Chapter 284: A Promise To Kaelia
CREAK!
Just as Kaelia was lost in the middle of her internal debate, the heavy timber double doors of the Culinary Haven smoothly swung open.
Silas stepped into the kitchen.
He was wearing his tailored black trousers and a crisp long-sleeved dark shirt that fit his broad, six-foot-two frame to perfection.
His Gold Core aura radiated a calm effortless authority that immediately filled the room.
Hearing the doors open, Kaelia turned around, her bright eyes lighting up as she immediately bowed her head in a sweet respectful greeting.
"Good morning, Lord Graves!" Kaelia purred softly.
Silas offered her a casual wave of his broad hand as he walked up to the central marble island.
"Morning, Kaelia. You’re looking remarkably cute today."
Kaelia’s breath caught in her throat. Before she could even form a response—
STEP!
Silas closed the remaining distance between them, standing directly in front of her.
He reached out with his broad, calloused right hand, extending his index finger to gently wipe away a small powdery smudge of white baking flour resting against her pale cheek.
His warm skin brushed against hers for two lingering seconds.
An explosion of bright burning red blood rushed straight to Kaelia’s ears.
Her pale cheeks turned as red as a ripe strawberry with her heart hammering against her ribs like a runaway engine.
’W-Wait...!’ Kaelia panicked silently, her hands clutching the edge of the marble island behind her! ’Is... is my Lord being extra flirty with me today?!’
Her body’s reaction was embarrassingly immediate.
Just from the simple, gentle sensation of his warm finger brushing against her cheek, a sudden wave of intense embarrassing heat flooded her lower stomach, making her inner thighs tremble slightly.
’S-Stop...’ Kaelia whimpered in her own mind, her toes curling inside her shoes. ’I’m... I’m already getting wet just from him touching my cheek...’
Silas, completely unaware of the intense reaction occurring inside his head chef, withdrew his hand and turned toward one of the empty stainless steel preparation counters along the wall.
"I managed to secure a shipment of imported trade goods from Lord Sky earlier," Silas explained smoothly. "I remembered you mentioning wanting more seasoning options, so I brought them over for you."
FWOOSH... BOOM!
Silas swiped his hand through the air, activating his spatial inventory!
Two massive heavy wooden crates... bound in reinforced iron straps and stamped with high-tier commercial trade seals materialized out of thin air, landing squarely on top of the stainless steel counter with a heavy, resounding thud!
Kaelia blinked her wide eyes, stepping over to the counter.
"Trade goods...?"
She reached out, carefully lifting the heavy wooden lid of the first crate.
The second the seal broke, an overwhelming intoxicating explosion of rich, complex and heavenly aromas erupted into the kitchen air!
Kaelia’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Inside the crate were dozens of neatly organized vacuum-sealed glass jars and linen pouches... each clearly labeled with precise names: Paprika, Garlic Powder, Cayenne, Smoked Cumin, Dried Oregano, Rosemary, White Pepper, Black Peppercorns, and Pure Sea Flakes.
She reached down, pulling out the Earth recipe manual from her pocket, and cross-referenced the names on the jars with the formulas in the book.
They were identical...
They were the exact, authentic Earth spices listed throughout every high-tier recipe in the manual... though, thanks to the Sovereign Realm’s mana, these specific variants possessed a slightly elevated aromatic profile that made them ten times more potent than standard Earth seasonings.
"By the stars..." Kaelia gasped out, her voice trembling with pure ecstasy. "Hehehe~"
The volume of possibilities exploded inside her chef’s mind.
With these authentic spices in her kitchen, she could execute proper dry rubs, rich marinade infusions, savory glazes, and complex sauce bases.
She wouldn’t just be feeding the territory... she would be creating food that could physically elevate their morale, restore their core reserves, and drive them into bliss.
In a sudden uncontrollable burst of overwhelming joy and gratitude, Kaelia completely lost her usual timid restraint.
She lunged forward, grabbed Silas’s broad dark shirt collar with both hands, stood on her tiptoes, and slammed her soft plump lips directly onto his cheek.
SMOOCH!
Silas flinched slightly in pleasant surprise, but didn’t pull back.
Kaelia pulled her face back a fraction of an inch with her pale cheeks burning a deep crimson as she realized what she had just done.
Silas let out a low amused male chuckle, looking down at her flustered face with a warm glint in his golden-ringed eyes.
"I take it you like what you see, huh?" Silas teased smoothly, resting his hand casually on his hip.
Kaelia hurriedly let go of his collar, cutely averting her face toward the spice jars while twirling her fingers together in her apron.
"I... I love them, My Lord..." Kaelia stammered out softly, her voice trembling with sweet breathless embarrassment. "Thank you... thank you so much..."
Silas smiled, swiping his hand through the air a second time.
FWOOSH... THUD!
A third significantly larger wooden crate materialized out of his inventory, landing beside the spice boxes with a heavy impact.
Unlike the dry spice crates, this one was lined with magical cooling runes, emitting a faint frosty mist as Silas unlatched the front iron hook.
"Here’s the second part of the delivery," Silas noted, gesturing to the cold crate. "Fresh poultry meat. I brought it over so you could process it. Make sure you cook it properly though... I really don’t want to deal with chicken worms in this Keep."
Kaelia tilted her head, her dark eyebrows pulling together in utter adorable confusion.
"Chicken... worms...?" Kaelia repeated, her mind trying to parse the phrase.
Then, a sudden memory flashed in her mind... she remembered the strange slippery cave worms that Morwenna had brought back from the Basin yesterday.
When roasted over Thora’s forge embers, those cave worms had actually possessed a surprisingly rich savory flavor.
’Is... is that how chicken actually tastes like?’ Kaelia wondered deeply in her own mind, thoroughly fascinated. ’Is chicken just a surface-world version of a cave worm...?’
She looked into the crate, seeing rows of pristine, high-grade, chilled poultry breasts, thighs, and drumsticks.
Regardless of whether it was related to cave worms or not, Kaelia had spent days reading through dozens of legendary chicken recipes in her Earth manual... Fried Chicken, Roasted Herb Chicken, Garlic Butter Glaze, Curry Chicken, and Teriyaki Wings.
She had been dying for an opportunity to test those dishes!
Kaelia instantly straightened her posture, raising her right hand to her forehead in a sharp comical military salute.
"Understood, My Lord!" Kaelia declared enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling with pure fire. "I will immediately begin testing different preparation variations of chicken today!"
Silas chuckled warmly, reaching out to pat her head. "Good. I definitely need some proper chicken in my life right now."
Silas turned, preparing to head toward the kitchen exit...
"Wait... My Lord!" Kaelia called out softly.
Silas paused, turning his head back around. "Yeah? Something else?"
Kaelia stood near the marble island, her hands nervously clutching her apron, her cheeks flushing pink as she summoned every ounce of her courage to voice her quiet request.
"I... I was wondering... when the Lord War officially starts six days from now... would it be possible for me to watch the battle from the territory walls...?"
Silas raised an eyebrow, looking at her in surprise.
"I... I know I’m just a non-combatant chef..." Kaelia mumbled hesitantly, looking down at her shoes. "...and I know I shouldn’t be standing in the Vanguard’s way... but I’m getting a little bit tired of just sitting inside the kitchen while all the other girls go out and fight for you. I want to see you command... I want to watch our territory win with my own eyes..."
Silas looked at her nervous blushing face... and a warm genuine smile spread across his sharp features.
"Is that all?" Silas asked smoothly.
Kaelia blinked, raising her head.
"Sure, you can watch," Silas agreed without a second of hesitation. "I’ll assign one of the archers to stand guard beside you on the ramparts, and I’ll have Thora forge you a set of lightened high-tier defensive armor so you stay completely safe. It’s not a problem at all."
Kaelia’s bright eyes widened in joy.
"R-Really, My Lord?!"
Silas walked back over, leaning down slightly, and placed his broad palm flat against her head, gently stroking her hair with deep genuine appreciation.
"Of course, really," Silas murmured, his voice filled with warmth. "You work ridiculously hard to keep everyone fed and happy around here, Kaelia. Asking to watch a battle from the walls is a tiny request. You’re amazing, you know that?"
The overwhelming impact of his sincere praise, combined with his broad palm gently stroking her hair, caused Kaelia’s brain to completely melt into mush.
"Th-Thank you, My Lord!" Kaelia squeaked out, her face burning redder than a hot forge iron.
Silas offered her one final, warm smile, turned on his heel, and walked out of the Culinary Haven, closing the heavy timber doors behind him.
CLICK!
The moment the kitchen doors clicked shut—
PLOP!
Kaelia’s legs completely gave out beneath her.
The head chef fell flat onto her knees on the soft rug with her hands covering her burning face and her heart hammering so violently against her ribs that she felt dizzy.
"Ahhhhh... I regret it so much..." Kaelia whimpered out loud to the empty kitchen.
She replayed a specific, mortifying memory in her mind... the day Silas had accidentally caught her in his private bedroom, touching herself while fantasizing about him.
On that day, Silas had offered her a choice, but Kaelia had been far too timid, panicked, and embarrassed to accept his touch, fleeing the opportunity like a terrified rabbit.
"I regret it so much..." Kaelia cried out silently in her thoughts with her face burning hot against her palms. "I should have just agreed on that day... I should have let him take me right there..."
Kaelia took three deep ragged breaths, forcefully slapping her cheeks again to compose herself, and pushed herself back up onto her feet.
She looked at the crates of Earth spices and fresh chicken resting on her preparation counter, a fierce devoted determination burning in her bright eyes.
She was going to make sure she became a worthy, indispensable woman for her Lord.
And what was the undisputed shortest path to a man’s heart?
Through his stomach!
Kaelia snatched her leather-bound Earth manual off the marble island, opening the chicken section with a bright and thoroughly passionate smile.
"Hehe~" Kaelia purred happily, her eyes sparkling. "Let’s make some legendary chicken!"
A few minutes later, on the eastern side of the Keep’s inner plaza...
Silas pushed open the heavy, reinforced iron-bound doors leading into the Warlord Foundry.
CREAK... BANG!
The interior of the foundry was hot and filled with the deep rhythmic hum of magical forge fires.
Thick, soot-stained stone pillars held up the vaulted ceiling, and rack after rack of newly forged swords, iron shields, and enchanted armor plating lined the granite walls.
And standing over the primary anvil in the center of the room, hammering away at a glowing slab of raw iron, was Thora.
The Master Dwarf Smith was wearing her leather blacksmith apron, her dark hair tied back in a messy bun and her muscular arms glistening with sweat under the fiery red glow of the hearth.
And as she hammered away, Thora was shamelessly humming a crude degenerate song at the top of her lungs.
"~Oh, two girls in the bed, one Lord in the middle...~" Thora sang out, her deep dwarven voice echoing loudly off the stone rafters. "~One taking his length, while the other plays his fiddle...~"
"~Spank my rear hard, till the forge embers glow...~" Thora continued humming with a cheerful rhythm. "~And fill up my womb till his Gold Core overflows~!"
Silas stood in the doorway, staring at the singing dwarf with a flat thoroughly deadpan expression on his face for three solid seconds.
Silas cleared his throat, his deep male voice echoing over the sound of her hammer.
"Thora. I’m here to deliver your alloy crates."
CLANG!
Thora flinched mid-swing, coming to an immediate halt.
She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead with her arm, turning her head around to look at him.
Seeing Silas standing in the doorway dressed in his sharp clothes, the dwarf’s dark eyes instantly lit up with a mischievous glint.
"Well, well, look at you, Lord!" Thora cackled boisterously, resting her heavy forge hammer against the anvil. "Looking all sharp and handsome in those high-class trousers! I can clearly see that thick impressive bulge outline pressing against your pants from all the way over here!"