The dining hall was in chaos.
Duke Cassian stared at his morning toast, turning it over in his hands like it had personally betrayed him.
"This… has no taste."
Duchess Meredith sipped her tea and grimaced.
"It's like drinking warm water."
At the head of the table, Evangeline slammed her tiny fists against the highchair tray, her normally greedy appetite nowhere to be found. The spoonful of mashed peas in front of her might as well have been wet cardboard.
"Bleh!" she declared, flinging the spoon across the room. It hit Aunt Seraphina's square in the forehead.
Whiskerton, sniffing disdainfully at his usually prized tuna, recoiled.
"This is outrageous."
Reports flooded in from across the domain.
Bakeries are close as bread became "just warm fluff."
The local pub's ale now tasted like "sad water."
A distraught chef threw himself into the swamp after his signature stew was declared "emotionally empty."
Lucien, flipping through the reports, paled. "It's not just us. This curse is all over the domain."
Dante, still half-shadow, half-noodle-haired, groaned.
"Great. Now even misery has no flavor."
Aunt Seraphina stormed into the nursery, her boots leaving muddy footprints on the rug. She yanked open Evangeline's toy chest and dug through it with the desperation of a woman who had just realized her last hope was buried under stuffed unicorns.
"Aha!"
She pulled out a tiny silver rattle, its surface engraved with the same runes as the Holy Ladle.
"The Jewel's twin," she muttered. "The Spoon of Sweetness."
Evangeline blinked.
"Goo?" Translation: "You hid a magic spoon in my toys?"
Seraphina smirked. "Kid, I hid a cutlass in your bassinet. You're lucky you didn't roll over and stab yourself."
Down in the armory, Theo sat cross-legged on a barrel, surrounded by his haunted armor brigade.
"Alright, listen up," he said, shuffling a deck of cards. "We've got two options, sit here playing poker until the world ends, or do something."
The suits of armor clanked thoughtfully.
One, Sir Clanksalot, raised a gauntlet.
"…That's not a real vote," Theo sighed. "But fine. Siege warfare it is."
Selphina stood above the castle walls, the cracked Jewel of Umami beating in her grip. Below, the land withered, flowers lost their scent, fruit rotted without sweetness, and somewhere, a small child cried because even candy tasted like dust.
"SISTER!" Seraphina shoued, storming into the courtyard with the Spoon of Sweetness in one hand and Evangeline tucked under her other arm.
"ENOUGH!"
Selphina's grin was a blade.
"Oh, finally. Come to watch the world forget joy?"
"Hardly." Seraphina tossed Evangeline to Whiskerton, who caught her with a grumble. "I've come to remind you."
Then they clashed.
The Spoon clashed against the Jewel in a shower of sparks.
Evangeline's bland pacifier suddenly glowed gold.
Her prophecy mark burned, and for the first time, words formed in her mind, not as subtitles, but as a voice.
"Child of Moon and Shadow," it whispered. "Remember."
Memories flooded her.
The first bite of peach jam, stolen from the duke's toast.
The tang of lemon cake, smuggled by Lucien.
The warmth of milk, laced with honey and love.
"GAH!" she shrieked, and the pacifier exploded with light.
A beam of pure, golden flavor shot toward Selphina.
The blast hit the Jewel of Umami and repaired it.
Selphina screamed as the cracks sealed, the darkness inside destroyed by Evangeline's memory of sweetness. The Spoon of Sweetness combined with the Jewel, and for one blinding moment, the world was vibrant again.
Then—
Silence.
Selphina collapsed, the now whole Jewel rolling from her grip.
"…Why?" she whispered.
Seraphina knelt beside her, pressing the Jewel into her hands.
"Because you used to love mangoes too."
The next morning, the castle chefs cried as they bit into real, buttery toast.
Dante's hair had returned to normal, mostly. Theo's armor brigade had gone back to poker with a new rule, no betting spoons.
And Evangeline?
She sat in her high chair, happily munching a freshly flavored pacifier, while Whiskerton lazily lay above a pile of tribute tuna.
"Acceptable," he purred.
Somewhere, in a prison cell lined with salt to prevent broth-based escapes, Selphina stared at the Jewel of Umami—now glowing faintly with mango essence.
And for the first time in twenty years…
She smiled.