Chapter Fifty-Three: Her Room
After that, Alman brought up the matter of the tomato sauce with Evelia again; he still hadn’t had the chance to deal with the box of tomato sauce that was temporarily placed in his office.
To address Alman’s confusion, Evelia decided to take him to her room. Although it was considered impolite to casually visit a woman’s residence, he didn’t refuse since it was an invitation from Evelia and followed her to the dormitory where she currently lived.
“You mean you didn’t take my box because there wasn’t enough room for the tomato sauce?”
“Yes.”
“Hah… how could a normal person think you would buy so much…”
Alman looked at Evelia’s room and was momentarily at a loss for words at the sight of piles of tomato sauce boxes, not knowing how to express his astonishment.
Each box of tomato sauce had its own number, with clear labels indicating the date, usage, and suitable flavor profiles for various dishes. Evelia had even organized a chart hanging on the wall so that she could find the specific box of tomato sauce she wanted at any time.
Evelia’s room was entirely filled with red, except for the window that allowed some light in.
Below that window, Alman spotted the blue roses. Though most of them were withered, it was clear that Evelia had once taken great care of them, even attempting to save them.
“Not completely dead yet.”
Alman walked over and gently peeled away the shriveled petals one by one, revealing the few remaining blue blooms. Although they looked a little bare, they seemed to hint at a rebirth beneath the ashes.
“Can they survive?”
Evelia curiously followed him, crushing the dried leaves between her fingers.
“If properly pruned and grafted, they might survive, but these clearly don’t stand a chance.”
As he spoke, Alman examined the cross-section of the rose roots; they were neatly cut, indicating someone skilled with a knife had done the pruning. That knife was sharp enough to effortlessly slice a throat.
Evelia noticed the hesitation on Alman’s face when he saw the cross-section, but she didn’t draw attention to it. Instead, she prepared tea for him, serving it as a gracious host would.
“Thank you.”
Alman took the cup of red tea, thinking it was black tea, and didn’t think much of it. After all, he had the ability to resist toxins; he could easily digest anything—even poison—
“Pfft—?!”
After just a sip, he immediately spat out the “tea” without hesitation.
What kind of tea is this?
Ah, wait, it does have a hint of tea flavor.
But the stronger flavors belonged to the tomato sauce.
The acidity and sweetness of the tomato sauce, combined with the bitterness and astringency of the tea, formed a taste that Alman’s brain couldn’t comprehend.
“What’s wrong, Mr. Alman?”
Meanwhile, Evelia was sipping a drink that had the same flavor as the tomato tea in Alman’s hand. From her expression, she seemed to find nothing wrong with its taste.
“…no… uh… what is this…”
“Tomato sauce tea.”
“It really is tomato sauce…”
“Of course.” Evelia replied to Alman casually, “Don’t you think tomato sauce and black tea make for a marvelous combination?”
“It’s indeed strange… but how is it marvelous?”
“Don’t you think it tastes great?”
Evelia’s words made Alman glance again at the tomato sauce tea glowing red in his hand. He swallowed hard—not out of thirst, but fear. Just from that one sip, he decided never to touch this thing again in his life.
“Is there something strange about your cup?”
Noticing that Alman still hadn’t accepted her beloved tomato sauce tea, Evelia leaned closer to him. She took his wrist with her small hand and, holding the cup of tomato sauce tea with his grip, pressed her lips against it, taking big gulps.
“Isn’t this delicious?”
“Huh?”
For the first time, Alman was not focused on Evelia being so close, but rather on what was going on with her taste buds.
“Evelia, is something wrong with your tongue?”
Why does she always come up with so many dark culinary experiments that can be classified as tomato sauce? He vividly remembered that time when she made tomato and egg soup, which was nothing more than a perfectly peeled egg floating in a big pot of thick tomato sauce.
“Tongue?” Evelia asked, opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out at Alman. As she said the latter part of her sentence, she sounded a bit unclear:
“Liu shuo men ti ma? (Is there a problem?)”
“No… I didn’t mean that…”
Seeing Evelia sticking her tongue out at him, Alman felt the atmosphere turn strange. Her agile little tongue curled playfully as it extended, and the tip slightly lifted, making Alman feel a bit tingly.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my tongue.” Evelia retracted her tongue and said, “Would you like to try?”
“Wh—what do you mean try?”
“What else?”
“Just take a look.”
“Would you like to see?” Evelia said, extending her tongue again.
“What do you want me to look at?”
“Why won’t you accept it? Tomato sauce is really delicious.”
Evelia had already finished her tomato sauce tea, so she poured herself another cup. Watching her sip it happily, Alman started to think about trying it again. However, glancing at the half-full cup of tomato sauce tea on the table, he shook his head and dismissed the curiosity that could lead him into trouble.
Then, while Evelia was busy preparing tea again, Alman took a moment to survey the room. Even though Evelia was a close maid with a high position in the manor, her room couldn’t possibly be more luxurious than his. It was considerably smaller and had a very simple style. However, compared to the small dormitories of other maids, it was more akin to a livable space—though not large, it was just right for Evelia to live alone.
Alman looked at the wall; aside from that chart for the tomato sauce, there was nothing else posted. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder-like demeanor made her room exceptionally tidy; every item had a designated place.
This room had been allocated and arranged by Alman himself. If there were any changes, he would have noticed immediately, but Evelia hadn’t modified much. Most items were still in their original places, although it appeared she had slightly altered the size of the cabinet to better accommodate the tomato sauce.
He didn’t see any hidden mechanisms…
This visit to Evelia’s room seemed to be an obligatory acceptance of Evelia’s invitation, but in reality, he was here to see if she had made any “unauthorized modifications.”
“Mr. Alman.”
Just as he intended to continue examining other details, Evelia approached him, holding an already deflated tomato sauce packaging.
“Hmm? What’s up, Evelia?”
Alman withdrew his gaze, no longer staring too intently at the corners of the room. He watched Evelia come toward him and hand him the tomato sauce.
“Please give it a try.”
“Hmm?” Alman took the tomato sauce package, examining it. It looked completely ordinary, almost too ordinary for Evelia to present it.
“This is…”
“Tomato sauce, one of my preferred flavors.”
Upon hearing it was Evelia’s favorite flavor, Alman instinctively recoiled.
“Please try it, it’s quite good. This is the leftover from making tomato sauce candy apples; it would be a waste to throw it away. Give it a taste.”
…Tomato sauce candy apples?
The strange dish generated an odd image in Alman’s mind. Could it be that the candy apple, when bitten into, contained a burst of tomato sauce inside?
That seemed a bit terrifying…
As Alman imagined that so-called tomato sauce candy apple, Evelia remained expressionless but kept looking at him with an extremely sincere gaze. Seeing her earnestness, Alman’s heart softened, and he reluctantly brought the deflated tomato sauce to his lips, squeezing out a bit for a taste.
“Uh… so sour…”
The unexpected acidity sent a shiver down Alman’s spine; he, who generally preferred milder flavors, found it difficult to handle something so intensely stimulating. He could only stick out his tongue and return the tomato sauce to Evelia.
“…”
Evelia looked at the tomato sauce that had been returned to her and then at Alman, who was grimacing from the sourness, reluctantly taking it back.
It seemed she really didn’t want to waste the leftover tomato sauce. After Alman, she proceeded to clean out the remaining tomato sauce from the package.
Watching Evelia unapologetically licking the spot where she had just bitten with eagerness to extract the last bit of tomato sauce—her cheeks even caving in as she did so—Alman’s expression turned odd.
“Um, Evelia, don’t you mind?”
“Mind?” Evelia replied, looking at Alman while chewing on the tomato sauce. “What should I mind?”
“…Where I just bit…”
“What’s the problem with that?”
While saying this, Evelia took a strong sip, swallowing the last drop of tomato sauce. Afterward, she licked her lips and fingers, turning to Alman and saying, “I’ve been drinking straight from this package all along anyway. You don’t mind, do you? It’s meant for me.”
With that, Evelia turned to search for a wastebasket. After saying that, Alman felt even more awkward and subconsciously started rubbing his ears.
“…Evelia… you really are…”
