You Can Eat
You can eat…
Athena's grand mansion stood in all its imposing glory. Within it was a kitchen so luxurious that few places could rival it—an array of fine cooking tools, immaculately kept tableware, and ingredients of the most extravagant quality. Anyone who dreamed of cooking would have longed to work in a space so splendid and pristine.
At least, until a moment ago.
KWAANG!
With a tremendous crash, the door shattered into pieces beyond recognition.
"Aaaagh!"
"Wh-what the—?!"
The cooks had been lingering to finish the cleanup when the kitchen door suddenly exploded inward. They stared at the empty space where the door had been.
"H-Hero…?"
A woman radiating a chilling aura strode into the kitchen. An inexplicable pressure seized every person present, and their bodies began to tremble. Her eyes were endlessly calm—yet something terrifying, something the body instinctively recoiled from, quietly seethed within them.
"Where's the head chef."
In an atmosphere like this, not a single soul possessed the courage to answer her. When no reply came—
Kwang— KWAANG—
"Hyaaagh!"
"Somebody help!!!"
Golden mana scattered like a bombardment, smashing through the kitchen in every direction. Then a man came running—the head chef of this place, a man named Borsch. He had left the cleanup to his subordinates and been resting nearby, but the moment he heard the enormous racket, he came sprinting.
"L-Lady Athena!! What on earth is—!"
Athena's eyes flashed. In an instant she was in front of Borsch, seizing him by the throat and hauling him up.
"Ghk— gaaahk!"
"Was it you…?"
"Ghk— kuhh— wh-what are you—"
"You dared say Hera's cooking tasted bad? Trash like you?"
Dared. Trash like you. Hera's cooking.
As the head chef's breath was about to give out beneath her quietly blazing fury, Athena released his throat.
"Cough!! Haaah— hah…!"
She looked down coldly at him as he gasped for air.
"I'll give you three seconds. Answer. Unless you want your head gone."
"I-I did say that, but!! I was only following orders—!!"
KWAANG— A massive hole punched through the wall right beside Borsch. If his head had been tilted even slightly to the side, it would have left his body and gone sailing into the open air.
"H-haaah…"
"I know. That's why I'm even more annoyed. Even more furious."
Grind—
The sound of Athena's teeth grinding spread through the kitchen like a blade of ice. Beneath her murderous aura, the others held their breath and hid as still as the dead.
"Fine. Part of this is my responsibility too. I'll give you a chance."
She nudged the head chef's knee with her foot and continued.
"The food Hera made. Where is it?"
"Uh… yes?"
"The food Hera made. You didn't throw it away, did you?"
Crunch—
Her teeth ground together once more, a sound that raised every hair on end. Borsch felt an instinctive, primal warning that he must not keep her waiting any longer.
"I-it's here!! The flavor was so… unique that I stored it in a cold-magic appliance…!"
Without so much as a glance back, he bolted off and returned with the food, cradling it in both hands as carefully as if it were his own lifeline—careful not to let a single piece of chicken fall. The moment he held out the dish, Athena snatched it from his hands.
Then she put a piece of the long-cold chicken into her mouth. Eyes closed, she chewed slowly, tasting it.
Spicy, with the texture of chicken. It was exactly the flavor she had once told Hera she liked. More than that—it was delicious. A mysterious taste she had never encountered before. Hera, it seemed, had a real talent for cooking.
The thought of Hera making this dish stitch by stitch, thinking of her, made something deep in Athena's chest ache.
She carefully set the dish on the table and issued a cold order to everyone around her.
"This food. Heat it so the original flavor doesn't fade, and bring it to me."
"If even a fraction of the taste I just ate is gone…"
"Not a single person in this room will walk away looking pretty."
And so the kitchen fires, which had gone out, flared back to life. The cooks and the head chef moved without a moment's rest, throwing every method they had at the cold chicken to bring it back.
"Hic… hhkk…"
In a pitch-dark room where not a single thread of light entered, I had been crying without pause from the moment I regained consciousness.
"Idiot!… Moron!!… Hic…"
I struck my own head hard with my fist, hurting myself. If I didn't do at least this much, I couldn't forgive myself.
I should have just done nothing. Athena was probably waiting for me by now. Someone like me had gone and offered to cook for her, and now I was making her wait. But I hadn't wanted to give her food that tasted terrible, so in the end I had no choice but to run away.
She must be angry. She might even abandon me now. She had said she would love me for the rest of her life, but a person's heart can change at any time. Looking at this pathetic version of myself, it wouldn't be strange at all if her feelings cooled.
"Stupid…! Stupid…!"
Thud— thud—
I kept hitting my head with my hand until something warm began to trickle down one side. But I couldn't see an inch in front of me, so I had no way of knowing what it was.
How much time passed like that?
Knock— knock—
"Hera. It's me."
From beyond the door came the voice of the one person whose face I least wanted to see right now.
"D-don't come in…"
But my plea meant nothing. She opened the door and stepped inside. When she turned on the light, the dazzling brightness stabbed painfully into my eyes.
"Nngh."
"Hera!!!!"
In the brief moment it took my eyes to adjust to the light, her screaming voice reached me. When I opened my eyes again, she was already standing in front of me, wearing an expression I had never seen before—eyes shaking violently, a face that looked utterly stunned.
I stretched out a hand to block her from my sight.
"D-don't look…"
Please. Don't look at how pathetic I am.
But she gently pushed my hand aside and immediately laid her own hand on my head.
"You're bleeding, Hera!!!!"
So the warm something that had been running down my head earlier must have been my blood. Golden mana flowed from her hand and wrapped around my head; a warm energy seeped in, and I felt the wound on my scalp knitting closed. Turning my head in the direction the blood had run, I saw the bedsheets stained a vivid red with my blood.
"What were you doing until it got this bad!!"
Athena, uncharacteristically, shrieked at me in sharp anger.
"……"
But I couldn't give her any answer at all. The thought crossed my mind that collapsing from anemia and escaping this situation wouldn't be so bad. At least then I wouldn't have to hurt like this for a while…
As my head filled with negative thoughts, Athena pulled me into a tight embrace.
"Never do something like this again."
Even now, Athena was worrying about me. I had even run away from my promise with her—and still she held me warmly. Tears welled up again, and I buried my face in her shoulder.
"Hic… hhkk… I-I'm sorry…"
She stroked my back gently, comforting me.
"What do you have to be sorry for, Hera."
"I-I tried to cook for you… but it tasted so bad… hic…"
"……"
The body holding me flinched. Through the skin pressed against mine, I felt her growing cold. Sensing the shift in the air, I carefully looked up at her.
"…Athena…?"
I saw a face twisted with deep rage. Her brows were furrowed, and from her mouth came the sound of grinding teeth. Was she angry at me? Her expression made my body tremble even harder.
"I-I'm sorry… Athena… please don't be mad…"
The reason I hadn't wanted to see her. Because I was afraid that if she saw me like this, she would leave. Terrified of being abandoned by Athena, I could only shrink endlessly before her fury.
But Athena only held me tighter.
"…It's not because of you."
Her words, meant to reassure me. Tears slid down my cheeks for no reason at all. I poured out my sorrow in her arms for a long while, until I finally managed to gather myself. Athena wiped every tear from my face with her own hands, then spoke.
"Hera. Have you eaten?"
I quietly shook my head. She gave me a soft smile and brought over a large dish she had left by the door.
"I haven't eaten either. Want to share this with me?"
"Th-this is…"
What she was holding was the chicken I had spent hours struggling to make.
"Th-this… no! This tastes terrible… rather—"
But she ignored me and took a huge bite of a piece.
Ah… no…
My cooking—the cooking everyone had said tasted awful. I didn't want Athena to eat that. I had assumed the head chef would have thrown it away. So why was this food in her hands?
I couldn't bear to look at her face, so I kept my head down and mumbled.
"It… it won't taste good…"
I was afraid to hear her answer. But the words that left her mouth were—
"It's delicious."
"…Huh?"
"Of every food I've ever tasted, this is the best."
Delicious…? That couldn't be. Everyone in the kitchen had said it was bad. Even the head chef, with all his skill, had given it a harsh review. What Athena said must simply have been to comfort me.
"…You don't have to lie…"
But she looked at me with a completely serious expression.
"Hera. It's not a lie. It really is delicious."
Saying so, she took another piece and put it in her mouth.
"…Huh?"
"You eat too. Didn't I say we were going to eat together?"
Athena cut a piece of chicken into a bite-sized portion and held it out to my mouth. When I carefully parted my lips, a spicy seasoning bloomed across my tongue—exactly the taste of the seasoned fried chicken I used to enjoy back in Korea.
"It… it really tastes good…?"
"Mm. It's food I'd want to eat every day."
"……"
As if it truly were delicious, she kept eating the chicken without pause. I watched Athena like that for a long time.
……Thank goodness.
I thought to myself. That Athena liked it. That what I had done hadn't been a complete waste… Looking at her eating so happily, an emotion I couldn't name began to rise. It felt as if the warm heat coming off her was being passed to me.
Thump— thump—
My heart began to beat a little harder. A great swell of emotion filled my chest to bursting. I was grateful. So profoundly grateful to her. She always came to me and comforted me even though I was this inadequate—and I was so thankful that I wanted to do something, anything, for her. Something she would like.
If I… kissed her… would she like that…?
Until now I had only ever been on the receiving end, but right now I wanted to be the one to give first. Slowly looking at her face, I saw her lips painted with the red seasoning I had made. I carefully pushed the dish aside and leaned toward her.
"…Hera?"
She looked at me with a faintly startled expression—and I dove for her mouth.
—Chup.
A light kiss. The first kiss I had ever offered her myself. Athena blinked at me, clearly surprised.
Chup— chup—
Like a bird tapping its beak, I kept lightly pressing my lips to hers. As the repeated kisses transferred the seasoning from her mouth onto mine, I swept my tongue once across my lips and licked it all away.
Athena, who had been staring blankly at me, lit up with fire in her eyes and lunged. She seized both my shoulders hard enough to hurt.
"Ow!"
As if holding something back, she looked at me while breathing roughly.
"Wh-why… why are you looking at me like that…"
Her ragged breath and burning eyes almost looked angry. Huh? Why was she angry? Had the kiss upset her…?
"Hera… what do you think you're doing?"
"Uh… eh?"
Her voice was low and quiet, a growl. Her threatening tone set my mind racing, searching for anything that might have made her angry. Slowly replaying what I had just done to her, I found the reason at once.
Ah. Of course. It was such a simple reason. It was stranger that I hadn't noticed sooner.
……I'm so selfish.
I hadn't been considerate enough. From her perspective, it was more than enough to be angry about. I looked at her and gave a little smile—then pressed one last soft kiss to her lips.
Chup—
"Sorry… Athena."
"Hera… you…"
"…You can eat."
"…What?"
"Don't hold back… you can eat."
At my words, something in her eyes snapped. She began to approach me slowly, panting hard—haah, haah.
"Hera. Hera. Hera. Hera. Hera. Hera."
As she charged at me like a beast that had lost all reason, I—
"Here. Say aah~"
—picked up a piece of chicken thickly coated in seasoning and held it out to her.
Flinch—
At my words, her body froze as if it had locked up for an instant. She looked at me with a faintly uneasy expression, then carefully spoke.
"……What is this…?"
"Chicken. You got mad because I put it away, right?"
Honestly, Athena. If it was that good, you should have just said so. As expected, the power of Chicken-nim was something else.