"Excellent, Karen. I order you to remain here for the rest of your life. If you dare refuse, I'll destroy Aimebisalon."
Ever since the general recognized Henry/Allen and Hysria, I'd already had a vague feeling he hadn't invited me here just for a casual chat. But when someone threatened me, I wasn't going to give them any respect.
I frowned and repeated his words in a low voice.
"You brought me here for something like this?"
"That's right. You know many dishes that haven't even been invented yet, don't you? For the sake of my appetite, become my personal chef."
As expected of a food fanatic. Everything always came back to eating. Personal chef? I was someone who longed for freedom.
"As long as you stay here, any request you have can be granted."
The general's one-sided coercion kept me from resisting him immediately. Because he could fly straight to Aimebisalon at any moment, and I wouldn't be able to catch up.
The easiest way to destroy a country was to capture the ruler—meaning attack the capital. The general was using the fact that Lina and Lani were in the capital to threaten me. Clever.
Lina could probably kill the general, but there was no guarantee she could react before he launched an attack.
And killing him wasn't an option either. The general was an important figure in this country. If he died, the nation would fall into chaos. Besides, Dilibrash had grown far too peaceful and had practically no resistance against outside threats.
So I needed a way to subdue the general—to beat him to the edge of death until he begged for mercy. But I still hadn't figured out how.
In the end, I reluctantly answered him.
"...Give me three days to think about it."
"Very well. Think carefully. The future of Aimebisalon rests in your hands."
The general leaned back confidently and even crossed his legs. Just looking at him made me want to punch him.
"It should've ended there, but while enjoying the food earlier, I came up with another question."
"...What is it?"
I waited a few seconds before replying irritably. I didn't want to talk to him, but I was at a disadvantage. Ignoring him would only make his threats escalate.
"Why did that little girl with light purple hair eat two and a half servings?"
The little girl with light purple hair was Ethefelis. Two and a half servings meant five servings by normal standards. The general was ridiculous. Ainasse Queen could eat enough for twenty-four people, yet he found five servings strange?
"No idea. She was born that way. I heard that every time she passes the age of twelve, her appetite increases by another two and a half servings."
"HAHAHAHA!!!"
The moment I finished speaking, the general burst into loud laughter. It was so loud it hurt my ears.
"To think that little girl has the royal physique."
Ethefelis had the royal physique? Royal?
I hadn't even had three seconds to process that when—
BANG!
The door suddenly slammed open so hard it startled me.
Then Ainasse Queen rushed into the room and ran over to the general, speaking excitedly.
"Lord Arakeya, you already know?! But how?! Normally that should be impossible!"
Why was Ainasse Queen starting to look more and more like a child? Where had her calm dignity gone?
Then I heard Jacob's voice.
"Karen, we were talking about Ethefelis's appetite, and Her Majesty suddenly ran over here."
Even Ainasse Queen was this shocked. Just how unbelievable was Ethefelis's appetite?
Then the general patted the seat beside him and spoke to Ainasse Queen, Jacob, and Grace.
"Kejellari, calm yourself. You two over there, sit down as well."
"Yes."
Ainasse Queen sat beside the general. I had originally been sitting in the middle, but since I didn't want to sit between Jacob and Grace, I moved to the seat on the right.
"Let me tell you a story. In Fatelis Year..."
In the year 1500 of the Fatelis Year, the Queen of Dilibrash gave birth to twin princesses. From childhood, both girls ate far more than ordinary people, consuming five servings every meal without ever gaining weight.
On their thirteenth birthday, their appetites suddenly increased by another five servings, bringing them to ten servings per meal.
At nineteen, the younger twin fell in love and insisted on marrying into Aimebisalon.
At twenty-three, the twins' mother—the queen—passed away, and the older sister inherited the throne. At the same time, her appetite increased to twenty-four servings per meal.
On her twenty-fifth birthday, the older sister's appetite rose to thirty-six servings, while the younger sister living in Amelbisalon reached fifteen servings.
At twenty-six and twenty-eight, the older sister gave birth to a prince and then a princess. Both children also started life eating five servings per meal and gained another five once they turned thirteen.
At thirty, the younger sister was murdered, and all contact with her was lost.
At fifty, the older sister grew tired and passed the throne to the prince. By then, the twenty-four-year-old prince's appetite had also increased to twenty-four servings per meal.
At twenty-five, a new princess was born, once again with an appetite of five servings from childhood. However, the child born to the former princess—now a duchess—did not inherit the five-serving appetite.
"...And so the cycle has continued. No one knows where this physique came from or why it exists."
The story was simple enough to understand, so I immediately summarized it.
"So this is a physique unique to the royal family. Whoever inherits the throne gains a larger appetite, and their children inherit the physique as well. Those who don't inherit the throne won't pass it on to their children."
I also finally understood what Ainasse Queen meant earlier by "the privilege of a king."
Kings were simply too busy to eat slowly.
"Exactly! So why does that little girl have this physique?!"
Ainasse Queen anxiously asked the general why Ethefelis possessed the royal physique. Why was she so desperate to know?
The general answered her.
"The only explanation is that she's a descendant of the First One."
Much as I hated it, the general and I had reached the same conclusion. I added another similarity between Ethefelis's family and the royal bloodline.
"And when the First One's children inherit their husband's noble title, it's similar to inheriting the throne. Their appetites don't increase, but the physique still passes directly through the bloodline."
I couldn't understand why the twin princesses had been born with this physique in the first place, nor why both of them could pass it down. But it had to be the work of a god. The physique completely defied normal human biology.
"I see."
Ainasse Queen seemed to accept the explanation, though she still looked slightly doubtful.
Then the general turned to us with a smile that looked merciful on the surface but felt utterly fake.
"Any more questions?"
I had no more questions. More importantly, I didn't want to keep talking to the general. I looked toward Jacob and Grace on my left, and both of them shook their heads.
So I stood up and spoke to the general in a calm but respectful tone.
"No more questions. Please show us to our rooms."
After that, the general instructed the butler to lead the three of us to our respective rooms.