Author's Note: Well, I'm just glad I am able to update again lol

I got nothing new from last time, here's to hoping you guys enjoy the next chapter!

Now why are you still reading this note? Go and start reading!

Souma ran as fast as he could, making his way through the kingdom as he did. He was far inside the kingdom to his own liking.

He continued, making sure not to his anyone along the way.

It wasn't long before he finally made it to the outskirts of the kingdom.

He had stopped, panting and taking in as much oxygen as possible before he started again.

It didn't take no longer than 15 minutes before he made his way back to his house. As he approached his home, his father was tending to the garden, awaiting his son's arrival with the fresh set of seeds from his long time friend.

"Souma!" His father called out to him. He noticed that his shirt had been ripped apart as he approached him. "Souma, what happened to you? I've been waiting for almost 2 hours for you to come back."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Souma took out the seeds from his pocket and tossed them to his dad. "Here, take them."

Rude. That was a surprise to Joichiro. "Souma, wait."

The two were now inside the house. Joichiro wanted to know what that was all about, why his son took so long and what changed his mood all of a sudden. "Souma." He could see his son, acting all frantic.

"…" Souma got to the sink, washing his face, wiping away the dirt and sweat.

"Souma, what's wrong?" Joichiro now concerned with whatever had happened to his son.

"I… I got brutally attacked…" Souma finally spoke.

"By who?" Anger in his tone, Joichiro wanted to know who was responsible. Though he can see the ripped shirt, he can also tell that Souma had no bruises of any kind, not one scratch that yelled attack.

"By a guard," Souma finally revealed. "He just had it out for me."

"How? I see no scars or bruises on you." Joichiro continued with questions.

"Ill start from the top," Souma sat down, his nerves now calm. "So there I was in Shinomiya's restaurant, to pick up the seeds."

"Yeah." Joichiro took the seat across from his son. He knew where he went, that's where he sent him.

"So after awhile, some nobles started to give him the stink eye, because of me," he continued. "I was angry for the fact that they could think so low of him but Shinomiya told me how to shut them up: with my cooking. So I did."

"Mhmm." Joichiro listened intently.

"After a while, the shut up," he described. "Their hasty remarks turned to compliments quickly, yelling my name out, praising me."

"Okay." Joichiro was mildly impressed, he knew cooking was certainly a way that can instantly change someone's mood.

"As they did, these two nice girls come in, asking about my food," Souma continued, trying to remember the name of those girls. "Hisako Arato, a girl with pink hair, pretty tough. And Erina Nakiri, girl with an amazing gift, the-"

"God Tongue." Joichiro finished his sentence. He was very familiar with the two.

"Yeah, yeah," Souma was amazed at his father's guess. "How'd you know?"

"You know I keep up with the kingdom's news?" Joichiro chuckled. At this day in age, if you're a noble, there is no privacy kept, especially from the media.

"Oh, well, then you know who they are related to then?" His father simply nodded to his son. "Okay then, well they came in, were impressed with what I made, especially the one with the God Tongue."

"That's a pretty high feat, especially for a young aspiring cook as you." Joichiro was amazed at the progress his son has made in the culinary arts, especially with what he's hearing.

"Yeah, yeah, so after a quick conversation or two, I had realized that I was running late," Souma was back on track with his story. "As I stumbled out of the restaurant, saying my goodbyes, this guard is right behind me. He gives me a look, just trying to find an excuse to use his stupid weapon."

"Right when he's about to start to attack me, Erina, started to insult the man, for abusing his powers, finding any reason to try to beat me. So as she tries to tell him off, that just sets him off even more, that's when he pushes me to the floor, my face on the dirt and he starts taking swings on to my back."

"That fucking bastard." Just hearing this riled up Joichiro. The audacity the guard had to even do that, even to a teenager. But he didn't expect anything else, everyone not a noble or at least a citizen not from the slums, would get the stick.

"So as he's beating me, Erina begs the man to stop. It was a minute later that her friend, Hisako, tackled the man. Did I mention she was a badass? She beat him up, making sure the man was pinned down." Souma wasn't done, he continued.

"So after the whole ordeal, Erina takes me to the Castle Nakiri, taking me to the infirmary ward where this heal caster did his work and patched me up, after that was done, she and I talked for a bit."

"About?" Joichiro wondered what a peasant and a princess would talk about.

"Just of what had happened," Souma explained, finally coming to an end with his story. "After a while, her dad, the king came in, that's when I took off."

"Wow, that was something," Joichiro was relieved to hear.

"Before I left, he did ask me a weird question." Souma added.

"And that was?" His father raised an eyebrow at the boy, wondering what it was.

"He asked if he had known me from somewhere," the teenager revealed. "I don't know, that just stick right in the back of my mind for some odd reason."

"Probably just mistook you for someone." Joichiro joked about.

"You're probably right about that," Souma still wondered why his mind had kept that small tidbit, which now also reminded him of something else that was interesting. "I didn't know Shinomiya had previously cooked for the king."

"Once upon a time." Joichiro simply said.

"He also did say that there was someone that the king really admired, almost romantically liked or something like that." Souma added, finally summing up everything he heard and faced today.

"Oh," that last bit caught Joichiro's interest. "Did he mention who?"

"Nope, he didn't. Almost like he just stopped right there or something, I don't know," Souma sighed. "Point is, I had a long exhausting day."

"Hmm," Joichiro got up from his chair. "Well rest up son, I got the garden."

"Are you sure dad?" Even with everything that has happened, Souma knew he and his father always worked on the garden, from improving it to tending to it. "I still got some energy left, I can help you before the sun sets."

"No, no, it's fine, you've had a long day, I got it." With the fresh seeds in hand, Joichiro headed out.

"Okay, let me know if you need any help." Souma lend his hand, hoping his father does.

"I know, I know, and I thank you son." And with that, Joichiro stepped out.

The red, long haired man stared up, looking at the direction of the highest tower in the kingdom.

The Nakiri Castle. Oh he knows it so well. That someone who had the highest praise, that someone who Azami once obsessed over. That was him, Joichiro.

"Azami…"

…

Inside the deepest Chambers of the Nakiri Castle, there was one that was only meant for Erina Nakiri.

A secret only her family knows of.

Chained up, no shirt but only her bra and given her whips onto her for disrespecting her father, Erina wept. Her low and constant cries echoed in the room.

"I'm sorry father… I'm sorry father…" She told herself that.

She was alone, her face on the wall as she kneeled over. Her back ached, even after all her whips were given to her, she couldn't help but feel the excruciating pain.

Though this wasn't the first time she had received lashings. Her back, her body, all sorts of scars and bruising, and each one told a different story.

The door to her chamber opened up and she could see Hisako, horrified by the state the princess was left in. Even after countless of times coming here for her, it still never made it any easier seeing each time how she was left by her father.

She walked to her, finally unchaining the gold blonde woman.

Erina knelt, grabbing her and holding onto her legs as Hisako took out what seemed to be a remedy of some kind.

It was the same kind of remedy she had always used for Erina. "Everything will be okay." She gently starting to rub the cream on her back.

"Ah…" Erina lowly yelped in pain. Only for a bit as Hisako continued to rub her back with the remedy.

Though it only stung, after a while, the pain subsided, working wonders on her back as she no longer had to worry about the pain. "Thank you, Hisako."

"Why did you do it?" Hisako simply asked.

"I don't know." She knew what she asked about. The boy, Souma Yukihira. Why did she do what she did for a peasant, was a question she asked herself.

"This didn't have to happen had you not intervene…" Hisako had told her, almost scolding her.

"I couldn't just look away, turn a blind eye," Erina admitted. "I never knew guards could be so cruel, seeing him on the ground, getting beaten. I just couldn't let that happen."

"Of all the times we've seen stuff like that, you've never once reacted the way you did today." Hisako, admittedly, was surprised at what had happened earlier.

"It just… I just wanted it to stop… being a princess under my father… it's just to painful to turn a blind eye now…" Erina could remember all the times she had to turn a blind eye, knowing that intervening in any way would get her in trouble and not just her but Hisako as well as the two were pretty much an inseparable pair.

"But you haven't answered my question, of all the times we've had to turn a blind eye, why him?" Hisako wondered, a question that has been in the back of her mind since the start of that incident.

"If I'm being truthful here," Erina grabbed her shirt that was folded on one of the torture tables, putting it on. "A peasant out of everyone we've had to interview about being my personal chef, he's the only that managed to give me a new palate for my God Tongue, a feat so many try to do and fail." Erina truthfully told. "And when we were saying our goodbyes, his smile, so pure and innocent, if just struck my heart in a way I still have trouble putting in words."

"So you like him?" Hisako bluntly told her.

"W-What!?" Erina couldn't believe what the pinkette told her. She liked a peasant? "T-That's preposterous! I-I would never!"

"Lady Erina," Hisako began to chuckle at the state she could see the blonde. "Your blushing, your stuttering and acting frantically."

"A-Am not!" Erina denied the accusations, still blushing, stuttering and frantically.

"Denial is a river." Hisako continued to tease.

"…" Erina now just kept her mouth shut. Was there truth to what Hisako said? Did she instantly fall for him? Souma Yukihira? The thought of his smile, sincere and honest, sweet and kind. Her heart skipped a beat again just thinking about it. "Damn it, damn it!"

"Aw, that is so sweet." Hisako still teased her.

"Shut up, if you tell anybody, and I mean anybody, I will chop your head off!" Ah the tsundere side of Erina finally showed. "Especially my father! If he knew…"

"My lips are sealed, Lady Erina." Hisako pulled the imaginary zipper on her mouth.

"Promise me! If my father finds out, he'll have me punished, or worse…" Erina couldn't bare the thought of what her father is capable of. She knew if her father got word of it, something foul will happen.

"I promise Lady Erina, your cute crush on Yukihira will be safe with me." Hisako held her pinky up.

Erina had hers and like that, they pinky promise each other. "Thank you." Erina sighed with some relief.

"Lets get out of here, this one place had always given me the chills."

"Tell me about it."

The next day came by, Erina had woken from her slumber. She stretched her body out, still feeling a little bit of a sting from her whipping from the day before.

She got out of her bed, still in her PJs. She took her time to look outside her castle window, moving her window curtains to let the natural light of the sun coming up hit.

The beauty of the kingdom of Totsuki, ever looked so beautiful in the mornings sunshine.

Erina can see everything that extended all to the slums. And she instantly remembered Souma. The boy that somehow took her heart without her even realizing.

Two complete opposites, she remembered the conversation the two had. How he described her blessing and his curse. It just seemed so ironic and coincidental that Erina had fallen for a peasant who longed to finally taste and smell something while she herself longed to finally taste something that would satisfy her God Tongue.

"I can't wait to see you again…"

…

Joichiro continued to tend to his garden, alone as he had let his son go see his friends, making plans for the food wars type of thing the kingdom is gonna hold by next week.

"God damnit." Joichiro had found some scavengers footprints. He had been missing some key ingredients and now he figured out why: Trolls. Small trolls had begun to take some of his plants, fruit and vegetables.

"You know, for someone who is dying, he sure is mending his plants like there's no tomorrow." A familiar voice had said.

Joichiro turned and saw that it was Shinomiya. "Huh, you're long way from your restaurant, aren't you, Shinomiya?" He can see that his fellow friend wore a loose blue kimono with slippers.

"I thought I paid you a visit." Shinomiya walked closer to the fence.

"I'm guessing you're here to talk about what happened yesterday, I presume?" Joichiro got up from his knelt position, wiping the dirt and sweat from his face with a towel he had in hand.

"Yes." Shinomiya got right to the point.

Joichiro took in a deep breath. "Come on inside, I'll make some tea."

After a couple of minutes, the two sat across from each other with warm cups of tea as they conversed.

"I can't believe you've never told your son." Shinomiya said as he took a sip from his cup.

"I will never tell him about my past, not even on my deathbed." Joichiro admitted, a hint of anger in his tone as he reminisced about his past.

"You're going to have to," Shinomiya told him. "At this rate, with him meeting that Nakiri, he will bound to know the truth. Whether it comes from you or from him."

Joichiro sat there quietly. Shinomiya had a point. Even if he didn't tell him about it, his son will find out about it, especially if it came from him: Azami Nakiri. Out of all the things that could happen, finding out that he was the one Azami had wanted, would only put a Target on his son's back.

"What will you do?"

Joichiro took a sip out of his tea before he answered. "Shit, I don't know."