Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

In fact, Nyx didn't stop at just tasting it, she went on to take a proper sip of the broth and then tore into the tender chicken, letting the sauce coat her tongue. It was rich with spices, though not overly refined, the kind of flavor that came from a cook's well-worn pan rather than a palace chef's gilded kitchen. It wasn't exceptional in the way the royal dishes were, where every herb and grain of salt was measured with obsessive care, yet there was something about it that felt real. Honest.

She chewed slowly at first, then faster, as if each bite was winning her over more than the last. Lucas leaned back in his chair, watching her with an amused smirk that deepened every time she reached for another piece of chicken or dipped bread into the thick sauce. He didn't say a word at first, simply enjoying the sight of the princess, draped now in a plain dress and wearing a simple necklace, looking nothing like the guarded, poised royal he knew in the castle.

"This is… actually very good," Nyx said again, her voice bright with a note of surprise. She took another spoonful, her lips curving into a smile that made her eyes light up. "The flavor is so… bold. Not delicate and staged like the dishes at the palace, but still, so full of life."

Lucas arched a brow, his smirk widening. "Careful, Princess. Keep talking like that and the royal chef might hear you and faint on the spot."

Nyx gave him a side glance but didn't stop eating, her spoon scraping gently against the bowl as she went back for more. "No, I mean it. This is wonderful. I could get used to this," she admitted between mouthfuls, clearly enjoying the unfamiliar experience far more than she had expected.

Lucas leaned forward slightly, resting an elbow on the table. "Look at you, singing praises to a humble chicken stew. Next thing I know, you'll be telling me you want to live in the market square and start your own food stall."

She laughed softly and shook her head, but her eyes didn't leave her plate. "Don't be ridiculous," she said, though her smile betrayed her. Still, she kept complimenting the dish, musing about how fresh the bread was and how the sauce had just the right hint of pepper.

Lucas kept throwing in sly remarks, teasing her about how she was going to make the restaurant famous if she kept talking so loudly, but every time she laughed, she went right back to her food.

Even as she continued eating with visible delight, Nyx's ingrained habits refused to let go. She still held her spoon in that poised, delicate manner, her back perfectly straight, her movements deliberate and graceful as though she were seated at a royal banquet rather than at a worn wooden table in a bustling, modest eatery. She would dab the corner of her lips with a cloth every few bites, and she chewed with the kind of measured pace that came from years of formal dining.

Lucas, watching her from across the table, couldn't help but chuckle. "You do realize," he began, leaning forward slightly, "that you're going to draw more attention eating like that than if you stood on the table and started singing."

Nyx raised her eyes to him, clearly puzzled. "What do you mean? I'm eating properly."

"That's the problem," Lucas replied, a teasing edge to his voice. "Commoners don't eat like that. Around here, they don't spend half a meal making sure their spoon is at the perfect angle or worrying about whether they took the bread with their left or right hand."

She frowned lightly, looking around the room as though to prove him wrong, but sure enough, the other patrons ate with a more relaxed ease. There was no carefully measured grace in their movements, just quick scoops of food, hearty bites, and a casual comfort with their plates.

Lucas reached across the table, taking her hand gently but firmly, and guided it so the spoon rested differently in her grip. "Here," he said, "don't hold it like you're about to sign a treaty. Just… like this." He demonstrated, shoveling up a spoonful in a careless motion before eating it without ceremony. "See? No need to overthink it. Nobody here cares about perfect posture or knife placement. They just want to enjoy the food before it gets cold."

Nyx watched him with a mix of disbelief and curiosity, as though trying to imagine herself abandoning the meticulous etiquette drilled into her since childhood. Lucas smirked again, sensing her hesitation, and added, "Come on, Princess. You're playing commoner today, might as well eat like one."

She hesitated a moment longer, glancing down at her bowl, before slowly adjusting her hold on the spoon, mimicking his movement as best she could. Lucas gave an approving nod. "Better. Now, loosen your shoulders… and don't be afraid to make it look like you're actually hungry."

Nyx gave him a skeptical look but didn't protest, and Lucas leaned back, satisfied that at least for now, she was learning to blend in.

She was now holding her spoon the way Lucas had shown her, took to her bowl with an almost exaggerated determination, clearly trying to prove she could eat like the people around her. She hunched forward scooping large bites instead of the small, dainty ones she was used to, and chewed with an almost deliberate lack of refinement. The change was so sudden and so unlike her usual composed self that Lucas had to press his lips together to keep from bursting out laughing. His shoulders shook slightly, and his eyes glimmered with amusement as he tried to focus on his own plate.

Nyx caught the subtle tremor in his expression and narrowed her eyes at him without stopping her eating. "Don't you dare laugh," her gaze seemed to say, but the effect was undermined by the fact that she had a mouth full of chicken broth and vegetables. When she puffed her cheeks slightly, still chewing, it only made her look even cuter, like a stubborn child refusing to admit she enjoyed herself. Lucas felt a small warmth in his chest at the sight, a fleeting moment of softness that caught him off guard. He leaned back in his seat, letting the corners of his mouth curve upward just a little more, even though he knew it would annoy her.

The truth was, Lucas himself wasn't exactly a stranger to either side of life. In this era, his current identity placed him in a position far from the struggles of common folk. Yet the man within, the soul that had lived before, still remembered another reality. In his former life in the future, he had been a commoner, raised with the kind of simplicity and hardships that forged resilience rather than arrogance. Those memories were rooted deep, shaping the way he saw the world now.

And even here, in the fragments of Xavier's life he had recovered, there was a strange comfort. Xavier had been born into privilege, but he wasn't strong enough in cultivation to command respect through fear or power. He had lived close to the ground, forging bonds with ordinary people who treated him as one of their own. They had taught him how to bargain at a market, how to drink from a chipped cup without complaint, how to laugh and find joy even when life was far from perfect. Those lessons, simple yet enduring, remained with him now.

It was why Lucas would never...could never...look down on commoners. No matter how fine the clothes he wore or how high the walls of the castle he lived in, he understood that worth was not measured in titles or wealth. Watching Nyx now, awkwardly yet earnestly trying to shed her royal polish for just a moment, he found himself quietly grateful. She might have been playing at being a commoner, but for Lucas, it was a life he would always carry as part of himself.