Let Us Just Love! (1)
It was still early dawn.
Not quite early enough for the inn’s staff to begin their day, however. They had to finish preparing meals and bathwater before the guests woke up.
"Delivery's here, meow."
Reyna, who had been busy trimming ingredients, felt her ears perk up like a cat's. It was because she recognized the voice from outside. A slightly low, purring voice.
Reyna found herself drawn to the sound and headed outside. Ah, it was him. ...Or was he not quite human? Regardless.
"I'll be going now, meow."
The beastkin youth, who had moved a few sacks next to the stairs, turned around without a hint of hesitation. Seeing him leave made Reyna feel anxious. She didn't want to let him go just like that.
"Um, I have a favor to ask."
"Meow?"
"Ah, w-well, that is..."
The beastkin youth blinked his green eyes, waiting for her answer. Reyna thought his breath smelled faintly of cozy blankets. But since she had only said it to keep him there, she didn't actually have a favor to ask.
I just wanted to see your face a bit longer.
She couldn't say that, so she just fidgeted with her fingers, feeling a tickle in her heart.
"T-tasting! A taste test!"
"A taste test?"
"I'm planning to sell pies at the market! And, uh... the delivery fee! I have to pay the delivery fee... since you let me pay on credit..."
"Nya-ang."
"But I don't know if what I make will sell at the market... It's not that I'm not confident, ah! I don't mean I'm great at it, but, um... a new product! I'm trying to make a new flavor..."
Her words tumbled out, disorganized and frantic. Reyna wanted to cry. She should have just said nothing. What if he thinks I'm an idiot? I guess I really am hopeless.
She bowed her head, feeling tears welling up in her large eyes. She bit her lip, afraid that if she started crying, he would truly think she was a fool. Just as she was trying to push the tears back into the corner of her heart,
"......!"
A large hand rested over her two hands, which were folded in front of her. It was a man's hand—thin, long fingers, but with thick knuckles.
"You're picking at it until it bleeds, meow. Don't do that, meow."
Ah.
It seemed that in her attempt to hold back tears over her own pathetic behavior, she had been mindlessly picking at the skin around her nails. She hadn't even realized it.
"I'll come for the taste test tonight, meow."
And with that, he turned and left. Was it just her imagination, or did his tail look a little excited?
Well. Who knows.
That night.
After her shift, Reyna received permission from the kitchen staff and baked a few more pies. Instead of the apple pies that were usually her share, she made meat pies for the first time. One type was chicken tossed in a special sauce and baked in pastry; another was made with pork and cubed potatoes; and the last was filled with minced rabbit, generous amounts of vegetables, and a splash of cream.
She made mistake after mistake, rushing to finish by the promised time. She got flour all over herself and even cut her finger slightly. She usually made pies with her eyes closed, but her hands were shaking so much that the kitchen staff offered to help, rolling up their sleeves.
"No, I want to try it on my own. I can do it."
She had insisted on handling every step herself. Perhaps she wanted to do it on her own because it was her first time making meat pies, or perhaps because it was the first time she would be feeding them to someone special. Who could say?
As Reyna left the kitchen, carefully wrapping the best-looking pies in a cloth and hurrying along so they wouldn't go cold, the inn staff burst into laughter.
They said you couldn't hide a sneeze or love, and this adorable waitress was the perfect example. She claimed she was just paying off a debt, but every time she spoke of him, her face turned as red as a ripe cherry about to burst.
Under the large tree next to the inn, she waited, clutching the pies. Before long, she heard a soft footfall.
"Ah...!"
She looked up to see him standing right in front of her, tall and lean, his ears twitching.
"T-this...!"
"Should I tell you which one is the tastiest, meow?"
Reyna nodded vigorously. She thought she looked like such a fool, but she couldn't help it. When she worked at the Lontes Viscount's estate, she was always told she was more mature than her peers, but in front of this cat-like man, her mind turned into a complete mess.
Whether he knew her heart was racing or not, he unwrapped the cloth and stared at the three pies before happily tasting them one by one. This is good. That's good too, meow. No, meow, is this the best one? After agonizing for a long time, he burst into laughter.
"I can't choose, meow."
The beastkin youth looked down at the empty cloth, licking his fingers as if disappointed.
"I'm going to try selling all three on market day! Please come! I'll give you one for f-free, Sir Knight!"
"Free? Why?"
"Yes?"
"Don't you have to sell them well to pay off your delivery debt, meow?"
"W-well, that's true, but..."
Reyna gripped her skirt tightly. The confidence of a naive girl in the throes of unrequited love plummeted to the depths. She twisted his words to fit her own insecurities:
"Hurry up and pay your debt. That way, I won't have to go out of my way to come here during my busy hours."
She misinterpreted his words and hurt her own feelings. If Aiden, whose empathy in these matters was essentially zero, had heard this, he would have immediately said, "For heaven's sake, just give it up." But to a youth with the spring breeze blowing through her heart, it felt like a fresh wound.
A while later.
A market opened in the vacant lot in front of the Lord's Castle. Since the snow and ice had melted, the market was more crowded than ever.
"I can do it! Come on, let's go!"
Reyna had been assigned a corner table. She had brought four types of pies—the three meat pies she had stayed up all night baking, plus an apple pie.
Forget the delivery fee. I'll pay it off quickly and clear my heart.
She had spent the whole morning fighting back tears with that resolve. Perhaps because she was determined to move on, the quality of her pies was much higher than her previous attempts. Love, my foot. I'm going to become a pie master and the best pie chef in the North.
Just as she was making future plans,
"I'll take everything from here to there."
She heard a familiar voice. With no pride left, she looked up, and her eyes met those green ones, crinkling into a smile.
"O-oh...! Oh?"
"I get mine for free, right?"
"Ah, oh... that's..."
"If I take them all, you can't pay off the debt, right, meow?"
Reyna nodded, feeling dazed, while saying things like, "That's true, but... why?"
"Don't pay the debt."
"Yes?"
"That way, I'll have to see you again."
That day, Reyna didn't earn a single coin. But since she had essentially mortgaged the beastkin youth's future, it might have been a profitable deal after all.
The delivery boy and the pie girl are finally tying the knot.
"......"
It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Jamie acting like a fool before, but this time, the situation felt different.
"Why is he like that?"
"He says he finds stories about romance entertaining."
"Tell him to worry about his own love life."
"He says he prefers other people's."
Is he actually insane? Kalisa nodded slightly, as if in total agreement, and returned to her work. Aiden had tried to bring up the topic of the couple that was the talk of the town to Roland, but as expected, no one was sympathizing with Jamie.
"Ugh, the atmosphere in this office is so bleak! It's spring, for heaven's sake!"
"What does spring have to do with gossiping about other people's love lives? Did you finish your work?"
"Why is everyone so dry? This isn't just any romance, you know? In a way, it's a love that transcends species—wouldn't it make a great fairy tale? Right? Roland, how about we make a picture book? The title could be 'The Meow-Meow Deliveryman and the Apple Pie Girl.' Wow!"
"We already started production on the textbooks and finished distributing them ages ago."
"I'm just saying! It's romantic."
"You'll die buried in overtime while looking for romance."
"...Ugh, never mind!"
Muttering something like, "I pity you all for not knowing the beauty of love!" Jamie finally returned to his desk. Aiden couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all.
'True. That couple is the talk of the town everywhere these days.'
Aiden wasn't unaware of their story. They didn't seem to be flaunting their affection, but because they held a certain symbolic status, they naturally drew attention. The first girl to come to the North in search of a 'livable land,' and a beastkin youth who had never once been officially registered in a census. They were the representative faces of the North's transformation.
"They say they're getting married."
"Didn't they say they hadn't been seeing each other for long?"
"Hey, does the duration matter in love?"
...Doesn't it matter quite a bit?
Aiden thought so, but he didn't voice his opinion to spoil the mood. There was no need for a total stranger to interfere in someone else's future family affairs.
"And, get this! The beastkin youth said, 'From now on, only make apple pies for me. Not at the inn, but at home.' He actually said that! Hehehehe."
"Stop laughing so creepily while saying sweet things."
"Why are you only picking on me..."
Roland, who had been listening with an expression that said, 'Wasn't that story over already?' suddenly tilted his head.
"Why? Is something bothering you?"
"That is... Administrative Officer."
"Yes?"
"...Is it possible for a beastkin to marry a human?"
"Yes?"
What was he talking about? They were both adults; what was stopping them from getting married?
"No, it's one of the reasons why non-human races like elves and dwarves are gradually disappearing. Non-human racial purity laws. It's a law meant to protect the lineage of non-humans, but..."
"...Bring me the law code."
"Yes!"
Aiden's expression hardened. If this were true, it wouldn't just end with the delivery boy and the pie girl becoming Romeo and Juliet.
'The unity of the Northern residents could collapse.'
Beastkin were living as residents of the North. There was only one dwarf so far, but according to the list Lapisha had given him, several more non-humans were scheduled to arrive. 'Right now, it's just restrictions on non-humans, but there's no guarantee it will end there.'
If the couple who received the love of the entire North couldn't see their love come to fruition? It was obvious that more people would rise up, claiming it was discrimination against non-humans. Those who had awakened to the reality of non-human discrimination would soon turn their eyes toward the discrimination of immigrants.
'The solidarity of the weak always moves horizontally.'
When it came to the weak, one couldn't leave out the Northerners. In the worst-case scenario, their dissatisfaction with the Empire would erupt into the open.
"......"
The North as it stood now could not handle this. Aiden realized what he had to do. He had to become a Cupid for the young lovers.