The Kingdom of Everlasting Night and the Last Ball Translation

3.2 The Royal Palace’s Anniversary and the Potato Pie

…I wonder if I was right…

Dia wondered while fidgeting. She was also at loss at what to do.

Apparently, he hadn’t come to fetch Dia, who had left her room.

So… he isn’t someone I thought he was…

“…Are you not the one who governs the night?”

That’s definitely the attire of the nobleman who controls the night…

The High-ranking Outsider of the Night wore a cape, shoes, a hair ornament, and everything with glossy color that would blend into the night. The one who instilled upon Dia this knowledge was her older brother, who should have been the successor of the title Gillasfi instead of her.

Previously, Dia had assumed that she had committed some misdeed in the Royal Palace, hence he came to fetch Dia, who was also the last of her family during the anniversary.

“For what reason should this me pick you up?”

Hence why, his words pierced through Dia’s heart like a sharp knife.

Why?

Dia felt sad about her own desperation—otherwise, why would she put her hope in such a place?

“…Well, it seems that I was mistaken. Pardon me. Umm… are you perhaps taking a walk?”

“Ho, I can see why you would conclude so.”

He reached out to her, only for Dia to avoid his grasp.

The man in front of her lifted one eyebrow silently. Unless she knew this outsider was a good individual, she shouldn’t let herself be touched carelessly by him.

There was also the fact that she was sick.

He basically confirmed that he isn’t a guest—alright, best to run.

“Then, I shall therefore excuse myself—gya!

Despite being barefoot and in casual attire rather than that of a lady, Dia still smiled, bowed, and tried to leave.

However, before she could make her escape, she was captured without a moments delay. Thus, Dia who failed to escape started to panic.

For a moment, she thought she would suffer the same fate as that knight from before—but the outsider who grabbed Dia by the hand and seized her had a complicated expression for some reason.

“…I, I’m but an innocent girl passing by. As such, I don’t think I want to be petals…”

“…I feel like I’ve acquired a rare beast. As such, I won’t dismantle you.”

“What a rude thing to say! In the first place…”

Ho, what’s more, you carry traces of snow daffodil nectar and the dew of the full moon’s night scent? …It seems like you’ve been poisoned by someone.”

Even though the other party was a stranger, treating a pretty maiden such as her like a rare animal was quite rude.

Dia quickly became annoyed, but as soon as he pointed that out, her anger cooled instantly.

His purple eyes, which looked down at her, were very inhumane. That was why she started to tremble—utterly devoid of her gracefulness, and felt truly like an animal, instead.

I see where he’s coming from.

Dia recall that three days ago, she frowned at the mysterious sweetness of the water she had drank from the jug.

She felt a little unnerved by the slight sweetness that remained on her tongue, but she didn’t give it a second thought.

Nowadays, occasionally someone would sent her a jug of lemon water or herbal water, she thought the sweetness of the water was also due to that.

However, when she took a sip of the tea served at breakfast on that day, and tasted the same sweetness and unfamiliar floral scent, Dia immediately knew the situation in which she was in.

Sure enough, by the afternoon, she had collapsed from a high fever and wandered around the border of life and death. Until yesterday, it was impossible for her to get up from her bed.

Last night, the nurses who had been caring for her bowed their heads—they had to leave because the next day was the day of the anniversary. As such, Dia was given a chance to move around by herself.

Although she had successfully recovered, she had no doubt ingested poison.

“…well, what do you know? Perhaps I was so hungry, I had to inadvertently eat snow daffodils.”

“You live in the Royal Palace and yet you have to survive on nectar?”

The man’s menacing look wavered.

That was when Dia’s poor stomach rung.

“…isn’t this entire situation strange?”

“…it seems that my stomach is empty. Do you happen to know where the kitchen is located?”

“Don’t tell me, you left your room on the anniversary day just to find a kitchen—?”

The outsider’s eyes seemed overwhelmed—as if he had seen some incredible things.

Dia drooped her head in dejection.

The women of this kingdom were often said to be beautiful—although it was also because of said reason they were often buried in the Royal Castle.

Dia wasn’t one to openly express herself, but she made sure she worked hard to become a lady that could stand beside the First Prince as his fiancée.

As such, it was quite a pitiful, embarrassing, thing that the state of her stomach became known to this beautiful but disturbing outsider.

She even though she had managed to fool the outsider into thinking that she was a mere maid. Nevertheless, it seemed that the Outsider recognized instantly that no maid would ever be seen in such a state in public.

Whelp, there was nothing else she could do. Dia decided to not touch the subject anymore.

“…the kitchen.”

“Even though you’ve just been poisoned, it seems that you haven’t learned your lesson yet.”

“I have my reason for going there. In fact, I need to go there. Let go of your hand so I can find the place myself…”

Again, her belly rung.

At this point, the Outsider’s expression had transformed into complete astonishment.

Dia, who thought she could at least preserve her dignity, had her heart crushed by the culprit—which was her own self; her belly, to be precise.

The man also appeared to be speechless. Despite so, he didn’t let go.

“…let’s see, how about this? You pay me—and if I am satisfied, I won’t take you with me.”

“Let me remind you of the fact that humans actually die if they get mauled, and also the fact that my belongings are also the property of the Royal Family. As such, I can’t move them at my own discretion.”

“I’m neither a beast nor a curse. I don’t eat humans.”

“S, so, what do you eat, then…?”

The man frowned upon seeing how surprised she was when he revealed he didn’t eat humans.

Now that Dia thought about it, that man constantly wore the same expression ever since he started talking with her…

“The silence of the night is what I eat. Other than that, I can also digest normal food—I’m not any different than you humans.”

“I see… you also won’t eat a human’s heart?”

“Listen, discard that biased knowledge.”

“However, humans also heat and cook crops—in that sense, we might be different…”

Dia then went off on a tangent and spoke about the Mukmugris—who often came to play near the Royal Palace. Their staples were wheat and apples.

Mukmugris were a kind of large, round, muffled rabbit with short ears. Fashitar was their habitat. They were said to be some kind of degenerate beast, but they originally belonged to the fairy species.

—Once, when no one was looking, she took the opportunity to bury her face in the belly of one. She could confidently say that that was the happiest moment of her life.

“Mukmugris…”

“Ye—es—!?”

When she nodded to the man, who uttered the word in bafflement, the man suddenly lowered his head—as a result, their foreheads collided. Dia held her throbbing, red, forehead.

“You, keep silent for a moment.”

The man, who was indignant for some reason, held Dia. As she protested under his arm, his heel slammed the floor.

Then, the wind caressed her softly—it was neither cold nor warm. Soon, she felt the sensation of gradually being engulfed in a fleeting, sweet, thin darkness—then, her surroundings changed.

Dia blinked, appalled. It was her first time experiencing such black magic. The sorcery made her dizzy.

They were no longer in the western decorated hallway that led to the library.

Dia was now in a place that appeared to be a kitchen of the Royal Palace, albeit she wasn’t so sure due to this being her first visit ever.

Did I just get teleported…?

It was said that in kingdoms were magic was abundant, sorcerers sometimes did a magic called, ‘Teleportation’.

However, in kingdoms sparse of magic, that magic could only exist in fairy tales.

While Dia was impressed by the great magic she had witnessed for the first time, the Outsider with bright purple eyes dexterously prepared a potato pie stuffed with minced meat.

Then, on the kitchen counter, a plate with a potato pie was suddenly placed in front of her. Dia was at loss as she glanced at the man in front of her.

She didn’t expect to get potato pie from the stranger she had just met.

I’m too scared to touch the food that’s delivered to my own room…

When it was pointed out, Dia wasn’t affirmative—but she was aware she had been poisoned.

That was why, even though she had recovered enough to be able to move, she was still too scared to eat. Even though her stomach rumbled like crazy, she dared not touch the food prepared for her in that room.

I’m also scared of the food served by a stranger, but, compared to having to eat the food delivered to my room…

Since she fell ill, she hadn’t eat anything.

So Dia, without much thought, decided to eat the potato pie.

She knew she would have to pay him later, but she didn’t turn her eyes away from the delicious, steaming, potato pie.

As soon as she decided so, she grabbed a spoon, cracked the pie crust, and saw the steam billowing. Dia’s heart pounded.

The Creature That Governed the Night, who was currently in front of her, when he appeared in front of her, he might had be harboring malice, but…

…even though he didn’t give her the ending of salvation that would always be there at the end of every beautiful fairy tale, he still served her warm food.

When she again thought of the polished jug and the water inside—along with the poison it contained—her heart shrank. The sadness felt unbearable for her.

The potato pie she put in her mouth didn’t have the grand display that Royal Palace’s cuisine usually had—but it was no doubt the most delicious meal she had ever eaten ever since she came to live in the Royal Palace.

Desperate and sad; wanting to cry aloud, Dia kept stuffing her cheeks with the potato pie.


**T/N: ///Bask in the new trend of male lead being able to cook and try to win the femmc’s heart through food// Fufu~ I don’t hate it at all~ *modestly smile and laugh, smile and laugh

LIKE IF A DEMON OR A MALE EVER APPEAR AND THEN SERVED ME SOME FANTASTIC COOKING FULLY KNOWING IM HUNGRY I WOULD LEGIT MARRY/ SELL MY SOUL TO THEM ON SPOT, NO QUESTION ASKED!!

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