Two Guests - 2 -
After so long, the dining table was finally doing its job. It had been gathering dust since Yuria's visit, but now it was back in action. From the kitchen where I was cooking, I glanced at the people seated around it. The young lady with her sullen expression. Hanna, the empire's youngest aura user. And Malik, the eldest son of the Histania family... the godfather of the food industry. These famous figures from across the empire were sitting at our humble table, sipping hot black tea.
Hanna, savoring the aroma of the tea, gave me a small smile.
"Not green tea this time?"
"I figured you were coming, Hanna, so I splurged a bit."
She smiled at my cheeky remark.
"Oh yeah? I was planning to surprise you."
It must've been a joke to her taste. Hanna eyed her teacup closely. With a subtle smile, she fiddled with the handle and muttered to herself.
"The green tea... was tasty, though."
Seizing the moment, I rummaged through the cupboard for the cheap green tea tin we'd stashed away. The young lady and I had tried our best to finish it off, but we'd failed. After tasting the artisanal black tea, it had been neglected. This was my chance to offload it.
I held up the metal tin to Hanna.
"Want some?"
The young lady, spotting my ulterior motive to dump leftovers, chimed in.
"Ricardo, dumping leftovers is bad."
"Leftovers? I'm just serving tea to suit your tastes."
"...That's dumping leftovers."
She had no tact. Hanna awkwardly shook her head, saying it was fine, but I pushed her to take it home. Thanks to the young lady's guilty conscience intervention, I failed again. I turned to her with feigned outrage.
"Fine, then tomorrow's snack will be green tea and biscuits."
"...Dumping leftovers is bad."
"It's okay. Sometimes the homeowner has to handle the leftovers."
"Then..."
The young lady looked at Hanna, eyes pleading for salvation.
"You eat it."
She shoved the green tea toward Hanna, who refused. She claimed my green tea was delicious. With a pang of regret, I put the tin back in the cupboard.
Dinner was ready quickly. Tonight's menu: tteokbokki. A modest dish to serve guests, but Hanna had brought armloads of gifts and begged for it, so I had no choice. She wanted it, and it was on the menu anyway.
Still, showing off a new recipe in front of a culinary master made me nervous. Malik had been watching me cook with his arms crossed. His stare reminded me of those cooking show judges from my past life—like he might say any second, "Chef, come down here for a sec."
I couldn't focus.
"Hm... not bad."
Malik gave a curt review as I handled the ingredients skillfully. Was this praise, or should I tell the guest to sit quietly and stop judging? I couldn't decide.
Malik watched the dish come together with interest.
"What are you making?"
"Oh, first time for you, Malik?"
He nodded. In this mansion, only the young lady and Hanna had tried tteokbokki. Come to think of it, Malik had never had it. I needed to explain.
As I was about to give him a rundown, Hanna's sharp voice cut in from her seat.
"Just shut up and eat."
"...Right."
Malik deflated in front of her. Last time I'd seen them, he was itching to devour her whole. Something had clearly changed. Had my advice helped? They looked closer now—like proper siblings, bickering away.
"What are you doing in someone else's house?"
"It's occupational habit..."
"Occupation? Aren't you a knight, bro?"
"Y-yeah...! Imperial knight."
"Then act like one and sit still."
Or maybe not. He seemed like a workaholic boss... Anyway, they looked good together. That was a relief.
My only worry was the young lady and Malik. She'd been glaring at him with her arms crossed since he arrived. Uninvited guest souring her mood. Their first meeting was off to a rocky start.
-Who are you?
-...You?
-Yeah. You.
-Then who are you?
-I'm the homeowner here.
-Ah... You're the infamous villainess Olivia?
-...Wanna fight?
The young lady glared at Malik. Malik glared back. Tense duo all around.
When their fierce gazes crossed, Hanna jabbed Malik hard in the side.
"...Don't push it."
Hanna had become Malik's personal bully. She seemed different overall—gone was the insecure girl plagued by swordsmanship doubts. Now she carried herself with confident poise. It suited her.
Once the tteokbokki was done, I slipped on my oven mitts. The young lady noticed.
"Ricardo, that hurts your hand. Malik, bring it."
Malik shot her a glare, but Hanna's firm jab sent him trudging to the kitchen.
The pot emptied fast. Malik, eyes wide with curiosity, abandoned noble etiquette and devoured his plate. Hanna sweated buckets, mumbling "This is the stuff...!" as she cleared hers just as quick.
"My dinner..."
The young lady stared despairingly at the empty pot with her fork, pouting "Ah... nooo..."
Maybe because they were both swordsmen, they had a freakish talent for eating. Watching them chow down like mukbang stars from my past life put me in a great mood—even if the young lady's face soured.
"At least leave some, you pigs...!"
"..."
"..."
"Don't ignore me!"
As the pot scraped bottom, I decided to interrupt their feast—carefully. The question I'd skipped earlier amid the chaos: Why are you here?
Now that things had settled, it was time.
"So, what brings you to our humble mansion?"
Didn't seem like a social call or just for dinner. I singled out Malik.
I had a hunch.
"Coming with all these gifts suggests there's more to it. Right, Malik?"
Malik flinched mid-stab of a rice cake, then shook his head lightly, wiped his mouth, and answered.
"Not here about grasshoppers... or Pascal like last time. Just came to say thanks."
As expected. Probably for the potion I sent. Sword to Hanna, potion to Malik. Gratitude visit.
I played dumb. Pretending ignorance is humble, right? Bonus: snag some Forest Friend vouchers and pocket money.
I looked at him innocently.
"Thanks?"
Malik saw through me and chuckled dryly.
"Yeah. Thanks... but showing beats telling."
He set down his fork, clenched his fist. A faint brownish haze shimmered—small, weak, but unmistakably aura.
Malik flashed a suave smile, eyes provocative—like impressed? I wasn't into guys' smiles; wanted to punch it. But he's the investor. Gotta hold back. As head of household, I unclenched my fist.
Malik said, looking like ten years of phlegm had finally cleared.
"Thanks to your potion gift, I broke my limits."
Hiding my glee, I shook my head.
"Nah... what'd I do? All your hard work, Malik."
He nodded without hesitation.
"True enough. No talent like yours."
On one hand, he was right. If potions awakened aura, every rich noble would be flying around with it. The previous youngest user before Hanna was a commoner—doping couldn't bridge that gap. Malik knew it, so he ditched humility and owned it.
Still annoying as hell.
Malik smirked smugly.
"Got enlightenment after that day."
"Enlightenment from my superior swordsmanship?"
"No humility at all?"
"...Ain't it true?"
He tsked, face twisting, then continued.
"Anyway, after that fight, I realized my shortcomings. Got trapped in elitism, ignored everyone around me."
Malik reached for Hanna's hand—familial affection bubbling. She scowled and smacked it away.
"What? Gross."
Peak sibling energy.
Malik spilled everything. Apologized to Hanna. Got beaten half to death at the academy. Begged her forgiveness, took scabbard hits, aura blasts, public dog-beating. Bragged like it was a badge.
Looked insane. The young lady agreed.
"Psycho."
Same review as mine. Anyway, he claimed enlightenment from it all. That's how he awakened aura. Hanna came to thank us for the named sword.
Summarizing, Malik pointed to the gift pile by the table. Dolls. Flowers. Accessories. And...
"Hiet...?"
Forest Friend vouchers—the young lady's favorite. Her eyes went wide at the ones in his hand.
"Ricardo, vouchers. Ten of them!"
Brightest smile I'd seen all day. I leaned in and whispered.
"He's the owner."
"Owner?"
"Yeah... Forest Friend."
She shot me a why didn't you say sooner? look. Stared at Malik, then me, face screaming this can't be real? I nodded confirmation.
She whispered back.
"Family full of sword idiots?"
"Yep."
"Dumbasses who only know swords?"
I nodded.
"So he's the rich guy you mentioned? The big donor?"
"Yep."
"...Did I screw up?"
Speechless, she awkwardly extended a hand to Malik.
"Uh... nice to meet you."
He replied coldly.
"Too late."
World crushed.
*
As time grew late, the Histania siblings decided to stay over. The young lady's bid for Malik's favor, plus my nudge, sealed the sleepover. Hanna went to the young lady's room with her. Malik and I sat in the dining room, sipping tea.
"Whew..."
Malik cooled his tea and thanked me for dinner.
"Great meal. First time trying it—delicious."
"Glad you enjoyed it."
Silence fell. Then, serious-faced:
"So, about that tteokbokki... thinking of adding it to our menu."
I swallowed hard.
"Pardon?"
He pitched: recipe compensation, partnership, surefire hit. Generous 3:7 split. Conquer the continent's food scene together. I eyed his misplaced ambition.
"Malik."
"Don't like it? Fine, 6:4 max."
Guy had insane business talent over swordplay. Sure, he was solid with a blade... but food was his domain.
"Wasn't your dream knight commander?"
He clamped his mouth shut.
Business talk wrapped, he pulled a paper from his pocket.
"Recipe for 3:7. I handle ops, you develop. Cool?"
"Yeah. You take the hassle."
"Annoying bastard. Anyway, onto this—you're dying to know."
Malik spread the paper on the table. Blueprint unfurled: chair with massive wheels on both sides.
"Read your letter. Handwriting was atrocious, but got an ancient language expert. Horrific script, though. Anyway, the drawing? Genius invention."
Head tilted, question mark floating:
"What's this chair called?"
I told him.
"Wheelchair."