And without waiting for a response from Aries, Ravien stood up from his throne and walked past him.
As he reached the entrance, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and his voice echoed before he passed the door, "Take him to the kitchen."
Only then did Aries raise his head, and he was instantly awed by the enormous throne before him. It was a carved golden tiger, designed in the form of a throne for the king to sit. The hall was vast, the walls lined with marble, and the floor glead under the light.
"He ain’t even going to look at . ’Take him to the kitchen,’ he said... by who?" Aries muttered. Just then, soone suddenly appeared before him, and Aries jumped back, screaming in shock.
He had never expected soone to materialize out of thin air right before him.
He stepped back and watched as this new tigerbeast said, "Co, let show you to the kitchen."
"And you are?" Aries questioned, but the person didn’t give him the liberty of a conversation, moving straight to the door and leaving.
Aries ran after him. Eventually, he was brought to a kitchen, and the man left. Aries sighed as he stood in the center of the room, looking at everyone who had stopped what they were doing to stare at him.
"Here we go again..." he muttered. At first, he had been surprised by their stares, but when his mind recalled his first day at the pleasure house, he realized this was the expected reaction.
Him—a cub cook. A cute one at that.
As Aries stood there, bald head shining, soone ca before him. It was a beautiful tiger beastlady, dressed in a silk skirt and top, with an apron wrapped around her body.
"So, I heard that you are the cook the king asked to make a al for him," she said, her voice smooth yet authoritative.
"Yes..." Aries responded, his words trailing off, as though he had more to say, which was true. If left to him, he would have told her how he didn’t want any of this, how it went entirely against his will.
But he couldn’t. The lady spoke again, her tone firm yet practical: "It’s not changing. What the king loves is his at raw and fresh."
Aries’ face scrunched up in disgust at the image forming in his mind. He had firsthand witnessed the king crunching on raw at—the thought alone, apart from the words, was enough to make him nauseous.
He took his eyes off the lady and scanned the kitchen, noticing the ingredients were not arranged as they were in the pleasure house. These people lacked salt, oil, or vegetables as he had seen before, and he knew exactly what he needed to do.
He turned to the lady and asked, "Do you perhaps have a store? Can I check it?"
"Also, about what you said regarding your king eating only raw at... we’ll see about that today. Perhaps, the rumors haven’t reached here," he replied, and her eyes glinted with mild amusent.
Suddenly, Aries wasn’t really concerned about the real matter on the ground, which was to go unnoticed by the king. Now, his mind was focused on proving himself to a bunch of royal cooks, and perhaps that might be the best approach, because the tiger king truly wouldn’t just leave him alone if he made a bad al. A bad al equals death, and a good al equals discovery.
It seed as though, whatever he did, he wouldn’t escape a bad outco after all.
Aries was led to the store, where he found what he was looking for and placed it on the table. He decided to make dium-cooked steak for the tiger king.
Analyzing the king, Aries concluded that he wouldn’t be easily captivated by rice wraps or stir-fried pork. Rather, he was soone who actually wanted to taste the sweetness of the at while still sensing its rawness—the feeling of tearing into the flesh of his enemies.
Aries placed the steak he was going to use on the table. It was freshly killed, and the blood rolled down onto his boot. He didn’t bother with that and heated the pan with oil, mixing it with the necessary ingredients such as salt, pepper, scent leaves, and the like.
To Aries, he was going to dium-fry the steak with the seasoned oil so that when the king cut into it, the flavors would dissolve on the tongue, delivering exactly what he desired.
He also prepared rice wraps and stir-fried pork, all dishes he had made before coming to the palace and was known for.
All the while as Aries made the al, he hadn’t raised his head to focus on the people, and when he was done, his attention went to them, finally noticing how they looked at him. They stared with expressions filled with choice and perhaps awe.
The lady in particular salivated, and that was exactly what Aries wanted. He cleared his throat and said, "So, here is what I’m serving the king. Can I get so assistance to get this to him?"
"Sure," she replied.
Aries left the kitchen carrying the main dish, and he was inford that the king was now in the company of two of his concubines, so they went to that place. As they arrived in front of the room, Aries made sure to bow his head again.
He stepped inside just after his introduction and t the king in a normal yet graceful position. One of the concubine’s breasts was exposed, and the king sucked on her tits.
Aries swallowed hard at this scene...it was sensual, but he made sure not to let it cloud his senses.
"Your Highness, I’m done with your al," he announced.
"From the scent alone, you are surely the praised cook the whole city talks about and waits on," one of the concubines flattered, her voice filling the room.
She reached out and took one of the rice wraps before her, and the other took so stir-fried pork. As it dropped into their mouths, their flattery intensified, which managed to draw Ravien’s attention to the bald cook before him.
He looked at the bald one and the food, then noticed the steak and it piqued his interest. He loved how a bit of redness clouded the at, and he said, "Co forward."
Aries, whose head had been down the whole ti, felt his heart thump hard. He knew he was the one being called, and nothing could be done except to obey.
He moved closer to the tiger king and now heard his voice again: "Raise your head up and look at ."
And here was what Aries feared. He might have disguised his scent, but what about his face? Wouldn’t that be easily noticeable, even though he had beast ears and a tail?
But that fear was dispelled as Aries reluctantly raised his head, heart thumping so hard it felt like it might jump right out, as the tiger king stared at him for a while and then said:
"Huh?"
Confusion clouded all of Aries’ senses. Did the tiger king just look at him without noticing that he was the one?
Aries never expected the king could be so foolish that his appearance could easily fool him.
"Why does your food taste good?"
As Aries stood before the tiger king, his heart still beat fast, but he knew he was sowhat safe now. He just needed to answer this question, and he would be left to go.
He said, "Because I incorporated seasoning to enhance the taste buds. All these sour, sweet, and spicy spices make them co out the way they are."
Aries educated the tiger king on and on about the things he had been using to cook, and just then, he locked eyes with the tiger king again. Uneasiness began to creep in. Before, his heart had been beating fast, but now, it felt as though it was knocking violently.
The king said, "Feed . Let taste this delight."
’Fuck!’ Aries trembled as he cursed inwardly, but he couldn’t deny.
’I just need to make sure there’s no direct contact because of my scent, right?’
He would know it’s just by a sniff.
But still, Aries cald his heart, cut a bite from the steak onto the fork, and brought it to the king. As Aries stood there, the hairs on the back of his neck literally stood up, and just as the fork was almost reaching the king’s mouth, his hand was suddenly held tight.
Aries’ eyes widened as he watched the king drag his hand, holding the fork, to his mouth and take the bite off it. He closed his mouth and chewed, eyes closed. When he opened them again, they stared deep into Aries’ eyes, and he heard him say:
"The at is good. I’d admit that you are a good cook, but you are more extraordinary."
"So, this is where you have been, my breeder?"
Fear flashed across Aries’ eyes.
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