Lark picked up the sandwich, and Navia suddenly spoke.
"I checked the seasoning this time."
She vividly remembered his shocking assessment from yesterday, that it was too sour, too salty, and too bland, and made sure to carefully season it today.
Lark replied with a look of disbelief.
"So, are you now firmly telling me not to be picky about food?"
'Ah, is that how the conversation is going?'
Navia answered awkwardly.
"……Not exactly that."
"What do you mean, not exactly that?"
Lark retorted bluntly and then took a big bite of the sandwich.
He paused for a moment, tasting the tangy dressing that filled his mouth.
'It's definitely tangy.'
It was not too sour, so it was fine. No, it was delicious.
"You really have a talent."
Navia, with her cheeks puffed full, chewed and swallowed her food quietly before responding.
"You mean to say it's delicious?"
Lark didn't reply, just frowned.
Navia realized that his expression was an affirmation.
'Really not straightforward at all.'
She was also a person who was blatantly dishonest.
'I'm not very honest myself either.'
Could this also be considered a common point?
Navia, sitting on a high chair, slightly curled her legs, which were hanging in the air.
Time spent with Lark was somehow different from being with other people.
Of course, his unique traits contributed to this difference, but there was something more mysterious than that.
'For instance, the cold, tingling scent that I only smell around the Duke is fascinating.'
It wasn't the kind of smell that stung the nose. It was cold and harsh like the smell of winter, but within it, there was something quietly refined.
Navia strangely found her mood soothed by this scent.
Was it because she felt this fragrance whenever she was in danger and it always accompanied her feeling safely protected?
Rustle.
Navia, nibbling on a sandwich, suddenly sensed a presence near the door and turned her gaze.
Lark had left the door wide open earlier, and Navia, hurriedly responding to his call, had forgotten to close it.
Through the wide-open door, Suleiman and Margaret, half-concealing their bodies, were peering into the room with an intrigued expression.
"Ah."
Navia wore a surprised expression when Lark clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively.
Bang!
The door slammed shut so forcefully it seemed to speak for him, saying 'get out'.
'Did he really have to be so blunt...?'
It would have been enjoyable to have breakfast together.
Navia thought this, slightly smiling to herself.
Imagining a bustling breakfast table with Lark brought a mix of amusement and intrigue.
While entertaining these thoughts, Navia ate her sandwich and took a deep breath.
"I'm already full."
She hadn't even eaten half the sandwich but felt too full.
As Navia slowed down, she finally put her sandwich on the plate.
Lark, noticing she barely ate, asked with dissatisfaction, "What, are you eating like a bird?"
"I'm just full."
'Already full after eating just that?'
Navia sipped her drink, hardly having much of it either.
"A rabbit eats more than you," he commented.
"I doubt that."
"Have you seen one?"
At his childish retort, Navia was at a loss for words. Suddenly, Lark grabbed the remaining food.
Navia looked startled and tried to stop him, "That's what I was eating, get a new one...!"
Lark quickly finished off the sandwich.
In the Empire, it was was common to share food, but it wasn't customary for someone other than a parent to eat leftovers.
So, Navia was astonished.
Even her foster father, Nikan, never touched her leftovers. He would eat on behalf of Vivian if she refused, but that's different.
'But they are real family.'
As Navia struggled with her discomfort, Lark gulped down his drink and said, "One sandwich isn't enough for me. Got a problem with that?"
"No... I see."
Navia, facing something incomprehensible, caught herself repeating her usual phrase and covered her mouth.
Lark narrowed his eyes and said, "You broke the taboo again. I need to think of a penalty."
"You've broken the taboo again. I think it's time for a punishment."
"What? Where did that come from?"
"It's all in my mind."
Navia thought Lark was incredibly childish and made a dumbfounded face before slightly tilting her head to the side.
She really tried to hold back...
Navia found it too hard to suppress her snickers.
"Do you know that trying to hold back your laughter makes it even funnier?"
"You're too much."
Navia replied, but eventually burst into laughter. Even then, she tried to hold it back, feeling it was rude, and tightly closed her eyes.
Lark found it even more amusing to see Navia trying to suppress her laughter with her eyes brimming with tears in this early hour, filling this desolate space with the sound of laughter.
'Can the presence of a single child change the atmosphere of this place so much?'
Suddenly, a chilling pain pierced through his entire body.
Crack!
Lark clutched his chest.
'Damn fissure!'
Thankfully, the fissure occurred in an area not visible on the surface.
He hastily rose from his seat to take his medicine.
Bang!
The chair toppled backwards, and Lark staggered.
"Duke!"
Navia rushed over, her face pale.
Lark, half-blinded by dizziness, waved his hand in the air.
"Don’t come any closer… Cough!"
Crackle!
'No!'
He quickly raised his hand to his neck.
He could distinctly feel the fissure spreading up his body, reaching just below his ear.
Lark swayed and stumbled backward, his leg catching on the bed, causing him to collapse.
A child’s small hand touched the hem of his clothes.
'Don’t come.'
He felt warmth from that spot.
'Go away, please!'
The child was getting too close.
He might expose his grotesque form at this rate. He might even end up seeing the fearful look in their eyes.
"Are you in pain? Shall I call Minerva?"
"…Leave."
Navia hesitated at his faint, pain-stricken voice.
Their gazes collided.
Lark yelled fiercely.
"Get out now!"
At that chilling shout, Navia released the hand she had been holding onto Lark's. It wasn't that she had let go out of shock.
Instead, Navia's expression was excessively composed.
"…Yes."
Like someone too familiar with such situations.
Navia stepped back, bowed deeply, and apologized.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive my rudeness, Duke."
Then she quickly left the bedroom, careful not to further irritate Lark.
She knew all too well from long experience that her presence only made the situation worse.
Once Navia was gone, Lark finally let out a rough breath.
"Damn it!"
He slumped to the floor, recklessly gulping down medicine.
Crash!
The bottles shattered in his hand.
The table was kicked and flew into a corner.
"Damn it, damn it!"
He felt pathetic and ridiculous living like this.
How pitiful it was, struggling to survive each day with a body that couldn't even be repaired!
'This life was supposed to be special for me.'
For the first time, a woman entered this house, followed by a child.
"How likely is it that this woman will return in her next life?"
Lark had yet to find a way to regress to his twenty years old self when the woman had first arrived.
But now it seemed like it was time to sort things out.
He did not want to extend his pathetic and disgusting life like this.
"Has she definitely cut ties and left because she didn't come to find me during these nine years?" He walked to the window, pondering this fact he had refused to admit until now.
"Let's die like this and move on to the next round."
Thud, he opened the window.
The sky was as gloomy as his miserable mood.
Lark looked at the mansion's main gate with his dead, black eyes.
"But what if she returns?"
He closed the window irritably and slid to the floor.
His head dropped to the ground, his black hair covering his face.
His fists clenched white as he pressed them against the floor.
"Damn it..."
"Utterly pathetic, Lark.”
You, in the end, could do nothing at all.
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