Chapter 4

“……!”

Cain’s molars sank into the crisp, fried exterior of the potato.

A moment later, the soft, fluffy interior melted across his tongue, releasing the rich, savory flavor of butter.

It was an astonishingly sophisticated and elaborate taste for something as simple as a potato.

But the most surprising thing of all was the seasoning.

Between the salty crunch of coarse salt, layers of an unfamiliar dried herb aroma had been carefully woven together.

A combination that cut sharply through the richness of the butter while bringing out the potato’s naturally earthy flavor to its absolute limit.

Even the Imperial chefs were usually so obsessed with throwing expensive spices into their dishes that they failed to create this kind of addictive, perfectly balanced savory flavor by carefully coordinating herbs and salt.

And yet…

Was he imagining it?

The instant he chewed and swallowed the potato, Cain felt a faint vibration run through the flow of mana inside his body.

“What…?”

Crunch.

Cain snatched the remaining piece and chewed it.

This time, he was certain.

A hot sensation traveled down his throat and spread throughout his entire body.

His heavy body suddenly felt lighter, while the sensation in his fingertips sharpened as though his senses had been restored.

His physical abilities had been temporarily enhanced.

It was exactly the same sensation he had experienced ten years ago in that forest.

It was her.

This was undoubtedly the work of the person who had made the castella.

“Child! Wake up!”

Cain hurriedly shook Luciela, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Her unfocused green eyes wandered through the empty air.

“Was this… made by Chef Nigel?”

At the question, Luciela’s eyes filled with tears.

Even in her hazy state of consciousness, it seemed her sense of injustice had burst through.

Her lips trembled.

“…Mine.”

It was a tiny whisper, barely audible.

“I made it… My tornado potato…”

Cain was struck by a shock as though someone had smashed him over the head with a blunt weapon.

The young voice from his memories overlapped with the hoarse voice he heard now.

“Is the ugly oppa better now?”

Ten years had passed, and the child had grown.

Even so, that distinctive tone of voice remained.

The person who had made the castella he had eaten on the battlefield back then was neither that mysterious woman nor the chef Nigel.

It had been the child who had been with the woman.

The little girl who had stroked Cain’s cheek and asked the woman to save him.

His benefactor—the person who had saved his life—was this filthy little girl standing before him.

Luciela opened her eyes inside a swaying carriage.

As her blurry vision gradually cleared, she saw two figures.

The brown-haired guard she had encountered just before losing consciousness.

And the nobleman with thick black hair and strikingly blue eyes.

Luciela narrowed her eyes as she tried to get a better look at them.

Up close, both men were remarkably handsome.

The black-haired man in particular had sharply defined features, like a prince from a fairy tale, along with piercing eyes.

“Are you awake?”

Perhaps sensing her gaze, the black-haired man turned toward Luciela and asked.

“Where am I…?”

“This is a carriage belonging to House Bellaon. You didn’t wake up even after we waited, so Lucan carried you inside.”

“House Bellaon…?”

Luciela’s eyes widened at the familiar name.

It wasn’t simply because Bellaon was the most prestigious family in the Empire.

Bellaon was a family that appeared frequently in the “original story” her mother had told her about.

Apparently, it was the only family in the Empire capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Emperor.

A family that could pressure the Imperial Family with its wealth, threaten the Imperial Palace with its military power, and stand behind the nobles’ council through its honor and prestige.

Luciela slowly sat upright.

“Long ago, you saved my life. Do you remember?”

But the words that came from the man’s mouth were completely unexpected.

“I did?”

“It was ten years ago. Do you remember a soldier who was lying beside the corpse of a Basilisk Wyrm in Parsil Valley?”

“……?”

“You and your mother put something called ‘castella’ into my mouth.”

“……?”

“You were on your way to see a doctor because your head hurt.”

“……?”

“…You called me ugly. Several times.”

“Ah! Ugly oppa!”

The moment the memory flashed through her mind, Luciela cried out happily.

She couldn’t remember everything clearly, but there was a face lurking somewhere in the back of her mind.

A face that looked much rounder and puffier than an ordinary person’s.

“That was me.”

The man sighed as though his pride had been wounded.

“Cain Bellaon. You may also call me Baron Bellaon. The man beside me is my guard, Lucan.”

“…Baron Bellaon.”

Luciela stretched her neck forward and stared at Cain’s face.

Cain Bellaon.

He really was a character from the original story.

Not someone who had merely been mentioned in passing, either.

He had a role of his own.

A supporting character from the game The Empire Is Doomed!, which her mother had supposedly loved most before she transmigrated, was now alive and breathing right in front of her.

According to her mother, she had been an ordinary woman in her twenties living in a country called South Korea.

The thing that had helped her mother cope with the exhaustion of working life was all kinds of games.

And of all of them, her favorite had been The Empire Is Doomed!.

The plot was simple.

The crown prince of the Empire, born beneath a shower of blessings, grows into a foolish tyrant and drives the country into ruin.

The players had to find some way to save the country, whether that meant killing him, dethroning him, or taking another approach entirely.

According to her mother, no one had ever managed to reach a happy ending by successfully completing the game.

Her mother was no exception.

She had tried countless methods.

Straightforward assassination.

Fabricating a conspiracy and having the crown prince stripped of his position.

Sending an excellent nanny to reform him.

But when none of those worked, her mother decided to overthrow the Imperial Family through a rebellion and began investigating which families might have a chance of succeeding.

Yet none of them could accomplish it.

Instead, they only succeeded in hastening the Empire’s destruction.

According to her mother, the only family that had ever come close to succeeding was House Bellaon.

Unfortunately, the family’s hero died right before they could achieve victory.

After making several more attempts without being able to clear the game, her mother became so furious that she started furiously pounding every button on her laptop.

And somehow, she was sucked into the game.

No—

She had come into the game’s world.

She had transmigrated into the body of a maid working in the Imperial Palace.

That game world was the very Empire where I now lived.

Esellede.

“And that’s how Mommy became a transmigrator. Cool, right?”

“Mommy’s silly. You’re supposed to stop playing when you get angry.”

“…I didn’t know that the Red Moon had risen that day and opened a dimensional gate.”

“Then do you hate coming here, Mommy?”

“Of course not! If I hadn’t come here, I never would have met our Lucy. Transmigrating that day was the greatest stroke of luck in my life.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. Actually, Mommy came to love the Esellede Empire quite a lot from the moment she transmigrated.”

That was why, she said, her mother had tried to save the Empire after transmigrating.

It wasn’t simply because she was afraid she would die if the Empire fell.

She had come to love everything about this country—the nature, the culture, the food, and even the nameless people she happened to encounter while walking down the street.

And so I had listened to my mother’s stories ever since I was little.

Stories about everything she had done after transmigrating to prevent the crown prince from ever being born.

Living as a maid while seducing the Emperor to prevent his marriage to the Empress.

Disguising herself as a man and seducing the Empress.

Even secretly slipping contraceptives to both of them.

When all of those plans failed, her final attempt had been to kidnap the newborn crown prince.

She almost succeeded.

But she was spotted by a guard at the very last moment.

In an instant, my mother became a wanted criminal.

And she fled while pregnant with me.

My father, a mage scholar, tried to send my mother back to her original world to ensure her safety.

But he ended up trapped in a dimensional rift.

That was why my mother disappeared every time the Red Moon rose.

She was going to find my father.