Chapter 94
The skewers bought from the street vendor tasted exactly as expected.
Spicy and sweet, they were so highly addictive that one could eat them endlessly once started.
But that was just a figure of speech; no matter what, a person who could eat that much…
Naturally, he thought there wouldn’t be anyone, but surprisingly, there was.
Needless to say, that person was Yuna.
“Yuna, was the food at the mansion perhaps lacking…?”
Seeing her inhale the food like a vacuum cleaner, Arian asked in bewilderment.
At that, Yuna swallowed what was in her mouth with a gulp and answered.
“Huh? Not really?”
“Then what on earth is the amount you just ate…”
“There’s always a separate stomach for snacks.”
Yuna nodded, adding an mm-hmm-, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Do people usually say that in this kind of situation…?”
He would have understood if she were eating something like sweet cake, but saying that while eating meat skewers was simply baffling.
It was even more so because the amount she ate made him suspect she had a dimensional pocket attached to her stomach.
No matter how he thought about it, it wasn’t an amount a human could eat.
Still, well, it wasn’t particularly surprising.
Because he had already experienced this countless times.
And fortunately, Arian seemed to have adapted well too.
“Ah, I see…”
Arian nodded roughly with glazed-over eyes.
It seemed she had given up on thinking.
As expected, caring about such things was only exhausting, so it could be considered an appropriate reaction.
“Thank you for the meal!”
Having finally finished her meal, Yuna bowed her head to the street vendor.
At that, he likewise bowed his head.
“I should be thanking you. It feels like I’ve burned with enthusiasm for the first time in a while. And I am also glad that you ate so well.”
He had grilled the skewers while sweating profusely to match Yuna’s eating speed, so if that was enthusiasm, it could certainly be called enthusiasm.
And just as he said, Yuna ate so deliciously, to the point where it made anyone watching want to eat too.
If she were to be seen enjoying a dish, it would surely be coveted by all.
Having paused for a moment, Franz’s party left the piled-up wooden skewers behind and set out to tour the village once again.
Franz asked Yuna, who was smiling as if satisfied.
“Yuna, are you satisfied?”
“Yeah, I ate really well.”
Yuna said that and tried to pat her belly heartily as usual.
Just as middle-aged men would pat their bellies with a thumping sound.
But the moment her hand was about to touch her belly, she flinched, stopping herself.
Soon, her gaze, tinged with anxiety, turned toward Franz.
“Franz, do men perhaps dislike this sort of thing…?”
“What sort of thing?”
“You know, like patting your belly like a middle-aged man, lying around, stuff like that.”
“I think it would differ from person to person, but wouldn’t normal men generally dislike it?”
“I-I see…”
Yuna awkwardly clenched and unclenched her hand.
It was because she suddenly felt anxious thinking about how weird she must have looked to Franz all this time.
But Franz himself didn’t think anything of it.
He had seen Yuna like that from the beginning, so he was too used to it to even care.
And while it would depend on the relationship, if they liked each other, something like patting a belly could just be taken as cute.
Even after that, Yuna’s questions continued for quite a while.
“Do you not like women who eat a lot?”
“Well, I haven’t really thought about it. Wouldn’t moderation in everything be good?”
“What about a woman who is active and likes moving around?”
“Isn’t that positive and good? It’s a bit much to just be stuck in a room all the time. Still, if she asked me to go mountain climbing together or something, I might be a bit hesitant.”
“What about a woman with bad sleeping habits?”
“I don’t think it would really matter…”
Just what was she so curious about?
The conversation flowed naturally, so Franz was answering, but he didn’t understand Yuna’s intentions at all.
There was another thing he didn’t know.
The other three, excluding Yuna, were also holding their breath and listening to the conversation.
It was none other than Franz’s taste in women.
They had to engrave it into their minds no matter what.
How long had they walked down the street while conversing like that?
Suddenly, a shop caught Franz’s eye.
“Guys, let’s go over there for a bit.”
At Franz’s words, the group naturally headed there.
Soon, as they opened the door of the shop and entered, the distinct smell of paper wafted out with a whoosh-.
Furthermore, everywhere they turned their heads was filled with books; the place Franz had led everyone to was none other than a bookstore.
“I should take a look just in case.”
The reason Franz, who didn’t particularly have a hobby of reading, specifically sought out a bookstore was to look for books related to magic.
Of course, almost all magic books were stored in the Magic Tower.
All of them, from the very old ones to the recently written ones.
Because that was the very history of magic itself.
However, there might be a magic book hidden in a place like this, so it wouldn’t hurt to check.
“I’m going to see if there’s anything I’m looking for, so you guys look around too.”
Saying that, Franz began to look for magic books.
Fortunately, the bookstore owner had categorized the books by genre, so it didn’t seem like it would take very long.
With Franz gone, the remaining four began to look around the area casually.
None of the four had even the slightest interest in books, so they were just planning to kill time.
It was at that moment.
Yuna, Yusti-ah, Arian.
The gazes of the three turned to one place.
[30 Ways to Seduce a Man.]
A cover with a strangely reddish tint.
A provocative title written in large letters.
It was a book that couldn’t help but catch the eye, but it was also a book that was difficult for a woman to easily pick up.
This was because it was considered vulgar for a woman to seduce a man.
If there was a woman who grabbed such a book, she would definitely be misunderstood as a vulgar woman.
But at this moment, to the three who were more desperate than anyone else, such things didn’t matter.
They only had thoughts of seducing Franz before anyone else and becoming his legal wife.
Tap-.
The hands of the three grabbed the book at the same time.
Looking at each other, they simultaneously flinched in surprise and pulled their hands away.
Because the ones in front of them were clearly rivals in love, and they couldn’t afford to have their weaknesses caught.
If the words “vulgar woman” were to reach Franz’s ears, there was a possibility of being ignored rather than seducing him.
“I almost tripped, so I just grabbed the wrong thing, okay?”
The first to spit out an excuse was Yusti-ah.
Since she held the position of saintess, she couldn’t help but be even more careful.
“O-Of course. I was also just trying to look at the book next to it for a moment, and my hand slipped.”
Following her, Arian also spat out an excuse.
As a noble among nobles, a member of a duke’s family, she couldn’t bring herself to confess honestly.
But there was exactly one person.
Someone who was completely unfazed.
“Really? Then I’ll buy it.”
Yuna said that and pulled the book out.
Nobles might still cling to old-fashioned ideas about what women should do and what men should do, but among Commoners, it was a culture that had disappeared long ago.
Nowadays, it is normal for Commoners to approach first regardless of gender if they like each other, so there is no reason for Yuna to hesitate.
But the other two weren’t going to just stand by and watch.
“Yuna, what are you planning to do with this book right now?”
“The Magic Tower lord said he likes modest women.”
Arian and Yusti-ah, who were always bickering, joined forces for the first time to block Yuna’s atrocity.
If I can’t do it, you can’t either - it was a truly petty thought, but this wasn’t the time to care about such things.
“Well, if I buy a book, I’ll obviously read it, right? And it has nothing to do with Franz, does it?”
“Well, that’s obviously true, but…?”
“S-Still…”
At Yuna’s confident answer, the two couldn’t say anything.
This was because they couldn’t bring themselves to say, 'You’re planning to read this book and pounce on Franz-'.
They shouldn’t act suspicious over something that hadn’t even happened yet.
It was then.
“Hm? Did you find an interesting book or something?”
The most chaotic person ended up being added to the chaotic situation.
Hera appeared, tilting her head with a book in her hand.
“I-It’s nothing. More importantly, Hera, what book are you holding in your hand?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Hera panicked and hid the book behind her back, but everyone had already seen the title of the book.
[I Loved the slave More Than My Lawful Wife.]
A slave over a lawful wife.
It was a title that would truly bring a bloodbath to a family.
But at the same time, it was a book that suited her perfectly.
Meanwhile, Franz, who knew nothing, was just engrossed in looking for books.
Completely unaware of what was going to happen in the future.
Time flowed on, and it was that night.
Franz, who was tired from wandering around the village all day, tried to go straight to bed, but he couldn’t.
Knock, knock…
It was because a knocking sound suddenly rang out.
As Franz raised his body from the bed, a voice was heard from beyond the door at the same time.
“It’s Yusti-ah. May I come in?”
Just what was going on in the middle of the night?
Franz thought that and answered.
“Come in.”