CH 103

Food Situation

Salt and pepper, then grill. Or, just put in whatever she could and simmered it.

Sheila was too tired to put much time and effort into cooking, and such meals continued for several days.

The first to flee was Jornwerner.

He lied bluntly that he was busy with his research and was locked up in the academic tower.

For the most part, if Sheila didn’t have rice, she would just eat sweets, so she picked up some baked sweets instead of preserved food. She had nothing to complain about, though, since she didn’t have to go along with his experiments, which was a big help.

It wasn’t until Sheila visited Felix on a holiday that a change occurred.

When she told him that she was eating a randomly prepared meal, he got teary-eyed for some reason and offered to help her out with her daily life.

Since then, Sheila’s life had improved dramatically. All the ingredients stored in the cafeteria were also prepared by him.

“He’s also Sheila’s guardian, isn’t he? I really can’t thank you enough for everything.”

On the way to the cafeteria in the evening, exhausted from shoveling snow, Cody murmured.

Since Felix’s name couldn’t be revealed, Sheila explained vaguely that a small acquaintance had recommended Sheila to the academy.

“We’re the ones who are supposed to be thanking him.”

If anything, it was Sheila who was in a position to be grateful to him. Cody tilted his head curiously and said bashfully.

“Thanks to that person’s recommendation, you were able to enter the academy, and I was able to meet you. I should also be grateful to him for that.”

“Cody….”

Sheila fell silent. His words were so nice that they blew away her tiredness.

“I’m really happy to meet Cody and Zechs. You guys are the reason I’m able to go this far.”

They laughed heartily at each other, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the cafeteria. The thin steam and appetizing smells greeted Sheila and her friends.

“I’m back~”

“Welcome back, Young Mis―…… Sheila-sama, everyone!”

The one who responded with a smile from the kitchen was Sheila’s exclusive maid, Lulu, who worked at Felix’s mansion.

It was with Felix’s help that Lulu began to visit the cafeteria on a daily basis and took care of the kitchen.

“I’m back, Lulu. Today’s meal looks delicious.”

“Mis―… Sheila-sama, thank you for your hard work in the cold weather. Today’s dinner will be pumpkin potage, hot vegetable salad, and lasagna.”

Sheila peeked into the pot from behind and Lulu smiled as she stirred the bright dandelion-colored soup. Maybe Lulu was still not used to it, calling her ‘Young Miss’ and always having to rephrase it.

“I made you more soup and bread, as usual.”

“Thank you. If I have this much, it should last me until lunchtime tomorrow.”

When Sheila thanked her while washing her hands, Lulu puffed out her cheeks in slight discontent.

“I wouldn’t mind being stationed here permanently if it was for Sheila-sama’s sake. If I could, I would prepare three freshly prepared meals for you.”

“I can’t let a girl live in a place like this. There’s only one bathroom, and I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

Sheila knew better than anyone that it was a difficult environment for women to live in. Lulu was trying to be useful, but Sheila didn’t want to give her a hard time.

It would be bad to leave it to her alone, so Sheila washed the used cooking utensils she saw. Cody and Zechs also washed their hands and began to help, while Lulu gave them instructions.

Cody suddenly opened his mouth in the bustling kitchen.

“L-Lulu-san is the daughter of a viscountess, but she can do anything from cooking to cleaning, it’s really amazing.”

His smile was quite awkward. You couldn’t really feel his usual calmness when he talked to Lulu.

“He’s right. I used to didn’t know that Lulu is the daughter of an aristocrat either.”

It was only when she introduced herself to Cody and Zechs that it became clear.

Sheila had heard of noble children working for other families as apprentices. But Lulu had told her that she had gotten a job at Felix’s mansion, so Sheila never thought she was an aristocrat.

“Even though I’m an aristocrat, my family is at the bottom rank. We’re so poor that we can only manage to live by having the only daughter, which is me, go out to work.”

For some reason, Cody held his chest at Lulu’s fleeting smile and crouched down. Sheila urged him to sit down if he wasn’t feeling well, but he just shook his head and said he was fine.

‘Eh? Why is Cody….’

The unnatural behavior and awkward smile. Sheila had a feeling that Lulu was the reason why he was acting like that.

She put away the washed utensils and dragged the useless Cody to a corner of the kitchen.

“Hey, do you like Lulu, by any chance?”

“You’re too direct, Sheila….”

When Sheila asked straight out, Cody nodded while his face turned bright red.

“I knew it,” Sheila thought to herself, and as she was making a proud face with her unusually clear intuition, he gave me a reproachful look.

“Now that you know, please keep it a secret from Lulu-san.”

“I know. I’m not that stupid.”

Sheila returned the same look to him, wondering why he didn’t trust her so much.

“But you should have said so earlier. With my position, I’m sure there’s something I can do to help, right?”

The two gentle people would make a good match. He would be faithful and wouldn’t make Lulu cry, and there was no reason for her to object.

“I’ve tried telling you several times….”

Cody looked up decisively as he spoke, saying that he hadn’t had a chance to confide in her again after failing several times.

“But then I realized. I’m grateful for your offer, but it doesn’t mean anything if I don’t work hard myself. So just having your support is good enough for me.”

“Cody…”

Sheila was about to be moved again.

“Um, can I help you?”

“Kyaa―! L-Lulu-san!”

Cody literally jumped up when Lulu approached him with concern.

“….. Did you just say ‘Kyaa’?”

The strange, maiden-like voice made Sheila kind of cry. It was a very uncool appearance that she personally would never want to show to someone she had a crush on.

“I-I apologize for interrupting your conversation. The meal is ready now….”

“Wow. Then let’s eat it while it’s hot. Oh, and don’t worry about Cody at all.”

Sheila held Lulu by the shoulders and walked away, leaving the burned-out corpse of her bright red friend behind.

“Of course, Lulu will eat with us, right?”

At first, Lulu was adamant about not sharing the table with her master, but when Sheila begged her to eat together with her, she finally nodded.

“It’s like a dream come true to be able to eat together with Sheila-sama.”

“I also enjoy eating with Lulu.”

Sheila resumed helping Lulu out and began to carry the plated dishes. As she passed by Cody, he grabbed Sheila’s shoulder with a rather devilish expression on his face.

“W-What?”

“Sheila, you two seem to be on very good terms, but… you’re not going to have that kind of relationship in the future, are you?”

“….”

The temperature in Sheila’s gaze suddenly lost all of its warmth.

It was useless. The current situation was a mess on top of a mess on top of another mess.

‘Come to think of it, Isaac-san was pretty clueless too….’

During the training, when Sheila asked the absent-minded Isaac about what happened, he said with a serious look in his eyes that he had met an angel.

Maybe love was something that made people useless. It was terrifying.

Sheila managed to get over her goosebumps and finished preparing the meal. Suddenly, there was a disturbing presence behind her.

“――It smells good.”

“Waa! Jornwerner-sensei, we’re too close!”

It was Jornwerner, smiling lustily, who appeared after a while.

“It’s alright. It’s an undeniable fact that you and I have a close relationship.”

“I meant physically. And anyway, we’re not even in any kind of relationship.”

Sheila was exhausted by his usual greetings.

Jornwerner looked at the dishes laid out on the table and smiled even more.

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed the smell of a meal.”

“…. I apologize for serving you food that didn’t seem like a proper meal the other day.”

There might be a problem with her cooking, but Sheila was also desperate at the time. That being said, she wished that he would just cook for himself.

“But you’ve got a great sense of smell to know when it’s ready, don’t you?”

Moreover, after all the preparations were complete, all that was left to do was eat.

Sheila didn’t expect that he, who was an aristocrat, would help serve the food, but she couldn’t help but feel that he was taking advantage of the situation.

Jornwerner’s face moved closer to Sheila, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

“You’re so cold. I came here to see you, my love.”

Sheila was startled by his words. He was probably asking her to participate in the experiment.

“I-I have no obligation to listen to Jornwerner-sensei’s orders. You even broke your promise.”

“Promise?”

“You said you would take care of my meals over the winter break.”

In the end, Sheila had a hard time with it, and it was Felix who solved the problem. She didn’t want to blame him for something that was already solved now, but she would like to assert the legitimacy of her words.

Jornwerner folded his arms and shrugged his shoulders as if nothing was wrong.

“Ah, about that. I’m the one who arranged the ingredients until recently.”

“Even so, it didn’t help, did it? It was my guardian who helped me.”

“Then let me ask you this. Would you eat a meal prepared by me or the cook I arranged for you?”

“Ugh.”

The question was easily answered, and Sheila flinched.

A dish prepared by Jornwerner. She would have first suspected that something had been mixed in. Sheila didn’t want to be nervous while eating because she was already in a difficult situation mentally and physically.

She didn’t want to admit that it was his way of caring that Jornwerner stopped by just arranging the ingredients.

Just as Sheila realized her defeat, Zechs returned with Claushezade.

Before long, Lulu had also prepared Jornwerner’s meal, and dinner soon began.

Cody, Zechs, and Lulu. Jornwerner, and Claushezade.

Sheila joined them at the table.

The warmth of the meal was somehow similar to that of a family gathering…. even though it was terribly awkward.

“Itadakimasu.”[1]

Sheila’s heart was softened by the delicious food.

Today’s dinner was more noisy than usual, probably because Jornwerner was there.

Translator Notes:

1. It means something like ‘Thank you for the food.’ ↵