The noble seats were a bubble of perfumed air and whispered scandals, high above the roaring energy of the common crowd.
It was filled with high-ranking nobles and their attendants. The seats, just like the commoners' seats below, were filled with anticipation.
Lady Vale sat with her circle of friends—Miranda, Felicity, Julia, and Serena—their gowns a splash of jewel tones against the dark wood. A servant quietly refilled their glasses with sparkling wine as they peered down at the contestants assembling on the arena floor.
"Oh, look, there's Lord Terrel's son," Miranda said, fanning herself lazily, pointing to one of the nobles seated near them. "Look, Felicity, it seems he wants to get your attention even now. What a dedication."
"Dedication or desperation?" Felicity quipped, her sharp eyes scanning the crowd. "His father's mines are failing. Do you think I would waste my time with him? Me?"
Their light laughter was cut short as Julia, the youngest of the group, let out a small, surprised gasp. She pointed a delicate finger towards the Light box that displayed one of the cooking stations near the edge of the arena. "Goodness… is that…? Lady Vale, isn't that your Cassian?"
All heads turned. Sure enough, there was Ji Hoon, standing calmly in his black-and-gold contestant uniform, at his station among the contestants with a focused intensity that seemed utterly alien to the foppish nobleman they all knew.
A beat of stunned silence hung in the air.
Then, Miranda let out a tinkling laugh, covering her mouth with her fan. "Oh, my! It is! Cassian Ahn, in the flesh… and competing with the commoners! How… novel."
Felicity leaned forward, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "Novel? Miranda, darling, let's be honest. It's tragic. I knew the Ahn family had seen better days, but I didn't realize things were quite so… dire."
She turned to Vale, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "Vale, you poor thing. Did his allowance get cut off? Is he here for the prize money?"
Lady Vale's cheeks flushed a bright, mortified pink. She gripped the stem of her wine glass so tightly her knuckles turned white. She hadn't known anything about him entering. Seeing him down there, in full view of everyone, was a humiliation she hadn't been prepared for.
'Cassian! How could you lower yourself like this! That fool! I told him to do whatever he wanted after he signed the contract off! Does he not know he is messing with my pride too?!'
As the sheer thought made her furious, something caught her eye. She looked at him again. His hair. It was... trimmed?
For the longest time—maybe four? No, six years ago, back when the Ahn family was still respectable—that was the first time she had met him, when her parents signed her off with a stupid contract.
The first compliment she'd ever given him was that his hair looked nice. She had said it on a whim, but somehow that boy had taken it to heart.
He kept that hair and grew it all this time, until she could argue it was longer than hers. But now… that long hair was gone?
Her thoughts were cut off by the laughs and snickers of her 'friends'. She didn't have time to dwell on this. She needed to go and meet with him to finalize breaking the contract sooner.
* * *
Near the corner of the noble booths, close to the VIP seats reserved for other high-born families, sat Marquess Roswald de Clein. His attendant, Light, stood silently behind him. Roswald looked down at the contestants below, who had finally stopped moving after forming their groups.
His gaze drifted across the arena, lingering on two groups in particular. One was a team of four cooks standing confidently near the center. The other was Ji Hoon's group.
"A promising start. It seems our trainee cooks are prepared, seeing as they assembled so quickly," Roswald said, swirling the dark red wine in his glass. The liquid caught the light, glinting like a jewel.
Light stepped forward, a crisp report in his hands. "Yes, my lord. We provided them with the challenge's theme and details beforehand, thanks to the information from our contacts inside the Ministry. They have been practicing the specific dishes they are to prepare. Everything is in order."
A sly smile tugged at Roswald's lips as the Light Box above flickered, showing a close-up of Ji Hoon and his teammates. "And who are the group members near Cassian?" he asked, his voice dripping with casual curiosity.
Light consulted his papers. "Based on our information, one is an assistant cook from the Delivane Kingdom. The other is a cook who studies at a local, modest diner."
Roswald's eyes narrowed. "What about the girl?"
Light was silent for a moment, the pause noticeable. "We have little to no information on her," he admitted. "The registration lists her as Yuna MacQueen—a name that does not exist in the national records..."
Roswald's smile widened, becoming sharper. "An alias... If she was able to enter with fake details, she must have a powerful patron inside the Ministry to bypass the checks."
His eyes, full of calculating intrigue, shifted from the mysterious girl back to Ji Hoon. "I am getting more intrigued by the second. Well then... let's see what you can do, little Cassian."
* * *
The contestants had assembled into their groups at the eight cooking stations. Ji Hoon stood with the three other members of his team.
Lady Seraphina's voice continued, capturing the attention of both the contestants and the roaring crowd.
[ Now that our contestants have finished forming their groups, I will announce the theme of this round! ]
[ This year's first round will focus on the balance of sweetness!
Any dish can be sweet, but one made by a master cook must achieve balance—not merely be sweet for the sake of sweetness. And so, let us reveal the main ingredient for this round! ]
Just as she finished her sentence, a section of the stage floor slid away with a low rumble. A platform rose, revealing a long, gleaming table that seemed to be carved from a single block of ice. Resting upon it were ingredients that made the contestants stare in awe.
[ That is right, contestants! The main ingredient of this round is Sugar!
Sugar, the very synonym for sweetness. What better way to start a sweets and dessert-themed competition than with it? ]
[ Here before you, ingredients are laid out and grouped under their Grades. We have everything from Grade B—the minimum quality a master cook should handle—up to the rarest. Choosing a lower grade will not disqualify you, as long as you know how to use it skillfully. ]
[ But for those daring enough to choose the rarest... we have laid out something special. ]
The Light Box focused on one ingredient, and a hush fell over the dome before erupting into loud, disbelieving cheers.
[ That's right! For the first time in ICC history, ] Seraphina's voice held a reverent tone,
[ we present a true Grade-S ingredient: Sea Sugar. ]
[ Harvested from the enzymes of the Venus Trap Fish from the depths of the Saccharum Marinum, it is said to amplify the essence of any flavor it touches a thousandfold. ]
A collective gasp swept the dome. Grade-S. A myth to most, a reality before them. Most contestants nervously looked toward the safer, lower-grade options. But Ji Hoon couldn't take his eyes off it.
Seated within a glass jar, the Sea Sugar gleamed with an inner light. It wasn't merely white; it was a crystalline dust that seemed to have captured moonlight and stardust within its core.
Tiny, perfect granules shimmered with a faint, opalescent sheen, shifting between silver and pale blue as if holding a deep ocean current within each grain. It seemed to pulse gently, a sleeping power waiting for a chef worthy of waking it.
[ Each group will send one person to choose the ingredients you will be using. The chosen individuals, please come to the center and select your grade of sugar based on your group, starting from the first pairs of stations! ]
As Lady Seraphina finished, the first two groups went ahead to the center stage, both choosing Grade B sugars. The crowd murmured with a little disappointment, but they understood the contestants were taking safer options.
Then the next pair went. This time, one group chose Grade A while the other stuck with Grade B. Ji Hoon looked at the large, powerfully built man who had chosen the Grade A sugar.
The contestants around him seemed to know the guy, all looking at him with clear admiration, which left Ji Hoon dumbfounded. He turned to Lior.
"Hey, who is that guy?"
Lior looked at him as if he'd asked the most obvious question in the world. He wasn't the only one; the masked girl and Ansen stared at him too, wondering if he was joking.
"What do you mean, who is he? That's the current Chief Royal Cook! Even I know him from the neighboring kingdom—how could you not know who that is?"
"Oh, so that's him?" Ji Hoon said.
"Noble boy, it seems I know about these things more than you."
"Oh well, I wasn't interested in this stuff before," he gave a forced laugh. "Anyway, who should we send up there?"
"I say you go," Lior said. "I trust your judgement, after last time we worked together."
That surprised Ji Hoon. When he looked at the other two, their expressions clearly said, go for it, which made him smile.
As the Chief Royal Cook returned to his station, the third group was called. This time, it was the purple-haired guy Ji Hoon remembered from the prelims. He watched attentively to see what he would choose.
The boy moved quickly, his eyes scanning the ingredients. He passed by the Grade B options, then the Grade A. Lady Seraphina commented on his progression.
[ Looks like we have a second contestant considering Grade A... oh! He doesn't seem to be stopping! ]
Just as she narrated, the purple-haired boy walked straight to the Grade S ingredients, took one of the jars, and calmly returned to his station, leaving everyone stunned.
"Did that kid really just choose a Grade S ingredient?" a contestant whispered loudly.
"He's either a genius or a fool with a death wish!" another muttered from a nearby station.
[ Okay, looks like we do have daring cooks this year! ] Seraphina's voice cut through the murmurs. [ Now for the last pair of groups! ]
It was time for Ji Hoon's group and Victor's group. They moved toward the stage together. Victor went first, strutting confidently to the table.
He snatched up a Grade B ingredient without a second glance and moved past Ji Hoon on his way back to his station with a smirk.
Then it was Ji Hoon's turn. He walked to the center and looked at the array of ingredients, but before he could even properly see the rest, his eyes locked onto the Sea Sugar. His
======
Item: Sea Sugar
Source: Venus Trap Fish — Highly Volatile and High Sugar Content.
Quality: S.
Purity: 99.76%.
======
"This is it..." he murmured. His hand moved forward almost instinctively and picked up the jar of Sea Sugar.
A wave of gasps and murmurs swept through the arena. Everyone stared, including his own teammates.
"What is with young cooks these days! Do they all have a death wish?" a senior cook from another team spat.
"Hubris! Sheer hubris! They chewed more than they can swallow, just watch!"
"Do they even know what that is?"
[ Well, folks, it seems this year we have more daring cooks than we thought! ]
Lady Seraphina announced, a note of excitement in her voice.
[ Now, back to the competition! You have an hour and a half to finish a dish that will wow the judges and show your skill in balancing sweetness. ]
[ Without further ado... let the first round begin! ]
The Light Box flickered, and a large countdown timer appeared, starting its descent from 1:30:00.
The gong sounded, and the arena erupted into a frenzy of action as cooks scrambled to their stations, fires were lit, and ingredients were unpacked. The first round had officially begun.