Sylvia stepped back, raising her hands,
“No! I’m fine. Why? Are you hungry?”
Relieved by her loud, clear voice, Felix instinctively stepped back.
“Yeah, give me some of that.”
“What’s that?”
“You know, the greenish thing we had yesterday…”
“Ah, the grapes.”
Sylvia immediately directed her magic to grow a vine of grapes. In no time, greenish grapes dangled from the vine. She used wind magic to cut them and water magic to wash them before placing them in a large wooden bowl.
Handing over the wooden bowl, she grew another tree.
“Try this too.”
Felix, looking at the peach similar to the fruit he had eaten the day before, tilted his head in curiosity.
“Is this the same as what we had yesterday?”
At his question, Sylvia picked one up and ate it, saying,
“This is different from the flat peaches we had yesterday. They might look similar on the outside, but the flesh inside is completely different.”
Each time she took a bite of the peach, the juicy flesh splattered slightly to the side.
Gulp.
Felix instinctively swallowed his saliva. Then, he too picked up a peach and took a big bite.
Munch, munch.
For a while, the two just ate silently.
After tasting one, Sylvia craved more. Busy preparing meals for others, she had forgotten her own. So, she focused solely on eating another without a second thought.
Felix felt the sweetness more acutely than usual. He wondered why it tasted better when he was with her than when he was alone. As if his lost sense of taste was gradually returning, the distant sweet and refreshing taste was incredibly welcome.
The fairies, busy admiring their flowers in the garden and arguing over whose flower was more beautiful, were oblivious to the kitchen filled with the sounds of peach seeds and flesh being chewed by the two.
After a round of fruit bingeing, Sylvia was back to preparing dinner for the mercenary band. The amount of peaches and grapes they had consumed together was enormous. He might not eat cooked meals, but in reality, he was a tremendous eater.
‘Really, he eats so well.’
Sylvia was the first to give in while sharing peaches and grapes. It seemed she had chewed enough to make her mouth sore.
“Hmm, should I eat this?”
Seeing him eat made her want to see him eat some actual food.
So, she prepared porridge for Felix. She sautéed finely chopped vegetables in sesame oil, then added soaked rice and stir-fried them together.
She added water, seasoned it with salt, and simmered it gently while stirring. Lastly, she added beaten eggs, stirred well, and garnished with sesame seeds and a bit of sesame oil to finish a savory and light egg porridge.
Additionally, she made pumpkin porridge. It was made solely with pumpkin, without the need for anything else, and seasoned with salt.
Sylvia personally disliked porridges with beans or miscellaneous items in them. She preferred porridge made only with old pumpkin, a method passed down by her late grandmother and often prepared by her mother.
After finishing the two types of porridge, Sylvia was puzzled. How to get Felix to eat it?
Based on the content of the novel and his attitude so far, she thought he would never eat it just like that.
“Hmm.”
Wondering how to make him eat it…
Suddenly, she remembered something her friends used to say to her.
“Really, watching you eat can revive even the lost appetite. I need to see you when I’m sick, Seo Yoo-jung.”
Was that really said in earnest?
Now Sylvia was truly curious about her friend’s words.
‘Well, whether it works or not, I won’t know until I try, right?’
Nodding to herself, she carefully set aside the porridge she had made.
Sylvia started preparing the meal for the rest of the mercenary band, excluding Felix. She seasoned the sauce made from Galbus oil, pear, apple, onion, and paprika with dried red chili, ginger juice, salt, and pepper.
She marinated bite-sized chicken pieces in it. Meanwhile, she steamed potatoes and chopped various mushrooms, onions, and carrots.
She gathered all the ingredients and simmered them gently. As the steamed chicken was cooking, she prepared rice and side dishes.
Mashed steamed potatoes mixed with salted and squeezed cucumbers, seasoned with pepper and salt, and mixed with mayonnaise became a splendid potato cucumber salad.
Next, she sliced bright red tomatoes and cheese similar in taste to the empire’s mozzarella into equal sizes.
She neatly arranged the tomato and cheese slices on a plate, drizzled generously with freshly pressed olive oil, sprinkled finely chopped fresh basil, and seasoned with pepper.
The tomato was sweet and flavorful on its own, so she didn’t accompany it with other vegetables.
She also prepared plenty of bread, along with savory butter, apple jam with cinnamon, and blueberry jam.
After finishing the preparations, Sylvia opened the kitchen door and called out to the three red-haired individuals in the living room.
“Mr. Bernard, Mr. Brian, Mr. Calvin, could you please help move the food to the table?”
The three, who had been tending to their swords and armor, stood up in unison.
“Yes, Miss Sylvia.”
Now quite accustomed to the task, they moved the bowls, plates, spoons, forks, and chopsticks to the table. They arranged the steamed chicken, potato cucumber salad, Caprese salad, rice and bread, various jams, and both the pumpkin and egg porridges for easy access.
As everyone took their seats, Sylvia made some preparations at her side, just in case. She placed a spoon and chopsticks and set a small bowl. Felix, who had been upstairs, came down with Hubert and Dennis, drawn by the sound of the meal being ready.
And naturally, he took the seat beside Sylvia, just like the day before. Relieved that things were going as she hoped, she sighed in relief.
Dennis, sitting down, boomed cheerfully to Sylvia,
“Thank you for the meal, Miss Sylvia!”
“Thank you for the meal!”
Hearing the robust voices of about a dozen people, Sylvia replied with a bright smile,
“Let’s clean our plates today too!”
“Yes!”
The mercenaries, each with a target amount in mind, picked up their chopsticks with determined movements. Now adept at using them, they skillfully picked up the steamed chicken. Knowing well how much Sylvia could eat, the members even made bets among themselves. The wager was on who could outeat Sylvia.
Sylvia made a jackfruit grow in front of Felix and, unlike the others, started with the egg porridge using a spoon. Felix, unaccustomed to the strange appearance of the fruit, tilted his head curiously.
It didn’t look particularly appetizing at first glance and seemed quite tough. Wondering if he was really supposed to eat it, he looked at Sylvia, but she was busily eating her egg porridge, pretending not to notice.
Trusting her due to the rapport built over time, he tapped the jackfruit tentatively. Encouraged by the sound suggesting it was filled, he drew his dagger and sliced it open.
But he was baffled by the contents. It was full of what looked like small seeds or perhaps husks, but how to eat them was a mystery. Trying to split it, the sticky white sap from the white part inside stuck to his fingers.
It kept sticking even as he tried to wipe it off, annoying him with its stickiness.
“Hey, how do you even eat this?”
He asked, frowning at Sylvia, who casually replied without looking up,
“Just remove the flesh, yeah, that part, and eat it. You’ll see how tasty it is.”
Sylvia knew very well how sweet, chewy, and crunchy a well-ripened jackfruit could be. If jackfruit had been a Korean fruit, she would have wanted to stock it at home to eat regularly.
Felix, following her advice, removed the thin husk from the flesh and popped it into his mouth. The sticky sap made it cumbersome to peel the thin husk, sticking persistently to his fingers.
However, the taste was excellent. The bubbling irritation subsided instantly.
Crunch, crunch.
The texture was markedly different from anything he had eaten before. The chewy yet crunchy taste was exceptional. His eyes lit up as he began to dismantle each piece of the flesh. Both his mouth and fingers were incessantly busy.
Sylvia, who had been glancing at him from the corner of her eye, was taken aback. She had planned to offer him pumpkin porridge when he got fed up, expecting him to eat just a little, but he was enjoying it far more than anticipated.
He even seemed to have mastered the art of eating it without getting the sap on the flesh, extracting it cleanly and quickly.
With a bewildered look, Sylvia stared at Felix. Though aware of her gaze, he was deeply engrossed in the new texture.
Eating it was a bit inconvenient, but the texture was outstanding.
It was no ordinary experience.
Sylvia began to ponder. How could she pique Felix’s interest in the porridge? Contemplating this, she blew on the pumpkin porridge and took a mouthful.
Felix, noticing her gaze had shifted, turned to look at Sylvia. She appeared deep in thought yet didn’t stop eating. Watching her while intently chewing on the jackfruit flesh and eating vigorously, his gaze inadvertently drifted downward.
The yellow-colored soup seemed particularly appetizing.
Gulp.
He swallowed the fruit in his mouth and looked up again. A bit of the yellow-colored soup had smeared on her plump red lips. Instinctively, her tongue followed, licking the soup from her lips.
Black eyelashes moved languidly. He blinked slowly, lowering and raising his eyelids. Felix began to eat the jackfruit more quickly, trying to dispel the thought that had occurred to him.
Having devoured everything swiftly, he turned his hopeful gaze towards Sylvia. She seized the moment, taking large mouthfuls of the egg porridge and chewing vigorously.
In reality, porridge didn’t require much chewing, but she deliberately moved her mouth widely and puffed up her cheeks, moving in the hope of garnering some attention from him. Yet, all she received in return was a narrowing of his brows and a scowl.
The rich scent of sesame oil made Felix’s mouth water. Observing her as she ate, he found himself swallowing his saliva. Previously averse to food, he now felt an annoying urge to eat more, which led to his frustration. Annoyed by this ridiculous inner conflict, he contemplated asking for more fruit with a furrowed brow.
Sylvia, spurred by his apparent disinterest, contemplated whether to offer him some of the food.
No one had ever witnessed someone offering Felix food; even the fairies hadn’t seen him accept anything beyond fruits or vegetables.
Motivated by this thought, Sylvia loaded her spoon with a generous amount of egg porridge and pushed it towards him, pondering if it was worth the attempt.
“Want to try some?”
Felix, reacting strongly, knocked the spoon away, effectively smacking Sylvia on the back of her head.
“Get that away from me!”
The sudden contact with the food on his lips stirred his emotions. The taste of the food he had forcibly swallowed until now made him feel nauseous.
The wooden spoon in her grasp clattered to the ground, and his chair toppled backwards. Sylvia, though understanding, felt a surge of anger. She had always detested wastefulness with food.
“Hey!”
She stood up abruptly, intending to rebuke him, but upon seeing Felix’s face, she found herself speechless.
His usually pale face was now ashen, almost bluish, and his expression, far from intimidating, seemed overwhelmed with fear.
With a sigh that sounded almost like a groan, Felix left without a word, heading upstairs. The frozen members, Hubert, and Dennis all turned their heads in unison to watch Felix’s retreating figure.
Sylvia was left speechless. The glimpse into his inner turmoil had sealed her lips.
Sylvia stepped back, raising her hands,
“No! I’m fine. Why? Are you hungry?”
Relieved by her loud, clear voice, Felix instinctively stepped back.
“Yeah, give me some of that.”
“What’s that?”
“You know, the greenish thing we had yesterday…”
“Ah, the grapes.”
Sylvia immediately directed her magic to grow a vine of grapes. In no time, greenish grapes dangled from the vine. She used wind magic to cut them and water magic to wash them before placing them in a large wooden bowl.
Handing over the wooden bowl, she grew another tree.
“Try this too.”
Felix, looking at the peach similar to the fruit he had eaten the day before, tilted his head in curiosity.
“Is this the same as what we had yesterday?”
At his question, Sylvia picked one up and ate it, saying,
“This is different from the flat peaches we had yesterday. They might look similar on the outside, but the flesh inside is completely different.”
Each time she took a bite of the peach, the juicy flesh splattered slightly to the side.
Gulp.
Felix instinctively swallowed his saliva. Then, he too picked up a peach and took a big bite.
Munch, munch.
For a while, the two just ate silently.
After tasting one, Sylvia craved more. Busy preparing meals for others, she had forgotten her own. So, she focused solely on eating another without a second thought.
Felix felt the sweetness more acutely than usual. He wondered why it tasted better when he was with her than when he was alone. As if his lost sense of taste was gradually returning, the distant sweet and refreshing taste was incredibly welcome.
The fairies, busy admiring their flowers in the garden and arguing over whose flower was more beautiful, were oblivious to the kitchen filled with the sounds of peach seeds and flesh being chewed by the two.
After a round of fruit bingeing, Sylvia was back to preparing dinner for the mercenary band. The amount of peaches and grapes they had consumed together was enormous. He might not eat cooked meals, but in reality, he was a tremendous eater.
‘Really, he eats so well.’
Sylvia was the first to give in while sharing peaches and grapes. It seemed she had chewed enough to make her mouth sore.
“Hmm, should I eat this?”
Seeing him eat made her want to see him eat some actual food.
So, she prepared porridge for Felix. She sautéed finely chopped vegetables in sesame oil, then added soaked rice and stir-fried them together.
She added water, seasoned it with salt, and simmered it gently while stirring. Lastly, she added beaten eggs, stirred well, and garnished with sesame seeds and a bit of sesame oil to finish a savory and light egg porridge.
Additionally, she made pumpkin porridge. It was made solely with pumpkin, without the need for anything else, and seasoned with salt.
Sylvia personally disliked porridges with beans or miscellaneous items in them. She preferred porridge made only with old pumpkin, a method passed down by her late grandmother and often prepared by her mother.
After finishing the two types of porridge, Sylvia was puzzled. How to get Felix to eat it?
Based on the content of the novel and his attitude so far, she thought he would never eat it just like that.
“Hmm.”
Wondering how to make him eat it…
Suddenly, she remembered something her friends used to say to her.
“Really, watching you eat can revive even the lost appetite. I need to see you when I’m sick, Seo Yoo-jung.”
Was that really said in earnest?
Now Sylvia was truly curious about her friend’s words.
‘Well, whether it works or not, I won’t know until I try, right?’
Nodding to herself, she carefully set aside the porridge she had made.
Sylvia started preparing the meal for the rest of the mercenary band, excluding Felix. She seasoned the sauce made from Galbus oil, pear, apple, onion, and paprika with dried red chili, ginger juice, salt, and pepper.
She marinated bite-sized chicken pieces in it. Meanwhile, she steamed potatoes and chopped various mushrooms, onions, and carrots.
She gathered all the ingredients and simmered them gently. As the steamed chicken was cooking, she prepared rice and side dishes.
Mashed steamed potatoes mixed with salted and squeezed cucumbers, seasoned with pepper and salt, and mixed with mayonnaise became a splendid potato cucumber salad.
Next, she sliced bright red tomatoes and cheese similar in taste to the empire’s mozzarella into equal sizes.
She neatly arranged the tomato and cheese slices on a plate, drizzled generously with freshly pressed olive oil, sprinkled finely chopped fresh basil, and seasoned with pepper.
The tomato was sweet and flavorful on its own, so she didn’t accompany it with other vegetables.
She also prepared plenty of bread, along with savory butter, apple jam with cinnamon, and blueberry jam.
After finishing the preparations, Sylvia opened the kitchen door and called out to the three red-haired individuals in the living room.
“Mr. Bernard, Mr. Brian, Mr. Calvin, could you please help move the food to the table?”
The three, who had been tending to their swords and armor, stood up in unison.
“Yes, Miss Sylvia.”
Now quite accustomed to the task, they moved the bowls, plates, spoons, forks, and chopsticks to the table. They arranged the steamed chicken, potato cucumber salad, Caprese salad, rice and bread, various jams, and both the pumpkin and egg porridges for easy access.
As everyone took their seats, Sylvia made some preparations at her side, just in case. She placed a spoon and chopsticks and set a small bowl. Felix, who had been upstairs, came down with Hubert and Dennis, drawn by the sound of the meal being ready.
And naturally, he took the seat beside Sylvia, just like the day before. Relieved that things were going as she hoped, she sighed in relief.
Dennis, sitting down, boomed cheerfully to Sylvia,
“Thank you for the meal, Miss Sylvia!”
“Thank you for the meal!”
Hearing the robust voices of about a dozen people, Sylvia replied with a bright smile,
“Let’s clean our plates today too!”
“Yes!”
The mercenaries, each with a target amount in mind, picked up their chopsticks with determined movements. Now adept at using them, they skillfully picked up the steamed chicken. Knowing well how much Sylvia could eat, the members even made bets among themselves. The wager was on who could outeat Sylvia.
Sylvia made a jackfruit grow in front of Felix and, unlike the others, started with the egg porridge using a spoon. Felix, unaccustomed to the strange appearance of the fruit, tilted his head curiously.
It didn’t look particularly appetizing at first glance and seemed quite tough. Wondering if he was really supposed to eat it, he looked at Sylvia, but she was busily eating her egg porridge, pretending not to notice.
Trusting her due to the rapport built over time, he tapped the jackfruit tentatively. Encouraged by the sound suggesting it was filled, he drew his dagger and sliced it open.
But he was baffled by the contents. It was full of what looked like small seeds or perhaps husks, but how to eat them was a mystery. Trying to split it, the sticky white sap from the white part inside stuck to his fingers.
It kept sticking even as he tried to wipe it off, annoying him with its stickiness.
“Hey, how do you even eat this?”
He asked, frowning at Sylvia, who casually replied without looking up,
“Just remove the flesh, yeah, that part, and eat it. You’ll see how tasty it is.”
Sylvia knew very well how sweet, chewy, and crunchy a well-ripened jackfruit could be. If jackfruit had been a Korean fruit, she would have wanted to stock it at home to eat regularly.
Felix, following her advice, removed the thin husk from the flesh and popped it into his mouth. The sticky sap made it cumbersome to peel the thin husk, sticking persistently to his fingers.
However, the taste was excellent. The bubbling irritation subsided instantly.
Crunch, crunch.
The texture was markedly different from anything he had eaten before. The chewy yet crunchy taste was exceptional. His eyes lit up as he began to dismantle each piece of the flesh. Both his mouth and fingers were incessantly busy.
Sylvia, who had been glancing at him from the corner of her eye, was taken aback. She had planned to offer him pumpkin porridge when he got fed up, expecting him to eat just a little, but he was enjoying it far more than anticipated.
He even seemed to have mastered the art of eating it without getting the sap on the flesh, extracting it cleanly and quickly.
With a bewildered look, Sylvia stared at Felix. Though aware of her gaze, he was deeply engrossed in the new texture.
Eating it was a bit inconvenient, but the texture was outstanding.
It was no ordinary experience.
Sylvia began to ponder. How could she pique Felix’s interest in the porridge? Contemplating this, she blew on the pumpkin porridge and took a mouthful.
Felix, noticing her gaze had shifted, turned to look at Sylvia. She appeared deep in thought yet didn’t stop eating. Watching her while intently chewing on the jackfruit flesh and eating vigorously, his gaze inadvertently drifted downward.
The yellow-colored soup seemed particularly appetizing.
Gulp.
He swallowed the fruit in his mouth and looked up again. A bit of the yellow-colored soup had smeared on her plump red lips. Instinctively, her tongue followed, licking the soup from her lips.
Black eyelashes moved languidly. He blinked slowly, lowering and raising his eyelids. Felix began to eat the jackfruit more quickly, trying to dispel the thought that had occurred to him.
Having devoured everything swiftly, he turned his hopeful gaze towards Sylvia. She seized the moment, taking large mouthfuls of the egg porridge and chewing vigorously.
In reality, porridge didn’t require much chewing, but she deliberately moved her mouth widely and puffed up her cheeks, moving in the hope of garnering some attention from him. Yet, all she received in return was a narrowing of his brows and a scowl.
The rich scent of sesame oil made Felix’s mouth water. Observing her as she ate, he found himself swallowing his saliva. Previously averse to food, he now felt an annoying urge to eat more, which led to his frustration. Annoyed by this ridiculous inner conflict, he contemplated asking for more fruit with a furrowed brow.
Sylvia, spurred by his apparent disinterest, contemplated whether to offer him some of the food.
No one had ever witnessed someone offering Felix food; even the fairies hadn’t seen him accept anything beyond fruits or vegetables.
Motivated by this thought, Sylvia loaded her spoon with a generous amount of egg porridge and pushed it towards him, pondering if it was worth the attempt.
“Want to try some?”
Felix, reacting strongly, knocked the spoon away, effectively smacking Sylvia on the back of her head.
“Get that away from me!”
The sudden contact with the food on his lips stirred his emotions. The taste of the food he had forcibly swallowed until now made him feel nauseous.
The wooden spoon in her grasp clattered to the ground, and his chair toppled backwards. Sylvia, though understanding, felt a surge of anger. She had always detested wastefulness with food.
“Hey!”
She stood up abruptly, intending to rebuke him, but upon seeing Felix’s face, she found herself speechless.
His usually pale face was now ashen, almost bluish, and his expression, far from intimidating, seemed overwhelmed with fear.
With a sigh that sounded almost like a groan, Felix left without a word, heading upstairs. The frozen members, Hubert, and Dennis all turned their heads in unison to watch Felix’s retreating figure.
Sylvia was left speechless. The glimpse into his inner turmoil had sealed her lips.
