SMOOTH LIKE BUTTER

ISAAK, while leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen with his arms crossed over his chest, watched Zoe work on the salmon that looked bigger than her petite frame. Ah, she tied her hair into a messy bun earlier, but she still looked neat.

[It's impressive how she acts like she owns the inn kitchen that we just borrowed a few moments ago.]

But he liked Zoe's confidence.

Moreover, he was amused at how easy for a frail-looking woman like her to cut the pretty large salmon as if it was nothing. The pink chef's knife she was using looked like a toy to him. But it was as sharp as his sword's blade.

Zoe also moved fast. And yet, she moved with grace.

Then, when Zoe deboned the fish using a pair of tweezers that she borrowed from the inn's kitchen, he saw a different side of her again.

[She's so quiet. When she's being like this, she looks more elegant and radiant.]

It wasn't like Zoe was annoying or loud. In fact, he liked that she was energetic. After all, he had a dull personality and the people around him were always too careful around him.

Zoe was the only one who had the courage to be playful with him. She always teased him to the point that he got used to her liveliness.

[But seeing her face full of concentration…]

Ah, it was beautiful.

Zoe was so damned beautiful that he wanted to propose to her again– for himself this time, and not for the adoption procedure.

[Have I gone crazy?]

"Isaak?"

Zoe calling his name as she cut the salmon thinly interrupted his thoughts. The fact that she wasn't looking at the fish made him worry.

"Hey, focus," Isaak said while frowning. He didn't like that he was getting worried about someone who had nothing to do with him. Had he really gone crazy? "You might hurt yourself if you're not looking at what you're doing."

Zoe laughed softly. "Isaak, you should see me when I cut onions or scallions," she said proudly. "If I were to compare my knife skills to the rankings of swordsmen, then I'd say I'm a swordmaster."

He could see that her knife skills were really top-notch, so he said nothing to refute that. "Still, be careful. Even sword masters hurt themselves when they're not being careful."

She just smiled at him, but thankfully, she focused on cutting the fish meat again. "Isaak, did you bring your own meal? You asked me to have dinner with you earlier, so I assumed that you brought food."

"I did."

It wasn't like he enjoyed bringing corpses with him. But it would be bad if he got hungry. Once he got hungry, he would start acting like a Grimling that craved the flesh of living humans.

"Do you want me to make a steak tartare out of it?"

"The dish that you made at the banquet before?"

"Yes," she said, then she stopped with the knife work before she looked up at him. "You can't eat egg and vegetables, but I thought I could make your meal visually appetizing, at least."

Well, the raw meat that he had been all this time certainly didn't look appetizing.

He used to be a picky eater before he was cursed. Because of that, he had gone through hell after his appetite had been turned into a Grimling's. There was even a time when he had become malnourished because he couldn't stomach eating corpses.

But of course, in the end, he was forced to eat not only to satiate his hunger. To be honest, back then, he didn't mind dying from starvation. The problem was that he would lose control whenever he was hungry.

Thus, he forced himself to eat to protect his people.

"Zoe."

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think that my diet is disgusting?" he asked with a straight face. "I eat corpses. Ghoul corpses that have eaten human flesh, to be precise."

"So what?"

"Huh?"

"If you think about it, everyone who eats animals isn't that different from you," she said with a shrug. "We eat animal corpses, too. Who knows if the animals that we've eaten had consumed human flesh at some point?"

He stopped himself from laughing by biting his lower lip. "I eat raw meat, Zoe."

She picked up a slice of raw salmon meat and put it in her mouth. Then, she slowly chewed on it as if she wanted to show him that she, too, could eat raw meat just fine.

This time, he couldn't hold back his laughter.

Ah, it was refreshing.

He didn't know when was the last time that he laughed this loud. Well, he would often laugh on the battlefield, but it wasn't for anything funny or entertaining. He would just get excited over the blood or flesh of his enemies.

Anyway…

"Zoe, I really think that we should get married."

She raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"Because I think you're the only woman who won't mind eating with a ghoul like me. If I will not marry out of love, then I'd like to marry someone whom I can have a meal with at least," he said honestly. But he also knew that it was rude. "Did my selfish reason offend you?"

"Nope," she said nonchalantly. "I actually feel sad after hearing that."

"Don't pity me."

"I will do what I want," she said in a light-hearted manner, although her voice was firm. "But I'm sure you'll find the right woman for you someday, Isaak. Trust me."

"I believe she's already standing in front of me."

"Ah. That's smooth like butter," Zoe said, then she put a hand over her left chest where her heart was located. "That gave me a mini heart attack, Isaak."

"Then I shall stop for now. I don't want you to die before you accept my marriage proposal," Isaak said, then he walked out of the kitchen. "Let me just get my food first."

***

"Y-YOUR Majesty, do I really have to get that far?"

Veronica smiled while putting fresh flowers in the vase. She didn't even bother to turn around to face Nigel Ratliff. But even without seeing the foolish young man, she could already imagine his pale face and the fear in his eyes.

After all, despite his tough façade, Nigel Ratliff was nothing but a huge coward.

"Nigel, my dear brother-in-law, it will benefit the Royal Family a lot if you marry Lady Zoanne Rochester– the sole successor of the vast wealth that House Rochester has accumulated all these years," Veronica said calmly. "His Majesty, the older brother that you treasure a lot, will surely be proud of you if you successfully inherit the wealth of House Rochester and use it to support the Royal Family."

But of course, once Nigel married Lady Zoanne and inherit the wealth of House Rochester, she'd be the one to gobble it all up.

[It's true that I only approached Lady Zoanne because of my brother's request. But I've always been interested in House Rochester's wealth, especially the Dragon Lair that they own. Now that an opportunity to gobble it up has presented itself, I won't waste it.]

After all, she needed more money to keep her position as the empress. Bribing the nobles to keep on supporting her had always been a headache.

[But once I get a hold of the Rochesters' wealth, everything will be fine.]

"Your Majesty, Lady Zoanne hates my guts," Nigel said hesitantly. "And it looks like she has a deep relationship with Brother Isaak."

"So what?"

"Excuse me?"

She turned around to face her foolish brother-in-law. As expected, he looked frightened by her suggestion. But she wasn't done yet. "Nigel, don't you think Lady Zoanne will accept your marriage proposal once you get her pregnant?"

Nigel, who was surprisingly innocent despite his ruthlessness towards Isaak, looked horrified by her "suggestion." "Your Majesty, are you implying that I should–"

"I just happen to have a very strong liquor in my collection that might help you," Veronica said while smiling, purposely cutting off Nigel, who looked like a dog trembling from the cold. "I will have my attendant pack it for you, my dear brother-in-law."

***

NOTE: Hi! Please consider ADDING 'I Won't Let The Ghoul Duke Go Hungry!' to your LIBRARY. Thank you! <3