Chapter 21: The Price of a Meal

Dinner that evening was incredibly awkward.

As the cook, I was naturally the last to approach the table. Lia and Vilya had already settled into their usual diagonal positions. As I moved towards Lia, about to sit down, Vilya’s hand shot out, seizing my arm. Her eyes, fixed on me with intense seriousness, motioned for me to sit beside her.

Her left hand pressed firmly on my arm, while her right hovered over the hilt of her longsword. The message was unmistakable: either I sat where she commanded, or she would cut me down.

I stared at her, utterly bewildered, unable to fathom her intentions. Lia, meanwhile, watched Vilya’s hand with wide-eyed terror, then looked at me with fear.

“Vilya, what are you doing… Vilya… what are you doing…?”

I asked, my voice laced with panic. Vilya met my gaze, her voice firm. “Sit here.”

“No… but why… why is this so sudden…?”

I gawked at Vilya, completely at a loss as to what she truly wanted. Yet her eyes were unwavering, and she forcibly tugged me to sit down. Lia, in a sudden burst of panic, sprang from her chair.

She snatched up her plate, placed it beside Vilya, and then plopped down herself. Turning to Vilya, she stammered, “This way… this way… Papa can’t sit anymore… so… so… let Papa go…”

In that instant, Vilya’s scheme became clear to me. Content, she released my arm, no longer caring where I sat. Her intention had been simple: to use me to compel Lia to sit beside her. Now that Lia had complied, I was of no further use.

It was a rather disheartening realization.

I settled into the chair opposite Lia with a wry smile. Lia, sitting beside Vilya, wore a miserable expression. She carefully scooped her food with her spoon, and I could empathize with her. The meal itself tasted no different than usual, but for Lia, it must have soured.

For Vilya, however, it must have been a most delicious feast. Still, her emotions rarely showed on her face, so her happiness wasn’t outwardly visible. Nevertheless, I believed she was immensely pleased and satisfied to be dining with Lia, even if it was half-forced.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the top of my foot. I looked up in alarm, only to find Lia glaring at me with a resentful expression. Her tiny foot, clad in a white cotton sock, was desperately trying to stomp on my instep.

Due to her height, she couldn’t quite reach, so she kept sliding down her chair to make contact, resulting in a comical lack of force. Rather than anger, it felt more like a childish tantrum.

Watching Lia’s small, puffed-out face and feeling the soft touch of her socked foot on my instep, a strange impulse stirred within me. Had my encounter with the Queen awakened some latent masochistic tendencies?

“Papa, feed me.”

After repeatedly testing to see if I minded her stomping and finding I didn’t, Lia pulled back, settling unhappily on her chair. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth. I nodded with a bitter smile, then extended my spoon, gently filling it with food and blowing on it.

However, when I next looked up, I was horrified to see Vilya had already shoved a spoonful into Lia’s mouth.

I froze, utterly stiff with shock, unable to even cry out. Lia, with her eyes still closed, wore an expression of pure enjoyment, triumphantly chewing her food. She then opened her mouth again. “Papa, I want more.”

I remained motionless, only managing a couple of hesitant grunts. Vilya, on the other hand, looked pleasantly surprised by Lia’s request. She picked up the spoon once more and placed it into Lia’s mouth. Lia accepted it readily, biting down on the spoon.

Suddenly, she seemed to notice the spoon’s odd angle. I was sitting opposite her, yet the spoon was held horizontally. This made Lia realize something was amiss. She snapped her eyes open, seeing me dumbfounded, spoon still in hand, a look of confusion on my face.

Then, still biting the spoon, she turned her head.

Her gaze met Vilya’s blue eyes.

“Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!”

A piercing shriek tore through the air, nearly shattering the roof and stairs we had painstakingly repaired today. I closed my eyes in despair. It seemed this dinner would truly be a desperate nightmare for Lia. If one were to count it, it would be Lia and Vilya’s indirect kiss… if it could even be considered that.

Vilya, however, appeared utterly triumphant, eating with unusual gusto. Lia, despite her tearful protests, maintained an astonishing appetite. It seemed Lia was still alright; she hadn’t completely lost the courage to live.

****

After dinner, I grimly began clearing the dishes. Unfortunately, Vilya was completely unconcerned with such matters; her only responsibility was eating, nothing else. Lia, however, eagerly jumped down from her chair and ran to the kitchen, watching me. “Papa, Papa, can I do anything?”

“Oh? Then you can wash the dishes. Just rinse off the food residue with water, then dry them thoroughly with a cloth.”

Lia stood on a wooden stool beside me, earnestly scrubbing our three spoons. She gazed at the water before her, whispering, “Papa… what does that woman want to do… Why does she always cling to me… I… I… I’m not the Demon King’s daughter anymore…”

“She’s not trying to kill you now.”

I smiled wryly, then added, “Vilya is trying to get along with you now. It’s just that Vilya doesn’t quite know how to interact with others yet. So, she’s expressing her goodwill in the only way she knows how. But Lia, Papa promises you, Vilya has no ill intentions towards you now. You don’t need to worry about her so much.”

“Is… is that so…?”

Lia lowered her head gently, submerging her hands in the water. Then she murmured, “I… I feel it too… but… but I’m still so scared… Every time I see her, I remember how she used to chase me, and I just get so afraid… And… and her expression never changes… It was the same when she wanted to kill me, and it’s the same now… I’m just so scared…”

“It’s alright.”

I smiled, stroking Lia’s head. “Vilya is indeed like that; she doesn’t show much expression. But you can feel she has no ill will, can’t you?”

“She has no ill will… but… but… I…”

Lia’s expression remained quite pained. I sighed, gently kissed her forehead, and reached out to hold her small hands, which had grown cold in the water. “You don’t have to force yourself, Lia. If Vilya continues like this, you’ll gradually get used to her. Perhaps then you won’t be so afraid. If you’re still scared now, you don’t have to force yourself to get along with her immediately. We can wait until you’re no longer afraid.”

“Hmm… Papa… do you want me to get along with her?”

Lia looked at me with a hint of suspicion. “Papa, you don’t… you don’t like that woman, do you? And you want me to accept her…”

“No, no, no, absolutely not, that’s not it at all! I definitely don’t have any such thoughts. It’s just, it’s just that if you’re always around someone you dislike, you’ll be very unhappy, right? That’s why I want you two to get along, especially since, no matter what, Vilya did provide a place for us to stay, didn’t she…?”

I tried desperately to explain to Lia, but her small eyes were full of doubt. Even with my logical and impassioned explanation, she still looked unconvinced. I truly had explained it with reason and emotion; I genuinely had no such feelings. While Vilya’s appearance from the water last time had indeed stunned me, and I still couldn’t forget her physique, I harbored absolutely no romantic feelings for her.

At least not now.

As for the future…

I glanced at Lia. Perhaps there wouldn’t be any story between Vilya and me in the future either.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. I looked outside, surprised, while Vilya immediately stood up, her hand on her sword hilt, alert. Wiping my hands, I walked to the door and gently pulled it open. Under the candlelight hanging on the wall outside, I saw a small, frightened, yet rather pretty girl’s face.

Seeing me open the door, her dark eyes looked at me with a touch of fear. She was just a child, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, dressed in simple clothes that, despite their holes, were clean. She looked at me, her lips trembling slightly, then said, “Um… um… is… is that Lady Vilya?”

“I am not, but if you have something to discuss, I can make a decision.”

I looked at the young woman before me. “You’re a town resident, aren’t you? Do you need something from the lord?”

“Ah, yes… Um… um… that… My lord, this… this… I hope you can accept it…”

The girl stepped forward, gently pulling a small cloth pouch from her pocket. When she opened it, inside was a dazzling pearl. Although I didn’t know what it was, its quality suggested it was certainly a valuable item.

However, I didn’t take it. Instead, I stepped back, eyeing her warily. “What is this for?”

“Um… our… our family runs… an inn… we need… we need grain… otherwise… otherwise… we can’t open…”

Seeing me hesitate, her body trembled violently, and she looked at me in despair, trying to press the item into my hand. She continued, “No one… no one wants it… so… so… I hope… to trade it for some grain… If not, then just some food tickets…”

I looked at her, then reached out and tucked the item back into her pocket. Leading her into the house, she shivered, glancing at the things on either side of the room. Vilya stood up from the table, watching her warily, while Lia peeked out from the side, curiously observing the girl.

“How much grain do you need to borrow?”

“About… about… this much… two bags’ worth…”

Perhaps she didn’t know how to describe it precisely, so she gestured, indicating roughly two of our grain sacks, which was quite a lot. She looked at Vilya and me with a hint of fear, saying softly, “Um… we’re not just taking it… we’ll… buy… buy it…”

“At a time like this, such a luxury item is meaningless.”

I shook my head, refusing the pearl. Indeed, it was meaningless. This was the lord’s residence, not an exchange house. More importantly, the grain wasn’t ours; it belonged to the town. Giving it away freely would diminish our credibility.

In other words, Vilya’s current funds likely couldn’t afford such an item. Vilya hadn’t accepted any money, even after slaying the Demon King; she had arrived here alone.

I took out a sheet of paper, then picked up a dip pen. It resembled a fountain pen but lacked a large ink reservoir, requiring a squeeze to draw up a small amount of ink for writing. I wrote a line: “You owe the town two bags of grain. The weighed amount will be recorded here. The estimated cost, converted at current market prices, will be written here. The interest rate is two percent per annum. You may pay the interest first next year, then the principal. You have five years to repay the full amount. This IOU is issued in duplicate. Tomorrow, go to the granary, find the record keeper, have them fill it out, and bring back one copy.”

“And the grain… the grain…?”

“Just bring the signed slip, and you’ll get the grain.”

I stamped Vilya’s insignia onto the documents, then handed over the two copies, writing an additional one for the ledger and having her press her handprint. She stared at me in shock, disbelieving. “This… this is all it takes?”

“You’ll have to repay it within five years, otherwise, I will directly seize items of equal value from your home as collateral.”

I smiled. “Run your business well. This town needs people like you to bring in outsiders. Only when outsiders come will money flow in. Food tickets are only a temporary solution. In the future, I want genuine currency.”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Could It Be That I’m Actually the Strongest Final Boss?

ComedyFantasyFemale Protagonist

Read Now →
Not interested