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

Chapter 19: 19. Outer courtyard chaos

THE NEXT MORNING

XAVIER

By the fourth morning, I had accepted one simple fact.

There was no such thing as quietly walking through the Imperial palace anymore. After finishing breakfast for His Majesty, I decided to stretch my legs before beginning lunch preparations.

"A short walk." I told myself. "What could possibly happen?"

Famous last words. The moment I stepped into the Outer court, conversations stopped. Why is everyone looking at me? Officials carrying documents slowed their pace, servants whispered behind their sleeves, palace maids suddenly became very interested in watering flowers that definitely didn’t need watering. Even the imperial guards seemed distracted. One young guard accidentally saluted a tree.

"That is an oak."His captain sighed.

"Yes, captain."A soldier said.

"The tree outranks you now?" A captain asked.

"No, captain."A soldier said.

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. As I continued walking, more whispers followed me.

"That’s Chef Wei."One of them said.

"The Emperor’s personal chef."Another one said.

"The handsome one."A third one added. "The bun chef."

"The one His Majesty asked to cook twice."

"I heard His Majesty finished every grain of rice."

"I heard he smiled."

"No, that’s impossible."

"I heard it from Shen."

"Then it must be true."

Please... Stop discussing the Emperor while I’m standing right here. A pair of noble ladies approached gracefully.

"Chef Wei." One of them said.

"My Ladies."I bowed politely.

"We wished to thank you."She said.

"For what?"I asked.

"Yesterday’s lotus soup."She said.

"Oh."I nodded.

"It reminded our grandmother of her childhood."She said.

"I am glad she enjoyed it."I smiled.

"He smiled."The older lady covered her mouth with her fan.

"He smiled at us!"The younger one whispered loudly,

"Yes?"I blinked.

The two sisters looked at each other. Then both curtsied before hurrying away, giggling.

"What just happened?"I asked.

"It happens often." I turned to find Ana carrying a basket of vegetables.

"You’re enjoying this."I said.

"A little."She nodded. "That’s why I work here and have a helper manage inn."

"You’ve been here five minutes."I said.

"I know."She nodded. "And four people have already blushed."

"Please don’t count."I said.

"I lost count yesterday."She added.

"Master Xavier."Hin appeared beside us carrying fresh herbs.

"Yes?"I asked.

"You have another gift."She said.

"Already?"I asked.

She handed me a neatly wrapped parcel. Attached was a tiny note. ’For the chef with the prettiest smile’.

"I smiled once."I sighed.

"That was apparently enough." Ana snorted.

Before I could recover another voice called out.

"Chef Wei!" A young omega noble hurried over. She was carrying a basket. "I baked pastries."

"For me?"I asked.

"Yes."She nodded.

"You really didn’t have to."I said.

"I know."She nodded again. "I wanted to."

She smiled so brightly that I instinctively took half a step backward.

"Would you... tell me what you think?"She asked.

"Of course."I nodded.

I took one bite. It was actually delicious.

"These are really good."I smiled.

"You remembered!"Her entire face lit up.

"Remembered what?"I asked.

"My name."She said.

"...I." I stared, confused.

"You don’t remember my name."She said.

"I am so sorry."I said worriedly.

Ana quietly turned around before she started laughing.

"My heart has been rejected."The omega sighed dramatically.

"I didn’t reject anything!"I said.

"You forgot my name."She said.

"We met for thirty seconds yesterday!"I said.

"It was a memorable thirty seconds."She said.

"It clearly wasn’t for me!"I sighed.

Even the nearby guards started chuckling. From the second floor balcony Lang Li watched everything. Another noble was speaking to me, another omega was laughing and another gift had somehow appeared in my hands.

"Your Majesty."Shen stood quietly beside him.

"Hm."She said.

"It appears Chef Wei has become... exceptionally popular."Shen said.

"I have eyes."He said.

A maid approached me carrying flowers, another servant offered tea, one young noble asked if I would judge his family’s annual cooking contest. Lang Li watched in complete silence, his expression remained calm. Only the wooden railing beneath his hand developed a very small very unfortunate...crack.

"I will have the carpenters replace... that."Shen looked at the damaged railing.

Lang Li simply continued watching me. Completely ignoring the fact that he had just broken palace furniture.

Meanwhile, I looked at the growing pile of gifts in my arms.

"Ana."I said.

"Yes?"She asked.

"I only came outside for a walk."I sighed.

"And?"She smiled innocently.

"I somehow returned with flowers, pastries, tea, spices, and three invitations."I said.

"You also received two marriage proposals."Hin nodded thoughtfully.

"I received what?"I stopped walking.

"You declined them accidentally."Hin added.

"I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE PROPOSALS!"I argued.

Ana laughed so hard she had to hold onto Hin for support.

"I really am hopeless, aren’t I?"I sighed.

"When it comes to flirting." She nodded once. "Absolutely."

I had barely recovered from discovering I’d apparently received two accidental marriage proposals when another palace maid hurried over.

"Chef Wei."A maid said.

"Yes?"I asked.

"His Majesty requests your presence."She said.

"Again?"I asked.

"Immediately."She nodded.

"I was gone from the kitchen for ten minutes."I sighed.

"You set a new record."Ana patted my shoulder.

"For what?"I asked.

"Being summoned by the Emperor."She sighed.

Meanwhile on the second-floor pavilion... Lang Li watched the courtyard below in silence, his gaze followed me as I made my way through the crowd. Except I wasn’t walking alone.

A young noble lady had somehow matched my pace.

"Chef Wei."She said.

"Yes?"I asked.

"My father owns an estate outside the capital."She added.

"Congratulations?" I said, confused.

"We also have a very large kitchen."She giggled.

"That’s nice."I said.

"If you ever wished to visit..."She added.

"Oh." I smiled politely. "Thank you."

"Chef Wei."Another omega noble immediately appeared on my other side.

"Yes?"I asked.

"I have been practicing making your steamed buns."She said proudly.

"Really?"I asked.

"They exploded."She said.

"How?"I asked.

"I don’t know."She shook her head again.

"I... could teach you sometime."I said.

"You would spend time with me?" The omega’s eyes sparkled.

"To prevent future bun explosions."I said.

"I’ll intentionally fail again."She grinned.

"Please don’t."I sighed.

Behind me, Ana pinched the bridge of her nose.

"He still doesn’t realize."Ana said.

"He truly doesn’t."Hin sighed fondly.

From above Lang Li’s expression remained unreadable.

"Your Majesty..."Shen quietly stood beside him.

"Hm."Lang Li said.

"There are now three nobles walking beside Chef Wei."Shen said.

"I counted."Lang Li added.

"A fourth is approaching."Shen said.

"I noticed."He said.

"Chef Wei."A prince suddenly stepped in front of me.

"Oh... hello, Your Highness."I curtsied lightly.

"I was wondering..."He began. "Would you accompany me to the royal gardens later?"

"Why?"I asked.

"So we can discuss cooking."He said.

"Wonderful!" I smiled in relief. "I would love to discuss recipes."

"Yes."The prince smiled. "Recipes. I never intended to discuss recipes."The prince sighed dreamily.

Crack. A second crack appeared in the stone railing beneath Lang Li’s hand.

"Your Majesty."Shen slowly looked down.

"Hm."Lang Li said.

"That railing survived eighty years."Shen said.

"It was old." Lang Li added. "Shen."

"Yes, Your Majesty."He said.

"How many invitations has Chef Wei received this morning?"Lang Li said.

"One invitation to an estate."Shen thought for a moment. "One to afternoon tea, one to the royal gardens, two cooking demonstrations and.." He glanced at his notes.

"One invitation to meet someone’s grandmother."

"Grandmother?"Lang Li blinked once.

"They said she wished to determine whether Chef Wei would make a suitable husband."Shen said.

Shen wisely took one careful step backward. Down below I finally reached the pavilion and bowed.

"Your Majesty."I said.

Lang Li looked at me for several long seconds.

"What were they talking about?"He asked.

"Who?"I asked.

"The nobles."He said.

"Oh." I scratched my cheek. "I think..." I genuinely tried to remember. "One wanted recipe advice, another’s buns exploded and someone invited me to meet their grandmother."

"Their grandmother."Lang Li’s chopsticks froze.

"Yes."I said. "I still don’t know why."

Across the room, Shen quietly closed his eyes. He really has no idea. Lang Li looked at my completely confused face, for the first time that morning the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. just a fraction.

"You’re hopeless."I said.

"Thank you?"I blinked.

A soft snort escaped Shen before he immediately coughed into his fist. The Emperor had not intended that as a compliment. I had somehow accepted it as one.

"From today onward..."Lang Li simply shook his head. He calmly picked up his teacup. "Anyone wishing to speak with my personal chef must first receive my permission."

"That’s... a rule?"

"It is now."I stared.

"Can Emperors just make rules like that?"I asked.

"Yes."Lang Li looked directly at me.

That answered that.

Outside the pavilion, dozens of disappointed nobles watched the conversation from afar. Ana folded her arms with a grin.

"Oh dear." Hin smiled knowingly. "His Majesty has begun guarding his chef."

"I don’t think he’s guarding the chef."Ana laughed. "I think..." She watched Lang Li continue questioning me while completely ignoring everyone else. "He’s guarding what’s his."

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