Chapter 13

It’s a bit funny to be disarmed in front of delicious food on a subject that reacted insensitively to anything he said or even to anger.

Leonid opened his mouth as he pushed the roast duck in sauce in front of Ekaterina.

“Didn’t you use your sword? Prosecutors should not be able to slip their hands frequently.”

“I don’t slide very often.”

“Then why?”

“I just have a few things that come to mind.”

Ekaterina held out her fork to the other side of the meat dish Leonid had pushed.

The roasted cherry tomatoes were stuck at the end of the tableware.

“I eat tomatoes, but there are people who don’t eat cherry tomatoes.”

“You have a cute taste.”

“it’s Offenbach successor’s taste.”

“You have a strange taste. Why don’t you eat cherry tomatoes while eating tomatoes?”

“I hate its feeling of popping in my mouth.”

Yekaterina said so and shoved the cherry tomatoes into her mouth.

Then, she took the large piece of meat that Leonid had pushed and began to cut it into bite-size pieces. She was not good at handling tableware, so she was a bit nervous.

A sumptuous dinner was held on the table. Main dishes include roast duck marinated in sauce, cod coated in flour and carefully grilled so that the meat does not come out, and lamb ribs steak that is sliced softly with a knife. Around it, fresh vegetables, including roasted cherry tomatoes, which Offenbach’s successors dislike, were lined up, either roasted or tossed in raw sauce. The consommé with Italian parsley was still steaming warm.

Starting with the sharp slicing of clams, which were served as an appetizer, Ekaterina was enjoying her meal in the most energetic way she had ever seen.

Leonid tilted his wine glass and looked at Ekaterina like that. Rather than simply looking at her, it was a gaze closer to observation.

From the first meeting until now. Leonid’s evaluation of Ekaterina was as follows.

‘she doesn’t look like someone who’s going to die just from the first look.’

Leonid was not proud of himself for living a very long life, but he was a man who could be proud of seeing the faces of those who had resigned to death.

When wandering around the battlefield, there are things that are not so difficult to face. So is the part about death. It’s a pity if you consider it that way, but Leonid has lived a familiar life with death. As the leader of Rostislav, it was natural in a way.

Those who wish for death, which Leonid has seen, usually have a common face.

A face that finds no meaning in anything or in life.

It often took the form of melancholy or took the form of helplessness.

Neither is a look to be found in Yekaterina’s face he’d seen.

Although Yekaterina was indifferent, she did not show any tears, and although she looked dull, she had vitality.

‘Still, one thing is certain.’

Even under those conditions, Yekaterina looks like a reed that will soon break.

Perhaps the danger has something to do with her wish for death.

Even though he knows it, he’s worried about that, probably because Leonid himself can’t be a heartless human.

Leonid narrowed his brow slightly and then released it.

Then he put down his glass and opened his mouth.

“Yekaterina. Is there anything you like?”

At the same time, Yekaterina had pushed the food so that her cheeks were full, so Leonid did not get an answer until after she swallowed the food exactly twenty times, she passed the food down to her throat.

“That dish is delicious. I like it.”

It means you don’t like anything.

“Tell them to put the duck on the table tomorrow as well. Continue if you wish.”

“It sounds like you want me to stay as long as that dish is on the table.”

“If you think so, then you are right.”

“… … You are clever.”

“You’re going to get bored.”

Leonid shrugged as if to assert his innocence.

Seeing him like that, Yekaterina remembered the exhausting conversation they had in the room a while ago. And she also remembered the delicious food that passed through her throat.

Finally, she remembered Leonid’s ‘that expression’. He looked at herself like a castle that would disappear when the sun rises. The face he has as he spoke, the nonsensical concept of unpaid favors for granted.

“… … .”

Her stomach got a little queasy.

She doesn’t know what ‘that expression’ means and why it makes her uncomfortable, but it was for the first time she had someone look at her like that.

But now that things have come to this, it’s hard to say that she’s going to leave.

First of all, because she ate so much food.

‘Is it really okay to just stay?’

Actually, she was grateful. It was the first time she had received such a favor from someone.

How can I repay him?

Yekaterina pondered for a moment, put the fork and knife in one place, and asked seriously.

“Is there anyone you want to kill? Or is there any information you would like to find? Of course if you like simple bodyguards. If there is something you can entrust to someone, entrust it to me. Maybe I can handle it better than the person you were going to entrust to.”

The fork moving on the other side of Yekaterina stopped.

“… … Are you talking about that again? I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I’m not going to make you do that. You are a guest.”

“Of course I do. People often say that just being in the same room with someone they like makes them feel satisfied. But let me do something for you.”

“Thank you for reciprocating, but can’t we just put an end to that damn misunderstanding?”

“I’m I mistaken?”

“I tell you that… … I mean, I don’t have a crush.”

“You said you care.”

“Just because I care doesn’t mean I  like you.”

“Then what?”

“well. In other words, sympathy? Don’t be offended by what I said.”

“How old are you?”

“I will turn eighteen next month.”

“It’s amazing that you haven’t had a relationship at that age.”

“How did you understand the word virginity now? That misunderstanding-”

“You don’t make excuses for not having experience.”

“… … .”

Leonid calmly rubbed his forehead. It felt like the wine he drank earlier already reached the top of his head.

Leonid also knew that Yekaterina’s words had no malicious intent or intended to make fun of him.

If you don’t notice even after seeing that low-key voice and a face that doesn’t show emotions, you must be a very stupid person.

The problem was that he kept getting caught up in her unintentional remarks.

If you stand alone in front of a doll-like opponent like that, you will feel like a rare idiot.

‘How did this conversation come to this … … .’

If it was like this, it was clear that the future would only be worse if the conversation continued.

Leonid managed to grab hold of the white brittle mental cord, and slowly moved his lips to clear the misunderstanding.

“first of all.”

Let’s make sure

“I have no intention of making you a servant. Don’t bring up that story again.”

“That’s too bad.”

“And, I don’t even like you.”

At that point, Yekaterina pursed her lips slightly.

“Then do you hate me?”

“No, I have no idea.”

“You said you care.”

“That’s what a human should do. I’ve heard someone say they’re going to die or go into a black room, but who wouldn’t care?”

This time, there was no reply. Thanks to that, Leonid lowered his gaze and had to watch Yekaterina’s face for a while.

A bare face that doesn’t look so depressed or helpless.

The long shadows of the eyelashes hanging over the cheeks look like the pampas grass along the river crying. However, her face resembled an ice lake that did not even wave.

“You always say things I don’t understand.”

A voice resembling the stillness of the snowy field followed.

Would it be overly sentimental to say that her voice was somehow sad? Only then did Leonid realize that Yekaterina was not looking at him.

The conversation has been going on for a while, but Yekaterina never looked at Leonid once.

She was just looking down at the dish that was stained with sauce or gravy.

Yekaterina’s eyes were always covered with silvery shadows.

Suddenly, Leonid noticed that he still couldn’t remember the color of her eyes. When the thought reached there, his heart was surprisingly twisted.

Without even thinking about the reason, Yekaterina’s voice continued. 

“I don’t care if someone dies in a place where death is the norm.”

“… … That would be the case in Offenbach.”

“People don’t care about others, even if it’s not Offenbach.”

It was a very decisive tone.

Yekaterina was staring intently at the plate that had already been emptied several times, as she nothing more to say.

It wasn’t because Leonid made her uncomfortable or suddenly felt depressed.

It was a habit that Yekaterina had.