"Ladies and gentlemen, line up one after another, don’t rush."

It was nearly midday and Aster had had a big pot of well cooked stewed fresh meat with bamboo shoots prepared, the whole room was filled with fragrance, and every little monster was drooling.

"My lady, can I... have two bowls?"

"My lady, I... want two bowls too!"

"Oh dear, these are delicious as heaven!"

The little monsters sighed with their mouths watering, and pointed at one large basket of vegetables on the ground, "my lady, how are you going to cook them?"

"..."

Aster looked at the vegetables, and asked the little monsters who had helped carry them here, "Where.. did you get this?"

"The king has had them delivered for you!"

"He becomes a good guy now?" Aster was thrilled and she kicked Herald, who was fighting with other monsters over some piece of meat and almost fell into the pot.

Oh my my!

In whose name is this!

He delivered some vegetables and she didn’t even ask! Was it an apology for having let her sleep in the corridor yesterday?

Was it? Was it?

Herald’s eyes were lighted, he leaned forward, tilted his red haired head and and teased singing, " Oh, my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch, a long lonely time. And time goes by, so slowly and time can do so much. Are you, still mine? I need your love, I need your love. Godspeed your love to me..."

"Oh my god, he finally sees my charm?!" Aster got thrilled and went up to hug that basket of vegetables, but then there came this weird thought and she turned her head, "wait what? You know pop songs?"

Aster pulled a lock of hair back with exaggerated elegance and boasted, "I’m the pop king of the Monde, there’s a gigantic music library in my head. You name it, I sing it, and I will nail it!"

"..."

Aster was like "whaaat?" She turned away and was going to keep enjoying her thrill.

Then some little monster came with an empty bowl, he swallowed his last mouthful and asked for more, and that was when he got the time and managed to finish what had he just left, "the king said meat is costly but vegetables are free, providing more vegetables is a great way to save expenses for the court. Anyway, my lady can’t do anything else in contribution but some low-level work like cleaning."

And that was his words.

The little monster took the bowl that was filled up, and devoured like a hungry kid.

Aster held the basket in her arms, a mixture of feelings stirring...

Just like...just like...

Herald felt he should do something, so he jumped beside her, and sang, "the cold wind brings withered leaves, a cold heart stings her pretty face; a rebellious king knows nothing about romance, which causes back and forth our girl Aster to pace..."

"ugh, stop it! I’ll kill you!"

Aster grabbed a cabbage from the basket and threw it towards red haired Herald.

Herald yelled out ouch and fell down. Aster watched these vegetables with watering eyes and wanted to crush them with her feet, but thinking that this was what she really needed now, she killed the idea bitterly.

After a long heavy sigh, she picked up several cabbages and said to herself, "maybe I should pickle them, pickled cabbage pancakes are not bad though."

"Great!"

"Couldn’t be better!"

"My lady, you are such a wonderful cook, you are surely amazing!"

The little monsters said with a tone of worship, that they would come back and scrounge as always, and someone slipped a word in, "the king hasn’t eaten anything for quite long, maybe my lady should cook something for him!"

"Right! They always say that the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach !"

Now every monster knew that Aster was trying to win the king’s heart. They thought they would never have a queen in the palace, but the best candidate showed up from nowhere, both handsome and fair, so agreeable, and what was most important, she was a fabulous cook!

If she does not become the queen, nobody should be!

And they wouldn’t allow it even if there are!

It had to be their lady Aster!

Now they’d all became her wing men!

Aster heard the thrilled crowed and met the eye of Herald, their faces brightened at the same time.

"Girl Aster! It’s surely worth a try! If romance doesn’t work for him, we can always try it another way!"

Aster swallowed. She saw a ray of hope and wanted more info, "why hasn’t he eaten for song long?... do you know something he’ll like especially?"

"Um..."

All the monsters including Herald started to stroke their chins and were lost in thoughts. Maybe five minutes of seeking into the sky later, their eyes turned to her.

They asserted, "picky eater!"

"..."

What? Picky eater? Picky enough to quit eating!

Fascinating!

Aster was stunned, so Herald explained to her, "you rest assured, the king isn’t going to die of hunger, actually, nothing will happen to him even if he does not eat at all, which is badass really. For me, I don’t have to eat either, but life without the love of food is surely vacant, only a fool would say no to delicious food!"

Um...was it an indication that his king was a fool?

Herald shook his head and sighed, "our king is just too picky, it seems that nothing is really edible for him... what’s the meaning of a life like that... no food, no women... always about his work..."

"Hear hear..."

"His Grace was right!"

"In my humble opinion," an old turtle put in, "the bad temper of his majesty is not just his nature, but the result of his excessive indulgence in work and not having a good rest. Mental stress and irritability, in another word, endocrine disorders!"

...

The little monsters started to tease and joke and gossip while sipping meat soup, and had no scruples at all.

God these little monsters can gossip! Without any limitations!

Don’t you all forget what a lunatic your king is?

Aster suddenly realized that talking behind one’s boss was common in both human world and the monsters’.

She listened without asking for a while and went silent.

Then she raised her hand and asked genuinely, "what did he use to have when he still eat?"

"just drink blood."

"..."

Aster got the chill all over. She swallowed and tried not to shiver.

That is... not easy...

But it was a difficulty she was bound to overcome. Aster was confident in her cooking.

Though she became lazier this year and ordered takeout a lot, cuisine was really her enthusiasm for a while. She even had some serious thinking of becoming a professional!

A whole year of cooking classes was not for nothing, most of the common dishes were just a piece of cake, right, she could make dessert too!

Surely he would like some of them!