“Will you eat quietly?”

“What a rude question. I never said I would eat noisily.”

“If you make another snarky comment, you’ll go hungry.”

“Snarky? I suppose you must be jealous of my excessive good looks.”

Aila tightened her grip on the rice bowl, and Tael quickly added:

“I never said I would eat with my head held high.”

Satisfied with his promise to eat quietly with his head down, Aila set the bowl before him.

“Fine, then.”

Worried she might take the bowl away, he ate quickly without saying a word. Soon, five empty bowls were stacked beside him.

After eating his fill, with soup staining the corners of his mouth, Tael grumbled:

“How is it possible that each of the five bowls contained exactly one rotten potato?”

“Good. If you’re complaining, stop eating. You’ll bankrupt my household.”

When Aila tried to clear away the bowls, Tael blocked them with his body and said:

“Is this about the stable incident? Didn’t you say we could work together? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Tael grew even more shameless.

“So give me another bowl.”

“……”

Aila clenched her molars and filled his bowl to the brim with potato soup.

“You’ve given me quite a lot of this tasteless food.”

“Shut your mouth and eat.”

Tael replied defiantly:

“I can’t eat with my mouth shut.”

He lowered his voice.

“So I’ll speak quietly.”

Watching Tael quickly devour another bowl, Aila clenched her fist and muttered:

“I’ll definitely get my money’s worth.”

After emptying another bowl, Tael held it out again.

“One more.”

Aila turned to look inside the pot. It was completely empty.

“Is that even possible? Such a glutton?”

Tael ate too much for her to get her money’s worth. Looking at his build, she got a headache thinking about feeding him.

‘I can’t just dump this guy somewhere!’

Tael shook his empty bowl.

“Hurry up and serve me.”

Aila suddenly lost her temper.

“Make it yourself and eat—”

Just then, a commotion erupted from somewhere.

In the distance, large men carrying wooden clubs were approaching Aila’s house.

Seeing them, Aila turned pale and shouted:

“It’s those men! Serna, Melia, hide!”

“B-but what about you, sister?”

“I’ll be fine, hurry!”

Serna and Melia hesitated briefly, worried about Aila, but she pulled them inside the house and hid them in a secret cellar beneath the floor.

Tael looked back and forth between the men and Aila, asking indifferently:

“Should I hide too?”

Aila, distracted by the men, didn’t answer. Meanwhile, the men barged into the house and began smashing things in the yard one by one.

“Aila! When do you plan to pay back the money?”

Aila, though frightened, clenched her fist and said:

“I’ve already repaid the principal. Don’t you know me? If you give me just a little more time, I’ll pay the interest too…”

“Interest? You mean 30 gold?”

“What? I only borrowed 3 gold in the first place!”

“The interest has grown because you haven’t paid.”

“!”

“If you want to blame someone, blame Emperor Targaniel. It’s because of the war that interest rates have risen.”

“What does the war have to do with this?!”

“It’s interest added considering the possibility you might run away. Be grateful we’re not taking someone from here.”

“That’s too much, no matter how you look at it!”

When Aila protested, one of the men approached and grabbed her by the collar.

“Too much? And what can you do about it? Is there any other merchant group in this village besides ours where you can buy medicine for your sister?”

“T-that’s…”

“If you don’t pay quickly, we’ll take Serna instead, just so you know.”

“!”

“I hear she’s quite beautiful. The prettiest in this village, they say.”

“Not Serna!”

“What do you mean, not Serna!”

The man threw Aila aside, causing her to collide with Tael, who was eating potato soup.

Tael’s soup bowl spilled, and his pupils trembled seriously. He stared at the man with frightening eyes, slowly rising from his seat and approaching him, casting a large shadow over the man.

Though the men were tall, Tael stood a head taller than them, creating an intimidating presence.

“W-what? Who is this guy?!”

Despite outnumbering him, the men hesitated to attack, frozen by the tension.

“M-move! Won’t you move?! Do you want to die?!”

Tael asked in a voice so cold it sent chills:

“Do you know what you’ve just done?”

The man swallowed nervously but outwardly sneered and threw a punch at Tael. However, it was blocked as if it were made of cotton.

“Aaaagh!”

Tael casually twisted the man’s fist, bringing him down, then picked up a half-burned broom.
Though it was a worthless weapon, somehow when Tael held it, it seemed like a magnificent sword.

“Insolent fools.”

He gritted his teeth.

“I asked if you know what you’ve touched. Because of you, I’ll go to bed hungry again today.”

His voice was filled with indignation.
“I was so hungry I even ate rotten potatoes! Do you know the taste of those rotten potatoes you’d normally flush down the toilet?!”

“…?”

Before the thugs could respond to this bewildering rage, Tael swung the broom. With clean, precise movements, he began to subdue them easily.

Aila’s jaw dropped watching the scene. He was literally sweeping them all away.
With an attitude showing no mercy and overwhelming skill.

Some who had been thoroughly beaten grabbed Tael’s legs and begged for forgiveness, but he showed no mercy.

“Ah, right. He was a tyrant.”

Even a warmonger who always led from the front.

It would have been strange if he couldn’t fight.

Having reached this conclusion, Aila rose smoothly and waved her arms vigorously in encouragement.

“Fighting! Fighting! Yes! That’s it! Horse dung! Well done!”

Tael, who was breaking a thug’s arm, paused at the enthusiastic support from the woman who had been scolding him.

“If you want to cheer, keep your mouth shut.”

“Aah! Please let me go! It hurts too much!”

Tael seemed not to hear the thug’s cries.

He blushed shyly while still holding the man’s twisted arm. He almost felt a little embarrassed.

“Horse dung! You’re the best! Among all dungs, horse dung is the finest!”

Tael finally gave in to emotion.

His pupils dilated slightly, and he raised the corners of his mouth proudly. His face showed how immensely proud he was of himself.

The men, continuing to suffer defeats, panicked and fled.

When the situation was finally resolved, Aila, who had been cheering with her whole body, broke into a broad smile.

“Horse dung! You’ve finally earned your keep!”

Tael pondered what she meant, then raised his head proudly.

“Indeed.”

He was incredibly proud of himself.

He had merely punished those who spilled his soup, yet he felt as if he had repaid a debt.

“Our horse dung! I never thought I’d see this day!”

“I’ve always been like this.”

“Amazing! Well done!”

He placed both hands on his waist and raised his chin even higher. His shoulders were rising as if to pierce the sky.

“That’s the kind of person I am.”

“I’m in a good mood! I’ll make you more soup with the remaining potatoes!”

“!”

Tael tried not to smile, but the corners of his mouth kept rising.

“There’s no need for such trouble, but considering your feelings, I’ll accept.”

“But…”

Aila looked at the spilled soup bowl. The pot was definitely empty, so where did this come from?

“Did you eat what Melia and Serna left behind?”

“……”

“Hey! How could you eat all of that too! The kids were on their first bowl!”

Tael’s eyes wavered momentarily, then he pointed at the thugs who had become distant dots.
“I needed food to deal with them.”

“After eating five bowls already, what…! Ah.”

Aila sighed deeply.

“Fine. You chased them away, so it’s okay.”

After speaking, Aila tilted her head curiously.

This seemingly dim-witted man was definitely an emperor not long ago. An emperor who had probably never even seen leftovers in his life.

He must have eaten his fill of the finest foods laid out on long, massive tables. Perhaps he had even been picky, refusing to eat if the seasoning was slightly off.

Yet this same man had stolen and eaten someone else’s leftovers.

“Were you always like this?”

Tael answered proudly:

“Is there a problem? Even slaves get hungry.”

Though his actions were deplorable, his attitude remained imperial, making Aila tilt her head even more.

She couldn’t tell if he was adapting so well because he was an emperor or if he had always been this kind of person, but his adaptability was frighteningly quick.