Chapter 112: A Rare Normal Dinner
When Rachel saw her dinner being served, she was so touched that she almost cried.
Eating food made with top-quality ingredients clearly meant for humans, she suddenly felt like all her past suffering had finally paid off.
— Whoa, this is just too delicious!
Rachel couldn’t help but praise it in her heart.
She really wanted to say it out loud too, to let the head chef standing nearby know just how happy she was. But right now, her tiny mouth was stuffed full of food. She didn’t have any chance to clearly speak, so all she could do was hurry up and chew, mashing up the meat and fish to not only satisfy her taste buds, but also fill her poor, empty stomach.
Today, to welcome Rachel, Armand had specially told the old butler to clean up the dining room that hadn’t been used since they moved in. Playing the role of “father” was Armand, “child” was Rachel, and “mother” was Evelia. The three of them were about to enjoy dinner together in this fancy dining room.
Even though this was Armand’s manor and he had been living here for a few months already, he still felt like this dining room was something new.
After all, he usually ate alone and had never really used it. Compared to Evelia, who wasn’t showing much emotion, and Rachel, who was pretending to be a well-behaved little girl, the actual owner of the manor, Armand, looked even more excited than both of them. He was looking all around like a child discovering a new world.
The dining room had the kind of extra-long table you’d expect to find in a rich person’s house. At regular intervals, candle lamps were placed on the table. The whole room was brightly lit. Maids, servants, and chefs all stood quietly to the side, waiting for Armand’s orders.
The three of them, Armand, Evelia, and Rachel, sat on three different sides of the table. Armand took the main seat, while Rachel and Evelia sat to his left and right. Since Rachel’s body was still very small, the old butler had even brought out a child-sized chair from the storage room. It had been cleaned spotlessly just for her.
When Armand asked, “Why do we even have something like this in the manor?” the old butler had simply smiled and replied, “You never know when it might come in handy.”
Once word got out that the master would be dining in the formal dining room today and bringing people along, the kitchen staff got really excited. Normally, Armand only ate boring nutritional meals, so the chefs rarely had a chance to show off their real skills. Now that they had a reason to prepare a proper meal, they were determined to impress him, and also enjoy the chance to cook something special.
Even after finding out that the guests dining with Armand were just a child and the ketchup-obsessed Evelia, and that it probably wouldn’t be a fancy dinner, the chefs still did their best. They made dishes that looked, smelled, and tasted amazing.
All those rare delicacies and fine dishes, Armand could eat them, but he didn’t like eating too much. Evelia could eat them too, but with the five bottles of ketchup lined up in front of her, it was clear what she planned to do. So, in the end, the only one who could really dig in and enjoy the full meal was Rachel.
And she didn’t let the chefs down either. Even though she looked like she had a tiny appetite, she ate a lot. She was just way too hungry.
Ever since she had started using this body, she had been constantly on the run.
What she said before wasn’t entirely a lie, while wandering around, she often got food from kind strangers because of her good looks. Some kids in the slums had even become her friends.
But compared to those pure, innocent children, the way she spoke was always a little too complicated. To most adults, she seemed like a child who acted “too mature.”
A serious little girl like that wasn’t very fun to be around. A lot of adults just didn’t know how to talk to her.
And when other kids were dreaming about fun things, she’d often explain how everything really worked with serious logic and reasoning, ruining the magic of those dreams. So after a while, even the kids didn’t find her interesting anymore. After all, if even grown-ups didn’t like hearing those confusing explanations, how could little kids enjoy it?
Cut, chew, swallow.
Rachel repeated these actions over and over, as if trying to heal the taste buds that had been hurt during her life on the streets.
She had begged for food before, eaten leftover bread from strangers, stolen snacks from stalls during crowded festivals, and even dug through trash cans.
Fortunately, Rachel wasn’t the kind of person who cared too much about status. Otherwise, during these past few months, she never could’ve lowered herself to dig through restaurant garbage for leftover food.
Now, for her, the hard days were finally over. After surviving the tomato ketchup nightmare, she was finally eating real food, food that normal people eat.
But then she looked at Evelia, who was sitting across from her… and got a visual shock.
Rachel’s dinner was full of color, each dish was different, beautifully presented, and clearly meant to excite both the eyes and the taste buds. But Evelia’s food was something else entirely, though it was still very visually striking.
In front of Evelia, everything was red.
Her vegetable salad was covered in a thick layer of tomato ketchup. The meat steak had a thick layer of ketchup. Even her creamy soup had ketchup floating on top. And the red wine she drank looked unnaturally red.
What is this "Red Crow" even doing? Is your "Red" supposed to mean ketchup? Should I start calling you “Ketchup Crow” from now on?
When I made her body, I didn’t add any weird flaw that requires eating tons of ketchup, did I?
At first, when Rachel started eating, she was totally focused on the mountain of delicious food in front of her and didn’t notice anything around her. But after she was nearly finished and started on dessert, the strong sour smell of ketchup in the air hit her, and her stomach gave a painful twitch.
She also noticed that she wasn’t the only one who thought it was strange. Armand, too, was looking at Evelia with a weird expression. But judging from his half-smile and helpless look, it seemed he was already used to the way Evelia ate.
…What a poor guy.
Rachel couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for Armand.
She’d overheard people talking and learned that “Red Crow” was Armand’s personal maid. And since a personal maid liked ketchup this much, of course her master, Armand, couldn’t completely avoid it either. Honestly, it was surprising he hadn’t already turned into a bottle of ketchup himself.
But while looking at Armand, Rachel also noticed something strange.
She had eaten a huge meal and was now totally full. Evelia, even with her odd tastes, had also eaten quite a bit. But… why was Armand barely touching his food? He was eating so slowly, more like nibbling, and even something as simple as a fried egg was taking him forever to finish.
…Wait a second, is the food poisoned or something?!
Rachel immediately became suspicious. Maybe there was something bad in the food, and that’s why the head of the household wasn’t eating much. But even with that thought, she had no intention of throwing up all those delicious dishes she had already eaten. She even held in a loud burp.
There’s no helping it, this food was just way too good!
“Eat slowly, don’t make yourself sick. If you want more, I’ll have the kitchen make it for you every day.”
Armand smiled when he saw Rachel patting her belly and holding in a burp. He finally turned his gaze from Evelia to Rachel.
…He’s just like an angel, Rachel thought to herself again.
Being able to eat delicious food anytime, this place was like paradise.
“Dad, why aren’t you eating? It tastes so good.”
Taking the chance, Rachel asked her question, using Armand’s words as a lead-in.
“Ah.” When he heard her call him “Dad,” Armand still seemed a little uncomfortable. He paused, then answered, “My stomach isn’t very good, so I can’t eat too much.”
“Your stomach’s not good?”
“Yeah. I ate something bad in the past, so now I have to avoid or limit a lot of foods.”
“I see…” Rachel bit her spoon and mumbled, “That’s really a shame.”
But… if it’s just a regular stomach problem, and I’m a genius alchemist—
Thinking that, she rolled her eyes a little.
No… I better not. I can’t let my identity be exposed.