The First Night

"Tch, another fodder. The taste is unclear!" As usual, Nathan always cursed every time he enjoyed dinner. But this time Keith felt quite annoyed because he had taken the trouble to cook.

"If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it!" Keith said. For some reason today he was more offended than usual. Even though he had cooked beef stew based on the recipe from the palace chef he asked today.

All ingredients and spices seem to be exactly the same as the instructions given. But for some reason it still doesn't taste good. The atmosphere of Disha's first dinner with these three knights made Disha feel awkward. She couldn't enjoy her food not because it tasted bad. But because she still doesn't feel comfortable being part of this group.

"What do you think?" Nathan suddenly asked her opinion. Disha gasped as she didn't expect her opinion to be needed.

"I-I think? I-it tastes delicious," she answered simply. Of course, because she didn't want to offend Keith, who had worked hard to cook.

"Are you serious? It tastes delicious? Does it suit your taste?" Keith asked, who somehow just believed Disha's assessment.

"Tch, no need to force yourself like that! Just tell me the truth if it doesn't taste good! Food that's unclear like this, what's good?" Nathan said. He protested because he thought Disha was just pretending.

"Once again you protest, starting tomorrow I won't cook any more food!"

"No need! I don't want to eat your cooking anymore either! It's not delicious!"

"You are-"

"W-what if I'm in charge of cooking?" Disha said offering herself.

"What?

"You want to cook?"

"I think I can cook quite a few types of food. If you guys don't mind, I-"

"Then try cooking now! If you are better at it, then the cooking duties will shift to you!" With enthusiasm, Nathan immediately threw the responsibility of cooking on Disha without considering Keith's opinion first. Meanwhile, Levi didn't seem to care at all who would get the cooking duties. He continued to eat the food on the plate calmly without protesting even though the food was not delicious.

"But this beef stew-"

"Just forget about the junk food! I want real food!"

"What do you mean by junk food? You can't appreciate other people's efforts at all, can you?"

"Come on, bro! Just relax, I'm helping reduce your duties. That way you don't have to bother cooking every day?"

"You damn-"

Disha got up from her place and walked to the kitchen to re-cook Keith's beef stew which could actually still be enjoyed if modified again. She put the beef stew back into the pot after relighting the fire on the stove. Then add, pepper and a little sugar.

About 20 minutes later, Disha came back with a bowl full of the same beef stew and served it on the table.

"Tsk, you must be joking? I don't see any new type of cuisine here?" Nathan said after seeing the same bowl of beef stew that Keith cooked before.

"I just recooked it and added a little spice." She said. Keith took the spoon and then took a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. A few moments later, his expression immediately changed.

"Delicious," he muttered under his breath. Nathan was amazed and hurriedly scooped up the stew and put it in his mouth.

"Very delicious," Nathan's face, which was originally cynical and annoyed, suddenly changed. His eyes lit up and with happiness he took a bowl full of stew into his bowl and devoured it with a piece of bread.

"Great, how did you do that?" Keith asked. He really couldn't believe that the taste of the dish he made earlier could change so much if it was prepared by someone else.

"I cooked it a little longer so that the meat broth really came out and the meat was more tender. I also added a little wine and a little tomato paste to add flavor. It seems like you forgot to add pepper and the salt level was too little so it wasn't tasty enough on the tongue."

"How amazing, you can turn trash into food that looks like it was cooked by a palace chef!"

"You talk rubbish again, I will really beat you up! Levi, try it! I think Sapphire is much more talented than me!"

Levi, who had been the only person who had remained silent and calm, tried to taste Keith's cooking, which was reworked by Disha. However, his reaction was very flat as if he didn't feel anything special.

"How does it taste? You definitely prefer this to the previous one? Hahaha..." Nathan continued to ramble by comparing Keith's cooking and Disha's cooking. Every time Keith gave him a murderous look, Nathan thought it was a joke and mocked him even harder.

"Good enough." Levi said with an expression that was very difficult to understand. Both Disha, Nathan and Keith immediately fell silent hearing his opinion.

"You mean it's quite delicious, right?" Nathan asked. He would not be satisfied with an answer like that.

"It's just a matter of food, there's no need to make a big deal of it. Whoever is in charge of cooking, it doesn't matter. You don't need to make too much of a fuss!"

After giving an ultimatum to the three of them, Levi immediately went outside. Disha was silent, for some reason she felt a little hurt by Levi's attitude.

"You stiff man, he's so boring! No wonder he's not married even though he's 27 years old. I'm sure no girl would be interested in a cold and angry man like him!" Nathan, who can still act relaxed when dealing with Levi, who is often difficult to predict, is different from Keith, who is easily carried away by feelings. However, instead of thinking about his own feelings, Keith instead thought about Disha's feelings, who was still new in their group and must still feel very strange.

"Sapphire, I'm sure Levi didn't mean it like that. He's just not good at complimenting, but even so-"

"Is he good? I understand, Keith. It's okay, you don't need to worry. I once met someone who wasn't very good at expressing his feelings. But actually he was someone who used his heart more often than other people. But people like that, will become the most loyal lover and friend ever."

All she thought about in her mind was Leonidas. Therefore, without realizing it, when she meets a new person, she will definitely compare that person's character with Leonidas' character. She knew that it was something she shouldn't do. However, it must be admitted that Leonidas was once her world. Her love for Leonidas has not disappeared until now, even though they have been separated for six months, the longing in her heart is getting stronger day by day.

***