Leonel should have been taking in what the rest of the room had to offer, but truthfully, he couldn't take his eyes off of Aina. Everything from the beads of sweat falling down her face to the apron clinging to her curves made his heart stop.
Aina's smile faded into one of confusion.
"What's wrong?"
For a moment, Aina became worried. In truth, she had taken Leonel's things without asking and even started using the kitchen wares and appliances too. Though Leonel had said to treat this place like her home, had she maybe gotten a little too comfortable?
She blushed in embarrassment, trying to figure out how she should apologize. Though Leonel never spoke about his parents, Aina had gained a few tidbits here and there, definitely enough to know that this place was left behind by his father. After all, she had been there when Leonel first got the Segmented Cube.
For all she knew, this place was very important to Leonel but now whatever sentimental value it might have had was washed away by her cooking.
But, before she could form the words of apology, she found a large shadow enveloping her.
Leonel hugged Aina tightly, seemingly not feeling much from the heat around them at all. At his current level, it might as well have been a slight breeze tickling his skin and nothing more.
Aina was stunned for a moment. But when she realized what was happening, she panicked.
"You … you're going to burn yourself!"
Leonel pulled back and grinned, his smile beaming. Clearly, though, he didn't take Aina's warning very seriously.
In truth, even Leonel didn't quite know why he was so excited. There was just something about the current situation that felt right.
Of course, if he said this aloud, Aina would probably beat him to death. He might as well have put his foot in his mouth saying that she belonged in the kitchen.
Still, even though he chose to keep these words to himself, he still beamed beside himself, unable to stop himself from feeling happy for the first time in several days.
Leonel looked around, only to find a large steel table filled with delicacies. Each had a small cut in them, making it obvious that someone diligent had gone through and tasted each and every one.
"… You did all this?" Leonel asked.
Seeing that Leonel wasn't made at her, Aina's smile returned. But, before she could answer, a hint of panic colored her features. She had almost forgotten something important.
Aina ignored Leonel's question, dashing to the stove and flipping a pan.
What looked like an elaborate omelet, expelling a rich fragrance, flipped in the air to reveal a golden brown base that seemed crisp just to sight alone.
Aina breathed a sigh of relief before rushing out of the kitchen, pan in hand.
Leonel blinked in confusion before hurrying after her. But, what he found at the end of her run was something that left him even more stunned than the kitchen had.
Unlike the kitchen, Leonel had been here several times. In fact, he frequented this place. However, he had never seen it look like this.
The dining room of the Abode Setting was large enough to comfortably feed a family of eight. But, at the moment, every stretch of table was completely covered with a plate or plates of food.
Aina stood on her tippy toes, carefully sliding the omelet onto a layered dish as though crowning her final achievement.
Aina wiped her brow with a forearm again before smiling lightly. It was only at that moment that Leonel understood that all the dishes that took up the steel table were nothing but experiments.
Leonel's heart couldn't help but warm. He had no idea how much effort Aina had put into trying different combinations of beast meat and herbs to eventually come up with all of this, but he was quite frankly left stunned.
"What are you just standing there for?" Aina looked toward Leonel. "Eat!"
And so Leonel did.
He hardly remembered the first bite, but he most definitely lamented the last. He had thought that maybe like those comedic animes his dad always made him watch, he'd have to pretend to love Aina's food to make her feel better. But the reality was completely outside his expectations.
Not only did the food look and smell good, it was so delicious that Leonel felt as though he was ascending to another realm. And, in fact, in a way, he was. It was even to the point where even the injuries he hadn't bothered to heal to this point as though a badge to remind him of something, had begun to heal on their own.
Aina watched on with a smile on her face, her elbows on the table and her hands cupping her face. Though she too had a great appetite, after all the taste tests she had done over the last few days, she was as full as could be at the moment.
If Leonel knew this, he would probably be even more stunned. With all the tiny bites he had seen before… Just how many test dishes would she have to have made in order to be full?
However, Leonel was so engrossed in eating that he didn't even realize that Aina didn't have anything for herself. It was only after he had his last bite that he looked up at her as though he was looking at a monster.
Leonel gaze locked onto Aina, seemingly not wanting to waste time looking at anything else.
Aina blinked. "… I'm not part of the feast, you know."
Leonel was stunned out of his shock into a fit of laughter when he heard these words.
"And why not?" He grinned slyly.
Aina shook her head and mumbled under her breath.
"Men… Maybe Savahn was right, you lot can never be satisfied."
Leonel coughed and held his chest.
Another fatal blow.
Aina giggled, seemingly pleased by Leonel's reaction. But after a while, her expression grew to one of worry, scanning Leonel.
"Are you alright?"