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Chapter 04
“……!”
His molars broke through the crisp, perfectly fried outer layer of the potato.
Then the fluffy interior melted across his tongue and released a rich burst of buttery savoriness.
For something that was supposedly just a potato, the flavor was impossibly refined and extravagant.
More than anything, the seasoning was perfect.
Between the coarse salt’s savory bite, layers of fragrance from some unidentified dried herbs unfolded one after another.
The blend cut sharply through the richness of the butter while pushing the potato’s naturally nutty flavor to its absolute limit.
Even the chefs of the Imperial Palace obsessed over piling on expensive spices—they had never balanced herbs and salt with such precision to create this kind of addictive umami.
But was he imagining it?
Right after chewing and swallowing—
it felt as though the flow of mana inside his body vibrated slightly.
“What……?”
Crunch.
Cain snatched the remaining piece and bit into it.
This time he was sure.
Warmth traveled down his throat and spread through his whole body.
His previously heavy body became lighter.
Feeling sharpened at the tips of his fingers.
His physical abilities had temporarily increased.
It matched exactly what he had felt ten years ago in that forest.
It’s that person.
Without a doubt, this was the work of whoever had made that castella.
“Child! Wake up!”
Cain urgently shook Luciella.
Luciella barely opened her eyes.
Her unfocused green eyes drifted through empty air.
“This…… was it made by Chef Nigel?”
At that question, tears gathered in the corners of Luciella’s eyes.
Even in her fading consciousness, injustice seemed to rise to the surface.
Her lips moved weakly.
“……It’s mine.”
It was a whisper so soft it almost disappeared.
“I made it…… my tornado potato……”
Cain felt as though someone had struck him in the head with a blunt weapon.
A young voice from his memory overlapped with her hoarse voice now.
—
“Ugly oppa get better now?”
—
Ten years had passed.
The child had grown.
But that distinctive voice remained.
The person who made the castella he ate on the battlefield wasn’t that mysterious woman.
And it certainly wasn’t Chef Nigel.
It had been the child beside the woman.
The little girl who touched his cheek and asked them to save him.
The benefactor who had saved his life—
was this shabby little girl standing before him.
Luciella opened her eyes inside a swaying carriage.
As her blurry vision cleared, two figures came into view.
The brown-haired guard she had met before fainting.
And the nobleman with dark black hair and vivid blue eyes.
Luciella narrowed her eyes to look more closely.
Up close, both men were remarkably handsome.
Especially the black-haired one.
His features looked carved by hand, like a prince from a fairy tale, paired with sharp eyes.
“You’re awake?”
Noticing her gaze, the black-haired man turned toward her and asked.
“Where is this……?”
“Inside a carriage belonging to the Bellaon family. You didn’t wake up no matter how long we waited, so Lucan carried you aboard.”
“The Bellaon family……?”
At the familiar family name, Luciella’s eyes widened.
Not simply because they were the most prestigious family in the Empire.
Bellaon appeared frequently in the “original story” her mother had talked about.
The only family in the Empire capable of opposing the Emperor.
A house that could pressure the Imperial Family with wealth.
Threaten the Imperial Palace with military strength.
And command the support of the noble assembly through honor.
Luciella slowly sat upright.
“A long time ago, you saved my life. Do you remember?”
But the words that came out of the man’s mouth were completely unexpected.
“Me?”
“It was ten years ago. In Parsil Valley. Do you remember a soldier collapsed beside the corpse of a Basilisk Worm?”
“……?”
“You and your mother put bread called ‘castella’ into my mouth.”
“……?”
“You were on your way to see a doctor because your head hurt.”
“……?”
“…You called me ugly. Several times.”
“Ah! Ugly oppa!”
A memory flashed through Luciella’s mind and she cried out happily.
Not clearly—
but she remembered a face.
One much flatter and puffier than an ordinary person’s.
“That was me.”
The man sighed as though his pride had been wounded.
“Cain Bellaon. Also known as Baron Bellaon. This man beside me is my guard, Lucan.”
“……Baron Bellaon.”
Luciella stretched her neck forward and stared at Cain’s face.
Cain Bellaon.
He really had been a character from the original story.
Not merely mentioned in passing—he had played a meaningful role.
A supporting character from her mother’s favorite game before transmigration—
<The Empire Is Doomed!>
—was alive and breathing in front of her.
According to her mother—
before all this, she had been an ordinary office worker in her twenties living in a country called South Korea.
What comforted her after exhausting workdays was gaming.
And among all those games, her favorite had been The Empire Is Doomed!.
The plot was simple.
The Crown Prince of the Empire, born under blessings, grew into a foolish tyrant and destroyed the nation.
Players had to save the Empire—
whether by killing him, overthrowing him, or finding some other way.
According to her mother—
no one had ever successfully reached the happy ending.
Her mother hadn’t either.
She tried everything.
Simple assassination.
Exposing conspiracies and removing him as Crown Prince.
Sending an excellent nanny to reform him.
Nothing worked.
Eventually her mother decided to overturn the Imperial Family through rebellion and searched for promising noble houses.
But none succeeded.
Most only accelerated the Empire’s destruction.
The only house that came close—
was the Bellaon Ducal House.
The problem was that their hero died right before success.
After failing again and again—
her mother, filled with rage, pounded every button on her laptop—
and got sucked into the game.
No—
she came into it.
Possessing the body of a palace maid.
That world inside the game—
was the Empire of Essered, the world Luciella lived in now.
“Then Mom became a transmigrator. Cool, right?”
“Mom silly. If angry, stop game.”
“…I didn’t know a red moon happened to appear that day and open a dimensional gate.”
“Then Mom hate coming here?”
“No way! If I hadn’t come, I never would’ve met our Lucy. Coming here that day was the greatest luck of my life.”
“…Really?”
“Of course. Actually, from the moment I transmigrated, I grew to love the Empire of Essered.”
That was why—
her mother had tried to save this Empire.
Not simply because she’d die if it collapsed.
But because she came to love everything:
the land,
the culture,
the food,
even nameless strangers passing on the street.
So from childhood, Luciella grew up hearing those stories.
Stories of everything her mother did to stop the Crown Prince from being born.
Living as a maid and seducing the Emperor to prevent his marriage to the Empress.
Disguising herself as a man and seducing the future Empress.
Even secretly feeding contraception to both of them.
After every plan failed—
her final attempt was kidnapping the newborn Crown Prince.
But she was discovered by the guards right before success.
In an instant—
her mother became the Empire’s most wanted criminal.
She fled while pregnant with Luciella.
Her father, a magic scholar, tried to send her mother back to her original world for her safety—
and became trapped in a dimensional rift.
That was why—
every time the red moon appeared—
her mother disappeared again to search for him.
