Novel Full Chapter 420: I… I ate too much!
Chapter 420: I… I ate too much!
Maela stared at the shining Gel in her hand, her lips trembling as if she held something sacred.
“Please eat, Grandma Maela,”
Kael said with a gentle smile on his face.
Her eyes flickered toward him.
The word Grandma echoed in her chest, stirring something she had not felt in a long time. Slowly, she placed the Gel into her mouth.
Sweetness burst across her tongue. Her lips parted slightly, and her cloudy eyes widened in pleasant surprise.
“This… this is…”
She whispered in an unsteady voice.
“Good?”
Lavinia tilted her head, smiling knowingly.
Maela covered her mouth with her hand, as if ashamed of the sound she might make.
“It is… it is too good. I have never tasted anything like this before. Not in all my years…”
Kael chuckled lightly.
“Then eat more.”
He picked up another Gel and placed it in her hand.
“N-No, I shouldn’t. I already tasted enou—”
“You shouldn’t refuse when your God gives you something, you know?”
Lavinia spoke in a soft voice.
Maela lowered her head.
“But… I am old. Food should go to the young, to those who fight for us, not to me—”
“Nonsense.”
Lavinia shook her head as she spoke with a firm voice.
“The young fight because of the old. Without you, there would be no us. Did you not see how the people reacted when it was revealed that the food was being taken from the old? Many of the people wanted to kill or exile those Provisioners.
Why do you think that is the case?
It is because the people care about you.”
“…”
Maela didn’t know what to say and Lavinia continued,
“Besides, your God has given this to you, how can you doubt his decision?”
“…”
Maela blinked, slowly turning towards Kael. Kael nodded at her, he then gently held her hands and made her sit on the stone that the Velmourns used as a chair. He and Lavinia sat on two other stones and Kael handed her another Gel.
“Eat it, Grandma. If you don’t eat it, I will. And then she will scold me for being greedy.”
He spoke, staring at Lavinia, turning her into some sort of demon.
Maela’s lips twitched at his playful tone, and she let out a tiny laugh she hadn’t realized was in her. Almost without thinking, she ate the Gel he offered.
As she chewed, Lavinia leaned her chin into her palm.
“Good.”
“I-It is delicious.”
Maela praised again.
Kael offered her another and before she could refuse him, Kael secretly pointed at Lavinia, gesturing how she was going to attack him if she didn’t eat.
Lavinia’s mouth twitched at that. This time, Maela laughed out loud as she grabbed the Gel and ate it with a big smile on her face.
“I see now why people said your cooking was famous,”
Lavinia added, her voice soft but teasing.
“If you can enjoy food this much, you must have known how to give that same joy to others.”
“I only cooked simple meals… nothing special…”
Maela shook her head quickly.
“Simple meals are the best,” Lavinia replied.
“When I was a child, I loved bread with just a bit of honey. Nothing fancy. I still remember the taste even now.”
“Stop lying.”
Kael spoke in disdain,
“As if a Princess would understand what simple means.”
He snorted.
Lavinia’s face twitched again,
“I am not lying, I used to sneak into the kitchens and steal meat before it was even cooked. I once burned my eyebrows off trying to light a fire by myself.
My father nearly lost his mind. He would have turned the entire Kingdom around if one of the greatest healers of that time, Lord Aemond, wasn’t the—”
Lavinia spoke with a wide smile on her face, as if recalling a good memory, but very quickly, her smile froze and she fell silent.
Just as her eyes were about to turn moist,
“My case was different.”
Kael spoke up, very quickly changing the topic.
“Back in my world, I ate whatever was given to me. I had favourites, yes, but I wasn’t crazy for them.
But that changed when I came here.
A certain someone forced me to eat the food we were served first just so she could make sure the food wasn’t poisoned.
From a Hero, my status deteriorated to that of a poison tester.
Those were indeed some harsh times.”
Kael shook his head as if recalling a bad memory and Lavinia couldn’t help but laugh embarrassingly at those words as she hit him. Kael laughed as well. The two of them exchanged a glance, Lavinia silently nodded at him and Kael just smiled as he nodded back.
“You two are quite close.”
Maela, who saw them, commented with a gentle, motherly smile on her face.
“I have no one but him.”
Lavinia answered with a smile. Soon, however, she shook her head and sighed,
“Just my luck. To think when I finally found someone, it turned out to be him.”
“You should be glad, I am the best you can get.”
Kael countered and Lavinia turned towards Maela and sighed again,
“See, Grandma? My life is truly pitiful. He is the best I can get.”
Kael’s mouth twitched and Maela continued to laugh gently.
Just like that, Kael and Lavinia carried the conversation with their antics. The main goal was to make Grandma Maela eat more.
The current her was too stiff and cautious, so they wanted to ease her with conversations and make her eat unconsciously, filling her belly that she had been starving for years now.
And their method worked. Maela listened to them bantering with each other with a motherly smile, popping one Gel after another that Kael continuously offered her into her mouth without realizing it.
After a while, even she began participating in the conversation. She spoke of her younger days too—of cooking in the early mornings, of children running around her house, of the way her husband used to sing terribly off-key.
Every time she paused, Kael gently placed another Gel in her hands, and Lavinia would distract her with another question.
“And did you ever sing along with him?”
Lavinia asked with a mischievous smile.
Maela covered her face shyly.
“I… I did. But my voice was worse than his…”
“Impossible,”
Kael grinned.
“No one could be worse than a husband who sings off-key.”
Lavinia commented with a nod.
“I want to hear it now.”
The Mage requested.
Maela shook her head quickly.
“Oh no, I can’t—”
But she was smiling so brightly now, her cheeks pink, her eyes moist with tears she didn’t notice falling.
Time passed without her realizing. Half an hour later, when her stomach felt full, a feeling she had long forgotten, she blinked at the mess in front of her, shocked.
“I… I ate too much…”
She whispered, pressing her hands together as if ashamed.
And soon, she panicked,
“I-I forgot why you came here in the first place and started eating! Forgive me, Lord Kael, Lady Lavinia, I was so rude—”
“Calm down, Grandma Maela.”
Kael spoke in a calming voice.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“Indeed.”
Lavinia nodded.
“You need enough energy before you work, it is not a big deal.
Plus, we came here with more than enough time in our hands.”
Lavinia then leaned forward towards Maela and in a low voice,
“You see, unlike others, we don’t have to work very often. We have connections.
I didn’t even take any lectures today because I was busy.
Hehe~”
The Mage winked with a playful laugh.
“…”
Maela didn’t know what to say and Lavinia gently held her hands and—
“So stop worrying about all this.
You can start now if you want to.”
Maela took a deep breath, then wiped her eyes.
“Yes… yes, I will.”
She moved to the fire pit, hands still shaking, but now they carried energy instead of weakness. With careful effort, she began cooking. At first, her attempts failed—the mushrooms burned, the loaves crumbled, the biscuits turned too hard. But she tried again and again.
Kael and Lavinia said nothing, they just watched her with smiles on their faces. They even offered help, but Maela firmly shook her head, firmly denying any help whatsoever.
It had been a long time since someone wanted her to cook for them, it reminded her of the old days, so she wanted to do it all on her own.
The determined look in her eyes actually made Kael and Lavinia smile.
A sense of purpose.
This was why it was so important—to think a person who was trembling with exhaustion just half an hour ago was now doing something with such determination in her eyes.
It was beautiful to watch.
Time passed, and after about seven tries, Maela finally found a balance—softened mushrooms simmered with moss loaves until they blended into a thick, hearty base, the biscuits ground into fine crumbs that gave the dish a gentle crunch, and the Gel melted in to coat everything with a faint sweetness.
The result was simple but inviting. A faint steam curled upward, carrying with it a warm, rich smell—earthy from the mushrooms, fresh from the moss, and sweet enough to make the air feel softer.
It was a scent none of them had known before, yet strangely comforting, like something that should have always existed in their lives.
Maela set the dish carefully before Kael and Lavinia, her heart racing so fast she thought it might leap out of her chest.
Kael picked up a spoonful first. He blew gently on the steaming bite before placing it in his mouth.
His expression stayed still for a moment as he chewed—then his brows lifted, his eyes widened slightly, and a slow smile appeared on his face.
“…This is… good!”
He spoke, his voice full of surprise.