The Fake Feast She Created Became Her Downfall After My Rebirth

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The tea-serving handmaid in the palace was a time-traveler carrying a convenience-store system.

She was set on using everything modern to dazzle the rest of us ancients.

The day before the state banquet, she decided the arrangements and dishes were too outdated. In secret she swapped the glassware, worth a fortune, for modern cartoon-print tableware, and traded the dishes for pre-made frozen vegetarian meals from her store.

In my past life, as the future consort of the fourth prince, I put a stop to it in the harshest terms. I spent half my dowry to cover the cost and put together a proper banquet all over again.

In the end the feast pleased host and guests alike, and the fourth prince won the favor of the Emperor and the court, staking his claim to the throne.

But the tea handmaid wept in the fourth prince's arms, convinced this era had no room for her, choking on her grief until she ruined her own health.

The princes were beside themselves for her sake, and submitted memorials accusing my family of harboring treason.

They raided my home, stripped me of my rank as consort, and cast me down into slavery, no better than a common whore.

And those imperial cooks and palace maids I had saved—because the treasury came up short and there were no rewards to go around—turned on me one after another, kicking me while I was down.

"Miss Kirsten had such wonderful ideas, and it's all this jealous consort's fault for ruining them!"

I sank into the dark, unwilling to the last, and when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day the time-traveler changed the banquet menu.

1

"I think that for this state banquet, what our Emperor wants isn't the same stale formality, but something new that no one has ever seen before."

Kirsten Fox spoke softly, cradling a tea bowl, a self-satisfied smile playing at her brow.

"Back in our modern... hometown, when we host a gathering we do hot pot, beer, a little barbecue. Not only does it all taste good, it fills the whole place with warmth and life!"

She said it beaming, and drew out sheet after sheet of drawings she'd made, each one sketching a lively scene full of steam and cheer.

I said nothing.

For a mere tea-serving handmaid before the throne, meddling in a state banquet was already a grave impertinence.

Watching the prince's keen interest, the cooks and maids at the side glanced at me, searching my face.

I looked at all of it and gave nothing away.

The Emperor had already handed this banquet, with monarchs from every realm coming to pay court, to the fourth prince.

It was more than a matter of food and drink. It was a test of him.

In my last life, I sat in on this very discussion.

The moment Kirsten Fox proposed hot pot and skewers, I leapt up and opposed it on the spot.

None of them knew that I, too, was a time-traveler.

Only I had come into this world from the womb, and I knew well how the nobility craved the finest, most delicate fare.

The refined stomachs of these ancients simply could not withstand the assault of modern hot pot and every sort of quick-fix frozen meal.

At my objection, her eyes reddened at once, and she looked at me as if she wanted to speak and dared not. "I know you don't like me, Molly, but I only wanted to do something for our Craig Realm too!"

The fourth prince, Otis Craig, looked at me, a cold edge in his eyes. "Molly Henson, there's a time and place even for jealousy."

But I ignored his interference, and used my mother's family's power to seize control of the banquet midway by force.

I replaced everything Kirsten Fox had brought, poured in untold silver and gold from my own purse, sought out rare treasures and the finest chefs, and laid out a banquet grand and magnificent. The vassal lords and ministers from every province talked of that feast for a long time after.

And so the fourth prince won the favor of the Emperor and the court.

Afterward, Kirsten Fox told everyone she met that I had used my authority as the future consort to steal her credit by force.

And with the little snacks she redeemed from her convenience-store system, she slowly won the hearts of these highborn people.

In time, I became the most notorious jealous woman in the imperial capital.

Later, once Otis Craig took the throne, he cast me aside the moment I'd served my purpose, slandering my mother's family as traitors to the realm.

I was made a slave, and to avenge her, Otis Craig had his people torture me to death.

My father, wrongly branded a traitor, was executed together with his whole household, and the women of the family were cast down into slavery and whoredom, a fate worse than death.

While Kirsten Fox, treading over my bones and over everyone's affection, walked at Otis Craig's side and became the Empress, mother of the realm.

When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on this very day, as she and the princes eagerly plotted out the banquet.

She spoke up to take charge of the state banquet, ready to draw on her convenience-store system to arrange the feast.

But I caught it precisely: the scheming that flickered at the corner of her eye.

She thought I would open my mouth to stop her.

Only this time, I simply spoke with a smile bright in my eyes.

"Miss Kirsten's idea is truly clever!"

"Hot pot, beer, barbecue—it really is fresh and new!"

Kirsten Fox couldn't help but freeze, her smile going a little stiff.

The princes exchanged glances, unable to understand how I, who had always been so rigid in everything, had given in so easily.

I smiled. "Those traditional spreads—every monarch here has probably seen them a thousand times over. Better to give them something new to marvel at this once."

Otis Craig looked at me, a trace of satisfaction crossing his eyes, and then spoke.

"Since even Molly says so, then we'll go with Kirsten's plan."

The princes nodded. After all, I was famously steady in the capital.

If even I approved, then Kirsten Fox's plan was clearly sound.

"Miss Kirsten really is so original!"

"I've long since grown sick of those traditional delicacies and fine fare!"

"Exactly! No one can fault Kirsten's cooking—who doesn't want something good to eat!"

I looked over this pack of princes, something dark and unreadable passing through my eyes. In my last life, every one of them had shoved me out into the storm. This life, let the storm come all the fiercer.

After taking my leave of the princes, I went to the Cogwork Guild, the most lavish place in the capital's inner circle.

Looking at the figure standing within the finest chamber, I couldn't help but speak, low.

"You once said you would marry me, that if my mother's family aided you, you would make me mother of the realm and keep my family safe. Does that promise still stand?"

The man paused, then let out a soft laugh. "Of course, Molly Henson. As long as you're willing to marry, I can send for a betrothal any time you like."

"Good. Then here's to a pleasant partnership."