[TKOSINM] 163 - A Fine Meal

“Welcome. The chef has paid extra attention to make this meal special for you two.”

When Irene and Noel entered the dining room, the head butler guided them to their table. The mercenaries and guards of the Ducal House had already settled in their seats.

“You all are going to work hard starting from tomorrow, so why not eat to your heart’s content and rest well today?”

Upon saying so, the butler sent a signal to the kitchen, and the cooks began serving the dishes one by one. All of them were luxurious.

To Noel and Irene, who usually ate meals like these back in the Dukedom, there was nothing unique about them, but the Ram mercenaries viewed things differently.

“Wow!”

“This is no joke!”

Each and every time the food was served, the cries of excitement became increasingly loud. At a certain point, the knights turned to look at the Ram mercenaries with distaste as they clicked their tongues.

“Their manners are so vulgar.”

“I know this is their first time seeing luxurious food, but shouldn’t they at least keep their dignity?”

Of course the mercenaries could not have misheard it, they halted and glared back at the guards.

“Were you trying to tell us something just now?”

“You have good ears.”

“Excuse me?”

As the atmosphere became increasingly tense, Noel’s forehead crumpled. It was a dinner prepared to raise morale and reserve stamina for the upcoming investigation and subjugation of monsters, but on the contrary, it turned out to be a battleground for the mercenaries and the Duchy’s knights. Turning his head to Irene, Louiselle was feeding her delicious food, completely ignoring the whole unpleasant situation, and Mulliman’s assistant was still on guard, keeping an eye out for what was around him.

As Noel was about to say something himself to cease this ridiculous situation that was causing discomfort for everyone...

“It’s delicious.”

Irene’s voice popped out clearly. There truly did exist a nerve-wracking war roughly a few seconds ago, but the noise was low because they could not raise their voice openly, at least not in front of the ducal couple. That was why Irene’s voice sounded vividly, resonating across the dining hall.

Irene’s delightful exclamation, which did not match the atmosphere, rang out in the air, and soon the room fell into silence. As Noel’s attention once again returned to Irene, she smiled at him and spoke.

“It’s really tasty. Noel, you should try it, too.”

“Oh...sure, tell the chef that my wife complimented his food.”

“Of course!”

One of the servants, who was wary of the bleak atmosphere, immediately ran back to the kitchen as soon as he received the signal from Noel, as if he was retreating to stay hidden until the storm passed by. The atmosphere gradually became more relaxed, the mercenary corps and the guards got back to eating their meal, not paying any further attention to the other party. Irene’s lips drew a curve as the clinking sound of tableware colliding and intermittent exclamations for food could be heard once again.

A smile crept upon Noel’s face as well, and just like that, he watched as Irene finished her food without saying a word.

The dinner ended in peace, Irene and Noel went back to their room.

“Earlier, did you do that on purpose?”

While walking down the quiet hallway, Noel asked Irene out of the blue.

“Pardon?”

“At dinner, you deliberately said it was delicious, right? Was it to ease the tension?”

“Oh…”

Irene’s cheeks blushed, she felt like having been caught doing something sneakily.

“The food was delectable, and there was an abundance of it. But I didn’t think everyone was paying attention to it. I didn’t want it to go to waste…”

“Sometimes I feel that you are a very wise person.”

“Pardon? Oh, you flatter me.”

Surprised by Noel’s sudden praise, Irene waved her hands clumsily in the air in denial, but Noel shook his head and reclaimed with a serious expression.

“There are not many people who can break the ice with such simple words. They usually try to avoid it or force it to stop. That’s why, you are a much greater and wiser person than you think.”

“No, it was really not…”

She became flustered because of what he said. She tried to rebut it, but in the end, Irene nodded lightly in resignation.

“...Thank you.”

It was really not a big deal...

Did she really do something that deserved this much praise? She did not quite get it, but Irene decided to believe in Noel’s word. She was just glad that what she had done was helpful to him, even if it was just a little.

Putting things that way gave Irene more confidence. As now she appeared even more self-assured and energised than before, Noel, who was watching her from the side, also smiled pleasantly.

♔♔♔

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