Chapter 89: Flavors of the Heart

Lord Arcellion guided Prince Vritra, Princess Luciana, and Sophia to the large dining table and even pulled out chairs for the royal couple to show his respect.

Vritra took the seat at the head of the table, while Luciana sat right next to him.

... Hm?

The young lord raised an eyebrow.

The princess hardly left any room for him to stretch his legs. It felt like she was completely ignoring the large space around her and just decided to be a cute little annoyance to him.

"Uh, Luciana, there are no maids here..."

"I know, but that doesn't matter anymore!"

Luciana was so jealous she was practically turning green.

She wouldn't let go of Vritra's arm, regardless of whether there were maids or any other women around. Luciana was starting to convince herself that if she didn't cling to him all the time, other women might notice his good looks and assume he was fair game.

『Esmeralda should've taught me this...』

But why would she do that? Esmeralda wanted to be around the young lord too, so it would be a clash of interests.

『Ohhhh...』

The princess realized shortly after.

『Tch, that woman──!』

She definitely wouldn't pass up a chance to tell Esmeralda she knew about her sneaky plans once they finished their meal.

"Hrmm..."

Vritra calmly lowered his head.

"Suit yourself then."

"Hmph! Well, I will!"

The princess puffed up her cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut, choosing to remain stubborn.

Arcellion looked at the couple, unsure of what to say.

"Well, since we're waiting..."

He walked over to the wine rack, picked out a nice bottle of wine, and grabbed two fancy goblets.

After placing them on the table, Arcellion poured just enough wine into each goblet to fill them.

"I can tell you both a lot more about how I know our dear Princess Luciana."

The princess smiled at this, but Vritra stayed calm, probably because he already knew the story.

Meanwhile, Sophia folded her arms and watched from a corner of the dining room.

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In the kitchen...

Neron stood at the kitchen entrance, eagerly waiting for the food to be served. But from the delicious smells wafting through the air, he began to question whether the Red Desert truly deserved its reputation for harsh conditions.

『Hrmm, as much as I get that it's tough to survive out here and the conditions are harsh enough that many people have died, the more I think about it, the less it makes sense.

『A better way to describe the Red Desert is that it's a place for the strong. If you have enough power or money, you can make life here pretty normal. Just look around—people seem to be enjoying themselves, eating curry and grains shipped from Serathen like it's nothing unusual.

『The poor only complain about living here because they're struggling, which is understandable. Still, I can't say I like these humans much. Everything oddly seems to revolve around them... tsk, tsk.』

He folded his arms and nodded.

Just then, someone walked past Neron, and the old man's senses kicked in like a warning sign. He quickly turned and extended the long, black claws of his fingers, ready to shred his target to pieces.

... VWOOOOSH!

The person easily dodged back and drew his sword at the same time.

"Really? I... I would really appreciate that, ha~ha."

Sadim nervously rubbed the back of his head.

After that, he walked away, giving Neron a mean look before disappearing into the lobby.

Neron's face immediately squeezed.

『That blonde-haired bastard really shot me a nasty look! How dare he?! E-, Even the young lord wouldn't act like that, and he just does it without a care?! Preposterous!』

The old man humphed with discontent.

Benita and Esmeralda returned to their cooking.

Benita chopped onions while Esmeralda slowly pounded the remaining garlic.

"So, he looks handsome..."

Esmeralda decided to tease her fellow head maid.

Used to these kinds of jabs, Benita smiled.

"So you noticed. Who wouldn't?"

"Hrmm, he's still a bit young for you."

"Tee-hee! Says the woman who's likely slept with God Vritra. He's far more handsome than First Lieutenant Goldtouch and not much older too."

"Wh-, WHAT──?"

Esmeralda turned away, her face flushing red.

Quite an unusual sight.

"H-, How did you even know?!"

It wasn't like she had been that close with the young lord since they got off the magic airship, except for that one time she tried to feed him some cake. Other than that, she had been very professional around him.

But even that didn't fool Benita.

The beautiful, mature woman laughed at Esmeralda.

"Of course I know. I've had a similar experience with Lord Arcellion. We're both attractive women, so it makes sense we've both slept with our superiors."

Esmeralda put a finger to her chin, thinking over Head Maid Benita's words.

『I can't really put it that way. King Felmus is my superior, not exactly like God Vritra. But in the end, one treated me more like a daughter and a friend, while the other treated me more like an attractive woman. So really, there's no comparison.』

Right after, she smiled at Benita.

"I see. So it's not this knight you're into. It's Lord Arcellion. That's respectable. He seems like a capable man."

"He is, but also ignorant, believe it or not."

"Really?"

Esmeralda leaned in, more curious now.

Benita sighed heavily and crossed her arms under her round, sizable breasts.

"We've only slept together once. Though we've had a few romantic moments, it hasn't gone beyond that. I even tried using Sadim to distract myself, but not every man's into an older woman, you know?"

"N-, Not really..."

Esmeralda softly twirled her hair around her finger as she shyly looked away.

She really couldn't relate to the situation because most of the men around her were very interested in her. The first man she actually desired was a much younger-looking man who was also attracted to her.

『I... oddly feel lucky now.』

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(T/N): For some odd reason, this is my favorite chapter ????