Translator: Vee

Editor: Rus

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“Hello.”

I was about to go out with a sickle in one hand and my head covered with cloth for sun protection, when I unexpectedly met Iyuri-san. 

Once again, his ferocious face could make a child cry. He actually had such a powerful aura just by standing there. Was it because he was taller than me by one head?

Or was it one and half heads? It probably made a big difference. I’m so jealous.

Solvay-san, who accompanied me to the entrance, saw Iyuri-san and said ‘Yo’ again; his face turned pale.

Yo‘? Did he have a stomach ache again?1

When he came back after Iyuri-san went home the other day, he looked fine besides the slightly worse pallor of his face.

But when I asked him about Iyuri-san, he only replied with, “I do not know anything about such trivial things,” as if to say I shouldn’t ask anything more.

Hmm. Somehow, he looked like he knew Iyuri-san when he saw him. Was I wrong?

Maybe he mistook Iyuri-san for someone else?

But every time he saw Iyuri-san, he would start acting weird, even though I won’t force him to answer if he says he doesn’t know anything.

I watched the suspicious Solvay-san from the corner of my eye as I greeted Iyuri-san.

“Hello!”

Iyuri-san looked at me from the top of my head to the very tips of my toes and softly smiled, breaking away from his iron mask.

So he can freely put it on and take it off (iron mask)? Can’t you just put it away for good? Isn’t it so troublesome? 

“Are you going out?” he asked.

“Yeah. I thought I’d go pick a cabbage. Because you told me it’s okay to pick vegetables from the garden, I decided to get some cabbages. I even patiently waited for them to ripen before cooking them.”

I smiled happily, and Iyuri-san said, “Is that so? In that case, I will accompany you.”

The day after I made Kufa, I received a letter from Iyuri-san saying I could eat both vegetables and fruits from the garden as much as I wanted.

Moreover, if I were to cook, he would help me arrange the ingredients. What a generous person! So lucky!

But it would be too much if I cooked three meals with snacks in between just for myself – and when I thought that, I came up with a good idea.

I will make a meal for Iyuri-san!

Because he said he was very busy with his work, he most probably can’t eat regularly. 

When Iyuri-san took the opportunity to come visit me during his break, I made up my mind, and asked him for permission. Suddenly, his iron mask fell away, and light started glowing from behind his back.

At that time, I swear, Iyuri-san looked just like the incarnation of God. Was he that happy?

And so, as long as I was free, I’d make some snacks for Iyuri-san in the kitchen. Who could have thought I would come to the Inner Palace to cook?

Come to think of it, I imagined the Inner Palace to be a den full of terrible people, but in the end, it seems that my stay will end without anything happening. 

Isn’t that good?

“What about your work? Is it okay?” I asked.

“I am on break. But what kind of dish are you making with cabbage?

“I’ll finely chop the hollow cabbage, coarsely chop the three-leaf-arrowhead, and mix it well with minced pork. After that, I will let it simmer in cream soup. Then, the pickled root vegetables will… By the way, is there anything you don’t like?”

I forgot to ask the most important question.

Iyuri-san thought for a bit, opened his mouth, and then felt silent.

Hmm? What? Is there something or not…? Which one is it?

I wondered. Then as if bracing himself, he spoke with a small voice and an embarrassed look. 

“… I am… a bit bad… with carrots.”

“Carrots? You are bad with carrots? So you don’t like them?”

I pressed him, and his eyes started wandering.

“I can eat them, but… that – it is not… to my taste.”

Hoo.

The corners of my lip rose. He was unexpectedly picky, just like a kid.

But even adults have something they hate.

Iyuri-san, as if bothered by my amusement, waved his hands in panic. 

“Umm, it’s not that I absolutely cannot eat them. It’s only the big pieces that bother me… but you do not have to accommodate me. I am really sorry for saying such a childish thing.”

“No, you don’t need to apologise. All right! Even if I happen to use them, I’ll cut them thinly, so you don’t need to worry.” I reassured him.

But, just for a bit – no, I don’t really want to bully him, but how should I put it – I want to test him.

I really wanted to see his face if I were to serve a dish just from carrots.

Or should I try to feed him carrots from the garden?

Having no idea of my schemes, Iyuri-san squinted his eyes.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

I smiled.

“I’ll use one cabbage head, so if there are leftovers, just share it with your colleagues. The root vegetables have also been pickled since yesterday, so it should taste very delicious. I hope you will like it,” I said.

We chatted while walking, and soon arrived at the field. But Iyuri-san looked really out of place! Was it because of his uniform?

He looked like he belonged to some other place, not a field. Even if he dressed like me, he would still look out of place.

I harvested the big cabbage with a smile. It felt quite heavy.

As expected, it was ripe. Then, I also needed onions.

They were right beside Iyuri-san’s feet, so I told him, “Pull out the one you like.”

“Pull out?” Iyuri-san repeated. He probably hated just the thought of touching dirt as he rolled up his sleeves with a nervous face of a soldier prepared to go to the front lines. Was he planning on going to a battlefield with an onion instead of a sword? 

I imitated the action of pulling out the onion.

“Grab its roots and pull it out, like this.”

“… Grab its roots… and pull it out.”

He started pulling it out slowly while repeating my words nervously. It was just pulling out an onion.

You don’t need to be so cautious. Just pull it out, normally.

“And then?” he asked.

“Ah–… also, let’s see~… the carrots over there as well,” I said.

Just a little whim. It’s not like I’m bullying him, or something.

But Iyuri-san only said without changing his expression, “… okay.” 

Although the pause was a bit long.

This time, he pulled it out smoothly, and then asked, “Is that all?”

“Ah, would you kindly taste it for me? The onions are perhaps a bit too bitter, but you can eat cabbages and carrots just like this. Freshly picked vegetables are the most delicious~.”

I took the carrot to the nearby well to wash it and gave it to him. I’ve said it many times, but once again, I’m not bullying him, okay?2

“I just remembered, but you don’t like carrots right? Sorry, will you not eat it?”

“… I will.”

Iyuri-san took the carrot with a blank face, and then sluggishly put it in his mouth.

Oh, he’s eating it?

His mouth moved a little, and then he chewed extremely slowly. He’s eating?

But there were no crunchy sounds.

I nimbly stretched my back to peek at his mouth, only to see him nibbling the carrot like a small animal. The only traces of it being eaten was the slightly shaved off skin of the carrot.

So little! This way of eating – rather than being bad with carrots, he looked more like he hated them.

Fu – ha!!! In the end, the things you hate will remain the things you hate. I’m sorry. Here, eat this to remove the bad taste in your mouth.” 

I plucked and handed him the cabbage leaf while desperately trying to hold back my laughter.

“No, I do not hate it…” While Iyuri-san mumbled this, he still ended up munching on the cabbage leaf. 

Compared to the carrot from before, his mouth moved much faster. Bu ha ha!

“I showed you something unsightly… Do you need to harvest anything else?”

Fufuhic… No, thank you. That’s all.” I said.

He nodded, took the cabbage I was holding and embraced it with one arm, carrying the onion and the half-way eaten carrot in his other hand as he started walking.

Somehow, he looked so surreal! It didn’t suit him! So funny!

We returned to the room as I tried to suppress my laughter so that the person in question wouldn’t notice; Solvay-san had the tea already prepared.

And then Iyuri-san immediately went out as if to run away. I decided not to press him anymore.

“Do you have time? Drink some tea. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

But Iyuri-san only took out his pocket watch to check the time, and said,

“No, I am really sorry, but it is about the time I must return.” 

“Is that so? Sorry, your precious rest time… was wasted like this. Ah, have you eaten?

Please wait for a moment.” I said and ran to the kitchen without waiting for his reply. I quickly returned after wrapping the dried fruit cake I baked yesterday in paper.

“It’s a cake made with dried fruits soaked in liquor. Please try it later. Because even though it was baked yesterday, it’s far more juicier and tastier today.” 

I grabbed his big hand and put the cake in his palm. In doing so, his massive hands caught my attention.

I unconsciously grabbed his other free hand and ended up staring at it. Iyuri-san gasped in surprise, but I didn’t notice.

They were even bigger than my father’s hands. My father was taller than me, but his build was slender, and if I were to describe his hands, they were thinner and more bony.

Iyuri-san had big and thick hands, with shallow marks and bumpy calluses on them. He looked like he was trained to fight even though he was a civil official. 

Wouldn’t his hands completely envelop mine? I rubbed his palm while taking a long, hard look at it. Unexpectedly, his body temperature was high.

“Ah, that’s right, this time…”

I was about to speak more when I raised my eyes to look at his face, and my eyes widened as soon as I saw him. His face was abnormally red, and he was frozen like a statue.

What happened!? There is even some sweat on his forehead!


  1. Translator’s Note: In the previous chapters Solvay stuttered when he saw Iyuri-san. He wanted to say Your Majesty. In Japanese it would be ‘he’ (heika – Your Majesty in Japanese). But, in Japanese “he” also means fart. So when Solvay said “he he he”, what Ollie heard was “fart fart fart☠️”. ↩︎
  2. QC Note: It’s just a prank bro ↩︎
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