Grrrrrr…

The sound was so distinct that it couldn’t be ignored, causing an immediate hush to fall over the room as Romei’s face instantly flushed red.

She felt even more embarrassed when she sensed everyone’s eyes turning toward her.

Romei abandoned her attempt to grasp the spoon, bowing her head deeply to hide her face.

She resented her stomach for making such a loud noise and embarrassing her at the worst possible moment, with everyone present.

‘It never made a sound once during those months when I barely ate anything…’

That was the most frustrating part, but her stomach had already rumbled loudly like a ship’s horn, and there was no one she could complain to about it.

While Romei was enduring this unbearable embarrassment, Barmas spoke up.

“Aren’t you going to eat? I thought you said you were hungry.”

“…”

“Oh, or perhaps you don’t like the food I’ve prepared? If you don’t like it, I can have something else prepared.”

His response was so nonchalant that it seemed impossible he had heard the loud noise from her stomach. Romei, still keeping her head down, replied.

“No. That’s not it…”

“Then what?”

“…Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“No.”

At Barmas’s straightforward and brazen answer, Romei retorted in disbelief.

“Why are you pretending not to have heard when you clearly did?”

“People make those sounds when they’re hungry. You did the same thing when you first came here and ate. It was quite a resounding noise then too.”

“That’s because you said you were going to eat me…!”

Just as Romei raised her head to protest against his words, unsure whether he was teasing or comforting her.

He had somehow moved from standing at the table to sitting closely beside her.

With the sudden proximity, Romei didn’t know where to look and ended up staring at the innocent edges of her field of vision.

Meanwhile, Barmas reached out to take the spoon placed in front of her and put it in her hand.

“Stop being angry and eat. Unless you want to treat us to more interesting sounds.”

“…”

“I’ll listen to all your grievances after you’ve eaten.”

After saying this, the warmth of his hand that had completely enveloped hers receded like an ebbing tide.

Romei shifted her gaze to look down at her hand holding the spoon. Putting her embarrassment behind her, she was about to adjust her grip on the spoon to eat the soup when—

“Ah…”

Romei dropped the spoon.

It fell onto the other dishes on the bed with a clattering noise.

Fortunately, it hadn’t fallen to the floor, so there was no need to replace it, and the bowl of fragrant tomato soup remained safe.

However, regardless of that, Romei sat blankly, too shocked to even think about picking up the spoon.

‘My hand… won’t move.’

More precisely, her joints wouldn’t respond to her will, seeming to have rusted in place.

She could move if she forced herself to. But her movements weren’t smooth like before, and they required a lot of effort.

Moreover, her reflexes were in such disarray that she couldn’t even catch a falling spoon.

For Romei, who had always diligently trained as a holy knight, it was shocking to find herself unable to perform even such a simple task properly.

Seemingly noticing this serious situation, Barmas, sitting beside her, gestured for the servants to leave. Reading the atmosphere, they silently bowed and quietly left the room.

Once they were alone, Romei finally spoke.

“…Did you see that?”

“…”

“I just dropped a spoon because I couldn’t hold it properly.”

“…”

“Now I can’t even eat. It wasn’t even a knife, how could I fail to handle a spoon…?”

Despite Romei’s hollow laugh, Barmas calmly picked up the fallen spoon, scooped up some tomato soup, and brought it to her lips. He intended to feed her.

When their eyes met, Barmas spoke without any trace of mockery or playfulness.

“You might not be able to do it now, but with practice, you will. Would a holy knight capable of killing be unable to handle a spoon?”

“…”

“You can do it, Romei. Even when dragged to a place like this, you’ve always done your best.”

Romei alternated her gaze between the spoonful of tomato soup carefully held before her and his red eyes that seemed filled with sincerity. Eventually, she relented and took the tomato soup into her mouth.

While chewing the soft vegetables and pasta in the soup, Romei muttered, partly to herself and partly for him to hear.

“…Yet you always hated it when I spoke up.”

“That was…”

Barmas’s expression, which had been pleased to see her accept what he offered, suddenly darkened.

If he could, he would have taken back all the words he had said then, but it was already in the past, and there was nothing he could do about it.

In his regret, all he could do was apologize.

“I’m sorry. I really did choose to do the worst things.”

“…”

“Still, I didn’t completely dislike it. You were quite adorable when you would curse me with your expressions and glares while being careful not to say harsh words.”

While Romei stared at him blankly, surprised and unfamiliar with receiving an apology from Barmas, he revealed his inner thoughts and again scooped up some soup for her.

Romei reflexively ate the soup that tickled her nose, but her mind was in tremendous confusion.

After all, she had never dreamed that Barmas would think of her as adorable.

‘Did he really… find me adorable? Not annoying?’

She couldn’t believe it. He had always seemed to enjoy tormenting her and would point out that her mouth was a problem whenever she spoke. That couldn’t be considered an attitude of finding someone adorable.

“What made you adorable was how your thoughts were clearly written on your face, yet you believed you were hiding your emotions well.”

“…”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me, but that’s how I felt.”

Barmas, who had been glancing at Romei as she chewed vegetables and pasta soaked in the savory tomato flavor with a serious expression, spoke while feeding her more soup.

Romei chewed and swallowed the remaining food in her mouth before speaking.

“…I always wondered how you read my thoughts so well, like you could see inside my head. Even now.”

“How could I not see what’s so obvious? Still, I pretended not to notice.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just found you too adorable.”

“…”

Romei was dumbfounded by this reason she’d never heard before, but Barmas said it with a completely natural face. It was so matter-of-fact that it made her feel like she was the strange one.

“Where on earth did you learn to talk like that? And how can you be so shameless…”

Romei asked, feeling both incredulous and flustered, but ultimately let her words trail off. However, Barmas remained utterly confident.

“I saw it in romance novels.”

“Didn’t you only read one?”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t I tell you? I read countless books while you were asleep. You didn’t write down the title in your diary.”

Romei tried to recall her memories while eating the tomato soup. She remembered writing about a maid and a prince, but couldn’t remember noting the exact title.

To confirm this, Barmas continued.

“I sought out and read every book I could find about arrogant, selfish princes and maids. That’s how I found the one… the one you discovered.”

Barmas recalled the moment when Romei caught him with the book and slightly furrowed his brow. His expression showed embarrassment and awkwardness, seemingly synchronized with his emotions from that time.

Romei calmly pondered his words.

There were countless books featuring maids and princes. He couldn’t have found the exact book she had read by reading just one or two.

“…I think you’ve read too many romance novels. If anyone else heard you, they would certainly point fingers.”

“That’s fine. I won’t say such things to anyone but you anyway, and if someone points fingers, I can just break their hands.”

“…”

“…Should I not have mentioned breaking hands?”

When no response came from Romei, Barmas paused in scooping the soup and asked while watching her reaction.

But Barmas hadn’t done anything wrong. It was just that Romei’s heart was strangely stirred.

And Romei didn’t know how to organize her feelings toward this version of Barmas.

After waiting for a long time with no answer from her, an anxious Barmas urged her to respond.

“If I’ve done something wrong, please tell me.”

“…”

“So I can fix it.”

“…You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Romei answered.

However, Barmas didn’t believe her words. It was obvious that her answer and expression were completely at odds.

Romei had never been able to hide her feelings, and Barmas didn’t want to repeat his past mistakes. That is, the mistake of ignoring the small signals she sent because they made him uncomfortable, ultimately losing everything.

“You say I haven’t done anything wrong, but your expression says otherwise.”

“That’s…”

There were several complex reasons at work, and Romei had no simple way to explain.

However, seeing Barmas’s expression looking precarious and anxious, ready to crumble at any moment, she decided to answer within the limits of what she could express.

“I just feel a bit strange…”

“Do you dislike being called adorable?”

“That’s not it. Of course, it’s unfamiliar and awkward since I’ve never heard such words in my life, but I don’t dislike the word itself.”

“…Then what?”

“Just… your statement that you’ll only use such expressions with me makes me feel strangely stirred up.”

“…”

“That’s very close to love, isn’t it?”

Romei said.