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Chapter 04
From somewhere out of sight, Theodore could vividly imagine Zephyr grabbing him by the back of the neck. Zephyr pressed him aggressively.
“Then why on earth were you going on about contracts three years ago if this was how you were going to act?”
“Things just happened.”
“Then at least give her a proper proposal now.”
“Haha, no. Del is still angry at me.”
He knew she was waiting for him to speak first. Until he explained himself properly, she would never accept him again.
Though honestly, would hearing the reason even make her forgive him? There was no guarantee. And truthfully, deep down, he simply didn’t want to talk about it.
“And you know Del’s position well enough, don’t you? Ever since Ten defected to Hohenheim, the political climate has become unstable. Rosa would never let Archmage Delsia Hendel go so easily.”
Judging from the reports sent by the spies, troublesome events would likely occur soon. Of course, he had no intention of sharing his suspicions with his subordinates. If he did, they would only assign him more guards, and that would make moving around inconvenient.
“And openly dragging Del into Veritas at that time? Well. The timing wasn’t right.”
As if agreeing, the watch answered silently. Soon, Zephyr’s voice flowed out again.
“She seemed upset that you didn’t even come to see her off.”
“I told you why. It was for a perfect performance. Besides, for now, I still need to continue playing the grieving king mourning his queen’s death.”
After all, if he exposed weakness, wouldn’t the vermin lurking in silence finally crawl out?
His soft, gentle voice sounded endlessly kind, but Zephyr knew all too well that beneath it lurked a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A chill ran through him.
“Just what exactly are you planning?”
“Zephyr. You’re rather talkative today.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Understanding the warning not to ask further questions, Zephyr obediently lowered his head. Theodore issued a few more instructions before ending the communication.
Glancing briefly at the large window drenched in sunset light, he murmured the name of the woman likely standing behind the wall he leaned against.
Delsia Hendel. The genius mage who had shaken the continent… and the legacy left behind by the Circle Mage, Melody Jodiana.
He knew very well how much that title would torment Del in the future. And he had no intention of leaving it alone forever.
Now that I finally have proper power in my hands, it’s time to act.
The man’s gaze deepened as he contemplated the secret he held. A conversation from long ago replayed itself in his mind.
“After eight years, that’s all you came to say?”
“The fate of the world is at stake.”
“What do I care about the fate of the world? I don’t understand why you’re asking me of all people.”
“Because you’re a child born from my blood and his. You’ll cling stubbornly to any hardship.”
Filled with anger, he glared at the speaker, yet couldn’t leave even a scratch on the person’s expression.
“Your expression has improved a lot. It seems you no longer resent the world as much as before.”
Blood ties were terrifying things. The other person knew exactly what he was weakest against.
In the end, when the boy decided to leave that place, he had to force himself not to look back at the home growing farther and farther away.
“Won’t you say goodbye before leaving?”
The boy stubbornly shook his head.
“If I see their face now, I won’t want to leave. If you want to take me away peacefully, then let’s just go like this.”
Master, you really are an unbearably troublesome person. What on earth were you thinking, asking this of me…?
After finishing his thoughts, he rolled up both sleeves.
By the time the man returned from the kitchen carrying a steaming pot, the outside had already grown completely dark. His keen hearing picked up the commotion that had erupted in the hallway moments earlier.
Opening the door, he stepped outside and rang the bell.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
Only after the third ring did the door swing open. Looking into the violet eyes of the woman standing outside, he spoke gently.
“Would you like to have dinner together?”
Munch munch.
“You think I’m just going to, gulp, let this slide because of this?”
The stew that had filled the pot was already halfway gone. Sitting across the table, Theodore quietly watched her dazzling spoon work before replying in disbelief.
“Maybe stop eating for a second before saying that?”
“The food did nothing wrong!”
Del thrust her spoon at him indignantly. After glaring at the man who merely tilted his head lightly, she returned to concentrating on the stew.
When she first saw him, Del had immediately tried to slam the door shut in his face. But what made her hesitate was the delicious aroma rising from the pot. Seizing that opening, Theodore casually slipped a foot through the doorway and squeezed himself inside.
“Hey, who said you could just walk into someone else’s house?”
“Someone else? Until a few days ago, we were legally married—”
“Ack! What are you saying?!”
Del clamped both hands over the man’s mouth before he could continue saying embarrassing things.
Even so, the smell was absurdly enticing. She could tell what was inside the pot even with her eyes closed.
“You used to like this cream stew, didn’t you?”
Seeing him smile as though he knew everything made her blood boil. Mana gathered in Del’s hand, faint light glowing around it.
It would consume a lot of mana, but she absolutely had to kick this bastard back to the royal palace somehow—
“The stew’s getting cold.”
At that exact moment, the bastard shamelessly shoved the pot right in front of her face.
Urgh… ngh! Why are you doing this to me?!
“Wow, this is really delicious!”
Beside Del, who unknowingly frowned while replaying the memory, Nike brightly exclaimed after scraping her bowl clean. Soon after, she quietly avoided Del’s gaze. Theodore simply shrugged lightly.
“Right? It’s a stew with history behind it. By the way, is this brat still hopeless at cooking? If not for the divine beast, she’d probably starve to death.”
Ever since becoming crown princess, Del had needed to watch her every movement carefully, leaving no room for personal hobbies. Resting his chin on his hand at the table, Theodore asked curiously, and Del lifted her chin proudly.
“So what if I can’t cook? As long as I’m competent, it doesn’t matter.”
“So you admit you can’t.”
The man mercilessly cut off her excuse. Then he slid a glass of juice toward the pouting Del.
“But really, what exactly did you put in this?”
Nike scooped up the carrots and vegetables floating in the creamy stew with her spoon and chewed thoughtfully. Unlike ordinary food with unpleasant odors, it smelled wonderfully fragrant. Was it because there was no meat in it at all? The broth was light, but incredibly tasty.
“I added olepi, ripherdo, hatsen, and some morcado. Plus peeled solty, carrots, and emetal.”
A stream of herb names flowed from the man’s lips. Aside from solty, a type of demon plant, they were all medicinal herbs. Seeing Nike’s eyes widen, Theodore explained.
“There was a time when the two of us went into the forest together and got lost. After wandering around all day, we were starving.”
“I’m starving to death! This is all your fault!”
“You were the one who said we should turn that way at the fork, idiot!”
Though they had been screaming curses at each other moments earlier, their hunger eventually forced them into a temporary truce. The two collapsed onto the ground.
Lying there and flailing his limbs around, Theodore let out a deep sigh.
“It’d be nice if at least some animal passed by… Why can’t I even spot a sparrow?”
“Because this is the Forest of Shadows. The creatures here never move around during the day. Besides, even if there were sparrows, so what? Only you would get full.”
“At the time, all we had with us was a pot, a knife, and a few spices.”
“Wait, why did you bring a pot into the forest?”
As Nike pointed out the obvious, Del hurriedly tried to cover Theodore’s mouth, but he was faster.
“She said there was an experiment she wanted to conduct in the Forest of Shadows. Our great Archmage, after all.”
Delsia stared at the teasing man with a dumbfounded expression, mouth hanging open slightly. Theodore ladled more stew onto Del’s plate as his own form of affection, but there was no way it would work.
“An experiment?”
“Well, it did succeed, but…”
“Maybe we went too deep into the forest, or maybe we got caught in the forest’s mana flow, but we ended up losing our way. Anyway, we were so hungry that we gathered everything remotely edible nearby and boiled it together. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good. Quite filling too.”
It became a dish they often ate afterward.
People say most delicious foods in the world are born from stupidity. He felt like the ancient fool who first thought of crushing grapes and leaving them alone.
Of course, Theodore didn’t reveal that part aloud. Instead, he gestured toward Delsia and spoke solemnly.
“This girl can’t even control fire properly. How do you turn something as simple as tossing ingredients into a pot and boiling it into either completely burnt down or completely bland…?”
“Isn’t food supposed to cook faster the stronger the fire is?”
At that moment, even Nike looked at her pitifully, causing Del to glare fiercely.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Master looks really cool when drawing magic circles, though…”
“Ah, yes. She definitely does.”
Theodore nodded in agreement. His finger flicked lightly through the air, drawing a small magic circle that sent pink flower petals swirling around Del.
At first glance, it looked incredibly romantic, but Del merely glanced at the petal resting on her shoulder.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Just showing off a little trick. Do you like it?”
“Ehh, Master hates stuff like that. Says it’s cringey.”
Nike chimed in from beside them. Theodore poured juice into Nike’s empty glass and casually asked:
“She’s always been like that. Then what does Del like, Divine Beast?”
“Money! Magic books! She really loves rare items too!”
“Oh dear. She didn’t budge even when I promised treasures and riches. Maybe the amount just wasn’t enough?”
“Well, considering Master’s value, a three-year contract fee was honestly too little.”
Watching Nike answer so smoothly in her place, Del was utterly dumbfounded. This brat had only entered human society around five years ago, so why did she sound like some worldly old geezer? What exactly had happened over the past three years?!
“If I want to bring the mage back, I suppose I’ll have to work harder earning money.”
“Doesn’t the king already have a lot of money?”
“I thought I had quite a bit, but Del doesn’t seem remotely tempted.”
“As expected of my master! Her ambitions are huge! One country alone could never satisfy her!”
Why are these two getting along so well already?!
Ignoring the two chatting cheerfully together, Del continued eating before finally slamming her spoon down.
“You two are talking way too much right in front of me, huh?”
