Seventh Meal - Gratin (6)

Seeing that they both calmed down, Yami said, "Eat this and have a proper discussion. Don't do anything to bother other people."

Then without a care, she turned to head back to her job.

Elsie looked down at the dish that she had brought and was surprised by it.

This was a potato gratin, a dish that she hadn't eaten in a long time.

Kai had ordered this while they were telling their stories, but because of how long it took and how long their stories went, he had completely forgotten about it.

As for the reason why he had ordered it…

That was because this was the dish he and Elsie had eaten when they were younger. This was the dish that Elsie's mother was best at and she would make it for them whenever she had time.

So this was a taste of home for them.

He felt that she would need it after everything that had happened and it would allow them to have a proper talk, but now he felt that it would be a bit too insensitive. So Kai said, "I'll take it if you don't…"

Before he could finish, Elsie put the gratin in front of her and started digging in with the spoon that had also been provided.

Seeing this, Kai couldn't help revealing a smile since she looked just the way she did when they were kids. Whenever Elsie saw her mother's gratin, she would plop it in front of her and start digging in like this.

With the first bite, Elsie was already lost in the gratin.

It tasted like her mother's gratin, but at the same time, there were some minor differences. After all, this was a restaurant and her mother wasn't a professional cook.

Her mother's gratin was always simple, only having a thin layer of cheese and a bit of cream in the potatoes, but this one was much richer and bolder.

The moment that she put the first bite of gratin in her mouth, she was hit with a wave of flavour.

This gratin not only had the taste that she was familiar with, but also a taste that was much richer than anything that she had tasted before. This kind of taste was completely different from any gratin that she had eaten before.

The first thing that hit her was the richness of the cream that was mixed with the potato.

Instead of only containing a bit of cream, this gratin was filled with a cream mixture that coated the potatoes, giving it a much stronger taste. The richness of the cream came together with the smoothness of the potato to create a taste that enhanced one another, coming together like a perfect dance on the tongue.

She didn't understand why this worked so well, but when the flavour of both the potato and the cream danced on her tongue, she couldn't help unconsciously swallowing.

But that just made the flavour disappear, so she quickly scooped up another spoonful.

She had gotten mainly potato and cream in that first bite, but this time she got more of the cheese that covered the potatoes.

As soon as she put this bite in her mouth, the flavour of the cheese hit her.

It added a tart taste to the creamy and smooth taste of the potato filling, but it wasn't a taste that was bad. It helped create a contrast with the smooth taste, bringing out the best of both worlds as they melted together.

It was still smooth, but that tart taste gave it a bit more of a kick which hit her taste buds even stronger.

At the same time, as she chewed through the potatoes, she realized that there were little salty bits that were inside of the potatoes. As she chewed, she realized that these were little bits of bacon that had been added to the inside of the gratin.

These sour bits once again clashed with the smooth and creamy taste of the potatoes, but it didn't taste bad. It accented the smoothness by adding a hint of sourness to the taste, which made it even more delicious.

It also helped to add to the richness of the gratin overall as the umami from the bacon had seeped into the potatoes, giving it an even stronger taste.

After the first taste, she couldn't stop herself as she shoved more and more of the gratin into her mouth. This was a taste that she had never had before, but at the same time, it was a taste that reminded her of home, so she just couldn't stop herself.

Mostly because…stuffing her face like this was helping her with her heart break.

She was just trying to eat away her feelings at this point.

After demolishing three gratins…which Kai had ordered for all three of them, she finally was able to settle down.

But of course, she didn't give up on her idea.

So she looked Kai right in the face and was about to speak, but there was an alarm that suddenly rang out on Kai's phone.

Both Kai and Elena were surprised because they had lost track of time, but it was currently the afternoon. Elsie had arrived in the restaurant in the morning, but after talking for so long, it was already the afternoon.

Kai was about to stand up, but Elena stood up instead and said, "She's your friend, you should stay here and talk to her. I'll go pick up Angel."

Kai looked at her with an unwilling look, but seeing the way she looked at him, he could only nod in response.

The look that was on her face, that was the look that she gave him whenever she wanted him to clean up his mess. It was clear that she was angry with this mess, but she couldn't blame Elsie after hearing her story.

So she chose to blame everything on Kai and she was forcing him to clean up his own mess.

Kai might have been a hero in the past, but now he was nothing more than a husband who listened to his wife.

After Elena left, Elsie couldn't help asking, "Who's Angel?"

Hearing this, Kai suddenly revealed a happy smile as he took out his wallet and pulled out a bunch of pictures. He placed them all over the table and picked out his favourites as he said, "She's my daughter. Isn't she just the cutest?"

He kept telling her all kinds of different stories about his beloved daughter.

The customers on the side all revealed bitter smiles when they saw that he had started.

Kai was considered a regular customer at this restaurant, so the customers were all quite familiar with him. He was also good friends with Lin Fan, often finding time to drink with him at nights, while also being "acquaintances" with Yami.

So he was actually at the store more regularly than a normal customer.

These customers had all made the mistake of asking him about his daughter and they had all suffered the fate of having to listen to him ramble on about her.

If there was an example of a doting parent, then it would be Kai.

But they had to admit that his daughter really was beautiful. She was just like her name, a little angel.

At the same time though, they couldn't help looking at Elsie with a look of pity.

To have to hear the man she loved talking about his beautiful daughter that he had with another woman…was there a greater pain than that?

There were a few people that had the urge to beat Kai up, including Yami who was secretly listening on the side.

While she didn't exactly like Elsie because of their past history, she could sympathize with her.

She had also changed after coming to this world. She had become much more patient and much more caring compared to before when she was the demon king that solved everything with her fists.

Elsie's head was down during the whole time that Kai had been talking about his daughter until she finally couldn't take it anymore. She suddenly raised her hands and slapped them on the table as she shouted, "I don't care anymore! You're going to marry me and have a daughter with me too if it's the last thing I do!"

Kai was so shocked that his mouth immediately shut and he didn't know what to say anymore.

However, Elsie could see the unwilling and hesitant look in his eyes which just pierced her heart even more. She couldn't take him looking at her like this, so she pulled out her staff and started gathering her mana again.

Seeing this, Kai's first reaction was to turn to Yami for help.

However, he found that Yami had already set up a barrier around them and did nothing else.

Yami saw him look over and said, "Deal with your problem yourself."

Kai had a look on his face like he wanted to cry, but had no tears when he heard this. So without a choice, he pulled out his sword again to hold in front of him to block the spells that Elsie was about to shoot.

But to his surprise, she didn't actually shoot any.

All she did was point the staff in his face as she opened and closed her mouth, as if she was hesitating over something.

Kai had a confused look on his face, but he waited for her to speak.

Finally, as if she had suddenly worked up the courage, Elsie said, "I like you! Will you go out with me?"

She realized that she had never actually confessed to him, so she decided that she would make it clear enough for this dense idiot.

Kai's chin just dropped as he once again didn't know what to say.

But after a minute of silence, he still said, "I'm sorry, I can't. Elsie, you're a dear friend, but I'm already mar…"

Elsie lifted the staff and said, "I don't care, I don't care! You will marry me and we will build a happy family together!"

Kai's lips couldn't help twitching when he heard this…

He had always thought that Elsie was a calm and rational person, but now…

It was like she was a crazy ex-girlfriend that wouldn't give up no matter what he said…even if he was already married and had a daughter.

Then Elsie shouted, "I'll stay in this world and force you to marry me if you say no! I don't care how long it takes, I will get you to marry me!"

But this time, before Kai could answer, the barrier around them suddenly disappeared and Yami appeared in front of Elsie.

Elsie was shocked to see Yami suddenly appearing in front of her, but before she could react, Yami had already grabbed the staff from her hand and suppressed her mana like she had done when she first came into the story.

Elsie looked at her with a shocked look as she asked, "What are you doing? Didn't you support me?"

Yami gave a sigh and said, "I do support you, but I can't let you stay in this world. Your powers will imbalance this world and put it in danger, so I can't let you stay here without getting approval and going through the proper procedures."

Elsie looked at her with a devastated look as she stuttered, "I…I…"

Yami cut her off again as she said, "You can come back every day to see him, the door will open once a day. If you come, I'll go and drag him here for you. But until everything is taken care of, I can't have you causing trouble."

She reached her hand out and grabbed something from Elsie which she threw at the register. The register's tray popped out to catch it and closed before opening again to shoot something at her hand.

She caught this and put it in Elsie's hand before carrying her to the door.

She opened the door for Elsie and then basically threw her out of the restaurant before she could even do anything.

After Elsie landed, the only thing that she could do was stare at the door that disappeared behind her in a daze.

Back at the restaurant, Yami walked over to Kai and looked at him before saying, "Coward."

Kai revealed a bitter smile, but he didn't say anything to refute this.

That was because he had indeed acted like a coward near the end by letting Yami take care of his problems for him.

After a long silence, he gave a sigh and said, "I'll talk to Elena tonight and try to come up with a solution."

Yami just gave a snort before heading off.

Lin Fan stood by the window of the kitchen and waved his hand at Yami, which made her obediently come over.

He said with a smile, "Don't make it too hard on him. You know that everyone has their own circumstances." Then he reached his hand out to pat her on the head.

Yami just let him do it before giving an obedient nod. Then she leaned in and whispered to him, "We should also try to make a child tonight. It's already been long enough."

Lin Fan gave a cough before walking back into the kitchen.

He really couldn't take this side of her. She really was just too cute.

It was too bad that it was only in front of him that she acted this way.