"This is Charléon wine, a specialty of the southern region."
"Oh, this vintage is quite hard to co by, isn’t it?"
"I recently managed to acquire it through a connection. The aroma was exceptional."
"I will gratefully enjoy it."
Duke Bluewell looked at the wine Rupert had brought as a gift, genuinely delighted.
Although the duke received all kinds of rare gifts, the wine Rupert brought was an item that was difficult to obtain even with money. As a wine enthusiast, the duke found it a delightful present.
"Thank you for coming."
"Thank you for inviting ."
As soon as she heard Rupert had arrived at the mansion, Alia rushed to greet him and extended her warm welco. Rupert replied with a smile.
"It doesn’t compare to Lady Alia’s smile, but I saw these on the way and brought them along."
"Oh my, what is this?"
"Dahlias. The color was quite unique."
Rupert handed Alia the bouquet he had bought for her.
The rose-tinted dahlias stood out, and as Alia accepted the bouquet, her cheeks turned a deep shade of red.
"As expected…"
Alia held the bouquet tightly to her chest and murmured sothing in a low voice, too quiet for Rupert to catch.
"Won really do like flowers, after all."
Rupert, who had hesitated over what kind of flowers to bring, had found the dahlias at a florist by chance. Their rose-like hue had caught his attention, and he was relieved to see Alia liked them.
"Oh my, I’ve kept you waiting too long. Shall we head to dinner?"
"Yes, I’m very much looking forward to tasting Lady Alia’s cooking."
"Please don’t expect too much. My skills are still lacking."
As Alia and Rupert moved toward the dining room, the duke was left behind, urgently whispering to a maid.
"Duke, won’t you join us?"
"Ah, I have so business to attend to… I must apologize for the rudeness."
"Not at all. Affairs of the empire are bound to take precedence."
"Thank you for your understanding."
As soon as Rupert was out of sight, the duke turned back to the maid.
"Did you properly switch out the dishes?"
"Well… Lady Alia was very insistent."
"No! If he eats what she made as it is, we won’t gain a son-in-law, we’ll make enemies of their family instead!"
"But her cooking has improved quite a bit recently."
Despite the maid’s assurances, the duke couldn’t shake his concern.
Rumors were already circulating that the imperial family intended to match Rupert with Princess Iolin. This was an opportunity to solidify Alia’s position, and even that might not be enough.
Letting him eat her cooking as-is was practically asking for failure.
Thus, the duke had instructed the maid to secretly swap out Alia’s food with dishes from the head chef. Unfortunately, that plan had now fallen apart.
"I’ve done all I can, Alia."
The duke hadn’t liked Rupert initially, but since his daughter was so fond of him, he had tried to support her.
But now, everything was out of his hands. Alia would have to handle the rest on her own.
"This is a bit unusual."
"Yes! In the empire’s eastern regions, they eat fish and other seafood raw. So…"
Hearing Rupert’s reaction after tasting the dish, Alia beca even more excited as she explained.
anwhile, the maids standing by to serve were sweating nervously.
"Is this even right?"
To counteract Alia’s infamous cooking skills, the head chef had co up with a special strategy: eastern-style raw seafood dishes.
"Just practice your knife skills, my lady!"
He recomnded the raw preparation style from certain coastal areas in the east, where fish and shellfish were eaten without cooking.
"I’ll make the sauces for you. That way, it’ll feel like you prepared everything yourself."
It was a compromise with Alia, who insisted on cooking for Rupert after he said he wanted to taste her food soday.
But despite this, everyone was on edge.
"Raw fish…? What are we, savages?"
To those who lived in the imperial capital, eating raw seafood was not only unfamiliar but almost barbaric.
"Oh! This is sashimi!"
Contrary to their worries, Rupert was thrilled.
Since arriving in this world, he had mostly eaten imperial cuisine and missed Earth’s food terribly. While he longed for spicy kimchi and instant noodles, this fresh seafood dish was a pleasant surprise.
"Is this octopus?"
"You recognize it? In so places, it’s called the Devil Fish, but in the east, it’s considered a delicacy. So I thought…"
"Yes, I enjoy it very much."
To those who didn’t understand Rupert’s thoughts, it seed like he was enduring "horrifying" dishes purely out of affection for Alia.
"This is octopus, isn’t it?"
"Do you recognize it? In so regions, it’s called the Devil Fish, but in the east, it’s considered a delicacy. So I thought…"
"Yes, I’m very fond of it."
Unaware of Rupert’s inner thoughts, those around him assud he was enduring these “bizarre” dishes purely out of affection for Alia.
anwhile, Alia was staring at Rupert with a dreamy expression as he ate the food she had prepared with such focus.
"Rosy dahlias…"
The bouquet Rupert had given her lingered in Alia’s mind, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him as he ate.
She knew her cooking wasn’t great.
But she also vividly rembered the day at the Sorset estate when she had made a major mistake, and Rupert had gone out of his way to protect her. Back then, he had said he wanted to try her cooking soday.
Alia had worked tirelessly since then, and now, that effort had borne fruit. She finally had the chance to invite Rupert to her ho and serve him her food.
And then there were the flowers Rupert had brought—a gift that seed to speak directly to her heart.
"I’m glad I’ve co to know how you feel."
Lately, Alia had felt a growing anxiety, knowing that others were vying for Rupert’s attention.
But today, Rupert’s gift of the rosy dahlias—their aning so clear—felt like an unmistakable answer to the question she had once asked: Was he ready to give up everything and choose her?
was a special story for Ada.
"Hmm, this seems like sothing Ada can read too."
Up until now, the only one of Rupert’s works Ada could read had been Frozen Kingdom.
Every other story—like Fulltal Alchemist or Van Helsing—had been strictly off-limits to her.
Rupert had always made it clear that his other works weren’t suitable for her.
As Rupert’s little sister, Ada had always been the first to read anything he created. Not being allowed to read certain works had been unbearable for her.
But Rupert’s ban was unyielding, so Ada had obediently avoided those titles until now.
However, Rupert had granted her permission to read his latest work, The King of Cards.
And the result?
"It’s a severe case of duel addiction."
Owen let out a deep sigh as he reported the situation to Marquess Bradley.
"Duel addiction?"
"It refers to people who beco so obsessed with dueling that they try to solve everything through duels."
"Is it really that bad?"
The marquess was well aware of the cultural waves caused by Rupert’s works, and he knew The King of Cards was no exception. Its popularity was imnse.
He also knew that his daughter, Ada, had been completely captivated by the card ga featured in the story.
"She’s been challenging everyone she ets to duels lately. It’s becoming a headache."
"Isn’t it just a childish ga? Surely, indulging her a little isn’t so bad?"
The marquess thought that playing cards was preferable to Ada’s old habit of using physical force to solve problems.
But Owen’s expression grew more serious.
"The issue is that she’s too good at it."
"What?"
Owen couldn’t forget the humiliating defeats he had suffered at Ada’s hands.
"Duel , Owen!"
As a mber of the Sorset household, Owen naturally had an interest in card gas. He had even grown quite confident in his skills.
His cautious personality and defensive play style earned him a reputation as a competent duelist.
"Fine, Lady Ada. But if I win, you’ll stay ho and study today!"
Recently, Ada’s escapades had beco increasingly difficult to manage, so Owen had thought that using a duel to rein her in was a clever idea. Confident in his ability to outplay her, he accepted her challenge.
But then—
"Owen, you’re terrible at cards, aren’t you?"
Ada crushed Owen in their duel, leaving him utterly defeated.
"How could this be…?"
It was as if Ada knew every card in Owen’s hand. She shut down every one of his strategies before he could even execute them.
That wasn’t all.
It was as if so divine force guided Ada. She consistently drew the perfect card every turn, leaving Owen utterly helpless.
After several attempts, all ending in the sa result, Owen finally gave up.
And he wasn’t the only victim.
"Is that little girl the Card Demon of Sorset?"
"I heard she’s already taken every rare card from duelists in the surrounding territories."
"She’s the goddess of cards!"
Rumors about Ada had spread like wildfire across the nearby lands.
She was infamous among duelists, known as the girl with the giant blue wolf who left no opponent standing.
"Rasshu! Let’s enter the tournant and win it all!"
Even now, Ada was going from shop to shop, defeating duelists left and right.
"Woof!"
Rasshu, always by Ada’s side, faithfully supported her.
"That wolf is fascinating."
"What do you an?"
"When a duel begins, it quietly moves to the opponent’s side, as if to avoid distracting its master."
"Oh, now that you ntion it, you’re right."
Even now, as Ada started another duel, Rasshu had stepped away from her side and moved toward her opponent. The bystanders couldn’t help but marvel at the wolf’s behavior.
"Woof!"
Rasshu let out a loud bark, as if cheering Ada on.
"Hahaha, that wolf really seems like it’s rooting for her!"
"You never know. Maybe it’s giving her hints about her opponent’s cards."
"You’re ridiculous. What a joke!"
Thus began the legend of the undefeated Ada.
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