Chapter 301
Chapter 301
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Lovers' Homemade Feast
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Is it because I properly told everyone to be comfortable?
My lovers started approaching me much closer than before.
They usually came close anyway, but the things they did once close had become much more varied now, I suppose?
"Camellia, what are you going to do today?"
"What does Ivana want to do? If you're hanging off my back like this, surely there's something you want, right?"
"Hmm."
Right now, for some reason, Ivana was giving me a back hug.
It suited the description of just hanging off my back far more than the intimate term back hug.
But it amounted to the same thing.
"I just want to stay like this."
"Hehe, but aren't you thinking something naughty in your head again? Like asking me to spank your butt like last time?"
"Th-that... That's something we only do at night.... Not now."
"Oh my, does that mean you want me to spank you tonight?"
"I never... said that, but if it's what Camellia wants...."
"Puhh...."
She still had some shy parts left, but I was satisfied just with how much better she'd gotten compared to before.
It wasn't just Ivana; the other lovers were showing more proactive sides than before too.
"Ivana. But how long are you going to hug me from behind? I prefer facing you properly over this."
"It's embarrassing. Just a bit longer like this."
"You've already been hanging off my back for ten minutes."
"...It's fine. It's just the two of us right now."
She was right.
The room that should have been much noisier was currently just me and Ivana alone.
The reason was nothing special.
"They all suddenly said they'd make food for me, so.... Ivana, don't you want to cook?"
"I've never done it before."
"As expected of a duke's daughter. Well... three of the ones who went to cook are from count families."
But a duke's daughter still outranks counts, right?
And in Ivana's case, since she'd been groomed from childhood to become the head of the Nordal family, she'd probably never done such things even more.
She must have been too busy to even consider cooking as a hobby.
"This should be fun, right?"
"Probably Lize will be the best."
"Lize is a proper maid, after all. She knows how to do all sorts of things, including cooking. Could be."
I agreed with Ivana.
But I also expected a fierce competition in their own ways.
I wasn't sure if it was really a competition, but Rozalin could make me snacks sometimes, right?
Ladies often learned cooking as a refinement.
Of course, I never did.
"But Camellia, the teacher... how long is she going to sleep?"
While chatting with Ivana, the topic turned to Ashley, who was comfortably lying on the sofa by the window.
"Ah. She pretty much only sleeps during the day. Think of her as sleeping almost the entire time after breakfast, and it's easier."
"...Won't her back hurt if she sleeps that much?"
"Hmm.... No idea. Just think of her like a cat. You see cats sleeping all day, but their bodies are amazingly flexible, right? That kind of feel?"
"Hmm...."
Honestly, it was hard to explain Ashley's sleep patterns accurately.
She probably slept 14 or 15 hours a day... It was easier to just not try understanding it.
*
"Everyone's cooking way better than I thought... I'm glad no one got any serious cuts on their hands. I was a bit worried."
"Hehe! This much is easy!"
"...Especially Grace was pretty unexpected."
"Hah!?"
"Hmm...."
I'd told Ivana everyone would do fine, but it was a relief no one had sliced their finger while cooking.
I couldn't see the food yet, but it seemed they'd done decently.
I'd eaten Lize's and Rozalin's before, but not the others'.
I'd half-expected them to mess up a bit despite their bold words.
Especially Grace—I'd thought that about her more.
"Hmm.... I'm really surprised. Everyone did so well."
The dishes on the table were covered with lids, and they stood behind them.
It felt like I was a judge in a cooking contest.
With Ivana sitting beside me, it felt even more so.
"Hmm.... Could you introduce them one by one? Mother's on the far right, so start with her and go left."
"Shall we?"
It had started as everyone just wanting to cook, but somehow turned into a cooking contest.
Not just me—everyone was caught up in the atmosphere.
The way they nodded and stepped forward a bit to introduce.
The way Lize served portions onto our small plates from where Ivana and I sat.
It was sudden, but fun in its own way.
"Hmm.... I didn't prepare anything amazing. I never properly learned cooking to begin with—just some tricks I picked up as a kid to fill my stomach in secret, something like that."
"It's fine. We're just eating tasty food together and having fun, right? Even if it doesn't taste good, that just becomes part of the fun."
"Hehe, still, I hope you enjoy it."
What Lize placed on our small plates was familiar to me.
Something I'd eaten with Rozalin late at night chatting when I was very young.
As Rozalin said, it wasn't anything impressive.
Just....
"Pizza toast. It's been a while."
"Yeah, super long time. Mother hasn't cooked personally in ages, so even more so."
"Hehe, didn't you think the only thing I could make was stuff like this, Camellia?"
"Kind of."
To me, it was a food full of memories, something like that.
Truly familiar and welcoming.
"It might be much plainer compared to the others, but eat up. Ivana too—just enjoy it as a snack."
"Puhuhu, I love stuff like this plenty?"
"I'll dig in."
Hearing Rozalin's words, we started eating the neatly sliced pizza toast.
The full toasts on the other table were decently sized, but Lize had cut them to an easy bite-size, so we finished each in about three bites.
Rozalin's familiar cooking was delicious as always.
I'd never thought it tasted bad as a kid, and she was quietly good at cooking.
She said she hadn't learned, but if she studied properly... she'd probably make more than just pizza soon?
"Puhuhu, delicious. If I had to score it, 100 out of 10?"
"...Isn't that a bit too much?"
"Hehe, kidding. Scoring was a joke to begin with. We'll all eat together later anyway, right?"
"True, but as the ones eating first, I thought I should give Rozalin sister some feedback."
"Puhuhu, it's fine. Ivana, just sit quietly and enjoy the food?"
"Yes."
By the way, Ivana was surprisingly adorable when eating.
Her appearance might seem cold to others, but when eating, she took tiny bites or opened her mouth just a little.
Because of that, when eating together, she sometimes took longer than others.
"Next up... Older Sister Karen?"
"Y-yes! I-I prepared... something too...!"
"I'm looking forward to what sister made. Lize?"
"Yes, Young Lady."
With the help of emcee Lize, Karen's dish appeared on our small plates again.
This one was familiar too, so my lips curved up.
Had they all unified on a theme of nostalgic foods today?
"Spicy pasta?"
"...Sniff."
"Yes...! I-I sometimes made pasta... with Grace.... So, th-that... was the first thing I ate... with Camellia back then...."
"Puhuhu...."
To think she'd remember even this.
Hearing Karen's dish and explanation, her stammering earnestness started feeling even more lovable.
"I-I'm not great with spicy... but Camellia likes it, right...? So, hehe...."
"Yeah, I love it."
"Hehe...."
"You even grilled steak to my taste and added it? Wasn't too hard?"
"Ah, that steak was from what Grace grilled, I took a bit...."
"Sister...! You have to say you did it alone...!"
"Ah, oops...."
"Puhuhu...."
It probably wouldn't have fit time-wise to grill meat too.
Much easier to cube some of Grace's grilled meat.
It wasn't a real contest anyway, so their sisterly closeness just felt great.
Plus, I love meat quite a bit.
"Oh...."
"Tasty?"
"Yeah, nicely spicy. Similar heat to northern food, so I like it."
"Hehe, the north does use spicy seasonings in food often."
"Karen senior, you're way better at cooking than I thought."
"R-really...? Hehe...."
"Puhuhu...."
Thanks to Karen, we learned Grace's dish was steak.
Now left were Ella and Lize—what had they prepared?
Not sure, but Lize often made me sandwiches, so maybe that... Ella was hard to guess.
"Lize, next dish."
"Yes, Young Lady."
Well... everyone was smiling anyway.
Just seeing that made me happy too.