Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 28

Coming to her senses, Irene laughed awkwardly. She was briefly flustered when she saw the completely bent spoon, but she quickly lowered both hands and pressed the handle back until it was perfectly flat again. The delicate pattern of snakes and vines was slightly crushed, but because she was focused on the task, she did not notice.

“I am glad it suits your palate.”

“I was really surprised. Even with similar ingredients, the taste can change this much. Mr. Idris, you are truly good at cooking. Have you ever learned how to cook?”

“I think I just naturally improved from cooking for myself. It was also a bit of a hobby.”

No wonder the way he tied his apron looked so familiar.

“Wow, that is amazing. I have never had any luck with cooking. Looking back, I think my cooking was a total mess.”

Irene let out a sigh and smiled apologetically. She felt a sense of guilt toward Idris, who could cook this well but had been forced to eat only tasteless stew for three meals a day. While it was tasteless to her either way, for him, the difference must have been like heaven and earth.

“It was not quite that bad. Ah, please eat. The soup will get cold.”

‘He cannot even bring himself to say it was delicious.’

It must have been such a mess that he could not even offer a hollow compliment. Irene quietly ate the warm soup again, lowering her eyes sadly.

She felt a bit aggrieved. She wanted to add an excuse that it was because a maid had handled all the cooking and chores back when she was human.

* * *

“Mr. Idris, are you still looking at that? I told you not to overdo it.”

Irene gave a light scolding to Idris, who was now reading a book about animals. Although it had already turned pitch black outside, he was still immersed in reading. She had suggested eating to give him a bit of a rest, but instead, it had only resulted in adding more tasks for Idris like cooking, tidying up, and washing dishes.

“Did you not already know a lot about animals? Is there a need to even read this?”

His hand, which was about to turn a page, stopped. Idris wore an expression as if he did not understand.

“…Me? I am an amateur in this field.”

“You knew about strange species like the Cotton Candy Medaka quite well.”

“I only remember a few species that left an impression. You could say it is shallow and biased knowledge.”

Idris played humble as he closed the animal encyclopedia. On the sophisticated yet crude cover, a fierce beast was drawn. Irene tapped the table and asked in a tone of curiosity.

“Is there a particular reason why they left an impression?”

“I remember a few things that appeared on exams during my school days. The teacher who taught about animals back then was notorious for giving strange and trivial problems.”

“At school? It seems you attended for quite a long time.”

Irene pulled out a chair and sat opposite Idris with a grin. It was strange. Judging by how he spoke, it seemed he had grown up in a plain, commoner household, but it felt like he had received quite a high level of education in his youth.

“Rather than saying I attended for a long time, it would be more accurate to call me a late bloomer. It was because I luckily grabbed an opportunity in the middle of it all to receive higher education.”

Idris showed no particular change in emotion despite Irene’s sudden question. His expression was calm, and even his heart rate did not particularly speed up.

“I could not keep up with the progress, so I was in agony trying to submit problems I got wrong dozens of times as punishment. Thanks to that, I still cannot forget the content.”

“You must have gone through a lot. Still, you graduated safely, right?”

“Yes, I managed to graduate somehow. I went through a lot of trouble one way or another.”

Idris replied with a grin as if reminiscing. Irene smiled back and agreed, saying it must be a meaningful memory. Inwardly, she was busy calculating.

‘Did he show talent as a knight after growing up and get an opportunity? It seems Crescent provides that kind of support. Since he seems like a diligent person, it is likely he wanted to pursue academics alongside it.’

It was a story that fit quite well with the person named Idris she had grasped so far. His expression, physical reactions, the information he remembered, his personality… it was difficult to find a fatal flaw in any part.

Well. Of course, it did not particularly matter if it were a lie, but it felt better if what he said to her was the truth!

Just as she was nodding and trying to accept it, Irene laughed as a memory suddenly flashed in her mind. Her deep red eyes glowed as if fluctuating while she stared into Idris’s blue eyes.

“But Mr. Idris, did you not say that your late teens were the most boring and crisis-free period of your life?”

It seemed impossible based on what she was hearing now; it was strange.