Ilion, who had returned from the Imperial Palace, was spending a peaceful afternoon without Ravenne.

Without the troublemaker bothering him, his work should have finished quickly, but for some reason, his gaze had been lingering on the same page for a while.

“Is your work going well?”

“Well, it’s manageable.”

Ilion deliberately turned the page as he answered the question that seemed to hit the mark.

“The mansion is quiet without Miss here.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it being quiet.”

“For someone who says that, you don’t seem to be concentrating on your work?”

Looking at Sebastian, who was smiling mischievously, Ilion tilted his head up.

“Don’t you have any work to do?”

“It’s my break time.”

Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something in response to the slippery answer, urgent footsteps were heard cutting through the quiet corridor.

Soon after, the door opened roughly, and a servant entered.

“D-Duke.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Miss…!”

The servant spoke quickly, catching his breath. Ilion’s complexion gradually turned pale as he listened to what the man was saying.

“…We were digging to find Miss, but no matter how much we dig, her body…”

The servant quickly shut his mouth as he was saying this.

“I-I’m sorry.”

It was a story that didn’t fit the peaceful afternoon. Ilion’s expression showed he still couldn’t accept the reality, as if he was having a terrible nightmare.

“…Gather people. Contact the temple, and also contact the mages.”

He managed to regain his senses and gave the order.

Dead? That couldn’t be.

Wasn’t she the woman who had been doing unimaginable things to escape from him? So this time too, it must be a trick to deceive him.

Ilion hurriedly headed outside, ignoring his anxiously beating heart.

***

“You’re more useful than I thought, human.”

Spinel, who had finished eating, spoke to me with a satisfied face. Although I had only grilled meat, she praised my cooking excessively. As if she had eaten grilled meat for the first time.

“Have you never eaten grilled meat before?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what are all these utensils for?”

“They’re things left behind by those who entered my cave not long ago.”

I remembered Spinel’s words that once you enter the cave, you can never leave again.

I wanted to ask what happened to those people, but I decided to hold my tongue for now. I didn’t want to invite unnecessary trouble.

More importantly, how could she know how to use fire but not have grilled meat? What kind of life has this person been living?

“Have you finished eating now? Did you consume all those… carbo-something you mentioned earlier?”

“Well, yes…”

“Then… now I can hear your story.”

Spinel got up from her seat and approached me. It seems her words about breaking an arm or leg weren’t a joke.

“Um, earlier you said to me, didn’t you? That I’m more useful than you thought? I’ll do anything, cleaning or laundry. So could you please leave my arms and legs intact?”

“I don’t need cleaning or laundry.”

“Then, how about cooking? I know how to make things even more delicious than that! I’ll make you delicious meals every day.”

Spinel hesitated for a moment. That seemed to give her something to think about. Seeing signs of conflict, I pushed a bit harder.

“Is there any food you’d like to eat?”

Spinel, who was pondering deeply at my question, answered in a small voice.

“…Cake.”

“Cake?”

“Yes. Ceras once told me about it. Said I should try it sometime.”

“So you want to eat cake! I happen to be quite skilled at making cakes!”

“…You?”

Spinel glared at me for a while, then unfolded her arms.

“You can make cake?”

“Of course!”

Seemingly swayed by my words, Spinel hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

“Well, keeping you for a day or two more won’t change anything, so alright. I’ll let you live until then.”

I inwardly sighed in relief at her words about letting me live a bit longer.

I’ve managed to get past this crisis, but what now?

It was good that I lied to persuade Spinel, but I had no memory of making anything using flour and butter.

If I had known this would happen, I should have at least learned the egg tart recipe from the Marchioness…

***

The next day, early in the morning, Spinel asked me as soon as she saw me when I would make the cake.

“Well, that requires quite a few ingredients…”

I answered, rubbing my sleepy eyes.

“Just tell me. I’ll get them for you.”

She spoke as if she could get any ingredient, whatever it might be. Without much expectation, I listed off ingredients that came to mind.

“Flour, sugar, milk, cream, butter…”

Spinel, who had been staring blankly as if hearing a foreign language, asked again.

“…What?”

Is there any point in explaining the ingredients to her?

“Instead of that, can’t we go to the village and buy them?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I hate humans.”

Spinel flatly refused my request. Perhaps she had some bad experiences in the past?

“Then how about going outside to get the ingredients?”

“Outside? You mean in the mountains?”

“Yes!”

“Can you find ingredients there?”

“O-Of course!”

I nodded hastily.

If the village wasn’t an option, even outside the cave would be fine. The goal was to get out of here anyway.

Spinel, not suspecting I had any other intentions, nodded readily.

It was good that I had persuaded her to come outside, but the surroundings were a dense forest of trees.

“Spinel, could you lift me up there with magic? I can’t see well what’s around…”

Thinking I might see better from above, I asked Spinel for help, using the ingredients as an excuse.

She snapped her fingers without much suspicion.

My body floated up into the air and quickly flew upwards.

As I emerged from the thicket, I could see an open view.

“What do you see?”

Far away, I could see a barren rocky mountain. Judging by its shape, it seemed to be in the direction of the mines.

“Well, I’m not sure. It’s still hard to see even from up here…”

“You have a lot of demands but can’t do anything properly.”

How can you say such things when we’ve only just met? Well, it’s true, but still…

I wanted to retort, but couldn’t think of an appropriate response, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Then shall we go down now?”

“……”

“Spinel?”

I called her name once more, but Spinel still didn’t answer.

Her gaze was fixed somewhere. I opened my eyes wide to follow her line of sight, but all I could see was the dense forest.

“You go down first and look for the ingredients. I’ve got somewhere I need to go for a moment.”

Saying that, Spinel disappeared with teleportation, and my two feet safely touched the ground.

What could she have discovered to suddenly disappear, leaving me behind?

Although the situation was puzzling, it was too good an opportunity to miss.

Putting aside my curiosity about Spinel for now, I ran towards the direction of the rocky mountain I had just seen.

“Huff, huff.”

I don’t think this was in the romance novels I read…

Wasn’t it supposed to be a life of elegantly drinking tea, strolling in the garden with laughter, and going shopping in the village when bored?

I hadn’t run far, but my heart felt like it was about to burst and I was out of breath.

“At this rate, I might really die.”

Feeling the limits of my stamina, I sat down for a moment, leaning against a rock.

“What kind of wealth and glory did I think I’d enjoy?”

I looked like I could go out on the streets with just an empty bowl.

Is this what a noble lady is supposed to look like?

As I was catching my breath while briefly lamenting my situation, I heard a rustling sound from behind.

Tensing up, thinking Spinel might have followed me, I turned my head, but fortunately, it wasn’t Spinel.

Instead, a wild boar as big as a house was glaring at me.

That face looks familiar. It’s not a friend of yesterday’s boar, is it…

Come to think of it, are the wild boars in this world herbivores or carnivores?

Hoping it was a herbivore, I slowly backed away. The wild boar snorted, blowing steam from its nose.

“……”

It must be carnivorous.

I didn’t realize it yesterday, but the wild boar was definitely prettier when it was dead.

“Look, I didn’t eat your friend, okay? Yesterday, I only had one bite… Ah, no, that’s not what I mean…”

The strength left my legs that were standing on the ground. My body that wouldn’t listen to me just sat down.

I didn’t know I would have such regrets now…

If I’m going to die either way, I should have just done villainous deeds and died according to the original story!

I closed my eyes tightly, hoping it would be a little less painful.