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Volume 2, Chapter 17: The risotto was bittersweet.

The light began to filter into the room from the crack in the curtain. It was early morning. Risa opened her eyes, but she didn’t move from her bed.

… What am I doing…

A few days ago, Risa collapsed from overwork, lack of sleep, and stress. She was assaulted by an intense wave of self-hate.

Whether it was the culinary department, marriage talks with the crown prince, or all the attention she received from that, it felt as if new troubles would arise even before she solved the previous one. There seemed like a never ending supply of new troubles to face.

Her thoughts ran wild until late at night, and she couldn’t find much of an appetite to eat anything. Even during the day, she simply spaced out, lost in her thoughts.

In the end, she fainted in the middle of the market for all the world to see.

… I wonder if Zeke and Helena are okay…

She felt another wave of guilt coming as she thought about the two people most affected by her collapse. The café had only just managed to stay afloat with all three of them. It would be incredibly difficult to keep it running smoothly with just two people.

When Zeke came to visit, he said Angelica had come by to help, but it must have been difficult even with her.

Alone with her spiraling thoughts, Risa decided it was about time to get up and slowly propped herself up.

Just then, Basil, who she hadn’t seen in a few days, suddenly appeared and dived into her chest.

“Master!”

“Hm, Basil? Where have you been?”

“I went to find something to help Master feel better! I got Mister Zeke to help and he’ll bring it over soon!”

Basil stood on top of Risa’s open palm, gesturing wildly and trying her best to explain. Risa didn’t really understand, but she kind of understood the gist of it.

“Is Zeke coming today?”

“Yes, he said he’ll come first thing in the morning!”

“What?! First thing in the morning?!”

That meant he could be coming any moment now. Risa jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to clean herself up.

After a while, Mary came to tell Risa in a faltering voice that she had a guest. Risa asked her to let him in and sat on the sofa to wait. Shortly after, there was a knock on the door. Risa opened it to see Zeke standing at the other side.

“Come in.”

Zeke gave a slight bow to Mary, who led him here, and entered the room. Risa had been on the bed the other day, but today they sat across each other on the sofa.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m slowly getting better.”

“I see.”

Zeke sighed in relief and slowly took out something from his hemp bag. It was a lidded tupperware with a bit of depth to it.

“I’m guessing that’s what Basil, ah… My spirit asked you to make?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, Master.”

Risa looked at the tupperware, then at Zeke, then at Basil. They both nodded, so she opened the lid.

“This is… Risotto?”

“Yes.”

“Rubell would make Master feel better, so I went and got a few leaves in the forest. Then I brought it to Mister Zeke, who made the food!”

So that was why they had disappeared for the past few days, Risa thought. They went to the forest themselves to get the plant.

“You two made this just for me…”

She took the spoon Zeke offered her and, urged by both of them, took a bite.

It had cooled a bit from the trip here, but it was still warm. First came the cheese, then a light bitterness, followed by the flavor of milk. The risotto’s smooth texture was combined with the interesting crunch of nuts. She slowly swallowed the bite.

“It’s a little bitter but it’s delicious. Thank you, both of you.”

She said, smiling, and the two of them visibly relaxed in relief.

Risa suddenly found all of her appetite, and the serving of risotto that was a bit much for one person quickly disappeared into her belly. Risa sighed in satisfaction and her eyes met Zeke’s, who had quietly watched her eat.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I lost myself in the food.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Risa realized she had not even made tea for Zeke, a guest, and she quickly made it now. She returned to her seat across from him. Basil must have been exhausted from their round trip to forage rubell, as they lay down on Risa’s lap and was quietly snoring.

“It must have been really troublesome for you. I’m sorry, Zeke.”

“I was worried about you, Miss Risa, but I was never troubled.”

“But wasn’t it really hard to keep the café running?”

“On the contrary, I asked Head Chef McKinnies to lend me one of the royal chefs.”

“Eh, really?!”

“Yes. Mister Keith has been coming since yesterday.”

“Keith…”

It was a surprise to hear that the two who would start fighting as soon as they saw each other had worked for at least a day in the café kitchen, side by side.

“But it didn’t go smoothly at all for me… Yesterday, only one of the lunch sets was leftover, and overwhelmingly so. When he saw the menu I made, Mister Keith had foreseen that would happen, but I never noticed until he told me…”

Unlike before, he was accepting Keith’s constructive criticism honestly, reflecting deeply on his mistakes.

“I thought I had grown in my own way under your tutelage. I really believed I could protect the café and keep it running when I visited you a few days ago… But I was too arrogant. Compared to Mister Keith, I have too little experience, and I miss so many little details… I wanted to at least be someone you could rely on during work even if I’m younger than you.”

Zeke revealed his thoughts, surprisingly eloquent considering his lack of words on a daily basis. There was a twist in Risa’s chest as Zeke laughed at himself, and she confessed her thoughts as well.

“I’m sure you already know, given the commotion about it, but there are talks of marriage between His Highness Edgar and I. While I’m still confused about why they would pick me, if I marry His Highness, I thought I would be set free from various things. The culinary department was heavy on my shoulders, and I had to hire new employees, too… I was worried whether I could continue the café the way things were going.”

She said, and looked at Zeke across from her to see his surprised face.

“I never really told you about this, but there are two reasons why I opened the café. One, to spread the recipes for the delicious food I know of, and two, to eat the new food that other people have invented. Once you start making your own food, you can pretty much predict what the flavor will be, so I’m never moved by my flavors. Of course, I do love to cook, but I haven’t had other people’s food ever since I got here, so I think I was getting tired of my own food… Above all else, the pressure of the customers’ expectations was so great, I felt like I couldn’t move… Like I said when we talked about the culinary department, I’m really just a Nobody, not a Somebody.”

The more she talked about it, the more she was caught up in her emotions, and her eyes grew glassy with tears. Unable to face Zeke, she covered her face with both hands.

“… Sorry to pile all of this on you… Seriously, just who do I think I am? The customers even pay me for the food… they all say it’s so tasty, and they eat it so happily…”

Despite being the one to want to open a café, her resolve was half-baked if it even existed in many areas, even beyond the café to her troubles with the culinary department and His Highness Edgar. She kept all of them as possible choices, but in the end she couldn’t pick any of them.

While she talked, she realized how uncomfortable Zeke must be to hear all of this. She sighed and looked up to see Zeke watching her with a serious face.

“Miss Risa, what about me? Am I no good? I know I’m still an amateur and I lack so much in skill. But I’d like to become someone who would satisfy your wants and needs, as a chef and as a man… No, I will become that person. So please, pick me, not His Highness Edgar.”

Zeke said as he leaned forward towards Risa. Risa was astonished by his extremely rare passion.

Once he finished speaking, though, Zeke widened his eyes in surprise as well and his cheeks turned pink. He quickly mumbled, “Anyways I have to do food prep at the café,” and left the room and the stiffened Risa.

After a while, Risa finally processed his words and immediately flushed a bright red.

… W-w-w-what, do I do, I… was I just confessed to?!

Twenty-three year old Risa thought, all flustered like a young girl in puberty. She was so caught up in her thoughts, she failed to notice that her spirit, Basil, rolled off her lap where they had been sleeping soundly.