I Will Stop This Crazy Vegetarianism(3)

For elves, eating meat was taboo.

The reason for this was none other than the so-called tradition that had been steadily passed down from their ancestors.

Therefore, the food elves ate was entirely limited to grains and vegetables, and if they were caught consuming meat by any chance, they would be severely punished.

The punishment was so severe that there were even groundless rumors circulating that those who ate meat were executed, so elves only ate vegetables within the law and couldn’t even dream of putting meat in their mouths.

However, as time passed and the world changed, it was impossible to completely separate meat from even the elves born in later generations.

After several decades had passed, the Moonsgard Kingdom changed from a closed-off tendency to a more open one, and as a result, elves born in later generations often traveled or journeyed to kingdoms of other races rather than just staying in the Moonsgard Kingdom.

Therefore, elves who came outside the Moonsgard Kingdom for the purpose of travel or journey became curious about meat.

A small thought of “If it’s outside the kingdom, wouldn’t it be okay to eat meat?”

And it didn’t take long for elves who had such thoughts to actually put their hands on meat.

It was truly a new world.

This was the thought shared by all elves who ate meat.

Having lived their entire lives eating only crunchy and mushy vegetables, they finally knew what meat juice was and what it tasted like to consume the body of another life for the first time, so of course, they couldn’t help but feel this way.

For elves, meat was like a starting line that opened their eyes to another world.

Therefore, those who had tried meat outside started to feed meat to their close acquaintances, and in this way, meat culture gradually spread under the surface of the elf race.

The royal family of the Moonsgard Kingdom was relatively safe compared to the meat culture that had spread under the surface, but that was only when there was no one with a foot outside the palace.

Risil Cel Moonsgard, Riana’s older sister and the second princess, was famous for wandering outside since long ago, and thanks to that, she had come into contact with the meat that was quietly spreading under the surface and brought the meat she had tasted into the palace.

And the meat that Risil brought in gradually stained the elves within the palace.

From the royal chef to several ministers, Risil’s personal knights, and even Riana, whom she cared for greatly.

Because of this, Riana, who learned the taste of meat at that time, couldn’t help but love meat, and when she came to the academy, she fully indulged her desire for meat that she couldn’t satisfy inside Moonsgard.

But even if Riana learned the taste of meat and realized that insisting only on vegetarianism was wrong, there were still elves who were firmly conservative vegetarians.

One of them was the Queen of Elves, Rimia Cel Moonsgard.

She was a conservative vegetarian who insisted on vegetarianism to a terrible degree, and because of this, some in the palace who knew the taste of meat even pitied her.

However, everyone knew what would happen if they said they ate meat in front of her, so they all kept their mouths shut publicly in front of her, which is why Rimia had thought until now that not only herself but other elves had only been eating vegetables.

“…My daughter Riana? May I see you for a moment?”

And now.

Making Rimia aware of the taste of meat was what Riana had to do now, risking her life.

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At the sound of footsteps clearly approaching her, thud, thud, Riana slowly turned her head towards where the footsteps were coming from.

It might be an illusion… No, it’s probably an illusion, but even killing intent could be felt from those footsteps, causing cold sweat to flow and her heart to pound involuntarily. However, Riana barely calmed these feelings and met eyes with the owner of the footsteps.

“Hup…”

Rimia walking towards Riana with an extremely, extremely scary face.

Seeing her with a face so terrible it could be called a demon, Riana swallowed a gasp, and with the last step, Rimia arrived right in front of Riana and bent down to match Riana’s height.

“…My daughter Riana? May I see you for a moment?”

“M-Mother…”

It was understandable without saying. How much meaning was implied in that one phrase asking to see her for a moment.

Since there was already a plate of uneaten tteokgalbi in front of Riana, it was impossible to make excuses. Therefore, Riana thought.

If she gave Rimia the right to speak first here, she would be caught up in her pace. And if she got caught up in her pace, she would be caught before she could act.

So Riana stopped Rimia by stretching out one hand before she could open her mouth and shouted:

“W-Wait a moment, Mother! I have something to say first!”

“I see a problem in the fact that you, as an elf, are eating meat… I suppose you have something to say about that?”

“Y-Yes…”

Riana nodded at Rimia’s question, who had an expression that couldn’t be called smiling even though she was smiling.

At the same time, Riana bit her lips while alternately looking at the plate placed beside her and Rimia standing in front of her.

It was already clear that Rimia had come to find her because an elf who should eat vegetables was eating meat.

Therefore, Riana had to feed this fantastic meat to Rimia and convince her that elves don’t only have vegetables, but she was at a loss for how to feed her the meat.

Riana was a little relieved, convinced that all problems would be solved if she just fed her meat, but when the situation actually came, there was no way to feed her the meat.

Simply saying “If you try this once, your thoughts will change!” and offering meat to Rimia wouldn’t work, because no matter how fantastic the taste was, Rimia, being an extreme vegetarian, wouldn’t eat meat.

Then what should she do?

Tens of thousands of thoughts pass through Riana’s mind at this one question. But there was no solution that fit like a puzzle suitable for the current situation, and in the end, there was only one judgment Riana could make.

‘Now that it’s come to this, even if I have to throw a tantrum…’

If she somehow forces Rimia to eat meat, wouldn’t she eat it at least once? Honestly, it was an absurd thought, but for Riana, who was already cornered, there was no other method than one based on such a hopeful possibility.

Just feed her once somehow, even if she has to throw a tantrum.

Having made this judgment and finished thinking, Riana opened her mouth, but.

“Mothe…”

“Wait, look here for a moment.”

Interrupting Riana’s words before she could finish, Yeonhwa, who had approached without notice, called Rimia.

“Chef Yeonhwa?!”

Riana shouted in surprise at Yeonhwa’s sudden appearance.

Looking closely, Yeonhwa was standing behind Rimia holding a plate with a dish that seemed to have just been prepared.

And the dish on that plate was one that Riana knew better than anyone else.

Honey cube steak. It was Riana’s favorite meat dish from Yeonhwa, which she had considered eating today as well.

“For what reason are you suddenly calling me? For now, I have something to talk about with Riana, so just in a moment…”

“Now, open your mouth.”

“I need to talk… Mmph?!”

Rimia turned her head with an annoyed expression at Yeonhwa’s call.

Perhaps thinking that Yeonhwa had come to talk about something else, Rimia said so and turned her head, but before anyone could stop her, Yeonhwa pushed a fork with a piece of honey cube steak into Rimia’s mouth as she was speaking.

Rimia let out a groan of surprise at the piece of meat soaked in honey that suddenly entered her mouth.

Seeing this scene, Riana, who had been momentarily dazed, shouted in surprise:

“Wait…! What on earth did you just do?! Chef Yeonhwa! Mother hates meat so much, if you force her to eat it like that, she’ll surely spit it out!”

If Riana had done as she originally intended and somehow made her eat of her own will by throwing a tantrum, it might have been different, but if forced to eat like this, Rimia would surely spit out the meat. After that, she would probably get angry and shout loudly.

And as if to say that Riana’s thoughts were correct, Rimia chewed her mouth and lowered her head to spit out the meat that had entered her mouth.

“It’s over…”

A despairing voice escaped involuntarily.

Riana closed her eyes tightly and muttered, resigned to the future that was about to unfold.

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“…?”

Surprisingly, the sound of Rimia spitting out the meat was not heard.

Instead, what was heard was the sound of chewing something and swallowing with a gulp. At that sound, which undoubtedly seemed like she had moved her throat, Riana reopened her tightly closed eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

What she saw was Rimia looking up at the ceiling with a blissful expression and a foolish face.

“Haaa…”

Seeing Rimia letting out a sigh soaked in waves of emotion like wet cotton, Riana felt herself becoming dumbfounded without realizing it.

“What…?”

Rimia was making a face she had truly never seen before, to the point where Riana felt a sense of dissonance, wondering if this was really her mother.

And the one who answered Riana’s self-questioning, which had spread for anyone to hear, was none other than Yeonhwa.

“Why are you asking such an obvious thing? I’ve never seen anyone spit out my food after eating it. As I said, it’s natural.”

Yeonhwa casually uttered words that could be called arrogant.

Watching Yeonhwa raise the corner of her mouth with her arms crossed, Riana couldn’t help but naturally feel.

That this person had just changed the vegetarianism of the elf race.

---

“Hmm…”

I let out a mumbling sound in the air while watching Rimia eating the honey cube steak on the plate I had handed her, shedding tears.

Truly like a person who hadn’t drunk water for nearly 3 days and found an oasis. Or like a person who found treasure at the end of an arduous journey, Rimia put the steak in her mouth.

And anyone who saw that sight would have to nod their head.

“As expected, even elves are equal before my cooking.”

The fact that my cooking is the pinnacle is something even I acknowledge.

Hmm, it’s just a natural fact.