Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 27

‘Of course, I would never do something so useless.’

The moment she did, it was obvious that everything she had done for Idris until now would go down the drain, so why would she be crazy enough to do that? Irene decided to fold away her minor curiosity for now.

Irene began to watch Idris in earnest as he held a kitchen knife and sliced vegetables. His well-muscled arms moved, and the knife in his hand accurately sliced through the produce. Perhaps because he was a knight, his knife work was exceptionally fast. He really seemed to know how to cook.

‘Wow, it does not suit him at all.’

The sense of disparity was immense. Perhaps it was because of his shiny blonde hair and his neat, handsome features that would make anyone think of him as a young noble. Seeing a man who looked exactly like the ideal young Señor that village girls used to dream of wearing an apron made it feel as though something were wrong.

As expected, one should not judge a person by their appearance.

Before long, Idris finished the preparations in a flash and began to boil water and ingredients in a reasonably sized pot. Irene’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw him toss in several of the few edible mushrooms they had.

‘Was he not extremely worried about wasting food?’

What was he thinking? Did he decide to just eat them since saving a little of what was already lacking wouldn’t provide an answer anyway? Like he said earlier, that a single ear of corn was nowhere near enough?

Irene, who found it didn’t matter either way, leisurely swung her feet and waited for the meal to be finished while resting her chin on the table.

It took less than half an hour for the unique smell of human cooking to spread and fill the cabin. Finally, two bowls filled with thick soup were placed on the table. Irene gave a small cheer and laughed while clapping her hands.

“Thank you for your hard work. Wow, is this cream mushroom soup?”

“Yes. That is correct. I seasoned it a bit lightly, so if it does not suit your taste, you can sprinkle some pepper on it. There were quite a lot of spices.”

Was he really just a commoner? The fact that he seemed to know etiquette fairly well was likely something he learned after becoming a knight. It was unexpected. He looked more like an aristocrat than most nobles she had seen so far.

‘Ah. Idris seemed quite devout. Is it because of that? Temples place importance on useless formalities and etiquette.’

“I think it will be delicious enough. Then, I will enjoy the meal, Mr. Idris.”

Recalling the traces of faith that had been hidden beneath the uniform Idris wore, Irene smiled brightly and picked up a spoon. Suddenly, Idris massaged his left hand a few times. Although it was hidden by his bangs, one of his eyebrows definitely twitched. It was as if he were in pain. Surprised, Irene set down her cold spoon before it even touched the soup.

“What is the matter? Does your hand hurt?”

“Ah, it is nothing. It seems I burned myself slightly when I touched the pot incorrectly earlier.”

“My goodness, are you alright? Should I go fetch some cold water?”

“It is fine. It is nothing to worry about. I feel nothing at all.”

Idris smiled lightly as if it were only a brief throb and blew on a spoonful of soup. Only after he had taken three or four bites did Irene take her eyes off him and pick up her high quality, silver-shining spoon again.

Irene took a mouthful of the thick stew containing finely chopped mushrooms, and her eyes flew wide at the amazing taste.

“…!”

It tasted like warm food waste.

How could this be? Irene moved her spoon again, her eyes still so wide that her red pupils were fully visible.

‘This is impossible. When I cooked, no matter how well I did, it tasted like filth scooped from a sewage treatment plant!’

To think it tasted like something that was, at the very least, food. This was an innovation. If the cooking was done well, she was capable of tasting things somewhat normally after all!

Irene bowed her head, her body trembling slightly with excitement. From the moment Irene had been surprised, Idris had been uneasily watching her every move. When he saw the metal spoon she was holding bend like taffy, his mouth fell open in horror. However, he quickly put on a worried expression and looked up, pretending he had seen nothing.

“Ms. Irene?”

“…! Ah, I am sorry. I was just so surprised because it was more delicious than I expected.”