(BL) Reborn as Lycan's Emperor's abandoned Beta concubine?!

Chapter 16: 16. Lunch with the Emperor

A FEW HOURS LATER

XAVIER

I carefully carried the tray toward the imperial pavilion, one step, two steps. Don’t trip. If I dropped the Emperor’s lunch, I was pretty sure I had become tomorrow’s execution notice. I stopped before Emperor Lang Li and bowed.

"Your Majesty, your meal."I said.

The steward stepped forward to take the tray, only for Lang Li to raise one hand.

"No."He said.

"Your Majesty?" The steward blinked.

"I’ll have Chef Wei serve it."The emperor said.

"..."I started.

"..."The steward said.

The courtyard fell strangely quiet. I carefully placed the dishes on the table.

"So..." I smiled awkwardly. "Please enjoy."

I took one step backward.

"Sit."He ordered.

I froze.

"Pardon?"I asked.

"I said." Lang Li looked directly at me. "Sit."

My brain immediately started buffering.

"Here?"I asked.

"Yes."He nodded.

"At your table?"I asked again.

"Correct."He said.

The nobles exchanged confused glances.

"Is this... normal?"Ana leaned toward Hin.

"Not even a little."Hin slowly shook her head.

I cautiously sat where the Emperor indicated. Please let this be about explaining the dishes, please. Lang Li picked up a porcelain spoon. He’s tasting the soup first. Makes sense. Then instead of bringing it to his own mouth he held the spoon in front of me.

"Open."He said.

"What?"I asked.

The entire courtyard stopped breathing. Even Shen looked startled.

"Your Majesty..."He began.

"The imperial food taster isn’t familiar with Chef Wei’s cooking."Lang Li remained completely serious. He spoke as though it were the most reasonable thing in the world.

"So." He moved the spoon slightly closer. "The chef will taste it."

My brain short-circuited. Wait, what? Couldn’t I just use my own spoon? Why his? Somewhere in the back of my mind, a memory from the novel surfaced.

Wait... No. No, no, no. The original novel had plenty of romantic scenes, feeding fruit, sharing wine or holding hands. But I never remembered the Emperor feeding anyone with a spoon. Not the heroine, not the favored omega, not even his future mate.

"This never happened," I thought in horror. "This scene doesn’t exist!"

"Chef Wei." Lang Li’s voice pulled me back. "The soup."

Every noble was staring, every concubine was staring, every servant was staring. Ana had both hands over her mouth.

"He’s being fed..."Hin’s eyes were sparkling.

"By the Emperor..."Ana whispered excitedly.

"I know."Hin whispered back.

"His Majesty..."Several omega nobles turned bright red. "Is feeding him?"

"I have never seen that."Another one added.

"Neither have I."Third one added.

One concubine quietly fanned himself faster. Another looked as though he might faint, I, meanwhile, had accepted my fate. Very slowly I leaned forward.

"Ah." I took the spoonful.

The soup was excellent, well I had made it. So that wasn’t surprising.

"It’s... good."I swallowed.

"I expected as much."Lang Li gave a small nod.

Only then did he finally use his own spoon. The courtyard remained deathly silent, somewhere in the distance a chopstick hit the floor. Nobody even bothered to pick it up.

"I have officially broken the plot."I thought for a moment

Moments later, I was still trying to recover from being fed with the Emperor’s spoon. My brain had simply stopped. The nobles hadn’t recovered either, neither had the concubines, or the servants, or the palace chefs. Honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone in the courtyard was functioning anymore. Meanwhile, Emperor Lang Li calmly picked up another spoonful as though nothing unusual had happened.

"This soup." He tasted it. "What herbs did you use?"

"Star anise, fresh ginger, spring onion, white pepper, and a broth simmered for several hours."I blinked.

"Hm." He nodded once. "The ginger isn’t overpowering."

"I wanted the pork to remain the focus."I said.

"A reasonable choice."He nodded as he moved to the next dish. "The vegetables."

"They were stir fried over high heat." I explained. "Just enough to keep their texture."

"They’re crisp."He nodded.

"Yes, Your Majesty."I said.

"And this sauce?"He asked.

"A reduction made from soy sauce, rock sugar, rice wine, and aromatics."I explained.

"Hm." Another nod.

He continued asking about every single dish, the fish, the vegetables, the rice even the garnish. I answered each question automatically while trying very hard not to think about the fact that over a hundred people were silently watching us. No one dared interrupt, no one dared leave. The only sounds in the courtyard were the Emperor eating and me explaining recipes. Behind us, whispers slowly began spreading.

"His Majesty has never asked a chef so many questions..."A woman said.

"I thought he hated long conversations."Another one added.

"They have been talking for nearly twenty minutes..."Third one said.

"Is he interviewing him?"Another one asked.

"No, I think he’s enjoying himself."A woman nearby said.

"I have served His Majesty for three years." One omega concubine lowered his fan. "I have never seen him smile during a meal."

Neither had anyone else. I was too busy explaining another dish to notice.

"This braised pork..." Lang Li said. "How did you make it so tender?"

"The meat was cooked slowly over low heat."I said.

"For how long?"He asked.

"Nearly three hours."I said.

"Hm." He took another bite, then another and another.

The plates slowly became emptier. I couldn’t help feeling relieved. At least he liked the food.

Then Lang Li suddenly looked directly at me.

"..."I started back.

Why was he looking at me? Did I forget something? Did I poison the Emperor? My panic lasted exactly one second, because Lang Li calmly reached toward me. Why is his hand coming closer? Before I could react his thumb gently brushed across the corner of my mouth.

"There."He wiped away a tiny drop of sauce. "You had sauce."

My soul immediately left my body, system error. Critical failure, blue screen, restart required. The courtyard exploded into silent shock. One noble nearly dropped his teacup, a concubine actually squeaked, and several omegas covered their burning faces with their fans.

"Did..."Ana grabbed Hin’s arm so hard that Hin winced. "Did His Majesty just wipe Chef Wei’s mouth?"

"He did."Hin nodded numbly.

"I wasn’t imagining it?"Ana asked.

"No..."Hin nodded. "You were not."

"Your Majesty?"Even Shen stared at his Emperor.

Lang Li simply looked at me for another moment. Then a faint smile appeared on his face. Not large or dramatic. Just enough for everyone to notice. It somehow shocked them even more.

"The meal." He said. "Excellent."

"Th-Thank you, Your Majesty."I finally remembered how breathing worked.

Lang Li stood. Every noble immediately bowed and the entire courtyard became silent once again. His calm voice echoed across the pavilion.

"From this day forward..." He looked directly at me. "Chef Wei shall serve as the Imperial palace’s personal chef."

A collective gasp spread through the crowd.

"The palace kitchens are his domain. The Imperial Treasury will provide whatever ingredients he requests. He will answer directly to me."Emperor announced.

Another wave of whispers erupted.

"A personal chef..."One said.

"That position doesn’t even exist..."Another one added. "It does now..."

"And prepare living quarters."Then Lang Li calmly added one final sentence.

"Your Majesty, which residence shall we assign?"The chief steward bowed.

"A cook’s residence."Lang Li answered without hesitation.

"Your Majesty..."The steward looked completely confused. "There is no such residence."

"There will be." Lang Li replied. "Construct it."

"Construct... one?"The steward blinked twice.

"Yes, immediately. Near my palace."The emperor nodded.

The courtyard fell into complete silence. Even the palace architects standing nearby looked horrified.

"His Majesty..." One quietly whispered to another. "Just invented an entirely new palace residence for a chef."

"You..."I stared at Lang Li. "Built me a house?"

"You’ll need somewhere to live."Lang Li met my eyes.

My brain had officially resigned.

"I knew he had end up changing the palace."Ana proudly whispered. "I just didn’t expect him to change the architecture."

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