This man… cold and composed, yet warm towards a hungry woman.
Karl left my presence with a remark that we should eat first, soon sending his knights to bring me food.
Was there a sudden change in his mood? Perhaps he intended to fill me up before starting a serious interrogation. My mind swarmed with worries, but for now, I decided to focus on the delicious food laid before me.
Yes, no matter how much he pretended to be cold, Karl was essentially a man of warmth. His decision to marry the moment he learned Valerie was his child was proof enough of that.
I interpreted all the unfolding situations to my liking and slowly sat down at the table filled with food.
“Is there only wine to drink?”
“I’ll prepare water separately.”
Asparagus salad, chicken stew with chickpeas, and wine. It felt a bit humble for a meal meant for His Grace, but as the saying goes, “The market is the best side dish.” Considering my belly was growling and demanding food, even this menu looked appetizing.
Could I eat right away? I was hesitating when a knight set another place across from me. Another person was coming. It must be Karl. I gently placed my hand back on my lap instead of reaching for the fork.
Clink. In the silence, the sound of clinking cutlery occasionally broke through. I sat awkwardly watching the knight as my stomach growled, unable to touch the food before me.
Now that I thought about it, Clovis was absent. It felt strangely awkward not to see him—having followed Karl like a shadow, his absence created an emptiness I wasn’t used to.
Meanwhile, the knight finished arranging the silverware and food, making ready to leave without any explanations.
“Um… excuse me.”
I called out to the knight who was about to walk away. His face conveyed confusion.
“When will His Grace be here…?”
“Please wait.”
What a brusque reply, as if it reflected the very nature of his superior. My fingertips flushed, feeling a touch of embarrassment.
After the brief interchange, the knight pushed the cart outside. As he left, Karl entered. He sat down at the opposite side where the food was neatly arranged, casually wiping his hands with a napkin, as if it were a preordained dining arrangement. Was he really planning to share a meal?
However, Karl remained silent. Just as my curiosity about his intentions grew, he finally spoke.
“Please eat, Count.”
“Can I really eat this? If I eat it right after being told to, will it seem strange? After interrogating me so harshly, why are they suddenly giving me this warm food?”
“Not hungry?”
“… I don’t have much of an appetite.”
That’s a blatant lie. I felt that if I immediately grabbed a spoon and dove into the food just because I was told to eat, it would be rude, so I politely declined. Didn’t Lady Margaret say that it’s dignified to refuse food offered by someone outside home at least once? But…
Growl. My stomach roared loudly, as if protesting my lie. Karl flashed a light smile. It seemed amusing to him that someone who clearly looked hungry claimed to have no appetite. Ugh, how embarrassing.
“Forget the pretenses. Just eat. It’s time for a meal.”
It wasn’t an illusion. Karl’s tone was markedly different from when he was interrogating me. Can I really eat this? They didn’t put something in it, did they?
“Yes. Well then, thank you…”
That was enough refusal. I didn’t need to avoid the food in front of me any longer. Just as I reached for the spoon…
“Your Grace, a urgent message has arrived.”
The knight who had pushed the trolley came back. After exchanging serious words with the knight, Karl stood up again.
“I need to step out for a moment. Please wait, Count.”
“Yes…?”
The door closed, leaving only the food and me in the not-so-spacious room.
“Wait, I haven’t answered yet…”
Since he told me to wait, I felt I shouldn’t start eating carelessly. But sitting still, I had nowhere else to look. It’s not ideal to leave someone waiting while serving food. Ignoring my grumbling stomach, I waited quietly for Karl.
This wasn’t a vacation villa, so the interior was quite rough. The walls seemed like they were made from unprocessed stones; if I blew, dust would surely rise. The floor was somewhat smoothed out, but without that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to push a trolley.
With no decor to speak of, there was nothing to see. Finishing my brief observation, my gaze turned to the food on the table. I tried not to look, but the delicious aroma wafting into my nose drew my attention.
The surface of the steaming stew glistened. How delicious would it be to scoop a spoonful, blow on it, and take a bite…? As I entertained this thought, my gaze landed on Karl’s empty seat.
His seat also had a stew bowl and a wine glass filled with a red liquid.
“I can’t drink at all.”
“Does the host not know that I can’t drink?”
The knight who prepared the meal had poured wine into Karl’s seat. Preparing wine for someone who can’t drink? What kind of ridiculous mistake is that? I was baffled.
I poured water into the empty glass and switched it with Karl’s wine glass before returning to my seat. Thankfully, there was a separate water bottle prepared by the knight.
A moment later, Karl returned.
“I received an urgent message from my advisor, and I unintentionally kept you waiting with the food.”
“It’s fine.”
“I apologize, please dig in, Count.”
Perhaps he noticed my discomfort from being left alone, as Karl added a brief explanation.
Though I still wondered if he felt obligated to wait and eat together since he had to eat anyway, or if his intention was purely for dinner, my hunger overcame such doubts, and I picked up my spoon to follow Karl.
I remembered what Mrs. Margaret had drilled into me during etiquette training. When eating, one should minimize the sound of cutlery clinking. The more noise there is, the more uncouth one appears.
I realized that similar cultures exist everywhere, and this thought came back to me now, likely because Karl ate silently without any noise.
How could he eat so gracefully in silence, seemingly without effort?
“Hmm.”
As I took a spoonful of stew, a gasp of admiration escaped me. Food tastes amazing when you’re hungry; that’s a timeless truth. The rich flavor of chicken mixed with the nuttiness of chickpeas warmed my heart.
“Is it good?”
“Yes, it’s very delicious, Your Highness.”
“…That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile like that.”
It seemed I unconsciously wore a sincere smile in response to the flavors exceeding my expectations. Embarrassed, I pretended to dab my mouth with a napkin to quickly compose my expression. If Mrs. Margaret had seen, she would have lectured me for about ten minutes. “You shouldn’t talk or smile while eating, Count!”
And so, the proper meal began in silence. Hungry, I focused solely on putting food into my mouth, while Karl, it seemed, didn’t utter a word except when he took a bite.
“It seems the Count likes wine,” Karl nodded subtly. He pointed to the spot on my right, where my stew bowl sat next to a wine glass. It appeared there were now two glasses of wine, presumably for him as well.
“Oh, yes…”
He didn’t seem to expect an answer. Karl, casually making his remark, returned to his meal. It was around the time when my stew bowl was nearly half-empty that…
“Cough, cough.”
Karl’s cough broke the silence. I wondered if he had swallowed something incorrectly, and when I looked over, he coughed a few more urgent times. After about five coughs, his face turned slightly red.
“Are you… okay, Your Highness?”
Seeing someone so elegantly dining suddenly react this way surprised me. Just as I began to worry about his flushed face, Karl frowned and lifted his glass.
“Did the Count, by any chance, leave this?”
“Pardon?”
In the glass he held, there was water left halfway. Did he sip it and choke? While I pondered this, Karl’s face grew even redder.
“I’m asking if the Count possibly switched my glass with his.”
“Switch? Your Highness, it seems the knight accidentally poured water, so I took it.”
“Ha… Did I come all this way for this…?”
“Pardon?”
Karl’s eyelids drooped. His tongue twisted so much that I could hardly understand him, and his face had turned bright red up to his ears.
“Y-Your Grace!”
Then, Karl’s head slumped down onto the table with a thud.
“What’s wrong? My goodness, Your Grace!”
I jumped up from my seat and rushed to him. His flushed face was burning hot.
“What’s happening? Why are you like this? Get a hold of yourself, Your Highness!”
