Chapter 9

Salvador.

Of all people, it had to be the worst opponent.

Swiftly, Doah hid the earrings inside her clothes sleeve.

Bunny’s hands, faster than the eye, proved to be surprisingly helpful.

“Up to some suspicious business again, I see.”

“….”

“Well, that explains it. I knew you couldn’t be this quiet for no reason.”

He seemed convinced that Doah had stolen Ophelia’s belongings, so he checked the pit.

But, of course, there was nothing.

The earrings were safely tucked inside her sleeve.

“Where did you hide it?”

Salvador, who had made a commotion, approached Doah, looking down at her as if threatening her.

Despite just one year difference between Bunny and Salvador, the size difference was astonishing.

Blocking Doah’s path, he cast a shadow over her petite figure.

‘Hmm….’

Searching for a diversion, Doah rolled her eyes around and extended the plant she had in her left hand.

“Just checking if there’s anything to eat.”

Did she just blurt out anything that came to mind?

Doah wondered if she would be caught by the neck again for speaking nonsense, like last time.

But….

“You, you, are you eating dirt now?”

Salvador’s reaction was different from what she had imagined.

Without a hint of suspicion, he believed her words at face value.

Naturally, she had expected him to persistently press her to reveal what she was hiding.

Surprisingly, though, it turned out to be fortunate.

“Why am I eating dirt? It’s supposed to be edible. Isn’t this an herb?”

“What kind of herb is this? It’s a weed!”

A weed?

‘It looks like it’s grown to be nutritious.’

She thought it was something like ginseng.

“Are you in your right mind? Hey, it’s better to eat dirt. Most grasses from the North have a bit of toxicity, you know… you probably don’t know.”

Well, of course, she didn’t know.

Doah reexamined the root plant she was holding.

“I think I ate something similar-looking in the garbage dump.”

The taste was decent, or so it seemed.

Though she did suffer from stomach troubles.

As Doah protested while recalling Bunny’s memories, Salvador grinned and entered into contemplation.

It was quite remarkable to see the illustrious second son of a prestigious family lose his composure so quickly, unable to speak properly and turning pale.

‘Why such a reaction?’

Could it be that the young master, even if the world were split in two, would never have to eat weeds? Was there something primitive about him?

It was when Doah was internally considering a fairly plausible assumption.

“Head chef…”

Salvador mumbled something.

“Yes?”

“Summon the head chef immediately!”

And he issued a command to the knight standing behind him.

* * *

Suddenly, an emergency arose in the middle of the night.

The head chef and the cooks, who were sleeping soundly, hastily put on their clothes and rushed to the kitchen.

“What are we supposed to cook?”

One cook asked, glancing around, and the head chef, seeming tense, answered with a stern expression.

“The Second Young Master has ordered all the dishes we can make to be brought out.”

“That, that’s just…”

That couldn’t possibly be feasible.

While Salvador was known for being extreme and meticulous, from the perspective of the kitchen staff, he was relatively easy to please. As long as they provided a proper meal before he started rampaging like a hungry beast, he ate anything well.

He was different from the nobles who made unreasonable demands, trying to find fault and give a hard time to the kitchen staff.

“What are you all doing? We’re in a hurry!”

The head chef shouted.

Everyone may not have understood it, but they had to cook as much as they could under the circumstances.

However, what made the least sense in this situation was Doah.

Salvador, who had been glaring at the weed she was holding as if it were his archenemy, suddenly grabbed her and forcefully pushed her into a room.

A room filled to the brim with an enormous amount of food.

“Eat it all.”

“…”

“I’ll check later if you ate or not.”

Soon, the door slammed shut.

‘That lunatic…’

Doah gritted her teeth, suppressing the urge to curse.

Whether he had no intention of controlling his strength or simply didn’t understand the concept of consideration, the hand he held onto throbbed.

‘What does he want from me?’

Salvador had confined Doah with a pile of food.

Not physically trapped, but if she couldn’t leave until she finished all this, she might as well be considered confined.

Was she now facing the danger of bursting her stomach?

‘My body isn’t even in a state to handle such greasy food from the start.’

Doah let out a deep sigh.

Since coming to the palace, the pretext to torment Bunny had disappeared. Was this his new way of tormenting her?

But Doah, not one to be swayed by such low-level torment, thought otherwise.

‘Doah, they say the difference between good and bad luck is just a thin sheet of paper.’

It was her grandmother’s saying.

It meant that crisis could turn into an opportunity at any moment.

“I told you to eat it all, but I didn’t say I have to eat it all alone.”

She set aside one bowl of soup separately and pulled the string beside the bed, summoning a maid.

“Did you call, miss?”

“Can you move all this food to the dining hall?”

“Are you referring to the banquet hall?”

Doah shook her head.

“I mean the servants’ dining hall.”

“…Excuse me?”

The maid asked in surprise.

“All of it?”

“Yeah.”

It was not uncommon for servants to secretly eat the leftovers the masters had not finished. It was implicitly allowed, and displaying excess dishes that the nobles wouldn’t eat in the first place was considered a virtue.

Especially after the era of peace, perhaps due to a sense of reward, the extravagance of the nobles had become even more pronounced. Now, after a decade, it had become a complete custom.

“But these dishes…”

It felt as if the dishes untouched by the nobles were prepared for the servants from the beginning, as if the lady had done it for them.

“Since everyone is probably sleeping now, call only the servants working at night. Keep the rest stored separately and reheat them in the morning.”

“But weren’t these dishes prepared by second Young Master for the Lady?”

In response to that question, Doah gave an ambiguous answer, neither affirming nor denying.

“How am I supposed to eat all of this?”

It was the truth.

‘Besides, I just got up from the sickbed.’

Salvador, known for his extreme love for his siblings, would surely know that patients should be selective about their food.

‘Well, considering the robust nature of the Second son, he might not know.’

The maid looked at Doah again.

Eyes as vivid and red as the finest rubies.

Above them, golden eyelashes, as if bathed in sunlight, gracefully extended. Tipping her head slightly, the sparkling hair flowed like finely drawn strands of melted gold.

She seemed momentarily entranced by Doah’s every move, as if forgetting what she was thinking.

“I haven’t been able to take care of you all properly because of my illness.”

Tossing her flowing hair behind her ear, Doah, with a gentle smile and eyes curved upward, spoke warmly.

“For many of you, this is probably the first time seeing me in person.”

All to hide Ophelia’s absence.

“Just think of it as a bribe to express gratitude for your future cooperation. Don’t feel burdened.”

The maid belatedly came to her senses at those words.

“Could it be that Lady Ophelia separately asked Young Master for our sake?”

If she had said, “I request food for the servants,” the kitchen department would not have properly fulfilled that request.

The noses of the world-renowned chefs and their disciples, working in the same country, pointed high. They often ignored the servants working in the same place, arrogantly asserting their culinary superiority.

Even if they reluctantly followed orders, the dishes they produced would undoubtedly be a mess.

‘Yes, that’s what happened. Lady Ophelia conveyed that it was her food, so they allowed us to enjoy these luxurious dishes….’

In the end, the maid couldn’t hold back her tears.

The Kredel family, unlike other nobles, treated their servants fairly, but warmth was always distant.

So, receiving such favor from a direct descendant of the Kredel family was a first.

“Understood! I will convey Lady Ophelia’s kind intentions to everyone!”

With clenched fists, the maid, fueled by a sense of duty, left to call others to share the food.

‘Well, let’s just let it slide.’

Doah recalled the maid’s demeanor she had just witnessed.

‘Mouthy and prone to mistakes, but quick in action.’

In a positive light, you could say she was innocent.

To express it more bluntly, she was a simpleton.

‘I should get a separate dessert later.’

Thanks to her, who managed to create a helpful misconception without having to tell a lie, Doah enjoyed the soup she had set aside.

At that moment, the earring she had tucked into her sleeve fell off and slid onto the bed.

‘I brought it in absentmindedly.’

Oh well, I can think about disposing of it later.

She sighed, turning the earring around in her hands before gently placing it back in her pocket.

* * *

“You wake up quickly.”

In a daze, it felt like she heard the ticking of a clock….

It wasn’t a clock; it was a person.

Tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

When she opened her eyes, the First Son, Angelus, was rhythmically tapping on the desk at regular intervals.

‘Is this a dream?’

Doah blinked, wondering if she was having a nightmare.

However, Angelus, confidently seated in someone else’s chair, continued to beat on the desk like a metronome.

Unfortunately.

Doah stared in a daze at the boy sitting upright without a single hair out of place.

And, under the influence of drowsiness, she said:

“You seem agitated.”

“…?”

At that, his fingers abruptly stopped.

“Is that all you came to say?”

Well, should she express gratitude for not being shaken awake by the collar?

Having freely intruded into someone else’s room, he was excessively audacious.

So audacious that Doah wondered if, in her unconscious state, she had made an appointment with him.

Calmly, Doah, who had suddenly appeared early in the morning, asked Angelus, who was causing a commotion:

“Did you wait long?”

“Your expression is unpleasant. I just got here.”

She put on a poker face.

Instead of refuting his words, Doah silently stared intently at his hand.

Someone who had just arrived wouldn’t bother checking the time on a watch.

Angelus belatedly realized the pocket watch he had been holding and, with an air of nonchalance, stashed it into his inner pocket.