Loving The Mad King

Rion's Cooking

Finally, Rion gave up. He put the spoon he was holding in the bowl that was on the table nearby.

"I'll answer your questions after we eat. You have a fever, don't hang around too long. After eating, you should rest," he said, while he served the soup in a bowl.

"Don't you remember what you said yesterday to me? Or are you just used to playing with other people's feelings?" Odette's words stunned Rion, and he looked at her.

Odette walked over. "Why are you doing all this?"

"Because I care about you," Rion finally replied.

"Why do you care?"

Rion was silent.

"Get out, get out of here!"

"Are you kicking me out?"

"Yeah. Do you think just because you're a king, you can do whatever you want? After kicking someone out and saying bitter things, you come to that person's place and act sweet as if nothing ever happened. Do you realize how annoying you are?!" said Odette, while she stared at the king intently.

Rion smiled faintly, it made Odette feel even more annoyed.

"What is so funny?!" asked Odette.

"You can talk like that, which means you're not sick," said Rion, then turned around, and lifted the tray containing two bowls of soup.

"Let's eat together, I'm already very hungry," he added as he walked towards the dining table.

"I'm not hungry. You can eat your own soup," Odette muttered in annoyance.

She was about to leave the place and go back to her room, but Rion scoffed, "I thought you wanted to know how Lucifer got to know this place."

Odette seemed to think for a moment, before finally deciding to eat with Rion. After all, she was actually really hungry right now, and the smell of Rion's soup had been tantalizing.

"I haven't made this in a long time. I hope you like the taste," said Rion as soon as Odette sat down, and he gave her a bowl of soup.

Odette flattened her expression and accepted the bowl that Rion gave her. She was surprised because the soup that Rion made was so delicious. She couldn't even make such good soup.

"Actually, it will be very delicious if you add mushrooms. The smell becomes very fragrant," explained Rion. "By the way, how does it taste?"

"It's okay," Odette lied.

If she wasn't annoyed with Rion, she would praise Rion to the full. Then ask a lot of questions like, how Rion could cook, where did Rion learn to cook, and what kind of food could Rion make. And any more questions that would lighten the mood.

"Thank God," said Rion, which made Odette confused. Odette actually intended to insult Rion, but Rion responded to it as if Odette had just complimented him.

"I thought you were going to say that this soup is really bad or not worth eating because you're annoyed with me, but you just said it's normal, so thank goodness," Rion explained after he saw Odette who was looking at him strangely. "Let's eat," he added.

For a moment, there was silence in the room. Odette and Rion ate their food without saying anything. The only sound in the room was the sound of spoons clinking, as they collided with the bowl.

Rion couldn't help but smile when he saw Odette who was eating so voraciously and seemed to really like the soup. When Odette realized that she was being watched, she immediately changed her expression to a very flat one.

"Speaking of your question, which I didn't answer at that time," said Rion, breaking the silence.

Odette didn't say anything. She just looked at Rion with a look that seemed to ask 'what do you mean?' Or 'which question?'

'When we were at Green Castle.'

Odette didn't understand. What question did Rion mean?

"About what I like and don't like," said Rion.

Odette immediately remembered one morning at Green Castle. At that time, she asked a question about what Rion's favorite color was, and what Rion liked and didn't like. She just wanted to know how far Rion recognized himself.

"Cooking," said Rion.

"Huh?" Odette blinked her eyes.

Rion continued, "There are many things I don't like in this world and very few things I like. As I continued to train to become a king and a great warrior, I forgot how to have fun and forgot all the things that made me happy. What do I like? That question is very difficult for me to answer."

Rion looked at Odette deeply and said, "You don't know that I thought hard to answer it. I asked myself about the thing I like, and the only answer I got was Rose. Since Rose is gone, I thought that there are other things I like. But just when I was thinking about making food for you, I suddenly remembered that when I was little, I used to help my mother cook. I really liked doing that."

Odette listened to Rion's story well. This was Rion's first time voluntarily telling a story like this. Usually, Odette had to persuade him with great difficulty to talk.

"So… you learned to cook from your mother?" Odette asked, somewhat hesitantly.

Odette remembered at the end of their conversation that morning, Rion mentioned a little about Queen Ahana, who died tragically when Rion was only five years old. Did Rion still remember everything his mother taught him after all this time?

From the soup in front of her right now, Odette could tell that it was not made from the hands of an amateur. It was too good.

Rion nodded. "She was my first teacher in cooking," he said.

"First teacher?"

"Um. After my mother, I learned to cook from a servant in Lamorak Castle. Her name was Marina. When I was locked up and Grandpa told everyone not to feed me, Marina often came and fed me secretly. When Grandpa wasn't there at the castle, I asked Marine to teach me how to make all the food that Marine ever gave me, because all the food was very delicious."

Rion looked at the soup in his bowl, that had not been finished, he looked sad.

"But unfortunately, she did not live long," he said.

Odette opened her eyes wider.

"You mean… she's dead?" she asked, and Rion nodded. He then told her that Marina died of an illness.