Kalos looked at the faintly visible Esper Castle in the distance, recalling Irene who had been staring at him with a pale face that looked like she might collapse at any moment.

“……”

Just by restoring his left hand, she had become like that.

If he were to restore his left leg as well, she would probably lose consciousness and collapse.

And as before, she would not wake up for nearly a week.

If unlucky, she might not wake up for even longer than that.

“……”

Come to think of it, it was easier to monitor Irene when she was asleep rather than awake.

In an unconscious state, she wouldn’t be able to think about escaping.

But Kalos found it uncomfortable and displeasing for Irene to be unconscious.

It was for the same reason that he asked Abel for help instead of repairing the barrier himself.

In the meantime, he couldn’t let go of his pride and said something petty like Abel could refuse if he didn’t want to help, so it was natural for Abel to be dumbfounded.

Even he himself didn’t understand his own actions, let alone Abel.

“Haa.”

Kalos exhaled a long sigh and turned to look at Abel.

“I’m… sorry.”

It was a brief but sincere apology.

But Abel, as if he had heard something unbelievable, asked back in surprise.

“What? Did you just say you’re sorry?”

“……”

At the somewhat awkward response, Kalos silently turned his head away.

Abel clung to Kalos’s back like a cicada and chattered.

“You, who never said sorry even when you made mistakes, just said you’re sorry? Is that what happened?”

“…Shut up.”

“It’s true. You really said sorry. The great Kalos just told me he’s sorry.”

“……”

If he had known there would be such a fuss, he wouldn’t have apologized.

Kalos frowned and forcibly detached Abel.

“Stop talking nonsense. Just tell me if you’re going to repair the barrier or not.”

“Why are you asking such an obvious thing?”

Abel answered with an unrestrained laugh.

“It’s a friend’s request, of course I’ll do it.”

*

It was fortunate that Abel willingly agreed to repair the barrier, but it wasn’t right to leave it entirely to him.

Since it wasn’t a barrier made by Abel, there could be problems while fixing it, so Kalos accompanied Abel every time he went to repair the barrier.

Actively reflecting Abel’s opinion that he didn’t want to show others repairing the barrier, they went to repair it only after the sun had set.

“……”

Because of that, Kalos couldn’t have dinner with Irene.

It had already been three days.

*

Irene muttered as she looked at the dinner laid out on the table, as she did without fail today.

“Eating alone again today……”

Jessie, who couldn’t hear properly because Irene’s voice was naturally quiet, asked.

“What did you just say, miss?”

“It’s nothing.”

Not wanting Jessie to know she was having such foolish thoughts, Irene sat down at the table with a nonchalant smile.

Jessie, who was attending to Irene’s meal by pouring water into her cup and such, frowned when Irene put down her fork and knife not long after.

After the long coma, Irene’s appetite had exploded, eating twice as much as she used to.

Even so, because she originally ate little, it was just a bit more than normal people.

But for the past few days, the amount she ate had drastically decreased, and now she wasn’t even eating half of what she used to.

And it was only happening during dinner, which was strange.

“Does the food not suit your taste, miss?”

When Jessie asked, wondering if that was why she wasn’t eating, Irene shook her head.

“No. Everything is delicious.”

“Then why aren’t you eating?”

“I’m full……”

“You’re full after eating just a bird’s portion?”

When Jessie asked, looking very perplexed, Irene looked at the remaining food.

The food had barely decreased, making it hard to tell what she had eaten.

She certainly did eat little.

Jessie was worried, and considering the chef’s effort in preparing the meal, she thought about eating a bit more.

But if she ate any more, she felt like she might get indigestion, so she hesitated to reach for it.

“You don’t need to force yourself to eat if you don’t want to.”

Irene smiled awkwardly as Jessie seemed to read her mind.

“You eat breakfast and lunch fairly well, but why can’t you eat dinner like this……”

“……”

For better or worse, Irene knew the reason.

It was because Kalos, who used to have dinner with her, wasn’t there.

In the past, she couldn’t eat properly because she was conscious of Kalos, but now she couldn’t eat because he wasn’t there. It was ironic.

She didn’t understand what his absence had to do with her loss of appetite.

“Should I bring you some sweet cake?”

At those words, Irene recalled the cake she had eaten when she went to ask Kalos for permission to do chores.

Suddenly, her appetite returned and she felt hungry.

“I’ll have some.”

“I’ll bring it right away!”

As Jessie was about to leave, Irene quickly added.

“Please bring the chocolate cheesecake I had before.”

*

Jessie immediately went to Gilbert, the chef of Esper Castle, and asked him to make a chocolate cheesecake.

Gilbert smiled contentedly and said.

“So that cake was indeed the young lady’s favorite.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“A few days ago, the lord ordered me to make a chocolate cheesecake.”

“The master did?”

Jessie had been serving Kalos for a good hundred years.

During that time, Kalos had never sought out sweet snacks on his own, so she asked again, unable to believe it.

Gilbert nodded his head greatly, as if understanding Jessie’s reaction.

“I was also surprised at first, but then I remembered that I had made that cake when the young lady was with the lord. They even finished a whole cake that day.”

“Are you saying that the master ordered it to be made to give to the young lady?”

“Of course! Otherwise, there’s no way the lord would have ordered a cake to be made and brought.”

That’s true.

Gilbert scratched his cheek and continued.

“Well, I thought I might have misunderstood when the Azure Lord ate up all the cake without stopping her, but seeing that the young lady is asking for that cake, I guess my thoughts were right.”

Whether Kalos really did it for Irene or not, it was certain that Irene liked that cake.

That’s why she specifically asked for it to be brought.

“Alright then, please make the cake quickly. The young lady is waiting.”

“I have all the ingredients so making it isn’t difficult, but… it will take some time. About an hour.”

“That’s fine, please make it.”

Still, just in case, Jessie returned to the bedroom and asked Irene for her opinion.

Irene gladly said she would wait.

Jessie kept Irene company for an hour before going back to Gilbert.

*

“Well, if it isn’t Jessie.”

Jessie, who was pulling a tray, saw Kalos and Abel walking from the opposite end of the corridor and bowed politely.

“Greetings to the master and the Azure Lord.”

“You can just call me Abel comfortably. ‘Azure Lord’ is too stiff between us.”

Jessie was about to ask what kind of relationship they had, but not wanting to drag out the conversation unnecessarily, she simply agreed.

“You’ve returned early today.”

It was partly to change the subject, but also because she was genuinely curious.

Kalos and Abel usually didn’t return until dawn when they went out.

Moreover, Jessie didn’t even know why they went out every night.

Dewey and Deuce seemed to know, but the unnecessarily tight-lipped twins never told her.

Abel sighed deeply and grumbled.

“We worked non-stop and reached our limit. So we came back early to rest today.”

“What kind of work?”

“That’s enough.”

When Kalos warned him not to say more, Abel shrugged his shoulders.

Jessie couldn’t ask any further.

“But what’s on that tray?”

Before Jessie could answer, Abel continued.

“Oh. It’s that cake we had before. I was just feeling hungry, can’t I have that cake?”

“No! This is for the young lady!”

Recalling Gilbert’s words about Abel eating up all the cake, Jessie hurriedly spoke to prevent the same thing from happening again.

“Huh?”

Abel looked at Jessie as if greatly taken aback, then turned to Kalos.

“That’s what she says, what do you think?”

“……”

Kalos silently looked down at the cake before speaking.

“If you’re hungry, I’ll tell Dewey to prepare dinner.”

At the indirect refusal, Abel’s eyebrow twitched upwards.

On the other hand, Jessie’s face brightened like a full moon.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Jessie tried to escape quickly lest Abel find some excuse, but Abel wasn’t one to let her go easily.

“Then we can eat together.”

Abel said with sparkling eyes.

“It’s too much for that woman to eat alone. So let’s eat together.”

Kalos looked at Abel with a wry smile.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“What’s nonsensical about it? I’ve been feeling bad about startling her too much at our first meeting, so this is a chance to apologize and get closer, you know.”

“Who says you can get closer as you please?”

Abel replied as if asking why he was stating the obvious.

“It’s my wish, of course. And hers too.”

“She won’t want to get close to you.”

“I don’t think so. All the women I’ve met so far liked me and wanted to get close. Right, Jessie?”

Jessie, who had been caught in the crossfire while staying quiet, smiled awkwardly.

It wasn’t true, and she wanted to say it wasn’t, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so because she was facing a lord.

Kalos said firmly.

“You’re free to have whatever delusions you want, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bother others.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Abel clicked his tongue disapprovingly before suggesting.

“Then let’s do this. We’ll ask that woman if it’s okay to eat cake together, and if she doesn’t want to get close to me. If she says no, I’ll back off cleanly. But if she says she wants to get close, don’t interfere unnecessarily like now, Kalos.”

*

Kalos wanted to resolve this on his own as much as possible, but he was indebted to Abel, so he couldn’t cut him off decisively.

But it wasn’t like Abel would give up easily either.

However, Abel said he would back off obediently if Irene just said no, so Kalos bet on that.

Perhaps because of their somewhat rough and shocking first meeting, Irene looked at Abel with slightly fearful eyes, so Kalos thought she would naturally refuse, but.

“I… will.”

He was beautifully betrayed.