CH 17.2

Not wanting her heart to be seen, Cherryl removed her gaze away from him and brought her attention to the window.

The wonderful scenery in front of her drew admiration.

A vast lake showed itself against the backdrop of a dense forest.

The blue lake spread endlessly as their carriage continued to move.

When the sun began to rise, the clear water broke into a beautiful yet mysterious orange color.

“I’ve never ventured out of the Marquis’ Mansion to go far into the north, so I had no idea this pretty lake existed around here.”

Her hands clasped the window sill as she gazed at the scenery for a while.

Cade, who had been watching her all along, spoke. “Aren’t you hungry, My Lady?”

Cherryl took her eyes off the window and shrugged.

“I’m fine, Your Grace.”

She had eaten some snacks earlier so she didn’t feel hungry at that time.

On the contrary, she had never seen Cade eat or chew anything ever since she met him.

“What about you, Your Grace? Do you eat meals?”

“That’s a strange question. I’m a human being, so I eat as many calories as I need.”

Cherryl wanted to tell him that a normal person wouldn’t have responded like that but she held her tongue.

“But I haven’t seen you eat before. Aren’t you hungry?”

“I don’t feel like eating.”

“How can you not eat?”

She asked back without realizing it.

“I don’t think I can taste them well,” Cade replied casually.

Cherryl covered her lips in disbelief.

So he only drank wine since their first meeting?

Their chef was good at cooking steaks since they weren’t too juicy.

Unfortunately, the Grand Duke didn’t even touch it.

Cherryl had loved both greasy and delicious foods for a long time.

She adored juicy meat dishes and fresh fruit salads.

For desserts, she would prefer gelato and layered honey cake.

The mere thought of food made her mouth water.

“It’s too bad you don’t know the joy of eating, Your Grace.”

What did he usually eat, then?

Cherryl stopped talking for fear that curiosity might kill the cat.

“What kind of food do you like, Your Grace?”

“Nothing.” Cade replied bluntly.

‘Oh my god.’

If someone asked her the same question, she would have uttered twenty responses without hesitation.

“What kind of food do you usually eat?” She asked again as if she was on a blind date.

Instead of answering, Cade rummaged something out of his inner pocket and showed it to her.

Cherryl observed the mysterious beige object in silence

“What is that? Is that a tree bark, Your Grace?

“It’s protein. It’s designed to be eaten easily while traveling.”

This didn’t look like it was produced from a certain crop or an animal.

‘Of course, you wouldn’t know what good food tastes like after eating something like this!’

That statement was at the tip of Cherryl’s tongue but she decided not to tell him.

She almost asked if it was a cloth as soon as she saw it, but she quickly remembered to be polite and changed it to tree bark.

“Did you only eat those things, Your Grace?”

Cherryl, who enjoyed eating whether she had an appetite or not, found his situation somewhat unfortunate.

“What do you like to eat, Cherryl?”

It was the question she had been waiting for.

Breathing in, she began to unfold her fingers one by one.

“Steak cooked in medium rare. Ragu pasta. Grilled salmon and plum salad. Shrimp with lemon butter. Desserts like tarts, raspberry macaroons, and vanilla pudding. Do you want to know the rest?”

“That’s fine. If you list all of them on paper later, I’ll give it to the chef in Carlsvik.”

“Really? It’s surprising that—- No. You’re as kind as I expected, Your Grace.”

She was thrilled by the unexpected favor.

As soon as she thought about giving him something, Cherryl remembered a snack she had in the pocket of her luggage.

“By the way, I want to give you something.”

After searching through her luggage, she showed him the snack she had on her palm.

It was an addictive sweet-and-sour lemon candy produced from the South that Lucy’s friend had sent from the Capital.

The lemon syrup’s texture in the middle was delicious and as chewy as a jellybean.

Sour + sweet candy + jelly.

“The combination seems a little strange.”

She only brought a few of them since Lucy took care of the rest.

She tried to save it for herself but she wanted to give it to the man who had lost his sense of taste.

She thought it was good to emphasize the taste he hadn’t tried yet.

Cherryl unwrapped the tiny candy for him.

“Would you like to try one?”

“What is this?”

“It’s lemon candy. It has jelly inside and it tastes good.”

Cade’s complexion hardened at once.

Sweet. Sour. Jelly.

Cade couldn’t believe that the three things he hated the most could combine into one thing.

He scrutinized the round candy with suspicion.

It was a yellow-colored object that he didn’t want to see.

However, this was the first gift his future wife had given him.

Cherryl’s blue eyes shone brightly next to him which made the candy even harder to ignore.

Cade picked it up and put it into his mouth to get it over with.

The unpleasant taste had caused frown lines to mar his forehead and the desire to spit out this terrible and evil object immediately soared.

Cherryl lowered her head and her young countenance expressed subtle expectation.

“How does it taste?”