Navia, taken aback by the unexpected remark, wore a bewildered expression.
‘...Really, why is he like that?’
Lark, reading Navia's expression, chuckled lightly.
"Why? Are you suspicious because I agreed so easily?"
Honestly, she was, but she couldn't say that.
"No. It's just a bit unexpected."
"Don't make me laugh. I can see in your face that you're wondering why that guy is behaving like that."
Navia was startled.
'Did I make it that obvious...?'
She awkwardly looked down and placed the broken pen she was holding on the table.
"You'll need to buy a new pen."
It was just a way to change the subject.
Lark, knowing that Navia was trying to switch topics, laughed as if he found it amusing.
"Pen holders break easily, so I always buy them in dozens."
"...Pen holders break easily?"
How could these thick wooden pen holders break easily?
"If you apply a bit of force, they break."
Navia found it hard to understand but nodded reluctantly.
"I see..."
"You used a forbidden word again."
As Navia closed her mouth in dissatisfaction, Lark smiled somewhere contentedly.
Navia cautiously thought that his level might be more childish than Wood's.
Then she quickly dismissed the thought. It would be troublesome if he read her mind again.
'He couldn't possibly use mind-related magic, could he?'
He seemed to be a magician who dealt with spatial magic, so that wouldn't be the case.
As Navia thought this far, she found the situation even more absurd.
'Is that a relief?'
In any case, Lark seemed to be in a much better mood than when she first arrived.
When she opened the door for him, there was not only his distinctive smell but also a strong scent of anesthetic filling the room.
She wasn't sure what aspect of her he found amusing, but it was fortunate if it had a positive impact.
"Then I'll go out, Duke."
"Go ahead."
Navia bowed and quickly left the bedroom.
Lark shook his head as the child left.
"Life brings all sorts of experiences."
Navia left Lark's bedroom and began to descend the stairs.
Her initial slow steps soon became light, almost bouncing as she lightly trod down.
As Navia was about to go downstairs, she encountered the attendants gathered just below.
It seemed they were waiting there because Charlotte couldn't go up to the third floor.
"How did it go?"
Suleiman asked tentatively with a skeptical expression.
Navia answered with a bright smile.
"He permitted both the business and Charlotte's stay."
At that, Margaret also smiled and clapped her hands.
"That's great! So Charlotte can go to the third floor now?"
Navia shook her head.
"No. I deliberately didn't ask about the third floor access. That would be too presumptuous."
As they all wore bitter smiles at her words, Navia suddenly realized there was another question she hadn't asked.
'Oh no. I forgot to ask about the lemon cream cheese cake.'
Could the taste have been odd? But when she first tasted the cake she made that day, it wasn't bad. Honestly, she found it quite delicious.
'Everyone said it was tasty.'
Navia glanced towards Lark's bedroom, then said cautiously.
"Can I help make dinner tonight?"
* * *
In the first-floor kitchen, Navia and Margaret took their places to prepare the ingredients.
Navia still didn't know Lark's preferences, so she planned to prepare universally liked dishes.
Seeing Navia's serious expression, Margaret smiled and said,
"Pork can sometimes have a strong smell. It's good to mask the odor with fruits or pepper when marinating."
"There's such a method?"
Navia quickly prepared some fruit following her advice.
After marinating the meat, she helped Margaret with the vegetables.
"Could the Duke possibly dislike vegetables?"
Since she ate a lot of salad, she didn’t have much aversion to vegetables.
To be exact, she didn’t feel anything special because she ate them to live.
However, she remembered that Wood and Vivian were very disgusted.
They especially hated cucumbers and carrots. Ah, and bell peppers. Hmm, and asparagus too.
‘They just didn’t eat vegetables well.’
Still, they seemed to eat mushrooms that were fried with butter quite well.
Then, Margaret asked.
"Shall we taste it now to see if it's delicious?"
Navia blinked.
"Taste it?"
Ah, that's right. Normally, people working in the kitchen taste the food to check its flavor.
But Navia couldn't eat food without Nikan's permission, so she rarely tasted it.
However, since she always faithfully followed the recipes, she had always received okay reviews.
"I'm fine. Please, Margaret, you taste it."
Navia was indeed curious about the taste.
But for Navia, who wasn't used to eating such food, it felt like an unnecessary guilt, so she just said that with a regretful look.
Margaret, understanding why Navia responded that way from her thin body and eating habits, smiled calmly and then suddenly spoke teasingly.
"Is there something you want to eat? We can eat it all now and pretend it was never a menu item."
"What? That's…"
"What's wrong with that? If Navia wants to eat something while cooking, she can just eat it."
With that, Margaret pretended to eat with the raw ingredients still unprepared.
Navia realized that Margaret was trying to comfort her and felt a warmth in her heart.
At the same time, she couldn't help but laugh at the cheerfulness.
"I'm here!"
That's when Charlotte arrived, having just unpacked her things and entered the kitchen.
Charlotte thought that Navia cooking meant just washing vegetables by her side.
"I didn't know the lady was actually cooking herself."
Navia smiled ambiguously.
It was a coping method she had learned through regression.
There was no need to awkwardly make excuses suspiciously. Just smiling made people spread their wings of thought.
Even now, just smiling, Charlotte tilted her head but didn't question any further.
Soon, Suleiman rushed in with a basket of ingredients.
He had brought more ingredients needed for Navia's cooking.
"Am I not too late?"
"You're just on time."
Navia had prepared a dinner setting, though not very lavish, but quite a feast.
"There's an extra portion?"
Charlotte asked while setting up the meal, and Navia responded.
"Yes, it's for the Duke."
At that, the other servants' eyes widened in surprise.
'It seems things went much better than expected.'
Especially Margaret vividly remembered how Lark was terribly unstable and sharply angry.
When the lord was in such a state, the atmosphere was messed up for at least a month.
They looked at Navia with curious eyes.
It seemed that the little lady didn't quite understand how significant a change she had caused.
Of course, she wouldn't know, but a new curiosity arose among them.
"But what did you talk about inside? The lord wasn't rude, was he?"
Navia paused while helping with the plating.
'Rude behavior...'
There was so much that she didn't know what to say.
"It was nothing. Just, he cleared the table..."
Since he said himself that he cleaned the table because it was messy, that must be true.
"He also said he would help with the business."
At that, Margaret and Suleiman both asked in unison.
"The lord?"
"The lord?"
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