Chapter 70

***

“Miss Melody can’t bring herself to use the green ink because it’s too pretty, isn’t that right?”

“Uh…?”

That was news to him. He hadn’t realized that even Melody, as frugal as she was, had preferences.

“Isn’t she just fond of picking up expensive ink?”

“Miss Melody prefers the color that the ink emits rather than its price.”

“What…? So she’s not just frugal.”

“Pardon?”

“No, never mind. Anyway, throw these away but… not too far. It’s cold outside.”

If it’s somewhere close, like the garden’s trash bin, Melody might rummage through it if she knows there’s pretty ink there.

“And.”

Ronny decided to ask the servant, who seemed to know quite a bit about Melody, one more thing.

“What does she like? I mean food-wise.”

“Miss Melody?”

“Yeah, I’m not asking out of curiosity. It’s just for the party preparation. It’s necessary to know the likes and dislikes of the attendees, right?”

He added that somewhat defensively. Fortunately, the servant didn’t seem to read too much into Ronny’s curiosity.

“Well, doesn’t Miss Melody eat anything and everything?”

“I thought so.”

Typical frugal taste. As long as it fills the stomach, it’s good enough.

Ronny wrote ‘Melody, anything.’ in his party preparation notebook and nodded in satisfaction.

***

That evening, Melody had a strange experience during dinner.

For some reason, Ronny kept looking at her, with a face that seemed to be analyzing something.

‘Did he dislike the story about me picking up ink bottles that much?’

Melody tried to ignore his gaze and finished her meal.

The problem was that the persistent gaze continued the next day, and not just during meals but even when she was having snacks.

Even Melody, who was unfamiliar with noble etiquette, knew one thing: it’s a huge breach of manners to stare at someone while they’re eating.

‘But why?’

To solve this mystery, Melody asked a maid for some warm milk.

She planned to take it to Ronny and subtly probe for the reason.

When she entered the parlor, which he recently used like an office, he was, as usual, seated at his desk, busily writing something.

Melody tiptoed closer and quietly placed the milk beside him.

“Young Master.”

“Ahh?!”

Ronny hastily covered the paper he was reading with both arms and barely managed to turn his head to look at her.

“You’re supposed to knock before entering!”

“I did. But there was no response.”

“Then you should have not come in!”

“I’ll leave then. It would be a waste if the milk got cold.”

“Typical frugality…”

He clicked his tongue briefly and stuck out his chin, a clear sign for her to leave.

“You seem very busy.”

“Yeah, really busy because of you. Oops.”

Ronny inadvertently let the words slip and wished he could take them back, though he knew he couldn’t.

“Did I make you busy, Young Master?”

“What, that’s nonsense. Don’t get the wrong idea. At the party, someone like you… Oops.”

“The party?”

By now, Ronny wanted to cry. He had wanted to keep the fact that he was preparing for the party a secret until a certain time. Especially from Melody and Loretta.

He momentarily buried his face between his arms, which were covering the paper.

“Well, actually.”

Melody quietly spoke to him. It seemed like Melody was the one being considerate, even though it was Ronny who had made the slip.

“I don’t want to bother you, Young Master. If my presence is a discomfort, I’ll hide in a corner during the party.”

“What are you talking about?!”

Ronny was shocked and quickly stood up. Was Melody misunderstanding something?

“You’re worried I’ll stand out in the eyes of the guests of the ducal party.”

“Do I look like that kind of person to you?!”

“Isn’t that why you’ve been staring at me so fiercely every day?”@@novelbin@@

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Ronny, exasperated, opened the notebook he had been covering and showed it to Melody.

It contained everything Melody had eaten, listed by date and time, including the order she ate them in.

“…?”

Why had he organized all this?

As Melody looked puzzled, Ronny slumped into the chair and crossed one leg over the other arrogantly.

“The mystery is all solved.”

“I didn’t give any mystery.”

“You did!”

He yelled, shaking the open notebook aggressively.

“Why can’t you properly express what you like! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is for someone preparing for a party?!”

“Well.”

“I’m going to host a party that will amaze everyone. And that ‘everyone’ includes you.”

“Thank you for that. And I generally like anything…”

“Don’t joke, you grew up frugally so you dare not have preferences. But don’t worry. I’ve figured everything out about you now.”

“Figured out?”

As she cautiously asked, Ronny smirked confidently.

“You, you keep the ink you like without using it, hoarding it like ant food, right?”

“How did you know?”

“There are plenty of servants here who serve as my eyes and ears. Frugally obtained ink being used frugally.”

He let out a low chuckle, ‘huhuhu’, like the protagonist of a detective novel he once read.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from history, it’s that human nature applies the same across all areas.”

That was exactly why he had been carefully observing Melody’s eating order.

“You’re the type who saves and hoards what you like, eating it last!”

“No, not at all.”

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Ronny stood up abruptly and approached Melody, as if to confront her.

“You always leave the meat till the last, cutting it into incredibly small pieces to savor! And yet, you chewed it at least 10 times more than other foods!”

The meat served in the ducal house is prepared to be very tender. There’s only one reason she’d chew it so thoroughly.

“You’re extremely frugal! You wanted to keep even the tiniest bit of your favorite meat in your mouth for longer!”

“…!”

Melody was so taken aback by the accuracy of his statement that she couldn’t say a word.

“Moreover, according to the chef’s notes, the ducal house serves food considering the balance between meat and vegetables. You may not have complaints about vegetables, but you definitely crave meat more.”

He looked at Melody with a ‘see?’ expression.

Melody somehow felt a shadow of Claude in that smug face. Brothers are indeed brothers.

“I… I like vegetables and meat equally.”

“Oh, is that so? Then it means you wouldn’t mind if your plate is filled only with vegetables at the party, right?”

“Well, if it’s just vegetables… I would.”

“You liar. You’ve ignored my sincerity!”

“What? How did you come to that conclusion?!”

“I’ve been desperately trying to figure out what you like, and all you do is deny it.”

That was quite a logical statement from Ronny, leaving Melody with no room for rebuttal.

“I’m sorry.”

“Fine, I’ll accept your apology. Now tell me what you really like.”

“Uh.”

Although she felt somewhat uncomfortable, Melody realized she couldn’t escape any longer and decided to be honest.

“The truth is, it’s not that I unconditionally love meat.”

“What?!”

“That…”

Melody didn’t particularly like meat before coming here.

The small pieces were just tough, often getting stuck between her teeth, and somewhat fishy.

But the moment she encountered the large pieces of meat at the ducal house.

She realized that the meat she had been eating before wasn’t true meat.

“I, I like…”

Melody cautiously voiced a desire she had always harbored.

“Large chunks of… melt-in-your-mouth meat.”

See. I knew it, Ronny snorted.

“How big?”

Faced with a more specific question, Melody hesitantly held out her small fist.

“About this much…”

“You’re joking.”

That’s the usual amount served in the ducal house.

“You cut it into tiny pieces to eat. You want to stuff a huge chunk in your mouth and chew on it!”

“I didn’t say that much!”

“But you thought about it, didn’t you!”

“…!”

Unable to refute, Ronny let out a sly laugh. Indeed, the results of observation don’t mix with falsehoods.

“Look forward to it.”

He snapped the notebook shut and stood up from his seat again.

“I’ll serve you the biggest piece of meat you’ve ever seen on a plate. You’ll have to stuff your small mouth until it almost bursts.”

“Young Master…!”

Melody’s gaze began to twinkle as she looked at him. Of course, it was a gaze filled with anticipation, something Ronny had recently been longing to see.

“Seriously. What am I doing…”

He brushed his hair back unnecessarily.

It seems the ducal house can’t do without me after all.