Share the food
"What are you really doing?" Daisy asked Katherine.
After getting discharged from the care center, she was back in her room, and since she couldn't sit still after everything, Katherine was up to her next task.
"What do you think I am doing? I am building strategies. From what I have seen, the innocent nature of Delilah was only seen as her seducing skills, and her pursuing the commander even when he said no was seen as her awful characteristics, no?" Katherine placed the notebook in front of her.
'Will you be able to write anything with your left hand?' Daisy asked.
Katherine rolled her eyes.
"I am not writing a report that needs to be clean. They are just pointers," Katherine whispered before she leaned back on the couch in her room.
She needs to maintain Delilah's innocence while changing her style and way of approaching things at the same time.
'Damn it! If I had seen even a couple of those soap dramas back in my days with Mason, I would've gathered enough knowledge on how those seducing vixens behave,' Katherine kicked the chair in front of her, her face contorting in pain.
She stood from her place, pacing in her room when an idea struck her head.
"Wait. Why do I need to see those soap dramas? Don't I have one such example right in front of me?"
'Who are you talking about?' Daisy asked.
"Come on, let's not pretend to be oblivious, yeah? I am not a fool like Delilah who doesn't see how Tianna twists her words to get favors from others and maintain her good image at the same time.
Why is it always 'My sister is here to take care of me? Please don't mind her or bother her?' Why is it never 'She is my sister, don't bully her?'" Katherine asked.
She has been observing Tianna's behavior quite closely, and she might be wrong because she never received family love in her past life either, but this wasn't how things were supposed to be.
Her team members were 100 times more supportive and caring of her than this so-called sister of hers.
"So what exactly are you planning?" Daisy asked, a little relieved that she was planning toward Delilah's destiny.
"My plan? I am just going to follow my sister's path," Katherine smiled, her smile not reaching her eyes.
Daisy could see that the girl was disturbed after she saw and heard those things when she was unconscious.
Though Katherine wasn't saying anything, Daisy knew it was a matter of time before the leader inside her would snap.
She was probably calmed down because she was wounded.
After making some points in her notebook in vague sign language that others wouldn't easily be able to read, Katherine got dressed in a decent dark blue sundress before wearing her wedges.
Since she couldn't do much with her single hand, she left her hair as they were, letting it fall freely, and used a small hair clip to stop the hair from falling on her face again and again.
"Does Delilah look more beautiful now?" Katherine asked, and the system hummed.
"You look prettier than before," Daisy reminded her that this was her body now, and she was Delilah.
After checking her reflection one last time, Katherine left her room, her legs much better since her healing was fastened than before.
As soon as Katherine reached the dining room, rather than staying in the dining room and waiting for lunch, she went straight to the kitchen.
"Can I help you with something?" Katherine asked the chef.
The chef, who was busy cooking things, turned abruptly.
"Oh my, Delilah, I heard what happened. I can't believe the commander would ask you to do that just because you wanted to train," The chef said.
"Let's not talk about it. No one would believe me if I said I don't like him anymore either way. Was it really wrong that I fell for him because he saved my life, uncle?" Katherine whispered, acting pitiful, her eyes brimming with tears.
The Elderly chef, who knew how sweet this girl was, felt pity for the girl and placed his hand on her head.
"It's okay, Delilah. People often misunderstand good people. The wrong people will get their karma," The chef said, and Katherine nodded her head before wiping her eyes with her left hand as if wiping her tears.
"Thank you for believing me. I am happy that there is at least one person who doesn't think I am a vixen. I am grateful to you, uncle," Katherine sniffed, and the chef's eyes softened even more.
"There, there, don't be sad anymore, daughter. Go sit there. Let me bring something sweet for you to improve your mood. Take it as a gift from your uncle," The chef said before wiping her eyes with the tissues, and Katherine nodded softly before turning around, still sniffing.
However, as soon as she left the kitchen, her expression immediately changed and she sat in the dining room with a happy smile on her face.
It looks like her first experiment turned out well.
She was only trying things, but it looked like this was the right method.
It was amazing how a couple of teardrops used in the right way were so useful. Katherine smirked as she looked at nothing in particular.
What she didn't know was that a man who was also coming to talk to the chef saw her complete interaction.
"You look quite happy,"
Katherine heard the voice behind her, and she shook in her place before turning around, her smile faltering when she saw who it was.
"Mr. Maximus, what a pleasant surprise. Did you need anything?" She asked out of courtesy.
What was he doing here? It wasn't even lunchtime.
Wait.
There was no reason he saw her smiling giddily after crying in front of the chef, right? Katherine looked at the man, trying to decipher his reaction.
"Delilah, here. Eat it and forget about the negative things, okay?" The chef placed the pudding in front of her before caressing her head, making Katherine smile softly and nod at him.
Her eyes beamed when she noticed it was her favorite pudding.
She moved her legs excitedly under the dining table before remembering her arch-enemy in this place was standing beside her.
"Thank you, uncle," She said, her smile coming off forcefully now that she had an audience.
"Sir," The chef immediately bowed when he saw the elder prince's secretary standing there.
"Get my food ready within thirty minutes. I am leaving for a meeting with the King," Maximus said before he looked down at the girl who was about to take a bite of her food.
Didn't she look quite excited to have it? He smirked inwardly.
"And I would like to have what she's having," Maximus's words shocked both Katherine and the chef.
Katherine, out of instinct and her love of food, quickly held the plate with her left hand, pulling it closer to her chest as if afraid that someone would snatch it from her.
"But, sir. I had only one serving prepared. Can you wait for a few minutes? I will get it ready in -"
"Bring a plate and spoon for me," Maximus said, and the chef looked at him confused before picking the plate from the table and giving it to Maximus.
"Miss Delilah, you wouldn't mind sharing, right? You haven't eaten it yet. So it should be alright," Maximus said, and Katherine, who knew what was coming next, shook her head.
"No. I... I actually licked it earlier. It has my saliva on it. How can I let the respected secretary have my food that I already tasted? Please wait as the chef says" Katherine whispered, holding onto the plate more firmly.
The chef nodded and was about to speak when Maximus beat him to it.
"I have been standing here from the moment the dish arrived, and I am sure my observation is keen enough to know you didn't lick it. Now don't act greedy and share it," Maximus said before pulling the plate from her hand firmly, almost making her fall towards him and dividing the food in half.
When he saw how keenly Delilah was looking at the food, he deliberately took one more spoon from her plate and placed it on his, making her scowl.
"Hey! You are being unfair!" Katherine immediately raised her voice to everyone's shock.
"Yeah? Go cry about it," Maximus scoffed, making Katherine grit her teeth.
"I swear if my hand wasn't wounded, I would've shown you what real unfairness is," Katherine mumbled under her breath.
"Did you say anything?" Maximus raised his brows, sitting beside her.
"I hope you enjoy your meal, sir," Katherine forced a smile on her face.
Maximus, who had clearly heard her earlier hummed.
"That's what I thought," Maximus nodded.
The chef who saw this rare interaction of the cold secretary of the elder prince, looked at the duo before shaking his head.
Once Katherine saw the chef leaving, she turned her head, shooting daggers at the culprit and food stealer.
"Aren't you a soldier? How can you eat such sweet dishes?" Katherine asked.
"I can always run an extra lap,"
"Scoundrel," Katherine whispered under her breath, feeling wronged.
Maximus scoffed faintly.
This Delilah after the suicide incident was acting really different from the previous Delilah. Something was definitely wrong.