I Refused To Be Reincarnated

"Arun, open your mouth."

As Julius approached the crackling campfire, he found Asha earnestly attempting to feed her fiancé vegetables while Arun resisted her efforts. Julius paused, observing the strange dynamic between the two with curiosity and amusement.

He also preferred to eat bread, eggs or meat. However, he quickly overcame his aversion to vegetables under his big brother's iron hand. Not only did he force him to eat all kinds of them, but he also made him like them with weird dishes no one ever recognised. Seeing them like that made him remember those peaceful days and how fun life had been.

"Ahem... I don't think you'll help Arun like vegetables by forcing him to eat them," Julius said, drawing the attention of the future couple and eliciting different reactions from them. Arun looked at him as if he was a savior sent by the sky to deliver him from his torments, while Asha glared at him, seemingly about to eat him alive like a wild beast.

"Wow! Your appearance suits your status now. I almost didn't recognise you, haha," Arun said, standing up to pat his savior's shoulder and subtly creating distance between him and Asha.

"Humpf. Louise sure knows how to make clothes," Asha snorted, her eyes twitching as she turned in displeasure.

"Hum. I didn't say you shouldn't eat them. Just that the method was wrong."

Unfortunately, Julius' next words caused Arun to freeze and hear his dreams of freedom shatter.

Meanwhile, Asha's smile widened, and her voice sounded mockingly.

"Hahaha, listen to your friend! He is much more reasonable than you."

"Julius... I thought we were friends... You traitor!" Arun roared, seriously considering if Asha bribed him yesterday for him to open the carriage's door this morning and side with her now.

However, his friend gently grabbed him by the shoulder, walking him back to the fire with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. I used to hate vegetables as well, but look now! Am I not fine eating them? I only ask you to taste one spoon of my brother's recipe. If you dislike it, I won't mention them again."

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As he spoke, he took tomatoes, carrots, eggs, flour, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and spices out of the ingredient bags. Then, under the astonished gaze of the couple, he started to make a dough by mixing the eggs, a bit of oil and the flour. Afterwards, he kneaded it in a metallic bowl. Clinking noises reverberated in the peaceful camp as he worked it until it became firm.

Finally, he rolled it into a ball, covered it with a towel and let it rest.

Next, he peeled the tomatoes and other vegetables while answering Asha's enthusiastic questions.

"Are you baking bread? Why did you use eggs instead of water? Didn't your servants cook for you? So why did you learn?"

She bombarded him, intrigued by his resourcefulness at such a young age. At first, she didn't care about him, considering he had been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to meet Arun. However, between his fighting abilities and never-before-seen recipes, she felt he deserved a bit of her attention.

"My big brother taught me when I was younger. I'm just blindly following his recipe without understanding much, to be honest," Julius answered while throwing the tomatoes, garlic, and salt into the pot before adding a bit of water.

"Mmm. It smells great!"

Asha's eyes lit up as the flavour mixed and wafted into the camp, filling her nose with an enchanting smell far from the poor dish the knight had cooked. Hopeful, she turned towards Arun, convinced he would finally valance his diet.

"I don't care. I won't eat more than a spoon!" On the other hand, Arun was unconvinced and unwilling to give in.

Asha snorted before focusing on Julius again, noticing he retrieved the dough and flattened it before cutting it into long stripes. He filled a smaller pot with water, added a bit of salt, and threw the dough stripes. After a moment, he threw the other vegetables into the boiling tomato sauce and let them cook.

"I think it was called something like Tagliatelle?" After half an hour of cooking, Julius plated and presented his dish, adding a few aromatic herbs to decorate it with a touch of green.

"Wow! It's the first time I've seen this! Does it come from the Belloria Kingdom?" Asha said in excitement, already holding a spoon to taste it. The contrast between the yellow tagliatelle and the red tomato sauce intrigued her, making her mouth water.

Before Julius could answer, she snatched the plate and dug in, completely forgetting that the one who should be eating was Arun.

"Quickly, taste Arun! I swear I have never eaten something like this in my life!" She exclaimed, her palate screaming at her to continue as she took another spoonful and shoved it into her mouth.

Arun hesitated, unsure if she was genuinely enjoying the food or trying to bait him into eating so many vegetables at once.

'Damn it, I'll just spit everything out if it's bad,' he thought, gritting his teeth, filling his spoon with the weird dish and, eyes closed, putting it in his mouth.

'Mmm? What is this... It's actually... good?' He pondered, taking his time to savor this unfamiliar taste. 'I need another bite to be sure!'

He moved his spoon to the plate before guiding it towards his mouth, his eyes still closed.

"..."

Astonished, he opened them, his face distorting into a sad grimace as he saw it lying empty in Asha's hands.

"Why did you eat everything?!" He asked, his brows twitching and his heart bleeding. Didn't Julius cook to make him eat vegetables? So why was his plate empty?

"Ah! Sorry! It was so good that before I knew it, I ate everything," Asha said, blushing in embarrassment.

"..."

Arun didn't find words to express his feelings. What was wrong with this girl? When he didn't want to eat vegetables, she forced him to. But now that he was willing, she ate everything before he could even take his second bite!

He sighed the next second, feeling the weight of defeat press on his shoulders. Asha was uncontrollable. He knew it. So, he walked towards the carriage, head lowered and face somber.

"We wasted enough time. Let's depart."

"Hey, Julius! You must show me more of your brother's recipes!" Asha said, walking with him with a bright smile, impatient to taste new delicacies.

"Haha, I can try, but I'm a much worse cook than him. I really hope he'll join us soon in Alkemia Al-Nur to show you what a true chef is," He answered, turning to look at his brother and understand how extensive his education had been after witnessing the knights' and nobles' crude cooking skills. He assumed they most likely relied on hired chefs to feed them.

He listened and answered her before they sat together inside Arun's carriage.

After a moment, the horses neighed as the booming noise of the knights' whip reverberated through the air. Slowly, their transportation's wheel creaked and rolled, carrying them forward under the morning light and towards Alkemia Al-Nur.