Chapter 97

The meal began, and so did my enthusiastic eating.

"Mel!"

"Yes?"

On the other side, Axion put lentil beans and light chicken soup on a spoon and offered it.

"A dish the head chef prepared well. Try it!"

"Oh, yes."

Axion was just the beginning. Perhaps due to a competition among the children, they started feeding me food with their small hands. I felt I would hurt their feelings if I didn't eat it, so I ate it all, one by one, and my stomach swelled even through my dress.

I think my stomach is going to burst…

I barely caught my breath and asked the children, "Guys, aren't you eating?"

"I'm full just watching Mel eat!"

I was cut off sharply by the naive Henry. This scene, where people were trying to get my attention, was quite strange.

I patted my stomach, and the quick-witted Mirisa patted the children on the shoulder.

"I think you've finished it now. Let's talk."

"Yes."

Thanks to the Emperor's help, I was fortunately able to escape from the food torture. I'm really glad. Now I was out of food hell!

However, after escaping from the food torture, a strange atmosphere enveloped this table. My keen senses quickly detected this suspicious mood.

Axion swayed his short legs under the table and asked cautiously, "Mel, you haven't changed your ideal type yet, have you?"

"Whoa—!"

Why was Carat spitting out her drink? And why did Henry, who messed up his bib, drop his fork?

"…Hmm, I know Mel is joking. She likes a certain type of person."

That's the person you like, Henry!

But I couldn't continue speaking. This was because these children were very serious. If there was a problem, it wasn't just the children who were serious.

I wanted to change the topic, so I rolled my eyes. "Tomorrow is the time to be alone with me again." After treating the Empress, I decided to meet with her about once a week and keep an eye on her progress.

"Oh, yes, Your Majesty." The Empress seriously declared. "At that time, let's have an in-depth discussion about ideal types."

"…?"

"It was like that when I was young. I just liked people to be strong and energetic." Axion shrugged his shoulders like an excited baby peacock. "Hehe, you're probably a wonderful adult, Your Majesty! Just like my brother. Right?"

I looked around to give a signal to dissuade this situation. At that moment, I made eye contact with Isaac. As if he had been looking at me the whole time, he smiled softly with his eyes curled into a crescent.

"I wonder what kind of person he is." With a slightly disturbed expression, he took the spotlight. "Ideal."

Honestly, I think everyone here has become a little weird. Of course, I was about to come up with an answer after sincerely thinking about it.

"First of all, I want to be a wealthy person." I was planning to envision a stationery store franchise. I said lightly to Isaac and rolled my eyes in thought.

Still, it was an official event, but was that an answer that was too capitalistic…

I was wondering if I should have just dismissed him as a moderately good person, but Isaac nodded seriously and responded.

"That's a decent ideal type."

…You really think it's okay, right?

For now, I was about to finish my meal with peace of mind, but the answer came from the other side.

"I see." Surprisingly, the answer was from the Emperor, who was sitting still and eating consommé soup. "You're smart after all. Wealth is a very good value."

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty." I smiled and bowed my head in gratitude.

As soon as our conversation was over, Mirisa took out her notebook and wrote something down carefully, and Henry whispered softly.

"I have to get rid of the money too."

"But you're too small."

"Hmph, I can make a lot of money."

Henry and Carat were laughing as they heard the grumbling when the door suddenly opened, and the Knight Commander shouted solemnly.

"The great hero of national salvation has arrived."

Dominic had arrived. Everyone's eyes, including my own, turned to the door. He walked in with a very excited face and sent me a message.

'Mel, I've put everything in the sword for now. Let's dismantle it later!'

Finally, the tools to punish the adulterous couple were prepared. I smiled at Dominic and nodded at him.

"Welcome."

The Emperor seemed to have a lot of questions for Dominic, and he was busy talking to him as soon as he sat down.

"I wonder how you came down to the world." Just by looking at the honorific title given to him, who was a hero who saved the empire and lived for over a thousand years, I could see the great respect.

I also nodded and looked at Dominic. I thought Dominic would know what to do and speak moderately well.

And heroic legends, no… Dominic's one-sided argument began.

"Mel saved me from a fragile state."

…Nope! You don't look like a slave!

No, if you say that, I look stronger than Dominic.

I hurriedly looked around. Moodsela Young-ae, who didn't participate in the conversation, Hailey Young-ae, who was as small as a hamster, and Prince Cassian, who was quietly watching me. Everyone looked surprised.

No. I don't know what you're thinking, but that's not it.

However, Dominic went one step further.

"I started working at a stationery store to repay Mel's favor. Because I have to be with Mel, the true lord of power."

Clang!

The spoon Carat was holding fell to the floor and made a loud noise. Carat looked at me in surprise and whispered to Hailey, who was sitting to my right.

"Somehow, when I first saw him, Dominic looked like a slave!"

What was a slave, and what was the true king of power? However, the Emperor and Empress were responding seriously to the childish modifiers, as if they were not funny.

"Oh… That's right." Dominic nodded seriously and continued. "As I work, I think it suits my aptitude quite well. I also thought Mel was stronger than me."

Dominic's words certainly made sense. He even gave me a kind of fraudulent contract, and I forced him to be brainwashed because I was great. But if you say that, I think I'm physically stronger than Dominic!

The others seemed to have a lot of questions for me. I decided to cut it short and draw a line.

"No, it is not. The hero is a bit exaggerated."

I raised my knife and fork to avoid the burdensome gaze of the people on the table. Isaac's mischievous voice was heard in my ear.

"Mel is humble."

"…You know it's not."

He laughed lowly and clenched his chin. Then he looked at me with a playful glint.

"I think it's right."

I don't know what you're looking at, this man…

Dominic, who had been glancing at me and Isaac, grinned and changed the topic again.

"But everyone seems to have a lot of questions about Mel. When I came in earlier and listened to the general idea, I guess it's the ideal type. That's what I'm talking about."

"That's right." At that time, Cassian replied calmly.

I looked at him with surprised eyes. It was strange because someone who didn't seem to be interested in my ideal type at all intervened. Dominic stared at Cassian, took the cherry fruit into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed.

"Hmm." Then he raised his head and replied. "My contractor, Mel."

At that moment, everyone's eyes turned to my contractor and hero sword, Dominic.

…Am I the only one who has a bad feeling right now?

"I like handsome, slender, and smart men. We are connected by a soul contract, so we know it well."

Then Mirisa nodded seriously and clapped her hands. "What I said last time is exactly the same as the list I've been preparing step by step!"

"List? No way."

"The list is nonsense. Mel already has a destined partner." When Mirisa said that she had prepared a list, the children began to protest.

Rather, as I listened to Mirisa's words, I suddenly remembered that I had just come to humiliate Mirisa's biological brother.

Still, we're family, wouldn't we have been offended?

Recently, I was thinking about how to treat Mirisa. Could I send this little child to Hesmann Mansion as it is?

Lennox and Sheria must know that I and Mirisa are close. The background investigation must be over.

They might touch Mirisa. Will he even touch my brother? However, it is a self-evident fact that Lennox is garbage that cannot be separated. But I can't raise Mirisa. Because they have no rights.

Perhaps she sensed my troubled gaze, but Mirisa, who was chewing on the pomegranate fruit with her front teeth, closed her eyes and smiled. Then she whispered to me in the shape of her mouth.

'Sister, you had a hard time today!'

Did my expression look serious? Mirisa playfully distorted her facial expression, eliciting laughter.

"I can't have anything bad happen to Mirisa." I thought he was a really cute child.

Mirisa, you will definitely protect you. Don't worry.

That day, Sheria was confined to the Hesmann mansion, eagerly waiting for the people who had the holy relics to contact her. Because the relic contained something special that could control those who had it. But strangely, it must have been in effect…

Why doesn't anyone contact me?

No one could be contacted. People were still slamming Sheria.

What on earth happened?

Sheria began to bite her nails with a hazy face. There was already blood flowing from his nails, but he couldn't help but feel anxious.

"If it continues like this, I may be abandoned by His Holiness the Pope."

This time, I had to properly grasp my sister's weakness and turn the situation around. My sister's weakness. What was my sister's weakness…

She took a long deep breath as she rummaged through the messy papers on the table.

"…Lennox." She smiled with a cruel face. "I had a very, very good idea."

Lennox's eyes lit up at Sheria's happy face. "Tell me." If they had a good idea to reverse this situation where they had become fraudsters to an adulterous man, of course they would agree.