[16.5] Food is Better With Those Who Care

My heart felt lighter at the jovial atmosphere until I noticed a large number of cooked carrots on my plate compared to the others.

The Headmaster noticed my look and spoke, "I recalled you liked cooked carrots the most."

...God d*mn it.

I leaned over and whispered to Cyrus, "...Do you want my carrots?"

He smirked at me, "How could I take them? I know how much you love them."

Evil little devil.

Chief Gonza chuckled carefreely, "It seems our Little Reika is rather fond of Prince Cyrus."

Cyrus blushed slightly and lowered his head, unable to retort.

I frowned, "Who said I'm fond of him?"

Caldwell chuckled, "Why else would you give away your precious carrots?"

I made a face.

Precious carrots!? No! I hate them!!! I was just trying to pawn them off!

The Headmaster frowned, "Fond? That's not allowed."

Chief Gonza chuckled, "Now, now. Aldrich. Why do you sound jealous?"

"They. Are. Too. Young."

The Headmaster glared daggers at Cyrus who gulped in fear.

I interrupted quickly feeling flustered, "What kind of shameless thoughts are you all thinking about!?! I'm not into children!! I'm into adults!! I like bare muscular chests! Thick abs! Tight glutes! Firm butts!!"

Everyone at the table froze.

The Headmaster's face turned darker than I've ever seen before.

Zephyr burst out into laughter, "Saying it like that is even worse!!!"

The Headmaster's hands trembled from anger, "I will kill any man that comes near her."

Sensing the perfect moment to cause trouble, I smiled mischievously. I looked at Chief Gonza, "If anyone meets my criteria, Daddy Gonza over there certainly does. His face and body are perfect!"

Caldwell nodded quickly in agreement, "He certainly has the best body and face that I have ever seen."

The Headmaster turned his intimidating stare to Chief Gonza. The fork in his hand was beginning to bend from his overwhelming pressure.

Chief Gonza threw up his hands with a panicked expression, "Why am I being brought into this!? Eh!? Aldrich!!? I'm not interested in children!!! WAIT! DON'T HIT ME!"

As we watched the two start fighting, I started laughing. Zephyr clapped his hands, "Ooo! Dinner and a show!"

Cyrus glared at me, "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

I laughed, "Don't worry. I may be an adult in a child's body, but I haven't forgotten my morals. I will just look at pretty men until I'm old enough to touch them."

Cyrus shook his head, "You're too shameless!"

Finally, the fight was concluded. The winner of the match was obvious.

...Chief Gonza never stood a chance.

The Headmaster adjusted his jacket and then sat down looking less angry than he did before.

Chief Gonza crawled to his seat and rubbed his swollen cheeks with a whimper. Caldwell reached out, "Ah... Your perfect face... Let me kiss it better~"

Chief Gonza pushed him away with an irritated expression.

I grinned, "So can we eat now?"

Zephyr raised his head with a large steak sticking out of his mouth, "Should I have waited?"

The Headmaster grumbled, "Just eat."

"Oh! Hold on, Young Master." Caldwell reached over and started cutting Cyrus's steak, "Let me get that for you."

Cyrus sighed, "I can cut my own steak."

Chief Gonza cleared his throat and nudged the Headmaster. The Headmaster flinched and then turned to me, "Let me cut your steak, Reika."

"Huh?"

With the wave of his wand, a knife levitated in the air and started stabbing into the steak as if it wanted to massacre the already dead piece of meat. Everyone watched in horror as the juices were sprayed everywhere.

The Headmaster nodded, "Bite-size pieces."

I looked at my mutilated meat with a twitching eye, "My steak turned into a hamburger…"

Cyrus snickered under his breath.

I turned to him in annoyance, but when I saw how happy he looked, I felt a smile cross my face.

I winked at Cyrus, "So? How is it? Isn't a family dinner the best kind of dinner?"

Cyrus blinked expressionlessly before smiling softly, "A family dinner…"

Seeing his smile, I felt a warm sensation swirling in my chest.

It's just as I thought. The poor kid really did just want to have a family meal. Judging by the illusion I saw, he must not have had one in a while and really missed it.

Well…

I guess I haven't had one in a while either…

The Headmaster froze and looked at his plate, "...A family dinner?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded, "That's right. We may not be a biological family, but we are close enough."

Chief Gonza chuckled as he rubbed his swollen cheek, "Well said, Reika! I haven't had the chance to sit down with family and eat a meal in years."

The Headmaster glared at him.

Chief Gonza cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly. He decided to change the subject quickly, "So, Prince Cyrus. How are you settling into the dorms at the Academy?"

Cyrus answered politely, "I'm settling in nicely. The room is very cozy and the workers are very friendly."

"That's a relief to hear." He let out a sigh, "It's just a shame we couldn't bring your Aunt and Uncle to justice… I still can't believe the King let them go with only a slap on the wrist."

The Headmaster muttered under his breath, "The King wouldn't dare seek true justice against someone who is a descendant of Alora."

I glanced at Cyrus who was now making a dark expression.

Even Zephyr made a sour expression and placed down his fork.

"Who cares if they are Alora's descendants!? They should still face equal punishment under the law." Chief Gonza shook his head, "Plus, they aren't even direct descendants. Everyone knows that direct descendants have-"

Chief Gonza promptly closed his mouth realizing what he was about to say.

The only two in the room who looked confused were Zephyr and me.

Zephyr spoke up, "How do you know they are direct descendants?"

They all looked at each other as if they knew, but didn't want to say.

Cyrus spoke up in a dark tone, "It's obvious. Only those with the Chaos attribute are her direct descendants."

Oh yeah. Didn't someone mention this before?

...But why do I feel like Chief Gonza was going to say something else?

Zephyr picked up his head and shrieked, "But she was a holy light attribute!!"

The Headmaster spoke, "Yes, but none of her descendants retained that attribute. They all gained the chaos attribute from the paternal side."

Zephyr made a jealous expression before pouting. He muttered to himself, "Paternal side!? Who did she marry?! Was it that snake?!"

…What the hell is he talking about.

Nope. No. I'm not going to ask.

I glanced at Cyrus cautiously, "If you didn't get justice through the law, what if you got justice through karmic retribution? Hypothetically, someone could make them face the same thing you had to. Wouldn't you be happy to know someone got justice for you?"

He spoke in a firm voice, "I will seek my own justice. I don't want anyone to get unlawful justice for me and I won't let my Aunt and Uncle do that to me ever again. I will become the King and make them regret ever trying to get rid of me. But unlike them, I will abide by the laws when I do it."

Cyrus clenched his fist with a look of unshakable resolve. However, his childish face made him look adorable instead of intimidating.

I couldn't help but giggle and reach out to rub his head, "There's no doubt in my mind you will succeed."

Since he seems so determined to do it himself, I won't get involved.

It's not like it's my business anyway.

Everyone froze and gaped at me.

Chief Gonza smiled, "Ah. Can it be that little Reika actually is fond of Prince Cyrus?"

I pulled my hand back and cleared my throat, "I just thought he looked a little cute."

Cyrus flushed red from the compliment and trembled as he tried to control his facial expressions.

The food dropped from Zephyr's mouth, "...I thought you hated children."

I averted my eyes, "I do. But that doesn't mean I don't know what a cute child looks like."

Cyrus covered his face in embarrassment, "Please stop talking!!"

Caldwell leaned over with a snicker, "She called you cute, Young Master. Did you hear it?"

"Caldwell!"

Although he was trying to sound stern, it sounded more like a pitiful whine. I had to hold my hand back to avoid petting his head again.

The Headmaster glared at Cyrus before clearing his throat, "In terms of cuteness, I would say Reika is far cuter."

I nodded happily, "D*mn right I am."

Everyone: "...."