Chapter 6

“Whatever do you mean by popping out that comment? Carsein. Do you mean to say you won’t eat the meal we’ve made and monitored ourselves?”

The first one wanted to hear the answer again.

“I’m sorry but my answer was correct.”

“Why ask if you already know?”

He snapped back rather rudely.

Under the watch of his two older sisters and untouched by any servant, he meant not to eat this clean food.

Claire, who had been shocked and gasped, couldn’t hold her tongue anymore.

“Hey, you bastard. Playing games? What kind of attitude is this towards someone trying to help?”

“Carsein, I’ll let you off this time for a mistake. But no second chances.”

The two glared at him menacingly, threatening him to take back his words.

I repeated, I didn’t do anything wrong.

This was self-defense and the right stance. So, I didn’t back down.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“This…”

Just as Claire’s hand was about to slap me, her hand shot up. It looked like it would hit my cheek directly.

“…Sister.”

“There’s no point in dirtying your hands on this guy. Plus, he’s still a patient. If you hurt him, only Sheiden’s work will be busier.”

Another hand blocked the second sister’s hand before she could hit him, but seeing her treat the patient as a patient instead of worrying about the doctor was ridiculous.

“Oh, right. We were foolish! We thought you couldn’t even eat properly, so we tried to prepare a meal for you!”

“That’s right. We were foolish. There was no need to call the doctor and worry about preparing meals. If he doesn’t eat a sumptuous feast, it must be self-inflicted malnutrition.”

“Keep nibbling on those salty, sandy foods. Just eat what we prepared and collapse again. You ungrateful scum.”

Claire stormed out of the room first.

Then.

“If you don’t want to eat, leave it. The servants can eat it. It’s a banquet fit for a noble, but it’s too good for an ungrateful commoner. I can’t understand why I called the noble house’s doctor and kitchen staff here for you.”

Arina also left after giving a cold rebuke.

Left alone in the room, I let out a bitter laugh.

“Too good for an ungrateful commoner’s mouth? Just let it go uneaten and collapse?”

That’s hilarious.

“Right. You wouldn’t understand. You’re just like my two older sisters.”

A bitter smile escaped me.

Seeing Arina and Claire act in such a similar manner naturally brought a bitter smile to my face.

They both grew up in wealthy households without ever experiencing hunger. They both grew up healthy. So, they wouldn’t understand.

But having lived like a beggar, I knew better than anyone how a beggar feels.

Eating in this state is impossible. No matter how many delicacies are prepared, no matter how much the sight and smell stimulate appetite, eating is impossible.

“You can’t eat, not because you don’t want to. You can’t, you bastards.”

Facing those two who placed lavish dishes in front of me without knowing any better, I laughed at them.

***

“Why did you refuse when we tried to help?”

Seeing her defiant posture, head held high, and hearing her say she hadn’t done anything wrong, I was taken aback.

With a full frown, Claire walked down the corridor.

Suddenly, a small wrinkle appeared in her dress.

“Sister.”

Turning around, she saw the mischievous youngest sibling standing there, holding her skirt.

“Why, Flora?”

Claire smiled widely and knelt down to meet Flora’s eye level. Flora seemed about to speak but then trembled, averting her gaze and smiling sheepishly.

“Hmm. No, nothing.”

“What? If you have something to say, tell me quickly.”

“I forgot what I was going to say. Hehe.”

“Ugh.”

Claire gently stroked the hair of her adorable younger sister, who laughed without a care.

Then, realizing where they were, she took Flora’s hand and headed in the opposite direction.

“Flora, do you want to spend the day with me?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, you didn’t eat properly earlier. I wanted to check on you.”

Thinking of the scene where Carsein collapsed, Claire was worried about Flora too, who hadn’t eaten properly.

But Flora refused.

“Today is practice day. So, I can’t be with you.”

“Oh, really?”

Practicing embroidery. That made her feel relieved. With a teacher nearby, Flora wouldn’t collapse.

“Then, do you want me to walk you to your room?”

“Yes, Claire sister!”

After dropping Flora off at her room, Doctor Sheiden came looking for her.

“Sheiden? What’s up?”

“Heard that the two young ladies visited Carsein today. Came to check on him.”

“…”

As soon as Carsein’s name was mentioned, Claire’s eyebrows furrowed sharply. She didn’t want to hear what she had heard.

“Tell me. What is it?”

“To see if he ate.”

The mention of food made her frown deepen. Her frustration rising, Claire replied sarcastically.

“We gave it to him, but he wouldn’t eat. Let him do what he wants.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean? Did he really not eat?”

“When we told him to eat proper food, which we made in the kitchen with our own hands, he refused.”

Sheiden was shocked.

“No way. That means severe starvation. Did he really refuse to eat?”

“Yes! We prepared the finest dishes on the table. From the chef to the maids, everything was checked. But he refused to eat.”

What could he do? He refused a carefully prepared meal without any foreign substances.

Not only that, he demanded to eat it and even insisted it wasn’t his fault.

Thinking about it was unbearable.

“Goodness. Are you not worried about Carsein?”

Sheiden gasped.

“Worried? That’s absurd. He’s the one who didn’t eat.”

If others worried, it would be pointless. Living in a luxurious room in the Duke’s house, eating gourmet food every day, why should they worry?

In a slightly irritated voice, Claire replied, but Sheiden gasped again, mouth agape.

“A recovering patient doesn’t have that kind of energy. Such food isn’t suitable for a sick person.”

“If he’s weak, I’ll prescribe medicine under my name. No one in the Duke’s house would complain.”

“It’s not a matter of medicine. He lacks the energy to digest it. If he eats that out of hunger, it could be dangerous.”

“What?”

Hearing that eating would be dangerous made her dizzy.

“Wait, dangerous? What does that mean? Does that mean all the food we brought…”

“Greasy, hard-to-digest food could cause indigestion. It’s not suitable at all! At this stage, he can only have congee.”

Sheiden hurried to check Carsein’s condition, leaving in a rush.

I didn’t know. I thought good food would quickly restore health. That’s why I asked for extra care.

Could it have become toxic?

Claire’s fist trembled.

“…You girls.”

“Yes, Miss Claire.”

“Go to Carsein’s room right now and stop him from eating. Quickly!!”

Servants rushed to Carsein’s room.

“Miss Claire?”

“I think he didn’t eat. Since he said he wouldn’t. I’ll go to the kitchen and prepare congee.”

“Start with easy-to-digest foods. We need to feed him slowly for a while.”

“…Okay.”

Only then did Sheiden feel relieved. Claire, however, looked somewhat complicated.

And.

*Snap!*

“Damn…”

Someone’s fingernail broke.

***

Soon after Claire and Arina left, the servants rushed over.

Checking the food, they were relieved to find he hadn’t eaten. Everyone sighed in relief.

‘Looks like they finally noticed.’

Feeding greasy, hard-to-digest food to a weakened patient would turn it into poison.

The food that looked like a feast was taken away by the servants, one by one. Finally, even the food cart was emptied.

But another dish arrived in my room shortly after.

This time, it was food suitable for a patient.

“Looks meager.”

Even though Carsein was emaciated, the aroma of the food was irresistible. It made me crave a taste, a feeling I couldn’t resist.

Instead, there was just plain, tasteless congee in front of me.

Still, tasting the congee with a spoon, I couldn’t help but say,

“…It’s delicious.”

Though bland, why did it taste so good? This reminded me of bad memories.

Drooling over a common hot bar, envying a triangle kimbap, and the first day of my part-time job at a convenience store, eating a discarded lunchbox made my nose sting.

Complaining about the sour-sweet taste of stir-fried kimchi left behind by a customer, the ham disappearing in my mouth, and the lack of time to savor the side dishes. The memory of the first time feeling full and the taste of untouched food.

I couldn’t forget the feeling of being full.

There were times when, in that house, family members’ hands prevented us from enjoying the proper taste, making us unable to eat.

“…Ah. Already?”

Looking down, the bowl was empty.

▶Fullness has been completely restored!

Along with the message indicating fullness,