Bonus Short Stories
A Third Day with Olivia and Ashton
The Dining Area at the Ashcrow Inn
“How’s it taste?”
“It’s all delicious!”
For the first time in a long while, Ashton was cooking, having rented out the kitchen at the Ashcroft Inn. What he cooked couldn’t go to waste, but he tended to stuff himself as he tasted everything.
And so, he had requested the presence of Olivia and her bottomless stomach.
“I knew about the mustard, but Ashton, you’re a really good cook,” she said, smiling at him as she popped a piece of potato into her mouth.
“I don’t know about that,” he replied, “but my mother did teach me a fair bit.”
“Your mom, huh?”
“She’d tell me, ‘Cooking’s an essential skill for Senefelder men.’ The Senefelder Company mostly trades foodstuff, so it’s not that I don’t see where she was coming from, but even so...”
“Don’t you like cooking?”
“Not back then, I didn’t. I mean, all my friends were having fun waving their wooden swords around. Of course I didn’t.”
Olivia listened as Ashton talked, chiming in from time to time to show she was paying attention while continuously reaching for more food. The contents of plate after plate disappeared into her stomach.
This isn’t competitive eating. Would it kill her to savor it a bit more? Ashton thought. Just then, he saw Claudia coming down the stairs in her nightie. Her damp hair and pink cheeks told him she’d just come from the bath. He felt his own face growing hot.
“Whatever you’re eating there looks good,” Claudia said to Olivia.
“Yeah, it’s amazing.”
Ashton said, “Would you like some too, Lieutenant Claudia? No promises it’ll be any good, though.”
“You made this, Ashton?” Claudia asked, peering at the food. Ashton found himself staring directly at her chest and blushed furiously.
“Y-Yes, that’s right. I hadn’t cooked in a while and I suddenly felt like it.”
“Huh...” Claudia said contemplatively. “Well, I’m not that hungry, but seeing as you’ve cooked, don’t mind if I do.” Taking an empty chair, she began to eat with impeccable manners.
“How is it?”
“It’s very good,” Claudia said. “I think you could make it as a real chef.”
Ashton scratched his nose to hide his blush at this highest possible compliment from Claudia. “I’ll keep it in mind as an option to look into when we’re at peace again,” he said.
“Good idea... Right!” Claudia leapt to her feet, pushing her sleeves up as she said, “Seeing as you’ve treated us to such a feast, I’d better rustle up something myself.”
Ashton stared at her, taken aback by this unexpected proclamation. “You cook, Lieutenant?”
“Something strange about that?”
“Well, yes. I always thought nobles stayed out of the kitchen, as a rule.”
“That’s because it’s usually the servants’ job.”
“But not you, Lieutenant Claudia?”
“You’ll find there are all sorts of nobles,” Claudia said, humming as she headed for the kitchen. When she was gone, Olivia stood up. She looked flustered.
“Where are you going?” Ashton asked.
“I’m, um, I’m full so I’m going back to my room.”
“You’re full...? I didn’t cook that much.” If this amount of food were enough to fill Olivia up, it would shatter the foundations of his world. It wouldn’t even make a good joke.
“Even so, I’m full.”
“You don’t look unwell either...” Ashton said. “Lieutenant Claudia’s going to the trouble of cooking us something. Stop being like that and have a bite of it, at least.”
Olivia slammed her fists down on the table and shouted with staggering vehemence, “Absolutely not!”
“Absolutely not...?” Ashton repeated. “You’re so weird.”
“Whatever. I’m off!” With a last glance at the kitchen as though it scared her for some reason, Olivia dashed away up the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her. Soon after, Ashton heard a door slam shut.
“What a weirdo,” he muttered.
An hour passed.
“What the...?”
Whatever had gone into the food in front of Ashton, it was beyond recognition. Even calling the blackened lumps “food” felt disrespectful. Hand trembling in apprehension, Ashton took a bite.
“Bleargh! This isn’t fit for human consumption! Even animals wouldn’t touch this!”
There was a pause. “Ashton Senefelder.” Claudia flashed him an absolutely top-tier smile. Ashton felt something tighten in his chest.
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