Chapter 46
Episode 46
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Mistake? I blinked.
Was it so bad that it was considered a mistake even before I tasted it?
That couldn't be it, could it be...?
"Shall I cook for you myself?"
Dielo suggested with a gentle smile.
That's when I became certain.
There was something wrong with the food.
"Okay."
As I nodded, I clearly saw it.
A strange look passed between the maids waiting behind Dielo to serve the meal.
"Then, this way."
Did Dielo sense it too?
He gently caressed the back of my hand and led me.
His light, lake-like eyes shone between his long eyelashes.
"I'll escort you myself, Father."
He especially dug deep into me and escorted me.
I could see the maids deliberately averting their eyes from our appearance.
...That must be what Dielo is aiming for.
"Okay."
I got up, following him.
Thinking of the red blood I saw when he took the napkin and wiped his mouth.
* * *
Dielo and I entered the kitchen.
Even the cooks were sent out from the place where the fire was used, so it was just the two of us in the spacious space.
"You know how to cook?"
At my question, Dielo tilted his head slightly.
"I don't know if I can satisfy Krua."
That meant he knew how to. I laughed lightly.
"I'm not picky."
At those words, Dielo's eyes widened.
His face, as if he couldn't believe it, seemed genuinely surprised.
It was only after seeing that face that I remembered the contents of the original story.
That Krua was such a gourmet that he replaced the Alloze family's chef about eight times and even chose his own exclusive chef.
"...If Dielo made it, then yes."
I quickly corrected myself.
It wasn't like there were people below the third floor who needed to see a sweet couple act, but saying embarrassing things made me fan myself naturally.
"I'll have to work harder since you're looking at me so kindly."
Dielo laughed lightly.
Fortunately, what he wanted to do wasn't a complicated dish.
Grilled mushrooms that Krua liked and pasta using those mushrooms.
I watched him cook and asked. Knowing that he was trying not to show it on purpose.
"Poison, right?"
The reason I stepped away from the table earlier. The reason he was cooking on purpose.
At my words, Dielo's movements with the pan stopped for a moment.
"You're too much for me, Father."
"Pardon?"
It was a voice so small that I could barely hear it.
It was also a low voice that made my heart flutter for a moment.
No, there's no need to refuse to be excited.
They say you have to deceive yourself first to deceive others.
It was when I was trying to come to my senses.
"It seemed like there was poison in the ingredients."
—Fwoosh!
A white flame with Magical Power stretched out from his fingertips and swept over the food.
Ah, that was an ability mentioned in the original story.
"It's the Purification Flame."
Dielo said briefly.
He shook the white flame on his fingertips and said.
"It's used to neutralize poison. The reason why the Argenta family has been poisoned less often than other families is because of this..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Fortunately, the enemy didn't seem to know that information."
—Clatter.
A plate was placed in front of me.
The food, steaming and golden-brown, certainly looked appetizing.
Looking at his plating skills, it seemed like he had practiced cooking more than once or twice.
"Do you cook often?"
"Even if I can neutralize poison."
Dielo smiled with a pained expression.
"I couldn't always do that."
Well, he couldn't show himself checking the food with flames in front of everyone.
Then, not only would the atmosphere of Argenta become rigid, but the rumors would be about a suspicious Dielo, not a gentle Dielo.
"Is it too cooked?"
Dielo tapped the pasta plate.
As if he didn't like it.
I twirled the pasta noodles with a fork.
"It's perfect."
Overcooked pasta is not good.
Even if I don't seem to be as much of a gourmet as the original Krua, I care about things like this.
"I'm glad."
Dielo, sitting in front of me, placed a plate with pasta in front of him as well.
As if he could finally have a proper meal.
...But is it really okay when there was poison?
Even though he used the Purification Flame...
As if reading my worries, Dielo tasted the pasta first.
"It's okay now, Krua."
"Are you okay?"
But this pasta wouldn't be the only problem.
Clearly, what Dielo showed when he wiped his mouth with a napkin earlier was blood.
"You ate it, the poison."
At my words, Dielo smiled.
"You're a kind Father."
It was when I thought it was a voice that sounded like a song.
"The Argenta who can emit the Purification Flame wouldn't react much to a little poison, would they?"
That's true, but. Then why was there blood?
I unknowingly examined his face in detail.
I could see Dielo blinking his lake-like eyes and smiling.
"I'm really okay. I'll tell you right away if something's wrong."
Then he leaned his face slightly towards me.
"Now that I've started a contract with Krua, my body isn't just mine."
"That's..."
That's true, but.
Whether he knew he had a special talent for making ordinary words sound suggestive or not, Dielo raised his fork.
As if telling me to eat quickly.
...It really feels like a honeymoon.
I scratched my cheek as I watched him.
* * *
That night, some of Argenta's staff were replaced.
Not only the head chef and assistant chef, but also those who procured the ingredients.
—Thump.
In the dark dining room, Rick, the head of the intelligence department, walked out with a bright smile.
He wiped the blood that had splattered on his face with a white napkin and burned it with flames.
* * *
"The intelligence department is tracking down the mastermind."
The next morning, Dielo said that.
The problem with the meal was because the enemy had infiltrated among those who procured the food.
"Be careful, Krua."
The enemy had been identified, but the mastermind was still unclear.
It would probably be either Alloze or Kartiel.
"It's best to always be accompanied by the knights on the 4th floor or me."
Until the mastermind is caught.
Dielo had a worried look on his face.
A bright, sunny morning.
His face seemed to sparkle whenever light leaked through the thick blackout curtains.
His eyes, gently stroking my hair while I lay in bed, contained a slight tremor.
"Even if it's stifling."
As he said that, Dielo twisted my hair a few times at his fingertips.
Then he pulled the blanket up to my shoulders.
"......"
I've never given much meaning to sleeping under the same blanket.
No, I vowed not to give it any meaning.
The fact that his warmth was conveyed felt strangely different, so I just stared at him.
"Krua?"
I came to my senses only after Dielo called my name again.
"......Okay."
There was no reason to feel stifled.
After all, I was always with the people on the 4th floor or Dielo.
And Dielo's worries became a reality.
This time it was during the day, while I was putting on a dress for going out.
"This is the dress you will wear for this schedule."
The dress clearly came through the maids on the 4th floor.
But when I opened the box, I smelled a strange scent from the dress.
To be exact, it was a strange Magical Power.
"......?"
It could be called an instinctive sense.
"Shall I turn around, or..."
Dielo glanced at me.
I was surprised and also felt new to see a slightly playful expression on his face.
"Shall I serve you myself?"
...Dielo personally helping me with my clothes?
—Thump, thump, thump.
I could see the maids around me retreating all at once at those words.
No, you don't have to retreat so obviously?
