Ch.153153 – The Moment It Becomes Sincere

<153 – The Moment of Becoming Sincere>

1.

Isabelle didn’t like the butler in the tailcoat.

First of all, his face was intimidating.

His body was also disturbing due to the excessively developed muscles that seemed inappropriate for an ordinary butler.

As for his aura, he was frightening and menacing enough to be mistaken for a henchman, no, an executive of an evil organization.

‘His mouth is smiling, but his eyes definitely aren’t.’

The difference was stark even when compared to Giselle, who also always wore a smile.

Isabelle realized that the difference lay in consideration.

Giselle always cared about how her face appeared to others.

She knew that a contradictory expression—smiling with the mouth but not with the eyes—created discomfort in others.

So Giselle smiled with her eyes too.

To ease the tension of others and make the atmosphere more gentle.

Jona Wiheomhae.

The man Oknodie introduced as her butler was different.

A face that smiled with the mouth but not with the eyes.

Did he not know how his face appeared?

That couldn’t be.

Look at that intimidating face and developed physique.

No matter how oblivious one might be, growing up seeing people flinch around you would naturally make you aware.

How others would perceive this expression, what effect this expression could have.

‘He’s doing this deliberately, knowing full well.’

That man was clearly exercising intimidation.

Even toward her, Oknodie’s friend.

Toward other students.

Toward the guardians of the senior students.

“A student from the frontier? Hmm, well, you’ve lived diligently at least.”

“Honer FriedChicken. I don’t think it’s likely, but I hope you haven’t been fraternizing with those country bumpkins from the frontier?”

She didn’t like the senior class guardians either.

All of them were high nobles or high-ranking officials.

They openly looked down on the frontier.

Disrespecting guardians from the frontier was just a bonus.

Yet these arrogant people, while showing their discomfort toward the intimidating butler, didn’t directly mock or criticize him.

It was evident they were being cautious not to get involved with him by mistake.

“The Wiheomhae Foundation must be quite something. Even the Empire’s three great meritorious families are cautious around them.”

Tension rose at Giselle’s words.

This dangerous man.

For some reason, he was watching her and Son Ocheon.

It didn’t bode well.

Jona approached as soon as the homeroom lecture ended.

“Everyone, say hello! This is Butler Jona!”

Thanks to Oknodie’s eager introduction, they ended up exchanging greetings.

Son Ocheon, sensitive to killing intent, didn’t show his usual playfulness and was clutching the staff on his back with one hand, his face tense.

“There’s no need to be so tense. I am a representative of the Wiheomhae Foundation. Our foundation is an organization with childcare services that provide opportunities for underprivileged children to grow, and scholarship programs that help them enter advanced educational institutions.”

“We know what you do to your scholarship students.”

“Isabelle?”

“Stay out of this, Oknodie.”

“Little mouse, listen to Isabelle here.”

Isabelle nodded slightly to Son Ocheon in gratitude.

She then confronted Jona directly.

“Do you think we’d look favorably on a foundation that turns prospective scholarship students into prostitutes or slaves if they don’t follow training, and uses scholarship students for experiments or terrorism if they don’t perform well?”

Oknodie, whose large ears were covered by Son Ocheon’s hands, looked puzzled as if floating a question mark above his head.

Despite his expressive face showing the tension dissipating, the atmosphere flowing between Isabelle and Jona was extremely dangerous.

“It seems there’s a misunderstanding.”

“Explain yourself if you can.”

“Our young lady is a top scholarship student. She is the greatest talent with unprecedented abilities in the foundation’s history. How could we not cherish and care for such a young lady?”

“…Is that all?”

“However, I do have complaints about her social circle. Having weak humans like you around will only cause our young lady to experience the sorrow of losing companions.”

She hadn’t expected a proper explanation.

She didn’t think they were that kind of organization anyway.

But she hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

“You should have something else to say. That’s how it should be. Why aren’t you denying what you’ve done!”

She had hoped he would deny it.

Deny that they threatened to turn prospective scholarship students into prostitutes or slaves.

Deny that they used students for experiments or terrorism if they didn’t perform well.

Deny that they were such an evil organization.

She had hoped it was all a misunderstanding.

Jona didn’t deny any allegations.

He only threatened in return.

Stay away if you don’t want to lose your life.

Don’t be a nuisance.

“Take note. As of today, by the judgment of me, ‘Jona Wiheomhae,’ a foundation representative, you have become obstacles to ‘Oknodie,’ an important person to the foundation.”

“You think we’ll yield to such threats? You’re the ones who should be prepared. We will definitely free Oknodie from the clutches of your evil foundation.”

As Isabelle was about to lash out more with an agitated face, Giselle grabbed her forearm.

“Why are you stopping me? You know too! What they’ve done to Oknodie…!”

“Now is not the time. Look over there.”

Giselle pointed to where Son Ocheon was covering Oknodie’s ears.

“No, this little mouse! Don’t use your strength!”

“Why are you having secret conversations without me! I want to hear too!”

“Ow! My wrist hurts, you punk. Don’t grab my bones!”

Oknodie was struggling with all her might to remove Son Ocheon’s hands, causing him to groan as his arms trembled.

This was as far as they could raise their voices in front of Oknodie.

“You don’t know what our foundation is capable of.”

“Just more dirty tricks, I’m sure.”

“If you don’t want to experience those dirty tricks firsthand, stay away from our young lady. This verbal warning is the last.”

Jona turned to leave after his warning.

“Ah, wait for me!”

“I apologize, but I believe the visit should end here. Until our next meeting, I wish you good health, young lady.”

“Heeeng. You’re leaving already? Stay a little longer.”

Isabelle felt a huge wall as she watched Oknodie push Son Ocheon away and run to circle around Jona, whining.

This affectionate side that she hadn’t shown even to Isabelle, who had been building rapport by cooking for her every day.

Oknodie was quite dependent on that man.

Emotionally.

Probably from a very young age.

There must have been education bordering on brainwashing.

Today’s events confirmed it.

The foundation was exactly the organization they thought it was.

I can’t forgive the foundation or that man.

Her resolve grew stronger as she welcomed Oknodie, who was returning alone with slumped shoulders.

* *

Jona had left.

She had wanted to introduce him to other professors too.

Regrettably, he said he had to leave because one visitation ticket wasn’t enough time.

“Can’t you steal tickets from someone who has a lot?”

“Unfortunately, now is not a good time. Next time, I will definitely prepare plenty of tickets by any means necessary, young lady.”

“Promise?”

Jona nodded.

It was reassuring because he was a man who always kept his promises.

She was already looking forward to next month.

“Then see you next time, Jona! Be sure to send my regards to Leaf too!”

After seeing Jona off, she headed to the taste cultivation lecture hall where Isabelle and Giselle were waiting.

“Did you say goodbye to your butler well?”

“It’s so disappointing. Others could have spent a whole day if they came to the academy early in the morning, but I only got to spend half a day with him…”

“But we are here with you. We all care for Oknodie equally. We’ll take care of you in place of your butler.”

“Pfft. Uncle Giselle wants to be a butler? That was funny, but it’s absolutely impossible, so give up!”

Giselle showed curiosity.

“Is the role of a butler that difficult?”

“Of course! Jona grants whatever I ask for.”

“Just hearing that makes you sound like a spoiled young lady.”

“But that’s what a butler is supposed to be, right? Someone who gives you whatever you whine for.”

“…At times like this, I’m reminded that Oknodie is indeed a nobleman’s daughter.”

“No, that’s not it. The foundation may be a bit wealthy, but it’s not enough to be called nobility.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s no food named after us as a mascot!”

Titosoga, who had been waiting in front of the lecture hall and eavesdropping, suddenly joined in.

“I’ve been wondering about that for a while. Why do all the human nobles living beyond the mountains have food names as their surnames?”

“When the Demon King of Famine was at the height of his power, there was no food as we know it in the demon-occupied territories. So they created special dishes with locally sourced ingredients during their subjugation campaign, and they use food surnames to honor the achievements of the first-generation nobles!”

“Huh. There was such an impressive origin.”

“But these days, it’s just a trend that all nobles use food surnames, so they first create a new food and then name it after the noble!”

“Oknodie, does that mean I could become a noble too if I create a new dish?”

Oknodie grinned.

“Why not! If you develop a new dish to add to the food compendium, you can receive noble status in any country depending on its versatility and grade.”

“How do you know all this, Oknodie?”

“Well… this is a secret, don’t tell anyone, okay? I’m planning to develop a dish myself if I ever need a noble title!”

As the conversation drifted, the atmosphere improved, and Isabelle, who had been listening quietly, showed shock in her eyes.

“Oknodie. You can cook?”

“Ah.”

Oknodie awkwardly looked around and then laughed nervously.

“It’s not like I was just too lazy to cook myself and only ate what others made! Isabelle’s cooking was delicious.”

“How could this be…”

“Isabelle…? Are you angry?”

Isabelle’s hands trembled with shock.

Oknodie could cook.

She didn’t feel betrayed.

She had realized something important.

She had been confident.

Confident that Oknodie wouldn’t leave her side because she liked the food she made.

That she would protect Oknodie from the foundation’s evil temptations through the power of food.

She had even taken pride in it.

But if Oknodie could cook?

Then it didn’t matter if she was there or not.

Oknodie could leave her side anytime.

‘I need to get stronger. Much stronger than now.’

She clenched her trembling hands into fists and resolved.

She would improve her cooking skills to the point where Oknodie wouldn’t even think of cooking for herself.

It was the moment when cooking, which had remained simply in the realm of hobby, became a sincere pursuit.