Chapter 124
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The knights following behind surrounded Ivan and Ruby as if guarding them. The town, which had fallen briefly quiet at the lord’s appearance, soon grew lively again.
“My lord! The bread came out wonderfully today. Please, have a taste.”
“Then you’ll be needing apple jam and blueberry jam! Please accept these, my lord!”
They treated their lord Ivan with great familiarity. The sight was no different from her own village, and Ruby’s tense heart settled a little.
Just then, Ivan naturally took Ruby’s hand as he answered the people of his domain.
“I’ll accept your kindness. You all need to eat heartily yourselves to brace for the cold, don’t you?”
At Ivan’s words, the people all began to look at him with respect.
He strolled along at a leisurely pace, examining the streets and buildings in detail. He even went around inspecting the sewers one by one.
Ruby trailed close behind him, looking around here and there. Especially when she took in the large market, the kind she’d never seen in her own village, she couldn’t even keep her mouth closed.
Ivan looked down at her sidelong with a quiet smile. Ruby, who had been distracted for a good while, only came to her senses after they entered a restaurant for lunch and sat down.
“…I feel like I was spellbound.”
“Heh, you couldn’t close your mouth.”
“I couldn’t help it. I’ve never seen another village before.”
At her answer Ivan smiled with satisfaction. He’d half wondered, and indeed everything she’d done today seemed to be truly her first. Pleased at the thought that he was sharing her firsts, Ivan smiled gently.
“Huh? When did you order this?”
“While you were busy looking around the restaurant.”
Ruby asked, looking at the tomato soup the server had set down. Before him sat a plate holding a large steak. There was no garnish in sight, and she frowned.
“I’m going to tell the head butler on you.”
“Don’t do that. Just let it slide this once, okay?”
With a face full of mischief, Ivan broke the bread beside him into pieces and placed them on top of the tomato soup for her.
“Go on, try it. The tomato soup here is superb.”
“It looks delicious just looking at it.”
Ruby scooped up the steaming soup together with a piece of bread and blew on it. Now cooled at the perfect temperature, the soup warmed her chilled body.
“Mmm! It’s so good.”
Just as he’d said, it was a soup with a superb, rich tomato flavor. She was wolfing it down when she suddenly felt a gaze on her. When Ruby glanced up, she saw Ivan watching her with a tender look.
Before him sat the steak, sizzling as butter soaked into it. Untouched, the steak glistened.
Noticing her gaze, Ivan asked in a voice tinged with laughter.
“What is it? Want to try some meat?”
Meat, for an herbivore beastfolk? Of course it wasn’t that she couldn’t eat it. Eating meat wouldn’t kill her. But it tasted downright awful, so Ruby slowly shook her head and asked:
“Aren’t you going to eat, Your Grace?”
As she asked and lowered her eyes, she saw pieces of bread heaped high in the soup bowl before her. She had no idea when he’d piled them in like this again. Wasn’t she, his personal maid, the one who was supposed to be waiting on him?
Even as she thought it, hunger came first for now, so Ruby dunked a piece of bread deep into the soup, put it in her mouth, and chewed. At the sight of her eating happily, Ivan finally picked up his knife and fork and cut into the steak.
“This is a restaurant I always stop at when I come out on inspection.”
“I can see why. It’s really delicious.”
“Right? It’s a bit unfair to our own chef to say so, but the steak here is the best.”
“I should advise our chef to start putting butter on the steak from now on.”
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