Chapter 71

“I, I really don’t want to live in such anxiety anymore. So if there’s anything that Your Majesty wants, then please do tell me.”

“What I want?”

“Also, you probably surmised this, but due to my inadequate circumstances, I am unable to pay you back for the ribbons. Instead, if it’s something I can do with my body, I should be able to do most anything. And if possible, it would be great if you could schedule that to be between noon and six in the afternoon…”

“Sit.”

“…..excuse me?”

I had been throwing self-appeals to him one after another, but now one of my eyes abruptly scrunched up. For some reason, his face seemed to be trying not to laugh, which was so unrealistic that I was a bit dazed.

“You really want me to sit, directly? Or perhaps you meant, I should crawl on my knees from here to there or…”

“Should I do that instead?”

“Nooo!”

Though I wasn’t sure what kind of whim he was on, I immediately went to the seat and sat down. But my palms were still sweaty, and it was hard to face him directly.

When our eyes met after wavering for a while, and his red eyes pierced mine directly, I swallowed hard.

“Looks like the Duchess has bigger expectations for me, don’t you?”

“…..That’s not it.”

“Fine, if you so want me to, then I should meet your expectations.”

“…..”

So he has finally begun.

“Catherine, I hereby command you….”

Thud.

The sound of him setting down the document in his hands was as noisy as if it was ringing from the bottom of my empty chest.

In contrast, Rashid’s eyes, which were still so deep and unfathomable that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, filled this space to the fullest.

“Hold that knife and cut the steak.”

***

………What. Was he trying to feed me before he killed me.

No matter how positively I was trying to think of this situation, this was the limit to my imagination. Didn’t they say that even on the death row, convicts are given a feast on their dying day?

But his movements as he sat directly opposite to me with a knife in his hand was excessively elegant.

“Didn’t I tell you to start eating already.”

“….Yes, sir.”

He said so, as if he was reading my every movement without even lifting his eyes, I hurriedly began cutting the meat. In fact, this was such high-quality steak that I didn’t really need to put that much strength into it.

Even in this situation, looking at this juicy steak was rousing my appetite.

“You….”

“Yes?”

Ah, that surprised me.

Startled by Rashid suddenly lifting his head, I instinctively shrunk back. Once he looked down at his own knife, he seemed to finally realize what I was thinking, and he frowned.

“I won’t throw it. I won’t stab you. I’m not going to kill you.”

“Re-really?”

“If you ask me one more time…”

“Thank you for the meal.”

In one swoop, I quickly corrected my posture and put the meat I’d stabbed with my fork into my mouth. It had looked tender with only my eyes; once I put it into my mouth, it melted like ice cream.

‘Ahh, I’ve never tasted something like this before!’

In Korea, I’d been an orphan who had to do with one cup ramen for every meal, and here, I was a half-animal, half-human whose food was mostly self-sufficient.

There was no way someone like me, then, could have ever tasted this kind of steak. The meat, and how it filled my mouth with flavor before I’d even chewed on it properly, was a taste that muddled the mind.

‘I wonder if our princess grew up on stuff like this.’

Even though all I could manage was soaked fish jerky, even if I tried my best. No matter how much Haniel did like fish jerky, the heart of this powerless mother could only ache.

“What now?”

“…..”

“If it isn’t to your taste…”

“No, Your Majesty. It’s delicious. It’s just…. I was only curious whether people who live in the palace dine on food like this all the time.”