It was a miracle.
A miracle of white turning black.
A miracle of soft becoming hard.
Such changes occurred, not because they were meant to exist like that, nor because they were manipulated to change, yet they happened.
In Eliya’s hand.
Indeed, it was worthy of being called a miracle.
Eliya gazed down at her miracle and muttered seriously.
“…Why did it burn again?”
What was bubbling darkly, stuck to the pot, was not a dark fireball dragged up from the abyss of hell, but onion soup.
It was made by sautéing onions, adding water, milk, and cheese.
While all the ingredients were white, the result was as black as the void of the universe.
“I don’t understand…”
Maria, watching from the side, felt her mouth itching.
She had definitely told Eliya how hot the fire needed to be and how long to cook it.
Yet, Eliya had showcased the miracle of transforming soup into darkness.
This was already the third time.
Calmly, Maria explained again.
“Eli. First, you need to sauté the onions over medium heat…”
“Hmm…. I thought I did that…”
Maria wondered.
Could it be because of magic?
What Eliya considered “medium heat” was enough to nearly burn down the entire kitchen.
Maria decided to give guidance from the side, encouraging Eliya to try again.
But if this continued, it looked like Judas was going to starve today.
“Okay, Eli. Shall we do it together slowly this time?”
“Sure. I’ll really try to follow this time.”
Fortunately, Eliya wasn’t discouraged by her failure.
She was ignited with passion thinking of preparing a meal for Judas.
Before that passion burned down the kitchen, Maria decided to intervene.
“Alright, let’s take it slow.”
Maria’s new teaching method was simple.
Maria would start the cooking steps first.
For example, the first step.
Turn the fire to a suitable level.
Only after Eliya matched it perfectly could they move to the next step.
Sauté the chopped onions.
Again, Eliya mirrored Maria’s actions.
By progressing step by step together, the training continued.
As a result, what could be called a second miracle occurred.
A proper meal was completed.
“Hmm…. So, the taste of food is determined by the combination of the ingredients used.”
Eliya mirrored Maria’s actions, theoretically understanding cooking.
“The texture is also influenced by the cooking method and how long it is cooked.”
The ratio of spices, cooking time, the intensity of the flame.
When not trying to mimic Maria, Eliya had set arbitrary values, but by matching those values accurately, the outcome changed.
“Good job, Eli. Just keep doing this.”
“Okay. I think I get it a little now.”
“…W-well then, shall we try one more with mom?”
“Sure!”
Eliya successfully completed two dishes following Maria’s instructions.
A simple onion soup, and oil pasta.
At least, these dishes were guaranteed to have some flavor.
After tasting a bite, Eliya murmured.
“Do you think Judas will like this…?”
At this level, it could be evaluated as something decent to eat.
But she wasn’t satisfied with just that.
She hoped to make Judas enjoy his meal and be happy.
His happiness was her happiness as well.
Thinking of that made her smile unconsciously.
It was a mysterious feeling.
His happiness was an event physically independent of her emotions.
Still, when he was happy, she felt happy.
Just imagining his joyful face improved her mood.
He was someone who brought only beneficial experiences into her life, making it impossible not to love him.
‘Thinking about it makes me miss him.’
It hadn’t even been an hour since they parted, but the longing surged up.
She needed to hold off for today.
She still wasn’t good enough to serve him the food she practiced.
It might seem bold to serve a first dish, but she planned to prepare his dinner today.
A hearty meal after his workout.
…Thinking of him sweating brought forth some bad thoughts.
Fortunately, Maria’s response shattered her inappropriate imagination.
“It’s a flavor that Judas would be sufficiently satisfied with.”
“Just being satisfied doesn’t meet my standards…”
“Seeing how enthusiastic you are, he’ll probably like it. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Eliya answered with a smiling grin.
She then began to prepare the next dish.
Ground meat pasta with tomato sauce. And steak.
Unlike the previous dishes crafted from simple ingredients, these required various materials.
Maria meticulously guided Eliya, step by step.
But a complication arose for Eliya, who was beginning to understand quickly.
It was the chopping.
Merging the ingredients and following along wasn’t too hard anymore.
But chopping involved experience.
Having lived without any cooking before now, Eliya had, naturally, never picked up a knife.
Because it was a risky task, Maria decisively said.
“Press down your wrist while moving the knife back and forth. Be careful not to slip and cut yourself. Many beginners get hurt while chopping.”
Eliya didn’t respond but focused.
She began to think.
Every ingredient that appeared on the dining table must have been completed through such labor.
There is no simple task in the world.
Of course, for chefs who had done this repeatedly, it would be no big deal.
Suddenly, she became curious.
When did her mom become skilled at cooking?
At the time they had lived together in that small wooden house, things were different.
Caught up in swirling thoughts and Maria’s watchful gaze, Eliya struggled to finish her chopping.
She neatly cubed the salmon and properly scored the steak.
“Good job, Eli. We can cook it like this.”
“Phew…”
Eliya wiped her sweat and took a breath.
Somehow, this felt much harder and more tense than battling in the demon realm.
It made sense, since Eliya didn’t rush into battle.
With magic, she swept through the battlefield effortlessly.
It was one-sided bombardment; it couldn’t even be called a fight.
Soon enough, she regained her focus and began cooking.
One by one, step by step.
While she was proficient with fire due to her magic, cooking it was another domain.
Yet, she persevered.
She thought about how this dish would enter Judas’s mouth.
Those luscious lips…. No, not right now.
The tension didn’t last long.
Before long, Eliya found herself at ease.
She was even able to chat while cooking now.
The key was the change in her chopping method.
She spun the air to a thin, dense quality with her fingertips, using it to replace the knife.
If another wizard had seen her, they would’ve marveled at her highly precise magical control applied to cooking.
‘This is doable now. Much easier than holding a knife.’
Thanks to that, she relaxed.
Suddenly curious, Eliya asked.
“When did you start learning to cook, mom?”
“Hmm? Oh, right. You’d be curious since I didn’t make those kinds of dishes when we lived together.”
Embarrassed and nostalgic, Maria looked at the ceiling.
“I learned when I started taking care of you. At the main family mansion. I wasn’t good at it from the start; I learned after getting scolded a lot…”
“Who scolded whom?”
Suddenly, Eliya’s voice lowered ominously.
For some reason, the ladle in her hand seemed like a weapon.
Maria quickly waved her hand.
“I don’t really remember who. I probably…”
After Balak’s death, the Bevel family collapsed.
Some had split off, but only a few.
The rest met unfortunate ends.
“Hm… If I had known beforehand, I would have scolded them.”
“That’s reassuring to hear, and thank you.”
About ten years.
That’s how long Eliya spent not knowing Maria.
During that time, they had maintained a strict master-servant relationship.
Only formal conversations had been exchanged.
There had been no time to connect.
Though late, it was now that the mother and daughter finally felt like they were sharing a familial bond.
Simply reaching this moment was a joy and gratefulness.
While stirring the soup with the ladle, Eliya suddenly said.
“…It must have been hard.”
That time when she had ignored her.
Maria’s heart must not have been easy either.
Eliya understood that helplessness.
Maria felt a lump in her throat but managed to steady her heart.
“You must have had it worse, Eli.”
“……”
“Still, I’m okay now. We met again like this.”
Tears welled in Maria’s smiling eyes.
Gazing at her, Eliya smiled back brightly.
“Yeah. I’m okay too.”
It was bittersweet and painful, but now they could talk and place things into the past.
They could move on without clinging to their pasts.
Thinking of Judas, who had helped them this far, Eliya smiled contently.
*
“Hmmm….”
While preparing dinner, Eliya kept thinking.
‘Food that Judas would like.’
He eats everything well, but what specifically does he prefer?
After thinking, she easily reached a conclusion.
‘Food he used to eat in the previous world.’
If she made a dish he enjoyed before coming here, that would work.
There was no need to ask Judas what it was.
Eliya had once observed all his memories.
She had stored those experiences in her mind as if checking a dictionary.
As if flipping through his memories as her own.
And the conclusion she drew.
‘…Braised spicy pork?’
While the conclusion was simple, turning it into reality was another issue.
‘Pork cut into proper sizes sautéed with vegetables in a spicy seasoning…. That’s not a dish I can replicate with the ingredients here.’
Simply meeting the requirements of ‘pork’ and ‘spicy seasoning’ could yield a close imitation.
But emulating the exact taste was impossible.
‘I wish I had thought of this earlier so I could have tried to make it… What a shame.’
First, with the ingredients currently on hand, she decided to try to make a close imitation.
“Eli? What are you trying to do?”
Spotting Eliya suddenly trying to cook with spicy seasoning and pork, Maria asked.
“Something Judas likes.”
“Hmm? Did Judas tell you something?”
It was a hard curiosity to explain.
Another world.
Had she not glimpsed Judas’s memories, she would never have believed it.
So Eliya decided to mumble her way through it.
“It’s not that. I was just reminiscing about what he usually liked to eat and thought he might enjoy this.”
No one observed Judas as closely as Eliya, so Maria nodded in understanding.
Just cooking the meat in the seasoning wasn’t hard for Eliya.
But the results couldn’t be anything like the pork from Judas’s memories.
‘The color needs to be darker…. The seasoning’s thickness too.’
The meat was a light shade compared to what Judas remembered.
The scent wasn’t that impressive either.
‘…Did I make a mistake?’
Eliya felt a bit anxious.
*
After finishing his workout, Judas quickly washed up and headed straight to the restaurant.
It was dinner time.
Normally, Eliya would have come to greet him right after he finished his workout, but oddly, she hadn’t done that today.
He only learned the reason when he arrived at the restaurant.
“…Eli did all of this?”
The table was filled with a dinner set that, despite a bit simpler than usual, offered the same quantity as always.
While he wasn’t a culinary expert, the quality seemed decent just by looking at it.
Eliya added, “Well, I didn’t do it all by myself. Mom helped a little.”
Judas chuckled at her.
‘She’s cute in so many ways.’
While she spoke as if it was no big deal, her lips curled into a proud smile.
The way she tried to avoid eye contact and fidget with her feet was quite adorable.
At that moment, Maria, who was nearby, said, “She came to me seriously saying she wanted to cook for you.”
Eliya bit her lip in pretend ignorance.
“Ah, that’s why you didn’t come out to meet me today?”
“Well, I guess you could say that.”
Trying hard to hide her embarrassment was too obvious, so Judas laughed freely.
“Absolutely adorable.”
“What are you talking about…?”
Eliya, not yet used to being called cute, quickly flushed.
“Shall I taste the very first dish made by Hail the Glorious Emperor…?”
“Wait, I’ll feed you.”
Eliya hurriedly sat next to him.
The first bite was the salmon soup.
A light soup containing neatly chopped salmon, perfect for a single bite.
The dish smelled richly of salmon, cream, and the unique scent of sautéed onion.
Eliya took a spoonful, blew on it, and then placed it in Judas’s mouth.
“How is it?”
Maria watched anxiously for his response.
Judas didn’t have a picky palate, and Eliya’s cooking skills were objectively decent.
While he knew delicious praise would come, he felt anxious nonetheless.
“Mmm, mmm.”
With its rich, nutty flavor and the umami of the salmon filling his mouth, Judas nodded slightly before replying blandly.
“Hmm. Oh…. It’s good!”
Was it too bland? That thought came to him late.
Though he meant it sincerely, should he show more delight, given it was Eliya’s first cooking?
But Eliya quickly discerned his feelings.
“Oh, so it must be really tasty then.”
“…How did you know?”
“I can tell by looking.”
The crinkles in his brow.
The rhythm of his nodding, his gaze on the food.
The time it took for him to savor the flavors and only then respond, she understood all of that instinctively.
She knew everything about Judas, and this intuition shone through even now.
“I’m happy you’re enjoying it.”
Eliya beamed.
“I should thank you too. Thanks for preparing this for me. And thank you, mother-in-law, for your help.”
“Oh, no, no, I was just giving a little assistance.”
In that cheerful atmosphere, dinner began in earnest.
Every dish was excellent, including the soup he first tasted.
Judas felt a peculiar emotion.
“She’s skilled at cooking too…. Fortunately, you don’t seem to have hurt yourself. But I wonder if it’s okay not to be bad at something?”
Eliya casually said, “It’s okay to be good at everything, isn’t it?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Embarrassed by the numerous times of failure, Eliya decided to keep that a secret from him.
Only she and her mother knew that secret.
During the meal, Eliya suddenly jumped up.
“Oh right!”
“Hmm?”
Then, she quickly dashed toward the kitchen and returned.
What she brought back was a plate covered with a lid.
“What’s that?”
“Umm…. I made this for you, but I forgot. It’s not really that great…”
“What does it matter?”
“W-will you be disappointed?”
Judas graciously nodded.
He opened the lid on the plate placed before him.
For a moment, he doubted his eyes.
‘This is…, could it be spicy pork?’
Eliya whispered, “I made it referencing your memory.”
“Is that even possible…?”
It wasn’t the same as real spicy pork, but the look was quite convincing.
After swallowing, Judas grabbed a piece and ate it.
Objectively speaking, it didn’t quite have that taste of spicy pork.
That couldn’t be helped.
There was no red pepper paste here.
Yet he could feel the effort made to get as close as possible to that flavor.
Even if it wasn’t spicy pork, it wasn’t devoid of taste.
“…It’s definitely not the real deal, right?”
Eliya became slightly glum.
“Honestly, that’s true, but does it have to be that exact taste? I’d be happy with anything made by Eli.”
“…Hmph. What’s that?”
Sprightly said, he feigned indifference, but his cheeks were flushed.
Without hesitation, Judas pressed his lips to hers.
“…Eek!”
Eliya flinched in surprise, shrinking back.
Judas panicked.
Normally, she would just laugh and accept it.
“What, what’s wrong?”
“…It’s spicy.”
Eliya rubbed her lips and pouted.
‘Spicy? …Ah.’
To Judas, this wasn’t spicy at all, but to Eliya, it was.
Realizing that caused him to chuckle sweetly.
‘Everything about her is cute…. I just want to kiss her more.’
Eliya, meeting Judas’s playful gaze, quickly leaped back.
“…Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking?”
“Who knows?”
“Hurry and eat. It’s going to get cold.”
“Before that, I want to kiss you once.”
“Ugh….”
Eliya hesitated, but then pecked his lips and quickly pulled away.
“Spicy…”
“I got it. I won’t do it again.”
Judas laughed as he handed her some milk.
Eliya pouted, but secretly enjoyed Judas’s response that found her cute.
Watching the two who were lost in their affections, Maria simply smiled affectionately.
As long as Eliya was happy, that was all that mattered.
*
The dazzling blue sky.
The sun was shining bright.
Summer was just around the corner.
Judas caught a whiff of the deep sea smell.
A slightly salty and fishy breeze from the dock.
And there, a colossal ship docked.
Staring in awe at the ship that filled his vision, Judas exclaimed, “Wow….”
Eliya, arms crossed, commented.
“No matter how hot it gets, I won’t detach myself from you.”
“That’s quite the ship, isn’t it?”
This vessel was set to supply goods to the demon realm’s midpoint. Once conquest is complete, it would be used as a trade ship.
“Pretty impressive…”
The sailing ship poised for its first journey.
Eliya decided to board it herself to confirm its legitimate route and performance.
“Shall we go?”
“Sure. We can’t keep them waiting, let’s go.”
And although they had come here for work, this was also the first voyage together for Judas and Eliya.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
