Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Translator: Yonnee

—

“Lord Dragon, my name is Jung-in… No, please call me Rosé.”

At that moment, I heard a voice.

“Can you see me?”

It was a refreshing, lilting voice. However, it was a voice that couldn’t be called human.

It was a voice that seemed like it shouldn’t exist in the world.

The dragon and I locked gazes. Was it the one who spoke?

“You’re not even a mage, but you can see meee?”

“Is it you who’s talking right now, Lord Dragon? Is that voice from you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What did you mean by a mage?”

I am but a humble office worker—but reality really hit me just then. I’m talking to a dragon right now.

As I shook my head, the dragon looked at me curiously.

“But don’t dragons sign contracts? Can you use your strength to be omnipotent?”

If that’s the case, then I’d very much want to enter a contract! If I become a powerful person, my life will also be so much easier!

A life of being the best without having to try too hard. Let’s do that.

“Don’t call me Lord Dragon. I’m not a draaagon…”

“…Pardon?”

No, but Lord Dragon. What do you mean? You’re a dragon no matter who looks at you. And what’s with this cute baby-like voice and demeanor?

As I agonized over this, I spoke.

“…Then what should I call you? Do you have a name?”

“Call me whatever you want. I don’t have a name, buuut…?”

“……”

I wanted to ask more questions, but the dragon had lain back down on the table.

“It’s warm here. It feels good because there’s so much manaaa.”

“This tower itself is surrounded by mana… Are you going to take a nap? Right now? While we’re talking??”

“I’m tiiired…”

His words gradually grew muffled, and right then, the dragon fell asleep.

As he fell unconscious, his tail stretched out.

The sound he made as he slept peacefully was like a cat’s purr.

As I saw this, it broke the image I had in my head of dragons.

“Um, excuse me?”

I tried to call out to him, but no matter how much I called, the dragon wouldn’t wake up.

He says he’s not a dragon, so now it’s weird to regard him as one.

Was there something wrong with my eyes? Maybe he really is a cat, it’s just that I’m deluding myself that he’s a dragon.

What am I supposed to believe?

In this case, I really needed Albert urgently.

He was a well-educated prince, so he should know everything. I had a faithful sense of trust in him.

“But I can’t bring Albert to the kitchen.”

First of all, I had to organize the ingredients and prepare breakfast. As the morning sun drew higher in the sky, beams of light shone through the small window of the kitchen.

Firstly, I decided to call him Blanc^[1] because he asked me not to call him Lord Dragon. After covering him with a small blanket, I started organizing the ingredients.

I put away the fresh vegetables, then the clothes that needed to be carried upstairs were set aside in one corner for now.

All the meat was placed in a magically operated refrigerator and freezer.

“If we’re talking about breakfast, meat is the best.”

Fried chicken in the morning would have been great, but I’m too fatigued to make it, so I can’t make that. There’s a reason why fried chicken is a popular meal for delivery.

I took out a thick portion of pork and sliced it up, maintaining an appropriate ratio of fat and lean meat.

Life is all about balance.

The quality of meat had definitely improved compared to what was being given before. This was all thanks to those two misters, Bob and John.

Setting aside the thinly sliced meat in a bowl, I took out the red pepper paste and red pepper powder again today. The garlic that I chopped last time was also added in.

Breakfast this morning will be stir-fried spicy pork over rice.

This was a meal that I really liked eating whenever I felt down.

When both body and mind are beaten down, the best remedy is delicious food.

I mixed the seasoning with the pork and took out the rice I soaked before I went to bed. Then, I chopped up some green onions.

“I wish I had some kimchi stew…”

How delicious would it be if this was kimchi stew with pork instead?

But the problem is that I don’t know how to make kimchi.

Seasoned vegetables and fermented kimchi were just different. It’s so out of reach. I’m sad that I can’t have kimchi.

I placed the pork over the sizzling pan. Wait a sec. I just remembered Seo Ina, the female protagonist in the novel.

Seo Ina’s main job and hobby was cooking.

Her hands were so adept at cooking, and the dishes she made were truly marvelous. She was such a great person who perfectly personified ‘cooking is life’.

If I were Seo Ina, I’d have been able to cook excellent Korean food in this world.

As I tried to figure out when exactly Seo Ina would appear, I recalled my first day after coming here.

Considering the original timeline, I guess there’s about eight months left.

For a moment, I imagined my life after leaving the tower.

After I get that building that I’ll rent out, I’ll go on a gourmet trip…

Once Seo Ina gets here, I have a perfect picture in my mind of getting along well with her while reminiscing about Korea.

The life of a landlord who enjoys kimchi stew made by the best chef, Seo Ina! That’ll be my life!

Seo Ina, ma’am. I’ll give you a lot of money.

“It smells gooood.”

As I was lost in thought, I was startled back to reality after realizing that Blanc came up next to me.

It seemed like he was gravitating towards the smell of the stir-fried pork as it’s almost done cooking.

“I’ll give you some separately. Please wait for a little bit.”

Sniff, sniff. Blanc took a whiff of the sizzling stir-fried pork.

I was afraid that Blanc would eat up the breakfast I prepared for Albert and myself, so I quickly put out portions on our plates.

The steamed rice was cooked just in time as well, so that was also placed in two bowls.

Spicy stir-fried pork over rice—done!

¹ Blanc, but basically Rose calls him ‘Whitey’. It’s a common way to call pets in Korea, but it doesn’t translate well in English, so let’s go with French lol ↩