Secret Wardrobe of the Duchess

Chapter 49

 
A servant brought Rubica’s aperitif as soon as she sat down. It was sparkling wine that was just a little bit sour, perfect for arousing the appetite. The appetizer came out immediately after she took a sip of wine. It was a fruit she had never seen before.

“These are?”

“They are dragon’s eyes, Your Grace.”

The servant replied with a kind smile. Rubica was surprised and looked back at the dish. There were about four, five round and small purple fruits on it.
Dragon’s eyes.

She had never known she would ever get to see that fruit, much less eat it. Tasty fruit that could be harvested only in a dragons’ territory. It was known to contain a dragon’s energy and liked by dragons, so they severely punished humans if they ever found them harvesting it. In short, they had to be harvested by risking lives.

Rubica touched the round fruit with her fork. She didn’t like it.

‘If it is on a duke’s dinner, His Majesty at the capital must have it even more often.’

Aristocrats in this kingdom said extravagance had to be banned, people were short on money, import of wheat must be increased, and nobles shouldn’t hold balls except in winter when it was agricultural off-season, but in the end, they just did what they wanted.

Nobody objected when it was said it was to show off power and authority and solidify social order. Dragon’s eye was one of such things. It was proof that they had enough military power and money to fight dragons and get it.
Rubica made a dragon’s eye roll on the dish with her fork.

‘How many people have shed blood to get this one small fruit?’

Thinking about it, she didn’t want to put it in her mouth no matter how expensive it was. She removed the dragon’s eyes decorated on the piece of bread and ate it with just steamed pumpkin and oil.

“… you don’t like it?” Edgar looked at Rubica and asked. He was looking at the dragon’s eyes on her dish.

“Yes.”

He raised an eyebrow to hear that. However, before he could say anything, the servant took away the dishes and brought the next ones.

“Freshly roasted buntings hunted by the knights today.”

Looking at the roasted bird with beans made Rubica feel comfortable. She glanced at Edgar as she cut a leg with her knife. To her surprise, her eyes met Edgar’s.

“Say it if you have something to say.”

Rubica was so surprised that she almost dropped the knife. Edgar had finished cutting and was elegantly putting a piece of meat in his mouth. Looking at that, Rubica wondered for a moment if he had learned how to read minds at the Academy.

Anyway, as Edgar had asked first, she decided there was no need to hesitate and got to her point.

“I met your relatives today. I had a pleasant talk with one of them, Lord Sesar, and… my lord?”

Rubica was startled at seeing Edgar get mad so quickly. The man was fit for sitting on a desk and writing beautiful lines with a quill, but at least for now, he looked like a warrior whose destiny was to wield a sword.

“What kind of scheme is this?”

Scheme? What is he saying?
Rubica didn’t know what was going on and gulped hard. She wasn’t the only one surprised by Edgar’s abrupt anger.
All the servants and maids who were waiting froze on the spot. They couldn’t say anything lest they might light the bomb.