After finishing the meal, we cleared the dishes to one side and faced each other.
I pretended to be calm, but I was actually quite tense.
I knew she wouldn’t seriously injure me, but there were plenty of other things she could do.
How did the original Viol treat Ceres again?
When Ceres disobeyed, Viol crushed their pride by ordering the palace servants to ignore them.
Go ahead and ignore me. I don’t really care.
She also threatened to kill Ares, but she already promised not to do that, so that option was off the table.
Oh, right—she once restrained Ceres, forcing them to realize the difference in strength.
As I remembered the possibilities and grew more tense, Viol finally spoke.
“Do you know why I gave in to your ridiculous demand and brought you here?”
I replied firmly.
“Because you’re going to fall in love with me.”
“No. It’s to correct that deranged belief of yours!”
Viol glared at me sharply.
“You’re the most insane person I’ve ever met. I thought I wasn’t normal, but compared to you, I’m completely sane.”
She treated me like I was completely out of my mind, then continued:
“Because you’re beautiful and people adore you, you assume everyone must love you too.”
“Didn’t you just say earlier I wasn’t that pretty?”
“Shut up!”
I pointed out her contradiction, and she got angry instead.
Trying hard to hide the fact I struck a nerve,
Viol kept talking.
“Arrogant little thing. Speaking informally to me like it’s natural.”
“Would you even take it kindly if I suddenly started speaking politely now?”
“I’ll make sure you never act like this again. I’ll shatter your sweet delusion that I love you, piece by piece.”
Even though her tone was threatening, I remained composed.
“Then why bother feeding me? Wouldn’t it be better to just starve me? Or are you planning to start starving me from now on?”
“…No. You’ll get your meals.”
Viol looked at me, clearly displeased.
“If you skipped meals with that frail body and ended up dead, it’d be a problem. I haven’t finished tormenting you yet, so I’ll make sure you get three meals a day.”
“That’s actually a problem. This body feels full after just one proper meal. I eat very little, I can’t handle more than that.”
“…What the hell is with your body? Fine. I’ll only bring one meal a day then, just like you want!”
Viol picked up the leftover dishes.
“Today was a day off. Tomorrow is when it truly begins.
Be ready, I’ll make sure you never disobey me again.
I’ll ‘train’ you thoroughly.”
It was what she said with a mocking smile before leaving.
So she wasn’t planning to let this slide.
I had no idea what she was going to do, but based on how she phrased it, it wouldn’t be anything ordinary.
I braced myself for it and got through the day.
****
“Even if you can’t eat tough food, you still need protein. Meat is good for you. I ground it up as finely as possible and made a stew with it. Try it.”
When the next day came, what arrived was an incredibly well-prepared meal.
I had been on edge, expecting something horrible after the whole “training” remark, but instead, I stared blankly at the dish Viol set in front of me.
The meat was so finely ground you could barely see it, blended into a soup-based stew.
There are no blenders in this world, so she must have gone through a lot of effort to prepare it.
“What are you doing? Eat before it gets cold.”
“…Okay.”
After making such a big deal about “training,” bringing something like this was so anticlimactic I didn’t even bother pointing it out.
While I ate, Viol stared at me without saying a word.
Only when I’d finished did she finally speak.
“How was it?”
“Like yesterday’s meal, very tasty. Tell the cook I enjoyed it.”
“No need for that.”
Then why do you keep asking?!
It was ridiculous.
Yet she kept doing it, day after day.
****
“Today, I brought the stew again, along with a special salad dressed with fruit and vinegar.
Also, some tea sweetened with honey.”
“Today’s dish is fish, seasoned with citrus and light sauce.
The flesh is soft, so it should be easy to eat. I removed all the oil beforehand.”
“Here’s bread with cream and strawberry jam.
There’s cocoa, too, made with milk I reheated several times.”
She kept bringing food she clearly put effort into.
Then she’d ask how it tasted and try to strike up a conversation.
****
“You… never mind.”
At first, she seemed to have nothing to say.
But day by day, her words grew longer.
“Is it cold in here? If it is, I’ll warm it up.
If there’s anything else bothering you, tell me.
I’ll change your room if you want.”
“It’d still be solitary confinement, so what’s the point.”
Most of what she said was meaningless small talk, but it was kind of pitiful, like she was desperately trying to start a conversation.
Was she falling for me even faster than expected?
It wasn’t good for either of us.
****
“Hmph! You can’t do anything by yourself, and here you are, eating food I made. Like a child.”
One day, she seemed to run out of things to say, and went back to picking fights like the first time we met.
This time, instead of holding it in or getting angry, I just lightly snapped back.
“Oh, come on. You’re the one who locked me up.
How am I the child here? And look at you, with those twin-tails.”
Original Viol may have had long red hair, but she always wore it down.
She may have been crazy, but she had good style. She never wore something so childish.
“What’s wrong with this hairstyle?”
She hadn’t expected me to comment on it, so instead of getting angry, she looked oddly puzzled.
Viol touched her twin-tail hair and muttered.
“Do you… prefer something else? Then maybe I’ll chang—”
“It’s not about preference. It just doesn’t suit your age.
You’re twenty-eight, right?”
“…I’m still twenty-seven!”
In the original story, Ceres was in her early twenties.
Viol was in her late twenties.
There was a scene where she said she was twenty-eight.
But since we met earlier in the timeline, she’s still one year younger now.
Anyway, twin tails really aren’t a hairstyle for someone in their late twenties.
When I pointed that out, Viol got angry.
“You mock me just because I teased you a little?! What do you care how someone else ties their hair?!”
“You’re right. I don’t care, so you can ignore what I said.”
“Aaaaargh!!”
Viol screamed and stormed out.
I did say she could ignore me, so why the outburst?
****
The next day.
“Meal.”
As usual, Viol came to bring me food.
But her hairstyle had changed.
She had let her long red hair down, and it had a slight wave to it.
It looked like she had put a lot of effort into setting it.
I felt a little bad.
Was she really that affected by what I said?
I couldn’t focus on the food, I kept staring at her hair.
“Well?”
At first, Viol pretended not to care about my gaze, but then she asked for my thoughts.
“I changed it just like you wanted.”
“I never told you to change your hair.”
“Just shut up and say whether it’s pretty or not!”
“…It’s pretty.”
I wasn’t just being polite.
When styled like this, her long, vibrant red hair really was beautiful.
“Heh, of course it is.”
Viol smiled, pleased by the compliment.
But—
“Sorry, I think the twin tails suit you better.”
At my next words, her expression twisted.
“Didn’t you just say this looks better?! Then why?!”
“When I see long, loose red hair… it reminds me of someone I don’t like.”
“Who?”
You, as a man.
The hairstyle was so similar to male Viol’s that it made me uncomfortable.
But I couldn’t say that out loud, so I let the comment trail off.
And Viol exploded.
“You bastard, you were just mocking me all along!!”
She completely misunderstood and blew up at me.
Viol snatched away the food I’d been eating.
“No meals for you for a while!”
And with that, she stopped coming to my room.
****
The day after that.
“So she really doesn’t plan to feed me, huh.”
It was already late at night, and Viol still hadn’t shown up.
I was alone, locked in my room and starving.
“I’m bored.”
More than hunger, what I felt was sheer boredom.
Even though I used to dread her visits, now that she wasn’t around to talk, I felt more restless than anything.
And there was nothing to do.
I finally had a body that could move again, but there was no way to enjoy it.
At least when I was bedridden, I had books to read.
I needed to do something, anything, to take my mind off the hunger and boredom.
I forced myself to find a way to focus.
Isn’t this usually the part where a protagonist trains or something?
If I were to train my power, that’d be… divine power, right?
“Maybe I should try it. Healing myself.”
My deteriorated health couldn’t be healed due to the divine power itself, but other injuries were fair game.
I’d just never had a reason to try.
Now seemed like the time.
I pulled out the fruit knife from the drawer.
Viol had brought it with the fruit yesterday,
but left in a hurry and forgot it.
I had meant to give it back when she returned, but I guess I’d be using it first.
“Hm.”
I lightly sliced my hand.
My soft, delicate skin tore easily and bled, but only for a moment.
Almost immediately, the wound healed on its own.
I hadn’t even activated my power consciously.
This cursed ability automatically protects me, even as it tortures me with constant pain.
That’s why original Ceres couldn’t die, no matter what she went through, until the divine power left her.
Should I test it more seriously?
I was about to try cutting my wrist this time—
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Viol had come back.
Her hair was back in twin tails again, and she stood there holding a tray of food, staring at me in shock.