CH 22

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Edited by

Translated by TrinityVox

Edited by Schwarzel

Tea and light snacks were brought in just as the two became silent.

“Here is the ham that you said you valued. We left it as is.”

On the table was a variety of ham she had seen at the ball; prosciutto shaped like a rose, smoked ham, light pink ham lined with bits of fat white like snow etc. There were many varieties prepared.

Eleonora blossomed a smile.

(It’s a feast of ham-pe! In the end, I was never able to eat ham in my last life-be. Last time, the village chief threw a feast for his son’s wedding-pe. He sliced the log-like roll of ham and shared it with everyone-be. Since it was sunny though I was told not to go out to the village. So I didn’t go anywhere and stay hidden-pe.)

Her longing for ham had always been strong. Furthermore, she gave Alexei, her only family member, the name ham, making it an even more special existence.

“It’s fine to eat what you want.”

After Alexei said this, Eleonora became elated. Seeing her like this, Alexei became confused at himself for wanting to see her happy expression more often.

“…Thank you. If you’d like, I made some pie.”

Eleonora looked over to the basket she left in Olec’s care. Then the male and female attendants quickly prepared a wagon and placed the contents of the basket onto plates.

On these plates were five, round pies.

“…I thought you might like pies. If you dislike them, could you please offer them to someone else?”

Alexei looked at the pies she baked for him.

“You made these by yourself?”

Eleonora slowly nodded.

“…These are apple pie, custard pie, berry pie, rabbit meat pie, and eel pie.”

He already knew she made these by herself from the report he received in the morning. He had already looked into her background. From being harassed by her family, living alone in the detached building from a young age, growing and caring for the flowers in the flower bed, even the fact that she talks to her mouse-like pet, he knew it all. The report also mentioned that she would speak in what seemed to be a foreign language.

“You know me well. I do like pie.”

Alexei smiled. Though he thought it was strange for him, his face naturally relaxed. Hearing his words, Eleonora’s eyes narrowed in joy.

(As I expected, he does like pie-pe. It’s a good thing I made some-be. But if he’s going to eat it, doesn’t he need a poison tester? I could probably do it.)

“Slice all the pies. Will you be eating as well?”

“…Yes. Would it be fine for me to test for poison?”

Alexei’s expression changed as if he was saying ‘oh?’.

“No need. Normal poisons aren’t effective on me.”

Eleonora made a puzzled expression and Alexei smiled bitterly.

“I have a blessing. It was an annoying blessing back then, but now it’s just the remnants of that. That’s why I won’t die from something like poison.”

(That reminds me, Ham-chan was also okay after touching poisonous magical beasts-pe! Like I thought, the emperor is Ham-chan’s close relative. Yes, that sounds right, definitely-dabe.)

“…I see.”

“How unexpected. You’re not surprised.”

“…In the past, I met a child who was similar.”

(I wanna hurry and ask if he knows Ham-chan but if I talk about having memories of my previous life he’s gonna think I’m weird-pe. What should I do?)

“Thank you for the pie.”

“…Please enjoy.”

Alexei sliced the pie on his plate with a knife and ate a piece with his fork. Seeing this, Eleonora also began eating the ham.

(I can finally have a taste of Ham-chan’s ham! It’s so good I think my cheeks will fall off! It’s so different from the ham from the main residence-pe. High-quality ham! It’s so tender and not greasy at all! Ah, I wanna eat more but I can’t because this dress is so tight. No, even if this dress wasn’t tight a lady shouldn’t eat too much-pe.)

After eating a slice of ham, Eleonora was screaming inside. Alexei watched happily as she slowly ate with joy.

“You really like ham, huh?”

(Did I look like a glutton? How embarrassing-pe!)

Eleonora unconsciously hid her blushing face with her hand.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s because you like ham, right?”

She put her fork down and nodded in agreement.

“No need to be concerned. Eat as much as you want.”

As he said so, he demolished slice after slice of pie.

“That was delicious. You’re quite good at cooking.”

“…I’m honored by your praise. I especially practiced making pies.”

“Why?”

As she was about to mention Ham-chan, the sound of a large bell rang out.