“Ancia, what’s wrong? Does it not taste good?”

I quickly relaxed my rigid expression and smiled brightly. I didn’t want to worry Blake over nothing.

“No, it’s delicious. Try some of these mushrooms.”

“But I don’t like mushrooms…”

“You have to eat it for your health.”

“Ahh-“

As I held the mushrooms in front of him, Blake begrudgingly opened his mouth. When the spoon went into his mouth, he had a slightly dismal expression, which soon turned into a big frown. He reached out for the nearest cup of water and gulped it down in one go. I held his hands to calm him down.

“Ah! Ha- hands… this is not the bedroom!”

Husband, what are you talking about during a meal?

“Don’t just swallow it down with water. Make sure you chew it first.”

“Yes…”

He turned his head to the side to avert my gaze as he nodded softly with his cheeks all red.

“You can drink water now.”

I was going to take the cup from him, but Blake grasped my hands tightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“My hands are warm….. I feel at ease now that you’re holding me.”

If Blake felt comfortable, did I truly have some power of light?

***

After finishing the meal, I went back to my room and immediately called for Brown, the chief servant of the Crown Prince’s palace. The man walked in with a prideful stride. I could tell that he was arrogant just from his expression.

“Your Highness, what brings you here?”

“The quality of the meal was very inadequate.”

“Ah, so that’s why you called. It’s not an emergency.”

“There is a problem with the Crown Prince’s meal. Isn’t this an urgent matter?”

Brown smirked arrogantly. His lips moved very faintly, eyes slightly narrowed and his head tilted to the side almost unnoticeably. It was so subtle, yet Ancia had caught a glimpse of it and was now extremely infuriated.

“Your Highness, you’ve just arrived, and you didn’t know many things, but the budget set aside for the Crown Prince is not very adequate. What else can we do if His Majesty doesn’t give us more?”

Brown lied smoothly without any feelings of remorse. This place was not glamorous enough to be called luxurious, but it wasn’t so desolate that there wouldn’t be any meat sent over every now and then.

“Okay.”

“I was worried about you being too young, but I’m glad you understood.”

“I will dismiss you.”

“Wh-what?”

Brown’s arrogant expression distorted. Instead of dealing with him any longer, I turned around and gave my orders to Edon, the knight who was standing next to him.

“Sir Edon, arrest Brown Hamel under charges of embezzling the Crown Prince’s budget and imprison him. ““What do you mean embezzlement? Do you even understand what that word means?”

“I know. What you did was embezzlement.”

Brown’s face paled instantly. His eyes and mouth were frozen wide open in a stunned expression, and when Edon dragged him out, he shouted angrily.

“Let go of me now! Do you even know who I am? I am the heir to the family of Marquis Hamel! You’ll regret doing this, so let go of my hand!”

He must have been brought up with the belief that he was superior to everyone else just by virtue of his birth—such arrogance.

Edon didn’t pay any mind to his words and dragged him out straight away. When the chief servant was suddenly taken away, the atmosphere of the Crown Prince’s palace became thrown into disarray. But instead of calming the atmosphere down, I drove the momentum further and fired another batch of people in the palace.

When Blake was ousted from the Crown Prince’s post, most courtiers betrayed him and sided with the male lead, Richard. There was no need to leave future traitors around.

I fired all those who looked down on Blake, despised him, were disloyal, or had betrayed him in the original story.

“All the servants and maids were chosen by the Emperor himself. I wonder if it’s okay to do this…”

The maid, Melissa, was worried. In the original story, she devoted herself to Blake along with Edon and Hans.

I answered immediately without any worries.

“It’s okay.”

The Emperor wouldn’t blame me. I was confident about that.

“How would you like your meal?”

“I’ll make today’s dish.”

“Pardon?”

Dismissing the courtiers, I checked the warehouse. The warehouse had a variety of healthy ingredients, including eastern ingredients. As expected, the chief servant Brown stole a huge chunk of the budget, but he didn’t order the kitchen to reheat the dinner we had last night. It was the cook who did that. So I dismissed all the chefs who looked down on the Crown Prince and neglected him.

Suddenly, I found an unexpected treasure. Soy sauce, soybean paste, and red pepper paste!

Not only were there many kinds of spices, but also all sorts of ingredients. I couldn’t believe that they fed us vegetables every day instead! I rolled up my sleeves in anger.

***

In the Crown Prince’s palace, most people feared or despised Blake for being the heir to the curse. Blake knew that, so he rarely ever came out of his bedroom.

These days, I took him out for short walks around the palace and drove away all the irrelevant things that made my husband uncomfortable. After I finished preparing the meal, I called Blake to the dining room. The moment he slid into his chair, I served him a Soybean paste stew, rice and meatballs.

“Ta-da!”

I didn’t make any extravagant dishes because I only knew the essential recipes. Moreover, it was challenging to find the right taste as that of a Korean soybean paste stew. But none of that mattered, as it was the effort that counted.

“….. What’s this?”

“It’s a dish from the East! I saw it in a book. I just happened to find these ingredients in the warehouse, so I made a dish out of them!”

“You made it yourself?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Wow…”

Blake sat down in the chair with a look of amazement. Then, he looked at the dish for a long time and asked timidly.

“…But, how do you eat it?”

“Oh, you must’ve never seen this kind of dish before, I’ll teach you how to eat it then.“

I smiled subtly at Blake and blushed with embarrassment.“Don’t worry, I only learnt about it recently, too.”

“Your highness, Aah-“

“Aaah—“

I gave him a delighted smile and fed him. Blake chewed on the food, and then cracked a smile.

“Delicious?”

“Yesh!”

“This time, try it yourself.“

I hand him a spoon.

“It’s called soybean paste stew. Eat your rice first, and then scoop up this soup.”

“Alright”

“Be careful, it’s hot and the taste is unique, so if it doesn’t suit your taste, don’t force yourself.”

“Yes.”

According to my instructions, he put a spoonful of soybean paste stew in his mouth after eating the rice first. He dug into the food with ravenous hunger and shoved it into his mouth in big mouthfuls, filling his belly. At that moment, Blake’s eyes filled up with tears.

“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

“Delicious!”

“Really?”

Although it was milder than Korean soybean stew, I was worried because it tasted very unique compared to the standards of this world. However, it seemed to suit Blake’s tastes.

“It’s the best food I’ve ever eaten!”

“Is it that delicious?”

“Yes!”

“Then, I’ll make it more often.”

“Will you make it yourself?”

“Of course.”

“Wow!”

Seeing Blake eating so happily, I felt very peaceful. This must be what parents felt like when they saw their child eating happily.

***

The maid Melissa, the servant Hans, and the knight Edon sat down on the terrace and chatted after a day’s work.

“Fortunately, His Royal Highness has wed an excellent wife.”

The other two nodded in unison at Hans’s words.

“Now that she kicked out all those people, I feel relieved.”

Edon recalled the Crown Princess as she resolutely dismissed the chief servant.

She was only ten years old, yet she had incredible intelligence, dignity, and a good eye for people.

Countless people were kicked out today, but none of them had been dismissed unfairly. All of them chose to insult and ridicule their master behind his back and neglected their work.

“More than anything, I’m glad that they have a good relationship. I was so worried at first.”

Melissa recalled the day Ancia fell into the lake. Fortunately, it was just an accident, and not suicide. Nonetheless, that hapless incident still left goosebumps all over her body. Whenever she recalled that painful memory, she would instantly divert her thoughts.

“I know. How long has it been since I saw him smile? But I think Melissa should go and make the dishes from now on.”