Even though I couldn’t see his face, I could feel how utterly dumbfounded he was.
Well, regardless—mission accomplished. The explosive sermon had finally come to a halt.
Seizing that brief moment of silence, I kicked my brain into overdrive.
‘Let’s think…’
No matter how unexpected this event was, this wasn’t some brutal survival game—it was a romance sim.
Which meant… there had to be a hint. A set strategy. Some kind of pre-established route, right?
‘Ah!’
The idea hit me, and I awkwardly lifted my chin, forcing the most dignified, high-and-mighty expression I could muster.
“You were the one who started yelling. Pointing fingers and shouting out of nowhere.”
“….”
“Wouldn’t you say so, sir?”
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.
If this world’s setting was as old-fashioned and hierarchy-obsessed as I thought, then I had nothing to fear.
Sure enough, the attendant clammed up, stunned into silence by my unexpected defiance.
He must’ve been thrown off by the fact that I didn’t shrink away like a scolded child.
“But still!”
I quickly studied his expression again.
If he really was meant to play the “strict mother-in-law” role common in every romance story, then there was no need to make an enemy out of him right away.
Ahem, clearing my throat, I softened my tone just a little.
“I understand your concerns, sir. From now on, I’ll follow your advice—stand tall! And act with… dignity! As the Duke’s fiancée, of course.”
I call this the “I’m your boss’s girlfriend” technique.
Nevermind. That’s not an actual strategy—I just made it up on the spot. But hey, it seemed to be working. The attendant visibly flinched, taking a step back.
He even rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“You… I mean, you’re?”
His tone had grown noticeably more polite, but the confusion was still clear. That’s when the head maid, who’d been fidgeting nervously by my side, jumped in at the perfect moment.
“Y-Yes, sir. This is Miss Nadia Windsor, the Duke’s fiancée.”
“But until now, all the ‘fiancées’…”
The attendant trailed off, his voice thick with hesitation and something like bitterness.
What was he trying to say?
I waited, curious about what he’d say next—but instead, his demeanor shifted completely.
“I had heard the Duke’s new fiancée was due to arrive at the castle soon. I didn’t realize it was you, my lady. I sincerely apologize for my earlier behavior.”
His gaze swept over my face, examining me closely.
I’d grown somewhat used to that eerie black void hovering nearby, so I didn’t flinch anymore. But… there was something else. A faint, lingering sense of hostility.
Maybe it was because he was this game’s equivalent of a traditional mother-in-law character.
“I am ♦♦, the chief attendant to Duke Belmond. Please forgive my earlier rudeness.”
“Well, it’s fine.”
“That hand gesture…”
The moment I waved my hand dismissively, the attendant’s body visibly trembled again.
Hmm. As expected, for someone who carried around a book titled ‘Noble Etiquette’ like it was the holy grail, gestures that strayed from proper decorum must have been his trigger.
What a sensitive personality.
Quickly lowering my hands, I clasped them neatly near my waist and changed the subject with a bright smile.
“Aha-ha! Sorry about that. I’ll study hard from now on!”
“….”
“F-for real…”
“Sigh… No, never mind. I have pressing matters to attend to. Let’s speak again another time.”
The attendant stared at me for a long moment before reluctantly bending to pick up his book and giving me a slight nod.
As I watched his imposing figure disappear down the hall, I quietly clutched my chest.
‘I nearly got logged out.’
Deleting my character? Not happening.
* * *
The dining room was filled with a strange tension.
Unlike before, the maids didn’t dare make a fuss, and the head chef—now hatless—couldn’t hide how nervous he was.
If the developers had actually bothered to model his face, I was sure I’d see him drenched in a full bucket of cold sweat right now.
“Hm.”
Before me sat a dish covered by a large domed lid.
Steam billowed from it, carrying an aroma so rich and savory it nearly made my mouth water.
“This dish is prepared with a secret sauce passed down only to the head chefs of House Belmond. It pairs wonderfully with a bold, smoky red wine.”
As he finished his explanation, the head chef reached out with trembling hands and slowly lifted the lid.
The brass dome vanished, revealing meat sizzling in oil, still bubbling hot. But the shape…
It looked like something tortured in hell. Like a mandrake that had been roasted alive.
And then—
“Mmm…”
Honestly, I’d been hoping that this time, the food would be at least somewhat edible.
But as I came face-to-face with the reality of the dish, all I could do was groan under my breath.
I mean, come on, this…? It’s stranger not to notice how wrong it looks.
‘Could it be… the head chef really can’t see? A development error?’
Maybe this was part of some quest for a visually impaired head chef NPC the devs secretly added?
I was seriously starting to suspect the black void where his face should’ve been.
It was true—without eyes, a nose, or a mouth, it was impossible to tell if the head chef’s face was actually functional.
Was this really just… a graphic bug?
“Is something the matter?”
“No, I was just wondering… can you actually see?”
“… Pardon?”
I gave him a long, searching look, but he didn’t seem to notice that anything was off.
“Right, this foreign object.”
In the end, I reached toward the corner of the plate with my index finger and lifted it, revealing a set of false teeth.
No joke, it was an actual set of false teeth.
“Gasp! Gaaasp!“
With a horrified scream, the head chef clutched his head and began writhing in disbelief.
“N-no! How could this happen?! I checked and double-checked every step…! I was so careful!”
Thud.
Once again, the poor man dropped to his knees, denied the chance to proudly serve me a meal.
Seeing him like that made me feel kind of bad.
It didn’t seem like it was on purpose.
“Aw, don’t be so hard on yourself. Mistakes happen, you know?”
But my attempt at consolation didn’t reach him at all.
“Hic… hic… I can’t believe I did something so stupid…! I’m a disgrace! A complete failure!”
“No, I mean… maybe your, um, eyesight… isn’t that great?”
“I’ve failed!”
The head chef suddenly lifted his head and cried out.
“I’m truly sorry, Miss Windsor! If you would grant me just one more chance, I’ll correct this right away…!”
“Oh no, please! There’s no need for that…”
What a dangerous thing to say.
Feigning kindness, I gave him a gentle, benevolent smile and softly shook my head.
“I haven’t been sleeping well lately, so I don’t really have much of an appetite…”
A complete lie, of course.
“B-But… you haven’t eaten anything for days now…”
“No, I’m eating just fine.”
The moment those words left my mouth, the entire room fell silent.
All the NPCs turned to stare at me at once.
In the kind of stillness where even a pin drop would sound deafening, the head chef cautiously asked,
“May I ask… where and what you’ve been eating? Meals are only served in this dining hall within Belmond Ducal Castle.”
His voice was laced with suspicion.
[WARNING! Discussing system-related content may cause fatal program errors!]
As if on cue, a warning screen popped up in front of me. Realizing I’d spoken carelessly, I quickly swallowed the rest of my words.
“L-Love…”
… Of course, the sad truth was that I wasn’t exactly good at thinking on my feet.
“I’m eating plenty of… love… from the Duke.”
I cursed my mouth for spitting out such an irrecoverable lie.
Having panicked and thrown a curveball way too far off target, I mumbled under my breath while avoiding the NPCs’ gazes.
“It’s… a feeling that gets passed on, you know. Haha.”
….
Gulp. I swallowed hard, nerves making my throat dry, and darted my eyes toward the still-motionless head chef.
For a moment, he said nothing, standing in unreadable silence—then suddenly…
“Ohhh, sure enough.”
“… Huh?”
“As expected, His Grace truly is remarkable.”
With a crisp nod, his attitude shifted as if he’d just heard the most touching story in the world.
No, come on. You’re seriously buying this?
It was clear there was a serious issue with the NPCs’ response algorithms.
Either that, or their behavior algorithms hadn’t been properly implemented.
‘Hold on.’
Could it be that they brought inedible food because the game’s asset setup wasn’t complete?
‘Honestly, I think even refusing food every time would seem less weird than this.’
But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t bring myself to eat food that looked like a clump of hair.
After a brief moment of thought, I reminded myself that this world was an elaborately crafted “virtual reality.”
‘Even if I report the bug later, wouldn’t trying out things like this actually help with gameplay progression?’
With that thought in mind, I ended up asking a question I probably shouldn’t have.
“Head Chef.”
“Yes, Miss Windsor?”
“Where… do you get your ingredients from?”
Silence fell again, thick enough to feel like something had just died in the room.
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