4. Chapter four (2)

"I-I've returned miss!"

"…" I wait for him to catch his breath, but it seems that's also taken the wrong way as the man has gone rigid like a stick instead. "Well?"

"Ah!" Like he just remembered what he's here to do, the man seems to remember that he needs to breathe to stay alive. "The doctor says that you may elevate to more elaborate dishes after a check-up!" he says, with so much pride that I think I'm seeing stars in his eyes.

"And when will this check-up take place?"

"T-That… um, that- the check-up..!"

Oh my god. Focus, my dude! You can do it! Don't cower under the combined disappointed gazes of the maids! As long you get through this rough patch, they'll forget about it soon!

Perhaps due to the 'encouraging' looks he's getting, coupled with the silence, and perhaps even adding his fatigue to the mix- the man audibly gulped down his nerve and said with minute moment confidence like a man shouting his dying roar. "The check-up is in a week!"

There we go, boy! You can do it if you put your mind to it, isn't that good! –is what I want to say but instead what came out was, "There we go, good boy."

"???!!"

Fuck, I want to fucking cry. If there is a hole big enough to shove my entire body into I'd jump in this very moment just to escape. This mouth is so foul! Is there a way to wash it with soap?!! I'm so embarrassed aaahhhhh..!!!!

Anyway, I have to salvage this! I refuse to let the tension get buried under the pit of hell! There's gotta be something- ah! "Let me ask you something."

"Y-Yes miss?"

"..Does bread count as a heavy meal?" I start with a hint, grasping.

"Nno miss, it doesn't!"

I ignore the servant who possibly had bitten his own tongue by accident and keep asking, "What about boiled eggs, then? Cured meat?" The gears are running in my head as cogs slowly snap into place and turn out of desperation and pure curiosity. "No? They're okay, I see. Cheese? No, I guess not…"

Since the guy seems to take too long to answer verbally I just, keep talking. Listing ingredients one by one and see his reactions. It's way easier than I thought, actually, and with that, the confirmed list of the things I want is at hand.

"Then, for today's lunch, I want you to bring me boiled eggs, sliced thinly on a plate. Then a smoked, shredded pork meat on another plate. I also want thin slices of tomatoes and lettuce leaves, on a separate plate." I finished my request with the hope that he remembers all that! "Oh, and the bread. Don't forget about the bread."

The man nods fearfully and soon excuses himself back to the kitchen. . .

He really does excuse himself, by almost running to the door, nearly bonking his head on the handle as he tripped on nothing and falling on the floor- catches himself- then continues until he's all the way out of sight.

"…" The silence in this room is maddening. I can't take it and thus, looked over to Sieghart.

Sieghart, bless whatever merciful corner of his heart, reads the room and continues with his reading until lunchtime when the kitchen staff finally returns with my orders. Sasha, Ina, and the rest of the servants are looking at the dishes weirdly, though they still dutifully set up my dinner tray and stand by once done.

I take stock of the food. A weird mishmash of ingredients that glisten with freshness or little wisps of vapor. Taking the bread, I cut it open in half and start to stuff everything, starting with the lettuce, then the pork, then the egg followed by the tomatoes on top.

For the last step, I sprinkle some salt and pepper on top of the tomatoes.

Once it's done, I put it on the biggest plate available and admired my handwork.

… Yes, that's right. I made a sandwich. Kind of surprising that no one pegged my request for ingredients and connected it to a sandwich but it's to my advantage if they can't guess it even while I'm assembling the darn thing right in front of their eyes.

Anyway! Time to eat! Say aah, me!!

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Ina raise her left hand like a kid in class. I don't know how she thought I'd notice with my full focus aimed at the sandwich but I did, so with reluctance I put down the sandwich again. "You may speak."

"What is that, miss?" she points at the sandwich like, really?

"..It's a sandwich." Why do you look so confused?? It's just a sandwich, girlie! "You want to try?"

As if that's totally not at all what she's implying, the girl immediately prostrated on the ground in one smooth motion. "My apologies miss! I dare not covet your meal!!"

Hey, fuck, I forgot that I can't joke with this crowd. I need to remember that Carla = scary, let's never forget that ever again from now on.

Also, does everyone in this novel a pro at groveling or what? Why do they all keep throwing themselves on the floor at the slightest convenience?? I know this novel is like part fetish and the like but even I think this many times of kneeling and rising will hurt your joints at this point. How anyone here doesn't show early signs of tendonitis is a miracle in and of itself.

In any case, it's not like I can finish a sandwich this big by myself. So I try to ignore the trembling, took the footlong I made, and, with quite the effort actually; broke the sandwich into two parts. Offering one part to her with my right hand a good distance away from her head just in case she looks up and her head knocks into my hand, thus spiraling this situation into something even more annoying. 

"Eat."

The girl, hearing the command, looks up at me with teary eyes. Her hands shook as she took both ends of the half sandwich and, while shedding tears, took a bite of the bread. The crunch sound reverberates in the silent room, followed by munching sounds as she chews on the big bite she took.

I wait until she swallows the bite before asking, "..Well?"

The girl cries harder.

Her friend (I'm assuming they're friends), the freckled brunette, immediately kneels by her side, consoling her by saying soothing words like "It's okay, you're alright.." while rubbing her shoulders in little circles. For some reason, it just makes her cry even louder, and of course, this makes me feel even worse about her.

"Ina, please, you're embarrassing our miss!" Sasha tries to scold the girl who just keeps on crying. "Stop this! Sonya, please, take her somewhere else."

I'm about to glare at the lady to stop her from scolding a crying child but then Ina suddenly opens her mouth again.

"B-B-But Ma'am hic! It's so good!!!"

… Hey, give back my pity! I thought I had accidentally bullied someone by accident to the point I almost had a heart attack, you know!!?

And because she can't know that my opinion of her has kind of plummeted, Ina keeps talking about, "- tastes so divine! I couldn't have imagined that by putting together the pulled pork and eggs with, oh, with lettuce, that crunch is something I'm going to remember even in my dream!!" and so on, complimenting all kinds of flavor balance of the sandwich as she wipes the tears that keep streaming down her chubby cheeks.

"...." Is all I can say in the face of such fervent behavior. Now that I think about it, aren't all the staff members in this house a little too sensitive? That can't be healthy for them in the long term, especially when they're cooped up all day inside tending to a bitch(affectionate) that is Carla.

… No, no. Bad brain! Don't get any ideas today, I'm already tired!

I'll try thinking about something else… Right, right. Villainess. Scary woman. A raging bitch. I chant the three qualities of Carla repeatedly in my mind as I took my sandwich in hand. "It'll taste better with cheese."

Ina the maid looks up to me again, along with the other entourage in the room honestly, but her eyes are a little dried now if not a little puffy as she lets out a confused gasp. "Hoeh?"

"It'll taste better with cheese." I repeat myself as I look for the best angle to bite the thing and, finally, truly, bit down on the damn thing. A cold sandwich is good when you're starving ah, I can feel the hunger flow away as I chew the food properly. "Mn. Some sauce will be good, too."

I stop paying attention to other's gaze as I eat. This lunch is already half an hour later than usual thanks to the previous silly debacle, so I don't want to push it away even further since I can't tell if this body has a stomach issue or not. In any case, the sandwich is decent enough albeit slightly dry, that I finished it feeling satisfied and full.

Seeing that the food tray is empty, the rest of the staff starts packing and moves on from the room as usual.

Well, maybe not all of them exited the room. For some reason, Ina, that stupid-looking girl (also affectionate, this girl looks stupid but in a very cute way) hesitates to exit as she's the last to the rear. The young girl turns back into the room, then, as if she has made up her mind, bows deeply into that 90-degree angle I've come to slowly get used to seeing. "Miss, thank you very much for opening my eyes to the joys of the culinary world! This Ina will forever be in your debt!"

Please don't, I want to say, but the girl isn't done with her words. "From now on, you may call me to do anything you want! I promise to rush here first, even if there's storm, wind, and raging fire that blocks my path!!"

Where will you even find storm, wind, and raging fire in here?! This is a manor, not a battlefield!

Anyway, before I can say anything, Ina has fled. I am now left speechless in my own bedroom with Sieghart, who also looked at the girl as she left, before turning back to face me. His gaze is unreadable, unlike usual, but I don't even want to try deciphering it now as my bones seep into a world-weary level of exhaustion after that mental charade.

So all I do is stare back at him. We have a very intense stare-off contest, at least I'd like to think that we did, not blinking is a hard skill to master unless you have the time and willpower; of which I have both in stride. Also, why does this guy suddenly start staring at me for long periods of time when he can't even meet my eyes yesterday? Weirdo.

I won as always(if 5 days can be counted as always), or maybe Sieghart yielded and with that, I dismissed him and the staff for the rest of the day again to catch on some sleep. See you tomorrow, world!

…

Weirdly enough, I feel like I'm missing something. Ah well, I'm sure I'll remember it when I wake up!b