A Practical Guide to Ending a One-Sided Love - Chapter 16

While Leila stared at him blankly after having her portion of soup taken, the main course, steak and garnishes, was served before either of them realized it. The server flinched at the sight of the table in disarray, but Bjorn ignored that gaze and watched only Leila’s reaction.

At this point, it would not have been strange for her to jump up from her seat and bolt, yet he wondered why she did not. Only if she gave up quickly could he stop this farce as well.

However, Leila continued to remain seated, and with no other choice, Bjorn shoved the empty bowl aside roughly and dragged the plate of steak toward himself in a rush.

The tablecloth crumpled badly, and the remnants of the food he had splattered spread in an unsightly mess. It was an unintended but perfect performance.

Leila, who had been frozen like a statue without the slightest movement, finally reacted when Bjorn lifted the slab of meat with his fork without even cutting it.

Scraaape.

At the sound of the chair being pushed back as someone stood up, he cheered inwardly. It seemed Leila had finally decided to flee.

Yet alongside the relief that the problem appeared to have been resolved so easily came a sinking disappointment in his chest.

So that was how it was. No matter how much she claimed to love him, even if it was a feeling that had endured for ten long years, a person’s heart was ultimately this shallow. Enough to cool completely at the sight of something like this.

‘……?’

Soon, however, Bjorn felt puzzled. No matter how long he waited, he did not hear the sound of Leila bursting out the door.

Since he had to finish what he had started anyway, he tore into the meat as is and lifted his gaze to the opposite side, only to find, for some reason, a woman standing there with a sorrowful expression. Bjorn stared blankly as she opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“You must have gone hungry often on the battlefield…”

What was she trying to say now?

An ominous chill crept over him.

“I donated quite a lot, hoping it might help even a little… but that probably wasn’t enough after all.”

Bjorn could not properly understand the words coming from her mouth.

“You probably didn’t even get proper meals, and it must have been a long time since you had a formal course like this…”

It was a reaction that completely defied his expectations.

“I didn’t think it through enough. It was something I should have considered in advance, yet I failed to be considerate of you, sir.”

“No, Miss Leila, I—”

“Five years on the battlefield is more than enough time to forget proper etiquette. So please don’t feel embarrassed.”

Even after witnessing table manners that seemed to have thrown away not just etiquette but human dignity itself, Leila appeared entirely unshaken.

Rather, she looked at him with pity and sympathy. That absurd misunderstanding struck like an ambush and stopped Bjorn’s words in their tracks.

On top of that, Leila abruptly pulled over a chair that had been at the table and began moving it to the seat beside Bjorn.

Faced with her sudden action, which matched none of the scenarios he had imagined, Bjorn could only stare in astonishment.

“It’s alright. I’ll teach you everything again, from start to finish, so that you won’t be uncomfortable in the future. Then, shall we start with how to hold the utensils?”

Speaking in an eager voice like a private tutor instructing a timid student, Leila pointed to the steak knife on the table.

Bjorn, completely dazed, lifted the utensils without realizing it, obeying her instructions.

For quite some time after that, he was subjected to an unexpected private lesson in dining etiquette. Needless to say, this too had not been part of his plan.

“The soup is already gone, so we can’t practice with that. But you should cut the steak before eating it. Eating it whole might be more efficient, but we have plenty of time right now, and you could also upset your stomach if you eat it all in one go.”

With an uncharacteristically proactive attitude, she sat close beside him and calmly explained the order of picking up utensils and how to elegantly serve salad.

Even though it was all knowledge he already possessed, for some reason he could not help but listen to her voice. Bjorn quietly paid attention to her words for a while.

They had spoken face to face on occasion before, but they had never been this close. If he lowered his gaze even slightly, her pale face, half hidden behind large glasses, filled his vision.

Because of the excessive closeness, he could even feel her faint body heat and subtle scent. From her nape drifted the sweet fragrance of lily of the valley.

Strangely, his mouth went completely dry.

As he unconsciously lifted his water glass to wet his throat, her fingers touched the back of his hand without warning. Startled out of his skin, Bjorn almost dropped the glass.