Cedric's new pet, Sir Loin, was not an ideal companion. The carriage-sized meatball rolled through the castle corridors like a boulder with abandonment issues, flattening curtains, terrifying maids, and absorbing every loose object in its path.
By noon, it had devoured a suit of armor, three feather dusters, and the duke's favorite quill.
"He's adorable," Cedric declared, patting the meatball's spongy surface. "Look, he's learning!"
Sir Loin burped, launching the quill like a projectile into a portrait of Aunt Seraphina.
"Adorable," the duchess repeated, her smile sharp enough to slice beef.
Lord Whiskerton's demands escalated. The spa day he'd negotiated via yowls and strategically placed claw marks now included.
A rose-petal bath drawn hourly.
A personal harpist (a terrified maid).
A throne upholstered in stolen velvet curtains.
"The cucumber water is room temperature," he sniffed, flicking a paw at the servant's offering. "Do I look like a peasant?"
The staff revolted. Quietly.
"We could 'accidentally' lock him in the pantry," a maid whispered.
"He'd eat the salt and blame us," the butler sighed.
Evangeline's prophecy mark burned during her nap, dragging her into a vision:
The lone noodle from the crypt had grown. Now thrice its size, it slithered through the castle's secret passages, leaving a trail of broth that hissed like a curse.
Behind it, the cauldron bubbled anew, a shadowy figure stirring—
She woke screaming, her pacifier glowing like a warning beacon.
"Blargh! Gah!" Translation: "The noodle's back! And it's bringing friends!"
Lucien, ever the scholar, misunderstood. "Teething? I'll fetch a chilled spoon."
Banished to the kitchens under guard, Chef Marcel simmered with resentment—and a new batch of broth.
"Supervised ramyeon," he muttered, tossing in a handful of glowing herbs. "Insulting."
The guards, bribed with pork buns, looked away as he fed the stew a lock of Evangeline's hair snatched during a diaper change.
"A dash of prophecy," he crooned. "A pinch of payback."
The broth bubbled black.
The rogue noodle, now thick as a tree trunk, burst through the cellar doors at midnight. It lashed at the walls, spraying corrosive broth that melted stone and sense alike.
"INTRUDER!" a guard shouted, then paused. "A… sentient noodle?"
It slapped him into a pillar and surged toward the nursery, its mission clear.
Evangeline.
As the castle scrambled, Marcel's corrupted broth erupted. The new ramyeon elemental clawed its way free—larger, darker, its eyes smoking with charred chili rage.
"DESTROY… ALL…" it gurgled, voice echoing from the crypt.
And in the nursery, the rogue noodle coiled around Evangeline's crib, dripping acid broth, as the elemental's shadow fell over the castle…