Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince

“Then, I’ll be right back after I whip something up.”

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I rushed downstairs before Albert could hold me back.

As I got away, Albert’s laughter rang behind me.

My steps down the stairs gradually slowed down, and I sighed.

It wasn’t like this at first, but why did it feel like I was being led here and there by him?

…Was he really someone I won’t be able to beat?

Scared that Albert would follow me any moment now, I quickly entered the kitchen.

It wasn’t until I closed the door behind me, in this room that Albert wasn’t allowed to go into, that I felt relieved.

I took in a deep breath to calm both my heated cheeks and the tension I was feeling inside me.

Blanc tilted his head to the side.
Then, with a serious face, he spoke.

“Your face… looks like an aaaapple…”

“Let’s pretend you didn’t see that, Blanc.”

“Hoooow… can I pretend I didn’t seeeee…?”

As though he really couldn’t understand, Blanc had a clueless tone as he asked.
Our Blanc is really as pure as his white scales.

I was too caught up by His Highness’ actions.

…I don’t want to get caught.

Not knowing how I could explain the reason to Blanc, I answered him with silence instead.

“Hmm, where’s the rice…”

And then I started to look for the ingredients for porridge.

After taking some rice, scallions, carrots, onions and pumpkins from the pantry, I started with soaking the rice.

Then, when I placed the bowl of uncooked rice on the side, I chopped the vegetables on the chopping board.

I chopped up some more scallions than I need for the porridge since I decided to set aside some for a rolled omelet.
I stayed up all night nursing Albert, so I’m hungry, too.

Placing five eggs in a bowl and beating them, I added some of the scallions I chopped just now in the bowl and added a pinch of salt as its seasoning.

I turned on the fire and placed a pan on the stove, then I waited for a moment.

Sizzle.

When I poured the egg mixture into the heated pan, the pleasant sizzling sound came out.
The rolled omelet I’ll be making has as much as five eggs.

I rolled over the thin layer using a spatula.
When the scallions were added, the colorful rolled omelet was complete.

As I sliced the steaming rolled omelet gently, I took a piece into my mouth.

The sweet omelet melted in my mouth.
It was also moderately salty.

Tap, tap. Something tapped on my foot.

“Huh?”

“Me toooo…”

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“Ah, here.”

Blanc was staring intently at me from one side, so I placed one rolled egg slice into his mouth.

Blanc chewed on the rolled omelet.
Then, his droopy eyes soon turned round.

“Dewicious….”

“Right? It’s a simple dish, but it’s really yummy.”

It’s good to eat along with kimchi stew.
I knew it, the moment I first meet Seo Ina later, I’ll have to ask her to teach me how to make kimchi first.
Kimchi stew made with well-fermented cabbage kimchi would be absolutely fantastic.

Wow, just thinking about it made my mouth water.”

“I want mooore…”

“Here you go, open up.”

I gave all the remaining egg rolls to Blanc.
With his bracken-like claws, he took the egg rolls I sliced up and chewed them one at a time.
A bright smile bloomed on his face.

I can cook rolled eggs again for Albert.
There’s still time since I need to soak the rice more.

Feeling happy, I beat some eggs again.
While eating the omelet, Blanc mumbled.

“Beeefore, the red food was also yuuuummyyyy…”

It seemed like he was talking about the stir-fried spicy pork dish.

“That’s good to hear.
I’ll make you some again later.”

After coming here, I think the hobby of cooking really stuck to me.

“Reeeaaally…?”

“Yep.
I’ll cook you a whole lot of yummy food.”

Though most of the food will be to my taste.

Blanc carefully replied.

“Everydaay… I just waaited…”

“……”

“To meee… Nothing matteeered…”

The words Blanc spoke with a small voice had a great impact on me.

Living nearly 500 years as a baby dragon didn’t mean anything to Blanc.
The time spent on this world and the meaning one can glean from it weren’t proportional.

As the time I spent with Blanc increased, I became more attached to him.

And it was rewarding that the food I could give to Blanc gave new meaning to his life.

Inside the tower where I had no power to do anything, I can pour my affection towards this child… no, this dragon.

Placing the pan back on the stove, I looked at Blanc with a determined expression.

“I’ll make some chicken again, and stir-fried spicy pork sounds good, too.”

Blanc smiled broadly.

“Okaaay…”

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“……”

“I’m not gonna die yeeet…”

It was the first time I heard Blanc speak with such conviction.
I liked this change more than I thought I would.

Really.
A lot.

 

* * *

 

I went back to cooking.
Adding in some sesame oil into the pot, I stirred the soaked rice once.
I had no rice prepared in advance, so this was one other way to do it.

Since the rice had enough water, I added some vegetables and waited until it began to boil.
I seasoned the porridge with salt and stirred from time to time so that it wouldn’t stick to the pot.

After the porridge was done, I placed some of the rolled omelet I cooked on a plate and placed them both on a tray one after another.

Here, there was steaming porridge and some rolled omelet.

Mm, perfect.

As expected, it’s better to have someone there to care for you when you’re sick.
Like family or friends.

But the memories of my childhood and the time I lived alone intertwined.

I didn’t hate these memories—I was happy at the time.
Because I have those memories, I can be who I am today.

Let’s not think about depressing things.
It’s good to be alive.
It’s a blessing enough.

If you overcome those rough moments, there’s a time in your life when you can feel that you’re alive again at some point.
I believe so.

And on that note, it’s true that I’m also worried about Blanc.
With such life-changing pain, what kind of choice will he make?

Blanc, who ate all those egg rolls, yawned as he stretched.

“Are you going to sleep here again, Blanc?”

“…Yeeaah.”

Blanc lay down on his usual spot on the table.
I tucked him in with a warm blanket.

“Good night, Blanc.”

“Good niiight…”

After saying good night to Blanc, I turned off the lights and went up the stairs with the tray of food.

“Prince, I’m back.”

Entering the room as I announced my presence, I found Albert lying down in bed with his eyes closed.

The way he continued to have his eyes closed without any reaction seemed to show just how fatigued he was.

I placed the tray down on the side table next to the bed and checked Albert’s condition.

For a moment, I thought about just letting him continue sleeping like this, but he kept sweating and he had yet to eat anything.
It worried me to let him just sleep on an empty stomach like this.

I watched his face closely.
I knew it, there were traces of cold sweat on his skin.

It’ll be better to have him eat and then put him back to sleep.

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With one hand on his right shoulder, I shook him gently.

“Prince.”

Albert looked this way and opened his eyes slightly.
As he blinked his eyes, he looked like he was half-asleep.

But it seemed like he was awake enough now, so I whispered to him.

“I brought you some porridge.
Will you be able to eat?”

Huu… Albert let out a long exhale and shook his head slowly.

“…I’m fine.
I don’t want to move.”

He definitely seemed entirely spent.
I understood him since whenever I was sick, I didn’t want to move even a finger…

While contemplating, I held up the spoon.

I wouldn’t normally do this…

It would be right to keep the distance between us…

But I wondered if this distance was still important when the person in front of me was sick.
Wouldn’t it be possible if it was someone else?

“I’ll… feed you myself.”

Still, it was embarrassing to say it with my own lips.

It seemed like Albert was also taken aback.
He blinked slowly and asked me with a low voice.

“…What are you going to do?”

Clearing my throat once, I spoke again in a small voice.

“I’ll feed you.”

“……”

“Just a few spoons before you go back to sleep, Your Highness.
You can’t sleep without eating anything like this.”

“…Alright.”

Smiling faintly, Albert nodded.
Those half-lidded eyes were strangely sexy.

His alabaster complexion and decadent atmosphere seemed to be busting out a more attractive force than usual.

I gulped.

Ah. He opened his lips.

At that moment, my attention was drawn to his lips.
They were just the right thickness, and if I were to touch them, the texture…

What the hell am I thinking?

After averting my gaze, I scooped out one spoon of the porridge as though nothing had happened.

I brought the spoon to Albert’s lips, and he swallowed the porridge after chewing it a bit.

“Haha, you’re eating really well, Prince.”

“It’s a dish with the most boring taste that you ever made.”

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“Once you get better, I’ll let you eat all the spicy food again.”

“Something like this suits my tastes more.”

Seeing Albert eating the porridge now reminded me of how Blanc was eating a while ago.
I felt a bit strange.

My conscience took a hit after hearing that Albert preferred boring dishes like this.

The recipes I knew were only of the food that I liked, but I didn’t even take the time to care about Albert’s preferences.

Suddenly, the novel came to mind.
The food that would be made by Seo Ina, who was in love with Albert, would suit his tastes better than my food.

She cooked dishes that were less spicy and red compared to mine.

“When we get out of the tower, wouldn’t there be someone out there who can perfectly suit Your Highness’ taste?”

I took one egg roll using the spoon.

“Strange.”

“……”

“You’re saying all sorts of strange things.”

Albert frowned as he chewed on the egg roll.

I felt like a mother bird feeding a baby bird.

Albert finished his meal with satisfaction, perhaps because he really liked the porridge.
I wiped his face one more time after he finished eating.

Albert was sitting up against the headboard so that he could digest the food, but he now lay back down.

After placing the tray down, I carried over the basin full of water and two dry towels on top of the side table.

“Shouldn’t you sleep, too?”

“I’m really not feeling sleepy.”

I did feel a little sleepy a while ago, but I feel more energized now.
At this point, I was thinking about organizing the luggage we brought back, and I also had to continue nursing Albert.
There were some dishes I had to wash back in the kitchen downstairs, too.

I tucked Albert in with a blanket up to his shoulders.

“Prince, go ahead and sleep first.”

“…Rosé.”

“No matter what Your Highness will say, it won’t work.
If you don’t sleep now, I’ll go down and sleep there in the kitchen.
Now hurry up and close your eyes.”

I repeated the same thing again, and Albert eventually closed his eyes as he was exhausted.
Seeing his eyes closed, I stood up—

No, I was about to stand up, but Albert’s hand held me there.
To be exact, he held onto my wrist.

With a low voice, he spoke.

“I’ll fall asleep soon, so please stay with me until then.”

“……”

“I’m not teasing you or anything, Rosé.
It’s the truth.”

He had his eyes closed now, but I don’t know how on earth he was so quick to feel his surroundings.

And it was even more amazing to witness how he could read my expression even when he couldn’t see it.

In the end, I remained right next to him.