Sandra's ears perked up like a fluffy dog as she picked up Damien's words. She had been with him for several years, but this was the first time he had spoken so highly of her cooking that too in front of guests.
'I never thought he would openly express his like towards my cooking.'
She was not expecting this, and thus, she blushed out of embarrassment, and her pretty face turned red like cherries.
The scene of her master praising her played in her mind again and again like a movie on repeat.
The next moment, happiness overtook her embarrassment. She lowered her head, and a sweet smile blossomed on her face. Secretly, she was happy to gain his recognization. Her eyes curved up like a cat as she thought to herself, 'My efforts haven't gone to waste. I learned to cook for his sake, and it's finally paying off. I stand a chance to win his heart through his stomach.'
She raised her head and smiled at Damien sweetly. "Thank you for the praise, master. I will cook for you more in the future. If you like, I will happily prepare three meals for you daily."
'Isn't that something a wife would say to her husband? Could it be that she has feelings for him?' Julian was a bit weirded out by their interactions.
Damien nodded at her, "It's up to you from now on."
He wasn't a big eater. Now and then, he would occasionally prepare meals for himself and her. But now he was leaving it all to her.
'And why did he accept it so easily? Maybe their feelings are mutual? But the difference in their status is too vast. It will be hard for her to become his wife in this society. At best, she could only be his concubine.' Julian was certain that there was something spicy going on between them.
"I thought that I was handling ingredients that were different than usual when preparing these dishes. So this is why."
Meanwhile, Amelia and Delilah realized why it was so hard to cook the meat when they heard Damien's words.
Fire at a normal temperature was suitable for cooking normal animals, but a fire of an extremely high temperature was needed to cook the meat of aura beasts.
This fire was called magical fire, and it was divided into 12 levels.
Roy already knew that there was another level to it, and he also knew how to push his fire to that level.
The kitchen in Damien's mansion was magical in nature as many arrays were set up, and the temperature of the fire could be increased by feeding it with energy. Roy's two maids had used all their mana and aura, respectively, and exhausted themselves to the bone to increase the temperature of the fire just to prepare the steak.
Thankfully, their efforts bore fruits. It didn't turn out raw, and all the spices were mixed into it.
"It's worth it since we get to taste it."
They were happy that they were allowed to sit with their master and eat whatever they liked. They thought that only Roy treated his maids with kindness. Who knew his cousin would also be so similar to him in terms of character?
Delilah: "From where should we begin?"
Amelia: "Let's try out the steak first?"
"Okay."
They picked up big chunks of meat with a fork and pushed them into their mouths. A part of it melted the moment it entered their mouth. The smell of the forest, along with the scent of the various spices found in nature, instantly filled their mouth. This mixture wasn't remotely good. It was absolutely... amazing!
"Hm... Is this what heaven feels like?!"
Delilah let go of everything and slumped on her chair like a sloth, closing her eyes.
The onlookers would have thought that she was fast asleep if not for her slowly moving lips.
Slowly and steadily, she chewed it thoroughly, enjoying every bit of it.
"I never thought something could taste so good." Amelia was experiencing the same bliss as Delilah. "I can't even think of words to describe it!"
"It's really as good as they say," Tevenlor found the texture of the meat amazing and the flavors that burst into his mouth each time he chewed it mind-blowing.
"Is it really that delicious?" Julian hadn't eaten it. He wasn't a fan of meat, just like the Female Siren or vegetarians.
"Every time I take a bite of it, I feel fireworks going off in my mouth." Tevenlor and the maids gave him a head nod simultaneously.
Julian tried it out of curiosity. After that, he couldn't stop stuffing his face with the steak. He just couldn't get enough of it. He went as far as to think that even if this were the only thing he could have for a lifetime, he would be satisfied.
"You can taste it?" Meanwhile, Roy looked at the Armored Spirit in surprise.
Tevenlor gave him a head nod. "Master, although my body is that of a steel puppet, my soul is of a higher grade than most mortals. It doesn't matter that I lack the five senses. Using my soul, I can simply replicate them."
When the seven of them heard what he could do, they became curious about him.
He felt their gazes on him and decided to explain it a bit further so as to satisfy their curiosity, "I can use my fiery soul to absorb nutrients from food and get a taste of it without leaving behind any waste."
"So there's no difference between you and a normal person except for the fact that you look more ferocious than one." Julian's gaze was too intense for Uncle Tevenlor to handle. It felt like he wanted to dissect everything about him and see what really made him special.
Tevenlor was weirded out by his stare, but he didn't voice out his dissatisfaction as Julian was his master's friend.
"That's not entirely true. I am not as complex as humans. They are motivated by their desires and dominated by their emotions, and their mind changes too often in one lifetime. I am not the same. My desire is to follow my creator's wishes and serve the master he has chosen for me wholeheartedly, and my wrath doesn't get in my way. It benefits me."
There was a chance of a knight betraying his master. But there was no chance of Tevenlor backstabbing Roy.
Roy was sure that he won't, as he didn't forsake his creator when all odds were against him.
The person he was busy feeding suddenly didn't want to eat anymore.
"Feeling full?" Roy asked.
The Female Siren shook her head in refusal, "It's so good that I can always go for more, no matter how full I am. And it's now like I am."
"Then why aren't you eating?"
"Because I don't want to be the only one who gets to enjoy this and gets cared for. I want to feed you too."
"You want to what?" Roy blinked his eyes as if he had misheard something.
"Feed you." She said sincerely. "Won't you let me?"
It looked like she would be heartbroken if he refused.
"Be my guest."
So, Roy "reluctantly" agreed.
As a result, the onlookers witnessed a gorgeous wife attentively feeding her husband different things one mouthful at a time, and they felt like they were drunk on vinegar. They were all single dogs, another word for people who weren't in a relationship, and they felt jealous when they saw the two lovebirds chirping in front of them.
"Now that's a wonderful sight to behold." Damien chuckled, seeing them behave like that.
'Then why do I find it unsightly?' Julian looked away from the couple as he felt like crying. He has been single for too long. He also wanted to get into a relationship with a girl. He didn't know that what he was feeling at this moment was jealousy.
"Do you like it?"
The Female Siren asked after putting rice with meat in her husband's mouth.
"Mmm."
Roy could only hum in agreement as his mouth was full.
"Have a little bit of this too."
As she fed him, Roy underwent a massive change. As he was a soul herder and the properties of his body were different than others, what he ate broke down into energies of two different kinds.
One was used to stimulate his cells and fill each and every one with the energy necessary to use soul-herding abilities.
『Your Energy has increased to 10000 points.』
The other was ingrained in his body, strengthening his Lord-rank physiques with immense potential.
『You have consumed three rank-2, seven rank-3, and 13 rank-4 magical dishes.』
『Your Strength has increased to 350 points.』
『Your Agility has increased to 300 points.』
『Your Stamina has increased to 320 points.』
『Your Health has increased to 250 points.』
Roy blankly looked at the screens in front of him, and his jaw dropped.
