telling me."

Crown Prince Aslan turned on his heel and trudged away.

The Imperial Knights and mages shot us one last glare before collecting Lord Almor and following after him.

'Has he given up?'

In any case, I now knew the Crown Prince had a rotten personality and was an insufferable man.

On the other hand, his feelings for Ria seemed to have been genuine.

***

I had thought Crown Prince Aslan had given up.

But then.

"Why not just go buy bread at the bakery?"

"I am sick of bread."

Crown Prince Aslan had made a reservation and was sitting at the bar counter, waiting for his meal.

Two consecutive days of dining here.

Ria had decided not to come to the restaurant until the Crown Prince left.

"So when are you heading back? Your group has recovered, has it not?"

"There is something I need to confirm before I leave."

"What?"

"I cannot leave without confirming what kind of man you are, and whether you are worthy of Emeria."

"Why would that be for you to confirm?"

"Emeria is still a subject of the Empire. As the Crown Prince, I have a duty to verify that a subject is not being deceived by a foreigner and living with him under false pretenses."

What an absurd stretch of logic.

"Sorry, but Ria gave up her Imperial citizenship a long time ago."

"That does not matter."

There was no reasoning with this man.

"Is your position as Crown Prince not in jeopardy? You cannot afford to be sitting around here."

"I was only away from my duties because I was searching for Emeria. Once I return, I can reclaim my authority at any time. My half-siblings are no match for me. I can crush them like insects whenever I please. And those traitorous nobles who sided with other princes will pay a bloody price."

Power struggles over the throne were savage in every country.

Especially in an absolute monarchy.

Lose the succession battle and death was hard to avoid.

And just as Ria had said, he truly was an insufferable man who thought he was the greatest thing alive.

Charitably, one could say he was brimming with confidence.

Crown Prince Aslan continued.

"And I will never forgive any of the nobles who participated in the attack on the Aveline ducal family. If not for those wretches......!"

Even in a timeline where the ducal family was never attacked and Ria had remained as commander of the Northern Knights, the odds of Ria becoming the Crown Prince's lover seemed nonexistent.

'Ria probably would have married no one and lived her entire life with her sword.'

I handed him his meal directly from the bar counter.

"Calm down and eat."

Today's menu was a cream spaghetti and steak set.

Crown Prince Aslan took it and scowled.

"Today's food looks thoroughly unimpressive. Is this really the best your culinary skills can produce?"

"What part bothers you?"

"The meat is undercooked, and what is this mysterious noodle dish that smells like it has milk in it?"

On the Continent of Bellinta, they cooked meat well-done.

So Ria and the former Knight Order officers had also initially balked at meat with any pinkness.

Likewise, Crown Prince Aslan was showing his aversion to the medium-rare steak.

On top of that, cream spaghetti would be entirely unfamiliar to him.

"Just try it first, then talk."

He eyed it suspiciously, cut the meat with a knife, speared it with a fork, and brought it to his mouth.

"......"

After one bite, his eyes went wide.

"There is no gamey smell at all, even though the meat is not fully cooked......"

"That is because it is quality meat."

"Well, I suppose it is passable. A step below the Imperial chefs, though."

Me, below the Imperial chefs?

That stung a little.

He was probably trying to provoke me.

Then he tried the cream pasta.

He speared shrimp and bacon with his fork along with the noodles.

"How can anything be this supremely smooth and rich......?"

He then forgot all pretense of dignity and began eating at speed.

'That is to be expected.'

I had used the finest fresh cream and butter, made from Pullo milk.

Even an Italian Hunter who refused to acknowledge Korean-style cream pasta and insisted on authentic carbonara had eaten three bowls of today's cream pasta.

'The flavor of this cream pasta is insane!'

He had lavished praise on it before leaving.

Seeing that the Crown Prince had cleaned his plate, I said.

"That was made with Pullo milk."

"Pullo......? I see. So Pullo milk can be used to make food like this."

"So? Still think my cooking is a step below the Imperial chefs?"

"Hmm! Well, perhaps they are roughly on par."

His pride would not let him concede outright.

"Anyway, after eating your cooking for two days, I think I understand just a tiny bit why Emeria fell for the likes of you. To think you would stoop to seducing her through food. How underhanded."

"Underhanded? Cooking is a skill in its own right. And if you understand even a little now, please stop coming. Let us not see each other's faces unnecessarily. It is not comfortable for me either."

"I refuse. There is still a long way to go."

He ended up visiting the restaurant for an entire additional week.

Then, on the last day.

Before departing with his retinue, he requested to see Ria one final time.

After some deliberation, I granted the request.

Ria appeared carrying Yeona and spoke coldly.

"What is it?"

Crown Prince Aslan looked at Yeona in Ria's arms.

"She truly is the spitting image of you, Emeria......"

Despite having Ria's and my marriage, and our two children, confirmed through multiple sources, he had continued to doubt.

But having seen Yeona, who so closely resembled Ria, there was no room for doubt anymore.

"Of course. She is my daughter. Enough. State your business."

After a brief pause, Crown Prince Aslan spoke.

"......Emeria, I will carry out your vengeance in your stead. You need only remain here and live peacefully and happily with that insufferable man, as if nothing ever happened."

So that was what he had wanted to say.

But why was I the insufferable one?

He continued.

"Your husband is an insufferable man, but he seems like a good person."

Ria's cold expression softened as the corner of her mouth rose ever so slightly.

Hearing me praised seemed to please her.

"Good eye. My husband is the greatest husband in the world, bar none."

Ria's face turned cold again as she continued.

"And if there is vengeance to be had, I will be the one to carry it out. It is none of your concern. So put away any grand notions and do what a Crown Prince should do: look after the Empire's subjects and stabilize the chaos on the Empire's frontiers caused by the absence of the Aveline ducal family and the Northern Knights."

With those final words, Ria turned her back coldly, Yeona still in her arms.

Crown Prince Aslan gazed wistfully at her retreating figure.

Then he spoke to me.

"The baby was truly lovely......"

"She is."

"Please make Emeria happy."

"I will."

He then added one more thing.

"If I stay any longer, I will want to cut you down, so I will be leaving immediately."

"If we fought, I would win."

He snorted and turned away.

He and his retinue then passed through the open gate and disappeared into the distance.

'He was an insufferable man, but if we had met under normal circumstances rather than being entangled as romantic rivals, we might have become friends.'