Chapter 52

"I—"

Lyssel opened his mouth, his expression sinking into something dark, and Iberin clamped her palm over it.

"Mmph."

"…Why do you have to answer every single thing. If something's pointless, just ignore it."

"……."

"And — I'm not the least bit scared or put off by any of it, so don't go thinking weird things either."

"……."

"Say something."

"……."

When no answer came, Iberin thumped her own chest like she was guaranteeing it.

"I mean it. You don't believe me?"

Lyssel reached up with one hand and tapped his own mouth — still under her palm.

"Oh. You couldn't actually answer."

She slid her hand down with a sheepish look, and Lyssel let out a helpless laugh.

"Pfft."

"Okay, now — answer."

"Of course I believe you."

"Right."

They strolled through the forest like a casual loop, and not a single monster came near them.

It drove home, in a slightly unexpected way, just how strong Lyssel was.

But she didn't find a single trace of the god in the forest.

She was about to give up and turn back, when —

"Wait a second."

"Yes?"

Something caught her eye.

"What's that?"

She pointed between a stand of large trees at something long and narrow.

"…What about it?"

"Your Highness, what does that look like to you?"

"…The fruit… of that tree?"

Lyssel offered cautiously.

You could call it a fruit, but to Iberin's eye it looked like an abnormally large chili pepper.

The kind she'd eaten back in Korea.

Going by the size, it looked more like a mild cucumber-pepper than anything scorching, but it was a pepper.

"Can we eat that, you think?"

A pepper!

Iberin's eyes went wide.

She was tired of soup, salad, and meat with nothing but salt on it day after day.

She wanted something — anything — with a kick to it.

The taste probably wouldn't match, but just seeing the shape made her heart skip.

"It grows in tainted ground, so I doubt it's edible."

"You've never tried, though."

"That's true."

"Then let's just pick one."

"……."

Lyssel hesitated for a moment, then walked over to it.

He carefully set her down, apparently worried she might be in danger.

"Touching plants in here can be risky. Some of them spit poison without warning."

"…Really? Then let's just go."

It looked like a Cheongyang pepper to her, but if it might be dangerous, she didn't want to put Lyssel at risk.

At her instant answer, Lyssel huffed a small laugh and shook his head.

"This one should be all right."

"You can tell?"

"It doesn't have a name, but I haven't spent all my time in this forest for nothing."

"Oh."

"I'm just being careful, just in case."

Only then did she nod in understanding.

"…All right."

Lyssel reached out and laid a hand on the branch.

Nothing happened, so he snapped one of the things off cleanly.

"You okay?"

"Yes. I think it's fine."

He turned with a small grin and waved his hand.

Iberin let her tense shoulders drop and smiled back.

---

Per Lyssel's let's not push it our first time out, she came back with only the one pepper to show for it.

"Oh, here they come!"

It felt like she'd been in the forest a while, and sure enough, the staff were huddled together waiting.

The moment they spotted Iberin and Lyssel, their faces lit up and they called out.

They'd clearly been on edge the whole time.

They'd looked anxious from the forest entrance on, and Iberin couldn't help laughing softly.

Anyone watching would think she was a toddler set loose by a riverbank.

Her body was, well, considerably unwell, but she wasn't so bad off that she couldn't function in daily life.

"Mommyyy!"

Ether came pelting over and burrowed straight into her arms.

"Did you wait a long time?"

"No. I'm okay."

It had to have been at least an hour — surely they hadn't been like this the whole time?

Still, she understood the worry, so she didn't make anything of it.

"Were you brave?"

"Yes. Me and big sis Rozel had a snack."

"You did? Good job."

"Heh. I saved some snacks for you, Mommy!"

"Want to go eat them right now?"

"Yes!"

Iberin reached out and took the hand of Rozelia, who'd been standing quietly behind them.

Only then did Rozelia break into a shy little smile and squirm in place.

"By the way, what's that?"

Rotte asked, eyeing the long green thing in Lyssel's hand.

"This? It's food—"

"What?"

"We brought it back from the forest to try."

"Excuse me? I think I just misheard."

Rotte's eyes went wide as she stared at Iberin.

Apparently, because it had come from the forest, she'd assumed it wasn't edible.

Fair enough — Iberin would've reacted the same way.

"What did I say?"

"You said you were going to eat that club."

She really did want to give it a try, though.

It might taste like a Cheongyang pepper.

"You heard right!"

Whaaat?!

Even Lyssel — apparently under the impression she'd only asked for the fruit out of curiosity — recoiled.

"…Look, it might actually be edible."

Cowed by the reaction, Iberin mumbled.

"We're not exactly that broke anymore."

Rotte cut in flatly.

She might also be balking at the idea of suddenly eating something they wouldn't have touched even when they were broke.

Iberin understood.

"Doesn't it kind of look edible?"

"Not at all. Swing it around and it could double as a weapon."

"…Just one bite, hm?"

"Who's eating it."

"Me?"

"Hard pass!"

The whole room rose up in protest.

"Well, who's tasting it first, then."

"I'll do it."

That was Lyssel.

Demonic energy didn't hurt him anyway, and he figured he'd be fine even if he ate it.

The staff seemed to agree it was better than letting Iberin eat it herself, and no one objected.

"…But I want to know if other people can eat it too…"

"You eating it yourself is absolutely off the table. If you want to know whether it's safe to eat, I'll do it."

That was Rotte.

In the end, Iberin nodded, accepting it.

Since the question was edibility, the head chef was called in and got to cooking right away.

He started out looking stumped, but he had a dish ready in no time.

Soy-glazed grilled pepper pickle.

The spicy aroma had been wafting up from the moment he started cooking, and Iberin kept swallowing.

It was so completely her — so completely Korean — that not getting to taste it right away was honestly painful.

Lyssel picked up his chopsticks first and took a bite of the pickled pepper.

"How is it?"

Iberin asked, more nervous than the man eating.

Lyssel said nothing for a long beat.

"Your Highness?"

When Rotte called him again, Lyssel squeezed his eyes shut, suffering visibly.

"Nngh!"

The staff lost it.

"Eeek! Physician — get the physician!"

The butler was already sprinting off to fetch them.

Lyssel had a hand at his throat, in clear distress.

His reaction was worse than when Elvin had poisoned him, and everyone panicked, convinced the thing must be wildly toxic.

His face had gone bright red and he was breathing hard.

Iberin, initially as flustered as the rest, watched his reaction and thought, hold on a second, then quietly got him a glass of water.

Gulp, gulp—

Lyssel downed it desperately.

"Phew, phew…"

His chest was heaving.

But as he kept knocking back water, his breathing steadied.

That was when Pons and the physician came rushing in from down the hall.

"Your Highness Grand Duke—!"

Lyssel saw the physician arrive and dropped his head.

He knew this wasn't a good look.

"Your Highness, are you a little better now? Have you suppressed the poison?"

Iberin let out a sudden snort.

"Lady Iberin?"

"…I don't think it's actually poison. Right, Your Highness?"

"…Yes."

The physician, who'd been checking Lyssel over, blinked blankly.

---

It was just spicy.

Aleta wasn't entirely without spicy seasonings, but they weren't common either.

The Aletan diet leaned heavily on rich, creamy fare, and locals had zero tolerance for heat.

That was the source of Lyssel's reaction.

"Bwahaha—"

Pons, on figuring out the truth, broke into open laughter.

"Pfft."

Rozelia laughed at him without bothering to hide it.

Lyssel had been losing dignity points lately, but this felt like the peak.

"You try it too."

Lyssel quietly pushed the dish toward Pons.

"I'm sorry. Spicy food isn't really my thing."

"Mine either!"

Everyone bowed out.

After that, every eye drifted to Rotte.

Because Rotte had been slated to taste it after Lyssel.

She was also Aletan, and didn't handle spicy food well.

She'd probably never even had it before.

"I'm good with spicy stuff."

Iberin saw her opening and pitched her own palate, but Rotte clearly wanted to taste it for herself first.

She picked up the smallest piece of pepper pickle on the plate, working up her nerve, and put it in her mouth.

"Hngk."

The instant it touched her tongue, the heat hit her, tears welled in her eyes.

Must be really spicy…!

Contrarily, that only made Iberin more excited.

"Can I have some too? It's not got any demonic energy or anything in it, right? It's just food, right?"

Yet another casualty going down, and —

In the face of Iberin's shining eyes, Lyssel quietly slid the dish over to her.

"Mm."

She bit into it without hesitation, closed her eyes softly, and her mouth curved into a blissful smile.

She gave a full-body shiver.

"Soooo good!"

"…It's good?"

Lyssel had his brows knit deep in genuine astonishment.

"Yes! I love spicy food!"

She nearly cried while eating it.

Not from the heat, like everyone else — from how good it tasted.

"Mmm."

Iberin smiled in pure happiness and shivered again.

"Is it really good?"

Ether asked, curious.

She could tell that if she said yes he'd try a bite, so she shook her head firmly.

"It's too spicy for Ether."

"Spicy after all?"

"Too spicy for a kid."

Not too spicy for a kid — too spicy for grown-ups too.

Rotte's face said.