Rodu. The royal palace.

  A knight stood in front of the king with his head bowed, and respectfully said, “Your Majesty, the chef in Chaos City refused to come Rodu, and the knight dispatched happened to run into the lord of the Gray Temple, Rolan, so he couldn’t bring him back. We beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”


  “He refused to come?” The king had a knowing smile on his face. Waving his hands, he said, “This is not your fault. He even dared to refuse my invitation in the great hall back then, so it isn’t a surprise that he would reject your invitation. However, I didn’t Rolan to act personally on behalf of a chef.”


  “Should I investigate that chef?” that knight asked.

  “There’s no need to. I have a more important task for you to do.” Andre shook his head, and whispered something to that knight. Then, the knight left after acknowledging the task.

  “I will have a hard time telling Vanessa that he refused to come.” Andre sighed with a rare resigned expression. He paced around in the hall twice before he walked out.

  “Your Highness, His Majesty is here,” Lola said to Princess Vanessa, who was reading a book and lying on her stomach, as she hurried into the room.

  “Really! Did Father get Chef Mag here?” Vanessa crawled out of her bed at once and let Lola arrange her clothes.

  Lola shook her head, but said with conviction, “His Majesty never said that to me, but since His Majesty had sent a decree to him, that chef would certainly have to come.”


  “This is true. Father is the most formidable monarch in this world.” Vanessa smiled. She rearranged her hair and hurried out of her room.

  “Father, is Chef Mag here already?” Vanessa asked with anticipation. She approached the king, who was standing at the window, as soon as she entered the hall.

  “The first thing you ask about is Chef Mag. You totally forgot about your father, the monarch. Am I, King of the Roth Empire[1], not even comparable to a chef from Chaos City?” Andre asked with a stern face, but he looked at Vanessa with smiling eyes.

  “Who would say that? No one is comparable to Father in this world.” Vanessa shook her head, but she quickly continued, “Has he arrived in Rodu? Has he reached the palace? Could we eat the dinner cooked by him tonight?”


  Lola was standing outside of the door as she listened to the king and Princess Vanessa’s conversation with a smile. The monarch doted on the princess the most. She had never seen the king angry with the princess, and he always gave in to her.

  “He rejected my invitation.” Andre shook his head.

  “He rejected me?” Vanessa was stunned, and she asked, “Is he not willing to come and cook dinner for us?”


  “He actually rejected His Majesty!” Lola covered her mouth with shock in her eyes. There was actually someone who would reject the king’s invitation, and that person was only a chef!

  Even though she knew from the princess that he was a very formidable chef who made marvellous food, he was still just a lowly chef, and it would be his honor to cook for the nobility. It was the highest form of glory to be invited by the king to come to the palace to cook for the monarch and the princess. How could he have rejected it?

  “Yes. He is a very interesting chef. I have tried to invite him to stay in the royal kitchen during the court banquet, and he rejected me. He said he wanted to go back to cook for his customers.” Andre nodded. Not many people dared to reject him, and Mag had done it twice. Even though he was just a lowly chef, he remembered him.

  However, maybe it was because the spicy grilled fish Mag made was too unforgettable, and he always thought about it during his meals, but he began to find the food that the royal kitchen made bland.

  “Really? Rejecting the king’s invitation, but insisting on cooking for his normal customers. He was indeed an interesting chef.” Vanessa, who was a little disappointed, began to widen her eyes. A chef who dared to reject the monarch had to be extremely brave, and he wanted to bring delicious foods to more people, and not restrict them to the opulent palace. This chef was a rather great man.

  “Don’t be sad, Vanessa. Soon, no matter which part of the continent he is at, he will have to come and cook for you when you ask,” Andre consoled.

  “Mm-hm.” Vanessa nodded, and then asked Andre, “I heard that Uncle Abraham is in Chaos City, and he goes to that Mamy Restaurant for his meals every day?”


  “Yes. He is a glutton. After he followed Mag to Chaos City, he hasn’t come back for months. Seems like he has forgotten that he is a duke of the Roth Empire,” Andre said with a hint of resignation in his voice.

  If someone asked him which one of his brothers he had the least control over, it would have to be Abraham.

  Abraham had been his staunchest supporter when he had been fighting for the throne. He had even been seriously injured when he’d taken an arrow for him during the battle for the throne.

  After his ascension, he wanted to give Abraham some serious responsibilities, but after he recovered from his injuries, he resigned from all of his posts, and only kept his title. He didn’t want the ducal lands, and all he did every day was eat and play. He was the top idler in the Roth Empire.

  “Alright, I will wait for the day when Chef Mag comes to Rodu and cooks delicious food for me,” Vanessa said obediently, but there was a crafty look in her eyes. Delicious food that made Uncle Abraham forget to come home had to be the best in the world. She had to go and try it for herself.

  “Alright. I will let the royal kitchen prepare your favorite snow pear porridge. Father needs to go and settle the political affairs now,” Andre said to Vanessa indulgently.

  “Yes, Father. I won’t hold you up any longer.” Vanessa nodded as she sent Andre out. After watching Andre go away, she quickly waved to Lola.

  “Princess.” Lola came forward.

  “Lola, go and pack up. We are going to leave soon,” Vanessa said quietly.

  “Does Princess want to go to the manor for a vacation again?” Lola asked perplexedly. They had just returned to the palace a few days ago.

  Vanessa smiled cunningly. “We will tell that to Father, but we are actually going to Chaos City. I am going to look for Uncle Abraham.”


  “Chaos City!” Lola raised her voice.

  “Shhh, someone would hear it.” Vanessa covered Lola’s mouth.

  “But…… Your Highness, the king and queen are going to be very anxious if they find you missing,” Lola said anxiously in a low voice.

  Vanessa smilingly said, “It’s okay. I will ask Uncle Abraham to write a letter to Father when we reach Chaos City.”


  [1] Yes, we just realized…… The author used some confusing terms for “king” in the past, hence king and not emperor. We’ll stick to the king for consistency’s sake. Then again, the author is using the word queen and not empress, and since there could be kingdoms whose monarchs sometimes weren’t crowned kings, maybe there could be an empire with a king.