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Chapter 07 …
Seit’s cooking skills were truly impressive.
One by one, I began bringing his dishes onto my plate and eating them, and everything he made was so delicious that my eyes widened in disbelief.
It was on a completely different level from anything I had ever made.
I honestly expressed my admiration.
“It’s really delicious. You must have been smart even before, if you can make food like this just by reading a book.”
“Is that so. At times like this, I wish my memory would return quickly. Then I wouldn’t be troubling you, teacher.”
As Seit made a worried expression, I comforted him.
“It’s okay, Seit. Like I said earlier, don’t rush it and just stay calm. Then your memory will come back sooner.”
“But still.”
“Look at this. The soup and bread are both excellent—you’re definitely someone with great skill.”
At my words, Seit smiled faintly and joked.
“Haha. Maybe I was a chef.”
“Maybe? If so, you’d probably have been a famous one.”
I smiled back and agreed, but of course I didn’t really believe that.
The food was indeed extremely good, but how could a chef end up with a body like this, as if he had been severely beaten and cut up?
“I’m done eating!”
“You’re welcome.”
“Kyang!”
Ain also wagged its tail, signaling it had eaten well.
After finishing the meal, Seit even washed the dishes cleanly and then started cleaning the house.
I tried to stop him, but it was useless.
“N-no, Seit. You don’t have to do this too!”
Seit hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said,
“Ah. I’m sorry. The house… honestly, it’s too messy. I can’t stand it.”
“…Sorry about that.”
I felt embarrassed.
Honestly, I wasn’t good at cleaning or organizing.
Since I lived alone, I barely cleaned at all—just once every two weeks, roughly—and it seemed Seit didn’t approve of that.
Fueled with determination for cleaning, Seit looked at Ain and me, then pointed toward the front door.
“Teacher and Ain, please go outside for a bit. Honestly, you’re in the way.”
Kicked out by Seit, I grabbed a basket and went out with Ain to gather herbs.
‘Tch. Damn it.’
Getting scolded by a guest for having a dirty house was really depressing.
‘I should start cleaning properly from now on.’
It felt like a promise I wouldn’t be able to keep, but I pushed that uneasy feeling aside and climbed the mountain to gather herbs. Rare medicinal herbs grew there. On the way down, I also needed to collect Berita herbs.
After how long had I been climbing—
“Miss.”
I ran into three men wearing expensive uniforms.
“Yes?”
“We’d like to ask you something.”
I instinctively became cautious and shrank back at the unfamiliar-looking men.
“Yes…”
“Ah, don’t be alarmed. Have you seen any strange adult man who doesn’t belong to the village around here?”
Their tone was polite enough, but they were extremely intimidating, with killing intent in their eyes.
Especially the swords and maces they carried—it was so eerie that I subconsciously shook my head.
“No. This is deep in the mountains, so outsiders can’t really come in. And if they do, we can tell immediately.”
“Is that so?”
One of them’s gaze flashed disturbingly. I raised my voice.
“Yes, really. If you’re curious, just walk around the area later.”
I confidently said this, believing that even villagers couldn’t find our house easily.
Then one of them narrowed his eyes and approached me.
“Then, would it be alright if we search your house?”
I panicked at his unexpected words.
“My house? Why would you—”
“That is quite rude.”
At that moment—
A man suddenly appeared behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder and speaking coldly toward them with clear displeasure.
I looked at him in confusion.
It was someone I had never seen before.
He had silver hair and blue eyes—a handsome man—but despite being someone I had never met, he felt strangely familiar.
‘Who is he?’
The uniformed men, who had seemed ready to act freely when I was alone, hesitated as soon as he appeared and raised his voice.
“No, we were just going to check around the house—”
The silver-haired man glared at them sharply with fierce eyes and said coldly,
“Trying to enter my wife’s house without permission. Are Imperial soldiers allowed to invade private property like this? I will report this to the lord.”
“Private property? No, we’ll be going.”
Startled by his sudden appearance and glare, they hurriedly disappeared.
Imperial soldiers?
I stared blankly at their retreating backs, then quickly snapped back to reality and turned to the man.
“Wh-who are you?”
Then the man relaxed his expression and smiled softly. Pointing to himself, he revealed his identity.
“It’s me. Ain.”
“…A-Ain?”
Ain hesitated slightly, then sighed and looked at me carefully.
“Yes. I’m a beastkin. I’ve been wondering when to tell you…”
‘A beastkin?’
A beastkin—wasn’t that a rare race that could transform between animal and human form?
I couldn’t believe I had met one while living here!
“I-I can’t believe it.”
“But I really am Ain. The day Ailette saved me, I had been injured badly during a fight with a wolf because I let my guard down. Of course, I won.”
“I-I see.”
I was still shocked, my eyes wide open. No matter how unbelievable it was, that tone and atmosphere were definitely Ain’s.
After accepting that he was Ain, I nodded.
“That’s amazing. I never thought I’d meet a beastkin.”
“Just speak casually.”
“Mm.”
Even while still surprised, I remembered how Ain sometimes behaved differently from an ordinary fox.
‘Now that I think about it, he was way too intelligent.’
“Do you dislike me being a beastkin?”
At that moment, Ain looked at me gloomily and asked.
“Huh? Of course not. You’re just Ain.”
I smiled and patted his soft silver hair, which looked similar in age to mine.
Come to think of it, his silver fur and hair color were exactly the same.
So that’s why.
The status window had shown him as twenty years old at first… maybe that referred to Ain’s age as a beastkin.
Anyway, I stretched my neck to look in the direction the Imperial soldiers had gone.
‘Hah. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling they’re definitely looking for Seit. What are they planning to do to a man who hasn’t even recovered his memory yet?’
I glared at their backs, then gathered herbs with Ain and returned home.
‘But why is the Imperial army looking for Seit? Is he a criminal?’
No.
I was certain he wasn’t.
As I walked while thinking about Seit, Ain, who misunderstood my silence, tried to reassure me.
“Don’t worry. They won’t be able to find Ailette’s house anyway.”
I stared at Ain’s blue eyes and asked.
“Why? Is our house that hard to find, like the villagers say?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? There’s magic on Ailette’s body and house. Even I had a hard time finding it. That day, when you opened the door, it felt like I had been granted permission to find it. Is there a powerful mage around you?”
“Re-really? I don’t know anything about a mage.”
Ain looked at me seriously, then stroked his chin.
“Yes. Look into it later. They won’t be able to come here freely anyway, so don’t worry.”
I nodded.
When we returned home, as expected, they hadn’t found it. The log house was silent.
And then—
“Wow…”
Relieved, I stepped inside, only to find the house sparkling clean and perfectly organized. I felt a strange emptiness.
‘So I really was bad at cleaning… Seit is seriously talented.’
“It’s really clean.”
Even Ain honestly admired it.
What can’t that man do?
Wait, wasn’t he a noble who had never even cleaned before?
I went to the separate building to thank Seit, but he wasn’t there.
‘Where did he go?’
Tilting my head, I went to the backyard just in case—and there he was, shirtless, chopping firewood.
Thud— Thud—!
Oh my god.
The splitting logs, the flexing muscles, the dripping sweat—everything about him was like a work of art…
‘H-hey, get a grip! What are you looking at?!’
