Chapter 16 Evelia’s Strategy Notes
After learning that Alman had finally returned from the Royal Palace to the Manor, Evelia decided to implement her planned strategy.
— The first step in Evelia’s strategy notes is to become a sweet, beautiful maid to capture a man’s heart.
“Master~ Welcome back❤️”
“…?”
When Alman pushed open his bedroom door upon returning to the Manor, he was greeted by Evelia standing inside. Although she wasn’t doing anything improper, the heart symbol directly aimed at his face left him momentarily stunned, resulting in a questioning expression.
Strangely, even as Evelia spoke such sweet words, her expression remained unchanged, and her tone was devoid of emotion, as if a heart-shaped stone coldly stuck to his face.
…My face really hurts.
Stared at by Evelia with that expression, Alman instinctively rubbed his cheek.
After casually closing the door, Alman sat down at the lunch table that Evelia had already prepared. As the lord of the Manor, his food was always ready, so even though he returned later than planned, his meal had remained at its most delicious.
“Master, are we going to eat now❤️”
Another heart-shaped symbol slammed into Alman’s face.
“Evelia, what are you…”
“Of course, it’s to assist the master with his meal~❤️”
That was the third one.
Oblivious to Alman’s strange expression, Evelia lifted the lid off the lunch, revealing the familiar nutritious dishes, but alongside those visually appealing foods was a bowl of dark, mushy soup.
— The second step in Evelia’s strategy notes is to become a considerate girl.
Since Alman had a stomach ailment, she aimed to take good care of his appetite and heal his condition. For this, Evelia deliberately sought the guidance of the esteemed old chef in the kitchen and concocted this medicinal soup under his instruction.
To emphasize that it was made by the maid herself, she thoughtfully placed a heart-shaped dried herb leaf on top, which wouldn’t affect the efficacy of the medicine.
However, since most medicinal leaves were dry, this dark gray, shriveled heart shape placed on the black, witch-like cursed potion-like soup added a peculiar flavor.
The heart shape seemed to be slightly broken…
“This…”
Just by smelling it, Alman was all too familiar with the scent; this was a medicine he often took to treat his stomach issues.
Not only did it smell bad and look unappetizing, but it also had an unpleasant texture. In terms of taste, it was devoid of any appealing qualities, yet it covered all five basic tastes of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, making it a horrific concoction that encapsulated the struggles of life with just one sip.
It could be said that this was the only food Alman was picky about; for him, drinking this soup was akin to facing a punishment.
If someone were to ask what this tasted like, even the dignified leader of the Knight Order wouldn’t dare drink it. Alman would find himself at a loss for words to describe what this soup was truly like since it stuck in his throat, and drinking too much water would nullify its medicinal properties, leaving him constantly aware of that strange taste, rendering him barely able to speak.
During those days of frequent medication, his knights would watch their commander, unable to open his mouth without discomfort, joking that “this guy must have been silenced after discovering something monumental.”
Moreover, medicinal substances have their own toxicity; Alman himself had a body impervious to poison, so the effects of such medicine had negligible impact on him. The thought of having ingested so much of this medicine yet yielding no results only made him feel further tortured by drinking it.
“Master❤️, open your mouth, ah—”
Just as Alman reminisced about his painful history, Evelia had already lifted the bowl of soup, presenting a blackened spoon to him like a feeding gesture. A hefty spoonful of the gooey substance dangled from the edge, looking as if it wanted to plummet into hell yet was being held back.
— The third part of Evelia’s strategy notes: Feeding play.
Tenderly bringing delectable (?) food to her master’s mouth, her fingers slightly arched to accentuate her slender, fair hands, and her bending posture just right for him to see her beautiful collarbones along with the subtle curves and gaps hidden beneath the maid outfit’s bow tie, a hint of white lace from her underwear could even be glimpsed.
“I mean, Evelia… shouldn’t we eat the meal first before the medicine…?”
Alman awkwardly leaned back, unsure what purpose this intimate dialogue and somewhat rigid action from Evelia had.
That was a spoonful of medicine that could easily be pixelated, as well as the dry, black heart that dissolved in the soup. Though he was battle-hardened, this psychologically terrifying concoction still sent chills down his spine.
“Ah— Master❤️, quickly open your mouth and eat it.”
However, Evelia seemed resolute; all the preliminaries for feeding play were prepared, and her hand was raised, so there was no way she wouldn’t get Alman to take a bite.
“But, Evelia…”
“Ah—”
“Evelia… stop messing around, this stuff—”
“Ah~~~”
“……”
— Is this girl trying to poison me here? Is she unable to sit still that quickly? But luckily I have resistance to toxins; capturing her fox tail with this matter isn’t impossible.
Thinking this, Alman bravely opened his mouth.
— I knew it; with my ability, I can make her fall for me, and now she’s starting to accept me. Next, I will definitely entice him.
With this in mind, Evelia brought the medicine to Alman’s mouth.
The moment his tongue made contact with that piece of hell, all of Alman’s taste buds seemed to engage in a never-ending world war in his mouth. He instinctively opened his mouth to spit it out, only to be met with Evelia’s hand covering his mouth.
“Guwu—?!”
“This is for your own good, Master; you must eat it all❤️”
— She really wants to kill me, huh?!
While Alman plotted how to gather information from her, Evelia was focused on serving her master to ensure he filled his stomach, convincing him that even if the medicine was bitter, he must endure and finish it for his own benefit.
After a grueling ordeal, Alman finally managed to swallow that small bowl of soup. He could have avoided such suffering by taking it in increments, but Evelia’s forceful feeding made it unbearably painful, even to the point where he couldn’t articulate a word.
“You did great, Master❤️,” Evelia said emotionlessly, patting Alman’s head with a heart symbol. “You need to work hard again tomorrow❤️.”
Having said that, Evelia left with the plate, believing that Alman was in a state unfit for a proper lunch now.
And there was Alman, clutching his mouth, looking as if his soul might fly away at any moment, surrounded by heart-shaped stone bricks that made it difficult to breathe.
— I must have left a deep impression in his heart.
Walking down the corridor with the plate, Evelia felt that she was one step closer to success.
However, she was still a bit curious about what this medicinal soup tasted like that could lead to such difficulty for someone like Alman.
She tried licking the spoon still coated with the medicine, and after the taste exploded on her tongue, her respect for Alman, who had managed to consume an entire bowl of it, could be summed up in four words.
— Profound respect.
