<CHAPTER 19>
The Interloper Is Gone, So Let’s Finish What We Were Doing
Ehilie opened her eyes and immediately came face to face with Rek.
“Good morning, Ehilie.”
His red eyes, tinged with faint exhaustion, curved gently.
Just awake, Ehilie’s mind was still hazy.
Why is this person here?
Oh, right, I asked him to sleep on the bed with me.
“Ah, good morning, Rek.”
How could a man look this perfect even right after waking up?
As Ehilie stared blankly at his face, she soon realized something was wrong.
She clearly remembered rolling the blanket into a line before going to sleep the night before.
But the blanket was nowhere to be seen, and Ehilie was wrapped in Rek’s arms.
That was not all.
The top two buttons of Rek’s shirt had been torn off, leaving it half open.
What on earth happened last night?
Startled, Ehilie sat up and checked her own clothes.
“…Rek, what happened here?”
Judging by the situation, it did not seem like Rek had done anything.
Did I wrestle with Rek in my sleep or something?
As Ehilie continued her serious contemplation, Rek calmly provided an answer.
“Ehilie crossed the line.”
“…What?”
“Do not worry.”
“I did nothing.”
“I would not want to be disliked by you, Ehilie.”
“No, wait, Rek.”
“Explain properly.”
“What did I even do?”
“Would you like to know the details?”
“Yes.”
With an awkward expression, Rek explained what had happened the night before.
“…So you are saying I hugged you?”
“Yes.”
“And I tore off the buttons too?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The more she heard, the paler Ehilie’s face became.
Is my sleeping habit really that bad?
She had never slept beside anyone before, so she had no idea.
She never expected to discover her sleeping habits like this.
“I am really sorry…”
Ehilie lowered her head deeply and apologized.
She was too embarrassed to bear it.
“It is all right, Ehilie.”
“However…”
However?
Ehilie waited tensely for what would follow.
If he said he disliked her now because her sleeping habits were that bad…
“Could you reattach the buttons on my shirt?”
Phew.
Ehilie let out a sigh of relief.
“Yes, I will.”
The moment Ehilie answered, Rek swiftly took off his shirt.
Ehilie was momentarily stunned by the solid body revealed before her eyes, then quickly came to her senses.
“W-What are you doing?”
At Ehilie’s flustered cry, Rek replied with an innocent expression, as if unaware of anything.
“If you are going to sew the buttons, I must take the shirt off, must I not?”
“Well, that is true, but…”
“No, put the shirt back on first.”
“I will go get you something to change into—”
Click—
Before she could finish speaking, the bathroom door opened.
“Good morning.”
“Did you both sleep well—”
Gabriel, who had been greeting them cheerfully, trailed off mid sentence.
His pupils shook as if they were malfunctioning.
An awkward silence instantly filled the room.
A half naked man on the bed and a woman blushing in front of him.
It was a situation ripe for misunderstanding.
Ehilie hurriedly tried to explain.
“Wait, Gabriel.”
“This is not what you are thinking.”
Gabriel let out a series of short sounds before nodding repeatedly.
“Do not worry, Miss Ehilie.”
“I may look like this, but I am not completely oblivious.”
“No, Gabriel.”
“I think you are misunderstanding something.”
“We are—”
“I will go out and do some morning exercise.”
“Please enjoy your time together while I am gone.”
After the storm passed, the awkward air settled once more.
“Ehilie.”
Rek whispered softly.
“Now that the interloper is gone, shall we finish what we were doing?”
Why would you say it like that when you were just asking me to sew on buttons?
No wonder Gabriel kept getting strange ideas.
Ehilie let out a deep sigh.
It seemed far too late to properly explain her relationship with Rek to Gabriel now.
After finishing the buttons, Ehilie headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Rek, who had followed her at some point, spoke.
“Ehilie, I will make breakfast today.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Rek, have you ever cooked before?”
“Yes.”
“From time to time.”
Ehilie felt puzzled.
Did nobles not usually cook?
In this world, most noble men had never even set foot in a kitchen, let alone cooked.
Before she could ask why he cooked, Rek spoke first.
“When I was young, poison was found in my meals more than once.”
“Because of that, I often cooked for myself.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Rek’s pitiful past resurface in Ehilie’s mind.
“I am sorry.”
“I should not have asked.”
“It is fine, Ehilie.”
“It does not bother me.”
Seeing Rek smile as if it truly did not matter made Ehilie feel even more apologetic.
* * *
Meanwhile.
Herond, who had been listening to this conversation from afar, clicked his tongue in admiration.
He had heard somewhere that mixing lies into the truth made them sound more convincing, and the effect was remarkable indeed.
It was true that poison had been found in Redemberg Lu Edeltein’s meals more than once.
However…
The Demon King cooking?
What nonsense.
Redemberg Lu Edeltein had never cooked with his own hands.
He would skip meals out of annoyance, but he was never the type to prepare food himself.
Well, perhaps it is not entirely false.
Whenever poison was found in his food, he personally went out to deal with those who dared attempt assassination.
If that counts as cooking, then it is cooking.
Herond nodded with satisfaction, imagining Redemberg Lu Edeltein “cooking” assassins.
That aside.
Are you truly all right, Your Majesty?
Herond felt a bit worried.
Would the Demon King, who could not even be bothered to spread butter on bread, really manage to cook properly?
His doubt was brief, and Herond soon changed his mind.
No.
How dare I doubt His Majesty.
Strength or intellect, there was nothing lacking in the Demon King Redemberg Lu Edeltein.
Herond firmly believed that even cooking for the first time, he would accomplish it perfectly.
* * *
“…Rek.”
“You really know how to cook, right?”
“Yes.”
The overly confident answer left Ehilie speechless.
“This is…”
Even Gabriel looked flustered.
The thing placed on the table could hardly be called food.
“Rek, what is this supposed to be?”
“It is a sandwich.”
“…I have a question.”
“Yes, Ehilie.”
“Why did you toast the sandwich bread?”
The bread was soggy with butter, or more precisely, soggy on the inside and charred black on the outside like a lump of coal.
“If you butter bread and toast it, it becomes savory and delicious, does it not?”
“But this is a sandwich.”
Rek looked as if to say, what is the problem with that?
If she kept asking, only Ehilie’s insides would burn like the bread.
“…Fine.”
“Let us say toasting the bread is a matter of preference.”
“But why did you grill all the vegetables inside as well?”
She could accept bread preference, but why grill all the vegetables inside too?
Every vegetable in the sandwich had lost its moisture and wilted.
“I heard vegetables taste better when grilled as well.”
“Who said that?”
“Herond did.”
“Herond?”
The Herond whose name was called lifted his head.
“Kraa, caw.
Caw, caw caw.”
After glancing once at the cawing Herond, Ehilie asked again.
“The Herond I know?”
“Ah, no.”
“My butler is also named Herond.”
What kind of butler would tell someone to grill all the vegetables in a sandwich?
As she stared in disgust at the unidentified dish that could not be called a sandwich, a thought suddenly crossed Ehilie’s mind.
Has Rek been eating food like this his whole life?
If he had never eaten a proper sandwich before, it made sense that he saw no problem with this.
He had no choice if he wanted to survive.
Having no one to rely on, how hard must it have been all this time?
Thinking that way made her chest ache.
As Ehilie’s expression grew darker, Rek, perhaps misunderstanding, spoke.
“I will clean this up.”
“No, Rek.”
Ehilie grabbed Rek’s arm and spoke resolutely.
“I will eat it.”
“No.”
“You do not have to force yourself.”
“This is something you made with care.”
“So I want to eat it.”
“…Ehilie.”
His red eyes trembled as if deeply moved.
Hoping her feelings would reach him, that he was no longer alone, Ehilie offered him a warm smile.
