‘Is that serious or a joke?’

Why do I keep looking when she keeps talking like that?

Cedar rested his chin on his hand and watched her chew thirty times as she had said.

And suddenly, he realized it had been a very long time since he’d had such a comfortable meal.

‘Even if it’s too much to accept her as a wife, she might not be bad as a housemate.’

Nelly was a unique woman, but she didn’t have any sharp points that got on Cedar’s nerves.

‘I don’t feel any threat at all. It’s like looking at a very small animal.’

Like a hamster or baby rabbit with fluffy fur, a small creature that would only leave a shallow wound on the fingertip even if it bit with all its might.

‘Maybe it’s because her head is so bubbly that it looks like that.’

His gaze naturally flowed to her luxuriant golden hair.

While his sister’s was as yellow as squeezed honey, hers had a fresh lemon-like feel.

‘She’s small in stature, but her hair is excessively long, making her look even smaller. It might not be bad to cut it refreshingly.’

Cedar, who had been resting his chin on his hand, slowly opened his mouth.

“Have you thought about cutting your hair……”

Cedar hastily shut his mouth after saying that far.

Nelly stared at Cedar with a puzzled expression. Cedar shook his head.

“No. Nothing.”

“……?”

Nelly tilted her head. Cedar’s face had turned slightly red.

Cedar bit his lip hard. It was a great relief. That he came to his senses while speaking carelessly.

‘That woman is just a contract marriage partner. We’re not even a real couple, why am I talking about her hair?’

Things like hairstyles, makeup, and clothing are sensitive topics that can only be pointed out between family or lovers.

Especially Cedar, who disliked dealing with such noise, tended to be particularly taciturn when dealing with women.

But strangely, in front of that woman, he was disarmed.

‘She’s an unusual woman.’

It was when Cedar was thinking that and letting out a deep sigh.

There was a clattering sound, and Nelly stood up, gathering her utensils and plate.

“I’ll stay quietly without catching your eye. I don’t go out much originally, so you don’t need to worry about me going out. Then, I’ll see you at every meal.”

Could she have sensed his inner turmoil? Cedar, feeling guilty, hastily half-rose from his seat and asked.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to do the dishes?”

At that answer, Cedar’s head throbbed. He had let his guard down, and this is how she came at him.

‘Dishes?’

There was no one else here, and they were having a meal face to face, yet she just got up like that.

Cedar, suppressing his irritation inwardly, squeezed out an artificially gentle voice.

“I haven’t finished eating yet.”

At Cedar’s words, Nelly tilted her head.

“It looked like you were done?”

As Nelly said, Cedar’s plate was completely empty. Cedar deliberately avoided looking at it.

Instead, he pointed at Nelly’s plate and said.

“The same goes for you.”

As if she had only taken one bite before standing up, there were more untouched parts than traces of eating on the food. Nelly shrugged.

“This is how much I usually eat. So for the next meal, please serve me much less.”

That wasn’t the answer he wanted. Cedar frowned and nagged in a way that didn’t suit him.

“You call that finished eating? Even a chick would eat more than that.”

“I don’t know the appropriate amount of feed to be supplied to a chick, but I think it wouldn’t exceed 30g……”

“It’s an idiom! Don’t answer everything literally!”

“Oh, is it? Then please tell me it’s an idiom before you speak. It’s hard for me to understand.”

She really had a talent for leaving people speechless.

Cedar, hearing an answer he couldn’t have imagined, rubbed his face with his palm.

And with a long sigh, he spoke gently as if soothing a child.

“……Anyway, eat more. Even one more bite. You need to gain some weight.”

“Is that also a Granite family tradition?”

“Let’s say it is, what of it.”

“What kind of answer is that? It lacks sincerity.”

Is this the time to talk about sincerity, woman?

“Eat from here to here. This is mandatory.”

Thinking that further argument would only lead to more mismatched answers, Cedar directly held the plate and marked the portion of food she should eat.

In fact, it wasn’t satisfactory to him, but considering Nelly, he cut only a very small portion.

Nelly sat down for now. But even as she reluctantly picked up her fork, she added this:

“I can’t eat much at once originally. My stomach is very weak because skipping meals while researching became a habit. Since you say it’s a family tradition, I’ll try, but don’t expect much.”

There was nothing to say when she said she was sick. Cedar pressed his increasingly furrowing brow with his index finger and asked back.

The fact that it sounded sarcastic was probably due to Cedar’s twisted feelings being fully conveyed.

“You boiled everything because your stomach is weak?”

Fortunately, Nelly was indifferent to others’ emotions and didn’t have a habit of twisting words. She readily nodded.

“That’s convenient too. I tend to concentrate intensely when I’m immersed in research, so I sometimes forget I’ve put a pot on the fire.”

“It’s fortunate you’re alive.”

“People don’t die easily. You should know that better than me.”

“Well, that’s true, but……”

Is that how you use that phrase?

While Cedar was dumbfounded, Nelly quietly started eating with her fork.

To Cedar, it still looked like a chick’s eye booger, but it must have been big for her small mouth as her cheeks puffed up roundly.

‘Like a hamster.’

After thinking that unconsciously, Cedar hurriedly shook his head.

‘No, what hamster. A mouse, a mouse.’

He changed his thoughts because finding himself arbitrarily finding her cute felt unfamiliar, but even just the thought felt excessively rude.

He made excuses to himself again.

‘I don’t mean a real mouse, I mean, like a baby mouse? A cute baby mouse?’

How pathetic this was.

Cedar sighed deeply again and ran his hand through his hair.

‘I really don’t know what I’m doing.’

What was he doing, beating his own drum in front of the other person?

‘It’s just that the other person looks too fragile, so I’m concerned. That’s all.’

This worry would naturally decrease if she gained some weight.

After forcefully suppressing his feelings like that, he saw Nelly fiddling with her utensils after eating a bit.

Cedar frowned again.

“What are you doing now?”

“I’m removing the vegetables.”

“The vegetables must be half of it?”

Nelly brazenly replied to Cedar.

“Humans can survive without eating vegetables. You know that well, don’t you?”

“……”

Now she’s even being a picky eater!

Around the time Cedar was nagging Nelly like a real mother.

“Diana.”

At the voice calling her name, Nelly’s sister Diana turned around with an elegant smile.

“It’s been a while. Are you enjoying the party?”

Her dress, decorated with tiny diamonds like stars at the hem, rippled as it unfolded with her movement.

It was an extremely beautiful sight.

Not only the man who called her, but also the men around her blushed as they looked at her.

‘Diana was always pretty, but she’s become even prettier lately.’

The Periway was just an ordinary noble family.

They didn’t have remarkable wealth that stood out, and though they might have had great glory in the past, by now they had just slowly declined into an unremarkable family.

Diana, who grew up almost like an only child, had thus been living a life far from luxury, but recently she had completely changed.

She wore large jewels and donned a burdensome hat with ducal feathers.

Her features were originally striking, so the changed styling greatly enhanced her beauty.

‘Their business must be going well these days.’

‘Has their domain’s tax revenue increased? But did the Periway have a domain?’

‘Who knows. She’s already a baroness.’

Diana, who lost her parents at a young age and gained both title and fortune, was the best marriage prospect for second sons and below who couldn’t obtain titles.

Men flocked to Diana like bees drawn to a beautiful flower.

“That name suits you perfectly. You’re as beautiful as a dream.”

“Diana, talk with me.”

“You have a prior engagement with me today, don’t you?”

While some people were simply delighted that she had become prettier, others looked askance at Diana’s extravagance.

“What money does the Periway baronial family have to dress so lavishly every day?”

“She must be trying to catch a rich man this social season.”

It was gossip loud enough for Diana to hear.

To Diana, who had a strong mind, it wasn’t even a scratch, but rather amusing backbiting.

Putting her champagne glass to her lips, Diana swallowed a sneer.

‘There’s an inheritance. The inheritance of a great mage that ordinary humans like you know nothing about.’

Diana also didn’t know what exactly this great mage’s inheritance was.

But it was an inheritance that had been passed down for hundreds of years since the founding of this country. Whatever it was, it was clear that it had accumulated tremendous value.

Until recently, Diana had been living frugally because there was a variable.

Namely, the fact that the inheritor of Great Mage Periway’s legacy was not her, but her elder sister Nelly.

‘But now there’s not much time left until the day the inheritance is activated. Since my sister still hasn’t come to her senses, the inheritance is mine.’

Just a month until the day the inheritance’s owner would change. Diana decided to have an early toast.

Even the dress she was wearing now and the sapphire necklace around her neck were purchased by incurring massive debt, but she had no regrets.

After all, the moment the inheritance came in, the debt would be as good as nonexistent.