Chapter 49. The Fragaria Family (2)

The breakfast meal for today was a simple toast with honey baked ham paired with a few vegetables like cabbages and tomatoes, in a way, it was like a simple burger by itself but not with patties and buns. As a refresher, we had apple juice as usual.

“How is it?” Mana asked as I sliced a piece of the toast with all the ingredients on it, stabbing the sliced piece with my fork and taking a bite of it as the crispiness of the toast resisted my teeth, only to be demolished into small pieces as the juiciness of the cabbage and ham greeted me. The tomatoes acted as a juice that complimented the two. It was an absolute delicacy for a morning.

“Delicious!” I answered before taking a sip of the refreshingly cold apple juice. It tasted a bit sweet for my liking, but all in all, it was still delicious. The toast was delicious enough that Flora couldn’t stop slicing a piece and eating the piece in rapid motion while Leisha inspected the toast after taking a few bites as if looking for a secret recipe embedded onto the toast.

There was no secret recipe at all, rather it was just Mana’s innate ability to be able to create a delicious meal out of intuition. From what she told me, she doesn’t understand how she can create these dishes, but she can feel which ingredients fit well for a certain dish, almost like skill was activating each time she tries to create a dish.

“How did you make it?” Leisha looked at Mana and asked as her eyes shone before she took another bite, holding her cheeks as she squinted her eyes in delight.

“I only paired the ingredients by itself, it should taste normal?” Mana replied before Leisha looked at her shocked, her eyes were wide open as if she heard something unbelievable. I would also react the same if I never heard about it from the start, it just seems unbelievable for something that is only paired together to taste this delicious.

“Is this what they call talent…?” Leisha mumbled as she looked at the toast on her plate before turning towards Mana as if she had experienced something weird. Ironically, she was also far talented than almost all of us as she has mastered many different arts even potion creation and singing which are high-class skills.

If someone were to take account of each of her occupation’s income then it would be around a few hundred gold coins every two months and could even go to a thousand at times depending on how many people wish to buy the potions. Added with the ability to fight, it would be weird to think that she actually didn’t go easy on me when we first encountered her.

“Can I have?” Flora suddenly interrupted as she looked at Leisha’s toast, drooling. Her plate was emptier than an entire desert, there was not a single spec on her plate which led me to believe that she actually likes the dish by an exceptionally large margin.

As if sensing a potential threat, Leisha looked at Flora for a second before taking a large bite on her toast as Flora looked at her with a face that was as if betrayed. Her face was completely pale as she looked at the now halved toast with pain-stricken eyes, she really wanted the toast but was rejected a single bite… poor Flora.

“You can have mine,” I said while handing my plate as she looked at me surprised.

“Aywumi-ma doesn’t want to eat?” she asked before I nodded my head as her eyes glittered, staring at the toast before taking it with her own hands with a gaze of worship. After a few seconds of worship, she soon started biting on it with her eyes closed, swallowing it as she started nibbling on the toast with an aura of joy.

After a short while of nibbling, she soon swallowed another piece before plucking off a tiny chunk as she hopped off from her seat and walked towards my side, reaching her hand out towards me. The hand, in particular, had the chunk she broke off from the toast, her eyes glanced at me as if telling me to take it, but I wasn’t sure.

“Aywumi-ma doesn’t want?” she questioned as I shook my head, taking the chunk of toast and swallowing it in one go as she smiled before reaching both of her hands. Without hesitating, I lifted her up and placed her on my lap before Mana giggled as she sliced half of her toast and stabbed it with her fork before handing it to me as she smiled.

As if not wanting to be beaten, Leisha also sliced a portion of hers and placed it on my plate, averting her gaze while looking at me during intervals as she said with a pout, “I–I just felt bad…” before Mana cracked up super loud.

“You really remind me of my old self,” Mana said as she looked at Leisha who was blushing hard with the tip of her ears completely red. It was what the people of my world would call a tsun or someone who cannot act with their true feelings, they are adorable to look at though.

After receiving the two toasts, I looked at the two of them and smiled as I said in a soft voice, “Thank you~!” before the two looked at me shocked, their eyes froze in place before their cheeks turned pink at the same time as I looked at them confused.

“What’s wrong?” I asked before the two of them hid their faces as they went down the table for several seconds before coming back up with their blushing faces gone. It was as if they traveled back in time for a second. I was confused, did I smile badly or was it even a smile. I don’t understand at all, nor would I be able to understand as Flora took my toast once more, swallowing it in one go as she burped.

“Pfftt…” Mana spat out her apple juice as she looked at Flora who was all smiles, resting her head on my chest as she closed her eyes, dozing off to the world of dreams. The paradise where she gets to eat as many boars as she wished.

“Hey…” I looked at Flora and said with disappointment as she started snoring, hugging me tightly as she slept before Mana giggled as the two looked at me with sympathy. The gluttonous Flora had taken my only breakfast meal… not just once, but twice… isn’t this depressing?

And so, with no breakfast on my plate… I stared at both Mana and Leisha as they ate their own toast for a few moments, discussing a few details left and right mainly about what to expect on their residence and a few rules set in place such as to never separate from one another and all those other kinds of stuff before time passed as we sat at the living room before a knock came from the front door.

“Aurora Delivery!” a familiar voice came from the door as Mana stood up and opened it before the figure of none other than the headmaster Aurora carrying a large suitcase with several maids that also carried different suitcases in their hands. Estelle was also there, but she wasn’t carrying anything at all.

“It’s time to dress the three of you up!” Aurora said as shivers ran through my spine as a bright and creepy smile came to her face before the suitcase she carried opened up as a maid outfit fell to the floor, shocking all of us greatly as an awkward silence fell down on the room.

Without hesitation, I stood up and ran upstairs as she screamed, “Hey…! It’s not what you think…!” but I decided to take no chances as I dashed out from the living room… hell no! I am not wearing a maid outfit, scrap you and your weird choices… you are not any worse than that stupid Goddess!

- Over at a certain Palace of Lilies –

“Haaachooo! Did someone just bad mouth me?” a white-haired beauty who was being fed with grapes by several beautiful ladies said as she wiped her nose before frowning her eyebrows as she sighed.