Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Cassis raised his head, and I waved my arms.
Our eyes met – his red ones with mine.
A slight surprise flashed across his otherwise expressionless face.
He immediately strode towards us.
“Isiel.”
“Hello, Cas.”
“I heard you came.”
Cassis was curt even with Isiel, who was a friend from academy days.
I looked up, alternating between the two tall men.
One was a magician with dazzling blond hair and a smiling face, while the other was a somewhat haggard dark-haired knight with a chilly aura.
‘Could Isiel really be the original second male lead?’
[Well. Does that matter?]
‘But…’
While I was briefly conversing with the system, the two were exchanging light greetings.
“Irina, did you already know Isiel?”
“No! I just met him today.”
“Irina, she’s a good cook.”
Cassis scanned Isiel and me in turn with a sour expression.
He looked puzzled.
“You just met today, and you’ve already cooked for him?”
“Haha, it just happened.”
Isiel smiled brightly and naturally stuck to Cassis’s side, and I followed, attaching myself to Cassis’s other side.
“What brings you here, Cassis?”
“I had to meet a healer briefly.”
Cassis’s eyebrows slightly rose and then fell.
“You haven’t met Luka yet, have you? I’ll introduce you sometime.”
“Yes! That would be great!”
A healer?
That’s good to know!
I nodded my head vigorously up and down as I spoke.
“By the way, I heard you hadn’t eaten dinner and was worried, but you cooked for yourself.”
“Yes, I was a bit homesick for food from my hometown.”
In truth, it was because the food here didn’t suit my taste, but I didn’t say that.
My mind is full of thoughts about getting rid of the current chef and finding a new one to replace him.
“Before I left, I left some scones I baked for you. Have you tried them yet?”
“No, I didn’t know about that. I’ll check when I get back.”
“Yes! I baked them myself, I hope they suit your taste.”
I believe that when work is tough, at least the meals should be delicious.
Isiel chimed in from the side.
“That’s right. Irina cooks so well that I even asked her to come back to the capital with me.”
Cassis stared blankly at Isiel as he went on about how delicious the beef stew was.
I couldn’t tell what his expression meant.
I quickly jumped in to add an excuse.
“But I immediately refused!”
“That’s right. I was rejected.”
“I have more talent for business than cooking.”
“That’s what she says.”
Isiel shrugged.
Cassis turned his head slightly to look at me.
I waited, thinking he might have something to say, but he remained silent.
He just kept looking at me quietly.
Cassis usually maintains an expressionless face most of the time.
But that’s typically when he’s absent-mindedly thinking about nothing.
This is different.
Right now, although his face was expressionless as usual, he seemed to be deep in thought.
Or am I wrong?
Is he in a bad mood?
I couldn’t tell.
It was hard to read what he was thinking at all.
Only when I tilted my head slightly and asked, “Do you have something to say?” did Cassis finally look away from me.
“…?”
What on earth is it?
While my face was full of questions, I heard a cheerful laugh from beside us.
It was Isiel.
After some time, Isiel finally stopped laughing.
He didn’t explain why he had laughed.
“You two are more interesting than I thought.”
Cassis and I looked at Isiel as if he were crazy.
* * *
The sun sets early during winter in the North.
One of the stark differences from the South was the short days and long nights.
Isiel, Cassis, and I returned to the mansion and sat in the reception room.
Isiel proudly explained the scones the butler brought out to Cassis as if they were his own, and Cassis nodded, pressing the corner of his eye with his fingertip.
“How is it?”
I asked, full of expectation.
Cassis took a bite of the scone and broke into a silent laugh.
“It’s delicious.”
Really?
I couldn’t hide my happy expression.
Having Cassis say it’s delicious feels like getting an endorsement.
Since he didn’t seem to be in a great mood when we met outside earlier, his current reaction was even more welcome.
Isiel picked up a scone himself, following Cassis, and said,
“Cas, still having insomnia?”
“Yeah. But it’s fine.”
Insomnia, huh.
So Cassis has insomnia.
I stored this newly learned fact in my mind as I raised my head to examine Cassis’s face.
As always, he looked tired and somewhat worn-out.
I thought his insomnia might contribute to that appearance.
So that’s why he went to see a healer today, it must have been because of his insomnia.
Our male lead is going through so much trouble just because I slightly messed with the original story.
[The male lead probably had insomnia in the original game too.]
[He did. It’s the male lead’s chronic illness, after all.]
‘……’
I often think that all creative works tend to be too harsh on the male lead’s mental health.
Meanwhile, Cassis picked up another scone.
I pointed to the grape jam I had brought from Seike.
“It tastes good when eaten together! It’s jam I brought from Seike.”
“No wonder, I thought it tasted good.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head once and then casually asked about the chef.
“I heard the current chef has been working for less than a week.”
“…My uncle recommended him.”
Isiel, sitting next to us, visibly frowned.
“Hmm, does the chef’s cooking suit your taste?”
“Well. What do you think, Irina?”
“I was a bit homesick, to be honest.”
Cassis nodded.
“It would be nice if we could find a new chef from the South.”
Oh?
Does this mean he’s okay with changing the chef if we can find one?
I suddenly lifted my head.
And before I knew it, I stood up and asked.
“Gasp, then should I try to find a chef from the South?”
A chef from the South would be less influenced by Marquis Cloi.
Even if I can’t find a highly skilled chef, it would be much better than the Marquis’s man.
Cassis answered indifferently.
“If you wish.”
He didn’t seem very interested in this whole conversation.
I remembered the conversations I had with Isiel in the market today.
He said that even though Cassis probably knows everything, he just keeps the chef because he doesn’t have the energy to worry about each and every little thing.
‘I guess I’ll need to contact the South soon.’
I should contact Ijin, who will be guarding the South tonight.
“By the way, Irina, how’s the work going? Is Roen explaining things well?”
“Yes, it’s a vast amount of data, but I’m taking over the important things first.”
For now, I’m focusing on understanding the current situation as it’s urgent.
The most important things to check are how much property Luwin has, what businesses they have and their status, how much debt they owe, and when the repayment dates are.
Additionally, I was also looking into the relationships between the families.
Even though I’m only checking the most important documents, there’s still so much to review because the Luwin family is such a great noble house.
While Cassis and I were discussing work-related matters, Isiel was busy eating up the scones and Seike’s grape jam.
Seemingly full, he wiped his hands lightly and sat back on the couch.
With a few buttons of his shirt undone and his almost lying down posture, he was far from displaying proper etiquette.
However, perhaps because he had lived his entire life enjoying and commanding everything, he exuded an air of ease, which made Isiel appear dissolute yet elegant.
“Irina.”
“Yes?”
“I think you’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”
“Me? No way.”
I responded casually to Isiel’s comment and then continued my conversation with Cassis.
But Isiel, apparently unsatisfied with something, kept interrupting our conversation.
“Aren’t you curious about how the two of us became friends?”
Cassis sighed lightly and said it would be better to continue the work talk tomorrow.
Then he turned his head towards Isiel.
“Of course she’s not curious.”
“Oh, why, Cas.”
“Because we’re not that close.”
It was quite amusing to see Cassis say such things with a face that could be misunderstood by someone who didn’t know him well.
Isiel pointed at Cassis and smiled brightly, saying, “He’s a very shy friend.”
“You two are really close.”
“That’s right. But Irina doesn’t seem to find it very surprising.”
Even in this short time, it was clear enough that Isiel and Cassis were people with completely different personalities.
“Is that so? Well, it’s common that completely different people become friends.”
“Everyone used to find it strange that we were close.”
“To be honest, I tend to just accept it when I hear about who’s friends with whom, thinking ‘Oh, I see.'”
“Why?”
“When someone says something, what does my opinion matter? If it’s water, it’s water, and if it’s a mountain, it’s a mountain.”
More precisely, it’s because if I worried about every little thing, I would never be able to run a business.
It’s better for mental health to just accept things that aren’t important with an “I see!” and move on.
It’s also the reason why I could brush off criticism about a noble lady running a business with a “Hahaha! Is that what you think? But it’s not a big deal.”
Isiel burst into laughter again at my response.
“I really do like you, Irina.”
[He seems to recognize your true worth.]
[Let’s treat him well.]
The usually quiet system suddenly popped up.
“I’ll consider changing jobs after my contract with Cassis ends.”
“When does it end?”
Well.
When will it end…
When all the debts are paid off, and thus the empire’s destruction is prevented, and I return to the peaceful South to resume my unemployed life?
“When Luwin regains its old prestige?”
When I summarized the unspeakable truth, Isiel said incredulously,
“Just say you don’t like me.”
“…Cassis, Isiel is disrespecting me.”
Isiel and I continued to bicker for a while with Cassis beside us.
Cassis would occasionally break into low laughter watching us.
“Isiel, when do you plan to return to the capital?”
“…Are you kicking me out?”
“……”
With no response from Cassis, Isiel grumbled, pretending to be hurt.
“The capital is too noisy and tiring, but Leknes is too quiet and boring.”
Cassis let out a deep sigh.
Isiel didn’t even pretend to hear it.
“Irina, can you stir up some fun? Please?”
Now it was my turn to sigh.
“If you’re that bored, go swim in the lake. You like swimming, don’t you?”
“In this season?”
“Melt it with magic.”
“That big lake…?”
Cassis seemed to have said something out of annoyance, and Isiel responded as if slightly dumbfounded.
But I couldn’t laugh.
Because…
Along with the familiar notification sound of ‘Ding!’, an absurd quest arrived.
[SYSTEM | A sub-quest for ‘Finding a Chef’ has arrived!]
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘Irina’s Ice Fishing Competition’ has arrived!]
“…Suddenly?”
