Who would have thought that Lakis Avalon, the king of the dark world was actually a good cook. It was her first time learning of this.

Well, that’s because there was never a scene in the novel where Lakis made something in the kitchen.

When he stayed in Anne-Marie’s house, all he did was nag her to do this and that, like a vicious mother-in-law. He was overflowing with demands and at times, you had to wonder who was actually the owner of the house. So Yuri thought his true character was terrible and mean, befitting of a villain.

“Mr. Lakis, please have a seat too.”

At Yuri’s invitation, Lakis sat down opposite her.

In his white shirt, he cut out such an elegant figure on the table, that if not for what happened at the festival, she might still be wondering if his personality was different from the novel.

Lakis quietly watched as Yuri ate.

[By the way]

Then he held up another paper which was under the one saying ‘eat before it gets cold’.

[The person who just came, is she the Hestia who put a note in that cookie basket?]

Because he asked so casually, Yuri simply replied in an offhanded manner.

“Yes, that’s her.”

He was talking about the basket of cookies that Anne-Marie sent over in the night some time ago. When all the cookies in the basket were gone, a note was found at the bottom. It was in crooked handwriting, saying thank you for the candy last time. Lakis had found the note first and given it to Yuri.

When he heard Yuri’s response, Lakis’ eyes shone suspiciously.

‘So they live right next door.’

The kid named Hestia was definitely the sister of the woman who gave Yuri those terrible tasting cookies. But apparently, they lived close enough that they could ask for ingredients early in the morning.

Lakis decided to remember this for now.

Then he looked at Yuri with a clear expression, like he wasn’t having any dangerous thoughts.

“But are you sure you didn’t overdo it? You’re still not fully recovered.”

Lakis was about to reflexively shake his head then he stopped. No matter what, he was only staying here momentarily. It dawned on him that if he replied he was in good condition, he might be asked to leave this house soon.

Of course, he wouldn’t be bothered at all even if he left this place. But he still needed to reorganize himself before he got rid of that traitorous bastard who got the power of the ruins so…

He had to stay here a little longer. That was the only reason why.

Of course, another part of it was his suspicion that the white mask he met on the night of the festival might be Yuri. However, he had checked her reaction ever since and she hadn’t revealed anything suspicious.Above all, if Yuri was the white mask, she would have definitely recognized him since he wasn’t covering his face that day. But he didn’t feel anything off about her. So he was beginning to wonder whether the familiarity he felt from the white mask that day was just his imagination.

If so, then the house-owner Yuri was just a nice, innocent and gullible person for Lakis. So using this house as a refuge was still convenient in many ways.

—Seriously…who the hell are you making excuses to right now?

Again, Lakis completely ignored the dumbfounded voice ringing in his head.

[Actually, my wound hurts a bit.]

Lakis eventually wrote a clever lie on the paper.

[I’m sorry but I think I should get some rest.]

He lowered his gaze and his eyelashes draped down, casting a shadow over his eyes. The way he held his injured stomach with a slight grimace on his face made it seem like he was really enduring the pain. Seeing how Lakis was getting more natural at pretending to be weak, the bug snorted in disbelief.

“I guess you did overdo it. Go ahead and lie down.”

Yuri stopped eating and helped Lakis to the sofa. Although she suspected he was acting, she eventually believed it because his expression was so real.

Lakis obediently lay down on the sofa and enjoyed Yuri’s touch as she covered him with a blanket.

* * *

—Lakis, have you become a servant in this house or something?

A while later, an indignant voice rang out in Lakis’ head.

—Does it make sense for the great king of Carnot to cook for a mere eastern woman?!

The bug seemed to think Lakis had lost his dignity and authority. Then it remembered the taste of the food they ate earlier and humiliatingly raised a white flag.[1]

—Sniff…but it was delicious. Damn it… you know what, just cook while we’re here, I don’t care if you’re a servant or a housechef.[2]

The bug seemed to feel moved because they hadn’t eaten proper food since the night of the festival where it stuffed itself.

‘Shut up. Ms. Yuri’s food is also deli…cious, don’t shift the blame from your trashy taste.’

Lakis bellowed coldly, taking Yuri’s side once again.

The bug jeered when it heard what Lakis said. It wanted to mock him because here he was saying the house-owner was nice, innocent and gullible, but then he was bothered because she shed one tear, and even cooked food for her like it was useful or something.

Besides, why did he need to draw sympathy from the woman to stay in this tiny ass house?

The fastest way would be to get rid of the woman and take over the house, and if she really was nice, innocent and gullible like he said then it didn’t matter if he messed up.However, Lakis was instead the one acting nice and innocent while showing off his good looks to the house-owner. From the bug’s perspective, it looked more like a man wooing a lady.

‘F*ck, didn’t I say shut up?

—Hk!

The bug was shocked at the grim voice that rang out. It knew it would make Lakis mad if it said all that aloud, so it had been pushing down the surging impulse.

—I-I…I didn’t say anything?

‘You think I won’t know if you don’t say it aloud? It’s obvious what you’re thinking even if I don’t hear it. I’m already annoyed so don’t even think about nonsense in my head.’

Because they had been unwilling tied together in everything so far, Lakis easily saw through the bug’s mind.

Again, the bug fought down its desire to raise hell. It wanted to yell, ‘How can you treat me so badly because of a woman!’. But even if it said that, it wouldn’t work on Lakis.

After some time passed and Yuri left for work, Lakis stood up.

He began heading towards a locked room which he had never entered before. As a matter of fact, it was generally impolite for a guest to open any room when the owner of the house wasn’t around. But that was just in the ‘general’ case.

Carnot was a place that went by ‘screw common sense’, so naturally, Lakis was also free of common sense.[3] Rather, it was a very natural thing for him to check the safety of his refuge. So ever since he decided to stay in this house, he had already finished checking the inner workings of the house.

As a result, there were a few things he naturally found out about.

One, the house-owner Yuri lived alone, without much interaction with other people. Sometimes, someone like the neighbor who gave her cookies would drop by, but she had never let the person into her house.

At first, he thought it was because of him but as time went on, he felt that wasn’t the case.

Apart from that, there were no traces of anyone else in the house. Lakis had some doubts about this part. Because there were times when he felt something was off during his stay in Yuri’s house.

An example would be daily necessities.

Lakis sometimes saw Yuri have a hard time trying to get things she used daily from a high cupboard that was clearly unsuitable for her height.

If it was something she rarely used, he could understand somewhat. But for things like hairbands or spices which she used on the regular, or even her purse or the account book where she organized the management fee paid to the landlord, it didn’t make sense for them to be at the very top of the shelf or the cupboard.

So at first, Lakis thought it was very likely that Yuri had lived with a tall man until recently.

The reason he decided it was a male was because all the clothes Yuri brought from the locked room for Lakis to change into were obviously male. Of course, he wasn’t fully sure because it could simply a big woman who liked men’s clothing.

However, the clothing sizes were very different, so he was sure they weren’t Yuri’s clothes. Anyways, the idea that Yuri was living with someone else was a ridiculous misunderstanding but there was no way for Lakis to know that.

Translator’s Corner:

[1] Raised a white flag: To surrender.

[2] The phrase used here is [우렁이 서방] but it’s not actually a word, if that makes sense. Just like ‘looking snatched’ isn’t actually a word(if you know what that is). It’s used for men who make really good food. I couldn’t think of an English equivalent.

[3] This motto could also be: shove common sense up your ass’.