It was morning.
I rubbed my eyes and slowly got out of bed.
At the same time, a delicious smell began to waft from the kitchen.
‘Did Harp get up early and start cooking something?’
I thought, but quickly dismissed that idea.
Harp was still fast asleep.
Curious, I quietly opened the door and stepped outside.
As soon as I opened the door, the savory and sweet aroma grew stronger.
And the moment I stepped into the kitchen, I froze.
“Good morning, Director!”
Sua, sitting at the table, waved at me with a big smile.
Of all people, it was Sua.
On the table were fried eggs, soup, various jams, and a large baguette neatly arranged.
“…What…?”
“Just finished preparing breakfast! I was actually about to wake you up, but this timing is perfect. Come sit down, it’s best when it’s still warm.”
Sua smiled brightly and gestured for me to come to the table.
“…What is all this? What happened?”
I asked, my face filled with confusion.
Upon seeing my expression, Sua let out a playful laugh.
“We have to keep promises, right? You said that if I follow the rules well, we could sleep together. So, I decided to start fulfilling my orphan role from this morning!”
She puffed out her chest proudly.
It was like a cliff. Ah, wait, that’s not right.
“So, what do you think? Not bad, right? I made it all myself!”
“…Well, honestly, this is unexpected.”
“Please compliment me! I worked really hard!”
Sua’s eyes sparkled, and she smiled brightly.
If Sua had a tail, it probably would’ve been spinning rapidly like a fan.
I let out a sigh as I looked at Sua’s expectant expression, and eventually, I reluctantly raised my hand.
“Good job, Sua. I’m a bit surprised you worked this hard.”
Then, I gently patted her head.
“Wow! Are you really complimenting me? This isn’t a dream, right?”
Sua gave me a surprised look before her face lit up.
She was smiling happily, feeling my touch.
“Just like the Director! I’ll do even better from now on! Really!”
But then, it happened.
A familiar voice came from behind me.
“Teacher?”
I turned around.
Harp was standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes.
Her expression was frozen in shock.
“Harp, you’re awake?”
I greeted her casually, but Harp didn’t respond to my words.
She just stared at me and Sua.
“Did… did you just pat Sua’s head?”
“Uh? Yeah… I did.”
Harp’s expression darkened.
She slowly walked toward me, continuing as if she couldn’t believe it.
“You… patted her head? That Sua?”
“Well… yeah, but this time she really worked hard. She even prepared breakfast. Look.”
“…”
Harp shook her head with a face full of doubt and shot a glance at Sua.
“There’s definitely something hidden behind this. Teacher, don’t trust Sua too much.”
“What, what are you saying?”
Sua jumped up, protesting toward Harp.
“I never said I’d be like ‘Nuuooong~! and laugh, or cast a perception-disturbing spell to kidnap Eve! Did I ever harass this cheek of mine? Please trust me, Harp.”
“…Isn’t that all true?”
Ugh.
“Alright, everyone, stop fighting and let’s eat. We’re all hungry.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Understood, Teacher.”
Though there had been a small commotion, we found peace due to my intervention and started eating.
The food on the table was surprisingly good.
It tasted great, and the presentation wasn’t bad either.
“This… you made this better than I expected. Where did you learn it?”
The best dish, by far, was the fried egg.
When I lightly touched it, the yolk flowed out perfectly—just the way I liked it, with a slightly runny center.
It was totally my type of egg dish.
At my compliment, Sua shrugged her shoulders proudly, her face beaming.
“It’s a skill I built up as a hero! I’m actually really good at cooking~!”
“…Apparently, everything’s a skill to you.”
Harp quietly remarked.
“What? Are you mocking me? You’re eating it happily yourself!”
“I’m just saying it as it is.”
Harp answered calmly, glancing at Sua with a sidelong look.
“By the way, your cooking skills are a bit surprising.
For someone who was trying to kidnap people, your skills aren’t bad at all.”
“When did I ever do that?!”
“…Yesterday.”
“Ah.”
Sua and Harp’s gazes collided, and a subtle tension filled the air.
I took a bite of my bread and glanced back and forth between them.
“Both of you, quiet down and eat.”
With a sigh, I spoke up, and Harp nodded, closing her mouth.
“I was trying to eat quietly. Someone keeps saying weird things.”
“What? Because of who right now—?”
“Teacher said, ‘Be quiet.'”
“Who started it?!”
“…Alright, if you’re going to argue, do it after eating.”
“Ugh.”
When I sternly raised my voice again, Sua finally pouted and started quietly biting into her bread.
The meal seemed to return to a peaceful atmosphere.
But soon, the table became noisy again, this time due to someone speaking up.
“By the way, Teacher, since I did this much, we can sleep together tonight, right?”
“No.”
Before I could even respond, Harp interrupted the question.
“Harp! What’s your problem now?!”
“What problem? The issue is that you think one breakfast means you can immediately break the rules.”
“Eve Teacher won’t think like that, right? Right, Teacher?”
Sua looked at me with sparkling eyes.
I slowly shook my head while chewing on my bread.
“Harp is right.”
“Ah, even you, Teacher?!”
Sua held her head in her hands, feeling wronged, but somehow, it didn’t seem like she was truly hurt. It looked more like she was just pouting.
“Sigh, I really worked hard though. Teacher, aren’t you being too cold?”
“That doesn’t mean we can change the rules.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
Sua pouted one last time and mumbled softly under her breath.
After that, she didn’t protest further.
A brief silence fell over the table.
Perhaps sensing my discomfort, both of them continued eating quietly.
‘Finally, peace has come…’
I let out a sigh of relief in my mind and continued eating the rest of my food.
And so, the meal ended quietly.
“I’ll do the dishes, Teacher!”
Sua raised her hand as she started cleaning the table.
I nodded, feeling tired.
I can’t believe I’m this tired just from eating breakfast…
Just as I was contemplating whether I should take a nap in the bedroom, I heard a knock at the door.
Knock knock.
“Who is it?”
As soon as I opened the door, I heard a familiar voice.
“It’s me, Alex.”
Standing at the door was our eternal baldy, Alex, looking quite different from last night, with a refreshed expression, bathed in the morning sunlight.
“Uncle? You’re here really early?”
“Yeah. I was worried about you, Eve, so I came early. Nothing happened last night, did it? Like Sua trying to attack you or something?”
“…You’re being really specific. Don’t worry, nothing like that happened. Oh, how’s Ellie? Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. Full of energy. She hit me with a ‘smash’ on my back as soon as the sun came up.”
Alex chuckled lightly and shrugged his shoulders.
“By the way, did you eat breakfast?”
“I just ate.”
“That’s a shame.”
Alex gave a playful smile as he continued.
“Don’t you want to know why I’m here?”
“Did you come to fix the bathroom?”
Alex nodded proudly, a smug look on his face.
“Correct! I’ve put it off twice already, so I’m going to fix it once and for all.”
“…Okay.”
“Sorry about this. I know it must have been bothering you for a while.”
Alex made an awkward expression and scratched his cheek.
Of course, my cheek.
“What are you doing, Uncle?”
I stared at him, trying to pull my face away.
But Alex’s hand moved even faster.
His hand lightly pinched my cheek, as if trying to feel the soft texture.
I grabbed his huge hand and pulled it away, saying firmly.
“Uncle, my cheek is not there for you to touch!”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“That’s disappointing…”
“…What’s disappointing about it?”
I puffed out my cheeks, as if I were upset.
Only then did Alex seem to realize he had hurt my feelings and started apologizing.
“Sorry. But honestly, it’s so soft, I just wanted to touch it.”
“Sorry, but please stop. My cheek fat will start sagging at this rate.”
Hehe…
“Stop with the perverted laugh, too.”
Jeez.
They say you become like the people you hang around with, but to me, both the hero and Uncle seem equally ridiculous.
I just had a pretty rude thought there, didn’t I?”
“Eve…”
“Uh, no, not at all.”
Gasp.