“My clan, the nobility of the night, are descendants of the demons.”  

Ah, I see.  

So, it wasn’t a problem with the taste of my cooking after all.  

“The language of demons holds power within it. As a lesser noble, even I have inherited this trait.”  

“I don’t understand, could you explain it more simply?”  

“It means that when I speak, there is a compulsive force behind my words.”  

In other words,  

“The moment you utter the pledge of obedience… I could never betray you.”  

Once the oath of obedience is sworn, betrayal becomes impossible.  

That’s…  

“Actually, that’s a good thing?”  

“Do you have any idea how significant this is! It means my very existence would be bound to you! To offer your own being for the sake of some cooking, how could you-!”  

“Ah, I see.”  

I tilted my neck out again.  

“If you don’t want that, then drink my blood.”  

“Tch.”  

“As you know, I’m a core member of this guild. If you just make me your vassal, turning the rest into vassal would be a piece of cake. If you don’t want me to submit to you, then do that instead.”  

“….”  

“Choose, Your Majesty.”  

The Queen is trembling as she looks at my neck.  

If she really tried to make me her vassal here, it would be a big problem.  

But I’m confident that won’t happen.  

The basis for my confidence is simple.  

‘Whose cooking is it?’  

Others might think this is a terribly flimsy argument.  

But for me,  

It’s the most certain evidence there is.  

And as I expected…  

“Let’s say I will swear obedience. You won’t break the promise to provide the cooking, will you?”  

“Don’t worry about that.”  

“…Swear it! Pledge that you will never break the promise!”  

“Ah, I swear.”  

As the chef who feeds the troops, it’s my responsibility.  

If she becomes my vassal, at the very least,  

I’ll make sure to properly take care of her meals.  

“In that case… Phew.”  

She trembled with embarrassment and knelt down,  

Then she opened her mouth with a shaky voice.  

“…I swear in the name of Ariella von Carstein, a distant descendant of the great ancestor Bellatrix, and a baroness of the Carstein bloodline.”  

The moment she uttered the oath,  

A disturbance –  

I felt the air around us undulating powerfully.  

Vibrations of magic energy.  

The magic energy responding to her oath began swirling around us.  

It’s not hard to guess the reason for this phenomenon.  

[The language of demons holds power within it]  

This must be that power she spoke of.  

From now on, the oaths she speaks will have a compulsive force.  

And then,  

“…I offer my all to you.”  

“I accept.”  

As I place my hand on her bowed head,  

At that moment,  

Ding!  

[A being from another world has sworn absolute loyalty to you]  

[You have acquired a vassal]  

[Owned Vassals: 1]  

[Vampire Baroness – Ariella von Carstien]  

[She is a noble of the night, chosen by Grand Duchess Isabella, the matriarch of the Carstien bloodline]  

[While her ranking among the bloodline is low, she is a remarkably talented vassal]  

[Cherish and nurture your vassal!]  

[There is potential for them to reach even greater heights with your guidance]  

[Caution!]  

[The vassal’s power is currently greatly diminished for some reason]  

[The vassal is like a part of your own body!]  

[Please pay close attention to the vassal’s condition]  

The system has recognized that she is my vassal now.  

‘Looks like the kind of message you’d see for a pet in a game.’  

And then,  

[Achievement: Irresistible Taste (2)]  

[You have successfully placed a noble from another world completely under your control through your cooking!]  

[This is an accomplishment considered to be within the realm of imagination among the achievements that can be accomplished by a chef]  

[You have gained a large amount of experience]  

[As a reward for the achievement, you have received a Top Quality Ingredient]   

[Top Quality Ingredient: Forgotten Saint’s Sacred Blood]  

‘An achievement too?’  

I didn’t expect this.  

As I read the message,  

A bottle containing a faintly glowing white liquid appeared before me.  

A similar luminescence to the [Light of Exorcism] that I had experienced earlier.  

I tuck the bottle into my chest as I examine the achievement message.  

The name of the achievement is “Irresistible Taste (2)”.  

(2) means there was also an (1) achievement before this.  

It didn’t take long to recall what that was.  

“So, I’ve already accomplished this once.”  

This is the one.  

In the past,  

When I tamed Lieutenant Kim through my cooking.  

[Irresistible Taste]  

The previous condition for achieving the award was ‘to control one person through your cooking.’  

Now that it’s (2), the condition has changed to ‘to control a noble from another world.’  

The difficulty has been raised by a notch.  

‘Wait a minute.’  

The reward I got back then was surely,  

[Top Quality Ingredient: Dragon Heart].  

‘And that was an ingredient used in making ability enhancement potions.’  

Does that mean…  

[Spending 1,000 points]  

I quickly opened the point shop and purchased an ability enhancement potion.  

Then I use the ingredient identification skill.  

[Unidentified Ingredient – ??%]  

[Dragon Heart – 10%]  

[Unidentified Ingredient – ??%]  

.  

.  

.  

.  

[Forgotten Saint’s Sacred Blood – 10%]  

‘I knew it!’  

This latest reward is also a top quality ingredient for an ability enhancement potion.  

Combined with the Dragon Heart, I now have 20% of the required ingredients.  

Once I gather all these materials,  

I’ll be able to personally craft the ability enhancement potion myself.  

From that point on, the combat power of our troop will increase exponentially.  

“Ah…”  

As I’m getting excited about this,  

The vampire kneeling before me, Ariella, lets out a strange sigh.  

“What’s wrong?”  

I placed my hand on my weapon, thinking perhaps some problem has arisen and she might try to rebel against the oath.  

But…  

“The voices echoing in my mind…”  

Voices?  

Now that I think about it,  

She mentioned something like that before.  

“They have vanished.”  

As she said this,  

A single tear fell from her eye.