Chapter 55: At Your Age, How Can You Sleep So Easily?
"Mr. Armand, are you feeling okay?"
No one knew how much time had passed, maybe just a few minutes. Armand slowly lifted his head, and Evelia gently reached out to hold his chin.
He looked up at her, then lowered his gaze to the red mark on her chest. He touched his nose, then quietly pulled away from her hug.
‘Ah... I'm about to make a mistake.’
Armand couldn’t stop remembering how soft and warm that hug had felt. He managed to hold himself back, but in his mind, he was still imagining more.
"I'm okay... thank you."
He almost blurted out, ‘Thanks for the treat.’
"Then can Mr. Armand get a good night's sleep now?"
"……"
Armand looked away, hesitating. His ears were a bit red.
He had felt a rare moment of peace while being with her. Now, thinking about going back to being alone, he couldn't help but feel a little lonely.
But he didn’t say that. He just smiled and nodded.
"Much better, Eve."
"That’s good to hear, Mr. Armand."
After that, Evelia stood up and brought over his dinner. Maybe their hug hadn’t lasted too long, his food was still warm. She quietly stood beside him, watching as he finished the steak. Then he gave a strange look to the plate of "Special Maid’s Fried Potato Cakes."
Except for the name, Armand couldn’t see any sign of potatoes at all.
The thing on the plate was bright red from top to bottom. Armand couldn't see anything that looked like a potato. Was it just shaped like a potato cake?
"Mr. Armand, why aren’t you eating?"
Evelia’s voice sounded like a grim reaper urging him to hurry up and reach for the food.
She looked so excited, like she really wanted him to try it. Her eyes were sparkling so much it felt like they might blind him. He even felt like there were some strange sparkly effects bouncing off his face.
"…Alright."
Under Evelia’s eager eyes, Armand gathered up his courage and reached for one of the cakes.
"What is this…?"
He poked the red thing with his finger, and to his surprise, his finger sank right in. He even felt a weird pulling sensation, almost like a swamp was trying to swallow his finger.
"……"
Armand stared at the bright red lump with a weird expression. If someone took a quick glance without looking closely, they might think it was some kind of strange organ or piece of bloody meat. With the way it could suck his finger in, it honestly looked like some kind of blood-based monster.
When he pulled his finger back, weirdly enough, the cake still kept its shape. His finger was only coated with a thin layer of ketchup on the surface. None of the cake’s filling had come with it.
"Is this… a slime?"
Armand asked from the bottom of his heart.
This thing sucked you in when you touched it, but when you pulled away, there was no stickiness, just some sauce. If that wasn’t a slime, what was?
Except this slime looked… a little too bloody.
“It’s just a potato cake, Mr. Armand.”
Evelia sounded completely calm, like it was the most normal dish ever.
“Just a potato cake?”
It didn’t look easy to digest at all.
Armand even suspected Evelia had hugged him earlier just to lower his guard, and this “cake” might be hiding some sort of strange spell. If he ate it, who knows, maybe it would turn into a slime and stick to his stomach.
Even though Armand’s body carried poison that could probably kill anything he swallowed, he really didn’t want to get a stomachache.
“Come on, open your mouth—ahh—”
Seeing that Armand didn’t want to eat by himself, Evelia decided to feed him like she used to. She wiped her hands with a towel, then picked up the red cake. When she lifted it, it jiggled a little in the air, showing how stretchy and bouncy it was.
Even though Evelia held it right up to Armand’s face, it just looked impossible to eat. Never mind the taste, just looking at it made Armand feel like he might end up constipated for a whole week.
“Mr. Armand, do you not like the food I made? Are you disgusted by me?”
Evelia held up the potato patty, if it could still be called that, and asked Armand in a questioning tone.
She hadn’t meant it that way. In her mind, she thought she was giving him that pitiful, “sad girl asking gently” kind of look. But she had never learned how to properly control her expressions.
So, like always, she started with a frown. And then came the intense stare. With her face darkened, eyebrows furrowed, and eyes wide open, Armand couldn’t help but feel like if he didn’t open his mouth to eat that patty, Evelia would punch his front teeth out.
“Ah, n-no… it’s not that,” Armand swallowed nervously. “I… I’m not disgusted.”
“That’s good, Mr. Armand. Now, say ‘ah’—”
With no other choice, Armand opened his mouth and watched as Evelia fed him the potato patty.
Surprisingly, the taste was actually something a human could accept.
The tomato flavor wasn’t too strong. It had a mild sweetness and sourness to it, but nothing overwhelming. Compared to the kind of tomato sauce he had tried before, either way too sour or way too sweet, this one was unexpectedly balanced.
Armand wasn’t someone who liked tomato-flavored food to begin with, but maybe Evelia had trained his tongue. He couldn’t take anything too strong now, but this gentle tomato taste? He could eat that.
And shockingly it was actually a potato patty.
The thing that looked like a slime really did taste like mashed potatoes when bitten into. The potato flavor was rich, and it turned out that tomato sauce and potatoes made a surprisingly good match. This tomato-potato patty, which had looked like a disaster, turned out to be something Armand could actually enjoy.
“Not bad, right, Mr. Armand?”
“Yeah…” Armand looked at the patty in Evelia’s hand with disbelief. “Surprisingly good…”
“Then have another bite, Mr. Armand. You didn’t eat much for your main meal. Since you like it, you should eat a little more.”
As she spoke, Evelia reached out again, clearly wanting to feed him herself. Armand paused, then chose to take the patty himself. Eating was still something he preferred to do on his own. He wasn’t quite at the point where he needed someone to feed him.
Even though both patties had that same mild tomato and potato taste, the second one had a crispier, firmer shell. The inside was more like a liquid filling. So when Armand bit into it, he nearly got splashed in the face with tomato sauce.
“Ugh…”
Armand reacted quickly and managed to avoid getting it on his clothes, but his hand wasn’t so lucky. It was now covered in tomato sauce. Just as he raised his messy hand to reach for a napkin, he suddenly felt something soft, wet, and warm wrap around his fingers.
“…?”
The moment he felt it, Armand had a bad feeling.
As he turned his head, just as he feared, Evelia had already taken his fingers into her mouth. Her warm mouth and nimble tongue were licking up the tomato sauce without any hesitation.
“You can’t let this go to waste, Mr. Armand… This is a rare, high-quality tomato sauce. I waited in line forever to get it…”
Evelia mumbled around his fingers. Because her tongue was still moving around them, her voice sounded muffled and unclear. Every pause in her words was filled with strange, breathy sounds.
Her soft, warm mouth sucked tightly around Armand’s fingers. Occasionally, her sharp teeth would lightly touch his fingertips. Evelia seemed determined to not leave a single drop of tomato sauce behind. She cleaned every part of his hand, between his fingers, the sides, everything.
His hard fingernails were completely wrapped in Evelia’s soft mouth. The contrast between firm and gentle was very obvious. Her hot breath spilled across the back of his hand.
At that moment, a strange thought popped into Armand’s head—
What if the tomato sauce had splashed somewhere else…?
Would Evelia…?
“All done, Mr. Armand.”
Just as Armand’s mind was starting to wander in that direction, Evelia finished cleaning. She let his finger slip out of her mouth, and when it came back into view, it still had a bit of a shine to it.
“Oh, Mr. Armand, there’s some on your cheek too—”
“I-I’ll just wipe it off—!”
As soon as Evelia saw the bit of tomato sauce on Armand’s cheek, she leaned down toward him. Her long hair was already swept aside, and it looked like she was about to stick out her tongue. But before she could do anything, Armand quickly turned his head, grabbed his own towel, and covered his face, blocking her attempt.
Though honestly, he could have pulled his hand away earlier when she was licking it. But Armand’s own selfish feelings had stopped him. After all… he was still a man with desires.
“Well then, Mr. Armand. Do you want me to help you fall asleep? If you’re having trouble sleeping, I could hug you until you—”
“Ah—no, no! That’s not necessary right now!”
That kind of thing… He wasn’t ready for it yet.
“Alright then, Mr. Armand. I hope you have a peaceful night.”
Evelia nodded to show she understood, gave a polite bow, and carried the tray out of the bedroom. For some reason, even though just one person had left, Armand felt like the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped.
“Sigh…”
Armand wiped off his fingers and let out a long breath.
“How is anyone supposed to sleep after all that…”