Hestia followed Heimer's finger.
Seeing the lonely blanket lying on the floor, an embarrassed flush instantly flashed across her face.
"Cough..."
She gave a light cough, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"That... the blanket started it..."
"It was too hot, so I..."
"Enough."
Heimer didn't give her a chance to continue her excuses.
He turned around.
He waved his hand with his back to her.
"Hurry up and wash up."
"Everyone is waiting."
"If you don't want to miss today's breakfast, you'd better move fast."
With that.
Heimer didn't stay any longer and walked straight out of the room.
...
...
Ten minutes later.
At the top of the stairs on the second floor.
Finally, a dragging set of footsteps could be heard.
Hestia, having finished washing up and barely making herself presentable, descended the stairs with heavy, unsteady steps.
Although her hair was neatly re-tied into twin-tails and the drool marks were gone from her face,
her blue eyes still held the hazy confusion of someone not fully awake.
"So sleepy..."
Hestia complained softly while rubbing her eyes.
"I wonder what's for breakfast today..."
As she spoke,
she had just reached the ground floor hall.
A smell wafted through the air.
"Huh?"
Hestia wrinkled her nose.
"What's that smell? Something burning?"
Immediately after,
a somewhat flustered conversation drifted from the direction of the kitchen.
"Wait! Ryu! You can't put that in directly! The fire's too high, nyaa!"
A strangely accented, yet somewhat familiar voice shrieked.
"Um... If you're making fried eggs, I think it's better to remove the shell first..."
Another voice sounded on the verge of despair.
"Move! Let me handle it!"
Hearing these voices,
Hestia, who had just been complaining in her half-asleep state,
jerked to a sudden halt.
As if hit by a petrification spell,
her entire body froze on the last step of the staircase.
Her large, sapphire-like eyes instantly widened to their fullest.
The sleepiness vanished in that instant.
Replacing it
was a look of utter disbelief.
She stared fixedly towards the kitchen.
There,
in what should have been the manor belonging only to the children of the Haimo Familia,
at this moment,
three extra figures were bustling around in the kitchen.
Three young girls.
They wore matching green dresses with white aprons and lace trimmings.
The style was classic, the cut well-fitted.
Currently, they were gathered around the stove, a flurry of activity.
One of them
had beautiful, short grass-green hair, skin as white as snow, and a pair of long, pointed ears that marked her noble heritage—an elf.
At this moment,
this elven girl, who was probably a beauty even on ordinary days,
was tightly gripping a spatula, her expression as serious as if facing some Level 5 floor boss.
She stared with intense concentration at the frying pan in front of her, which was emitting black smoke.
A layer of fine sweat even beaded on her forehead.
Although Hestia was a bit face-blind,
the highly distinctive appearance of this elven girl instantly reminded her of the elven waitress she had seen yesterday at the tavern, The Hostess of Fertility.
And beside her,
were two other figures.
One had a pair of ash-black cat ears and a restless long tail, pointing and gesturing with a mischievous grin, occasionally taking advantage of the chaos to snatch a piece of ham from a nearby plate.
It was that Cat People!
The other,
was a human girl with short brown hair, looking utterly helpless as she tried to wrestle the spatula from Ryu's hands, seemingly attempting to salvage the ingredients that were about to turn into charcoal.
"This..."
Hestia rubbed her eyes vigorously.
She even wondered if she was still dreaming.
Otherwise,
how could it be that upon waking up,
three beautiful girls in maid uniforms had suddenly appeared in Heimer's house?!
And they were the waitresses from that tavern yesterday?!
This doesn't fit the picture at all!
Could it be that...
Hestia's little brain began working at high speed.
Countless not-for-children images started flashing through her mind.
Noticing Hestia's expression,
Heimer sighed internally and stood up.
He walked over to Hestia with a hint of exasperation.
He crooked his middle finger
and aimed it at her smooth, full forehead.
*Flick!*
He gave it a gentle tap.
"Ow!"
Hestia cried out in pain.
Her hands immediately flew to her forehead, tears instantly welling up and swimming in her eyes.
"Why did you hit me?!"
"To snap you out of it."
Heimer withdrew his hand, his tone flat.
"Stop letting your imagination run wild."
"They came here of their own accord."
With that,
Heimer turned and gestured towards the kitchen.
"What do you mean... 'came here of their own accord'?"
Hestia rubbed her forehead, completely baffled.
"Miss Elf lost a bet with me the night before last."
Heimer explained:
"She's paying off the debt by working as a maid."
He pointed towards Ryu, who was now in a desperate struggle with the completely blackened fried egg.
"Though her professional skills seem a bit... concerning."
"As for the other two..."
Heimer glanced at Chloe, who had already sneakily stuffed a piece of ham into her mouth while Ryu wasn't looking.
"They're waitresses who came to help share Miss Elf's burden."
"Perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"
"Reasonable, my foot!!!"
Hestia listened, dumbfounded.
What kind of development was this?
Losing a bet means becoming a maid?
What kind of bet is that?!
And what's with this 'buy one, get two free' deal?
"If you don't believe me, you can ask them yourself."
"Stop standing there spacing out. Go wash your hands and eat."
Mainly because the burnt smell was really getting overwhelming, Heimer didn't want to say more to Hestia.
He strode directly towards the dining room.
"Oh..."
Although Hestia still had her doubts,
a woman's intuition told her things definitely weren't that simple.
But since Heimer said so, and the burnt smell over there was getting stronger, along with Ryu's increasingly despairing expression...
It really didn't seem like some alluring scenario.
It looked more like a disaster scene.
"Alright..."
Hestia pouted.
"As long as it's not something weird..."
Muttering to herself,
Hestia, still half-convinced, went to wash up at the sink.
...
A few minutes later.
In the dining room.
Breakfast was already laid out on the large, solid wood dining table.
Although the process had some twists and turns, fortunately, there was Lunoire, a reliable human, along with the help of Rin and the others.
The food finally presented on the table was barely passable.
Golden brown and crispy slices of bread.
Perfectly pan-fried bacon.
Along with fresh vegetable salad and steaming hot milk.
Except for...
The thing in the plate placed right in front of Heimer.
Ryu.
The elven girl who always wore a stern face at the tavern, being so aloof and noble that people dared not approach her.
At this moment.
Watching that plate placed in front of Heimer.
That originally fair and delicate face was already flushed red, the blush even spreading to her neck.
That pair of iconic pointed ears drooped down even further, as red as a boiled shrimp.
Her eyes darted away, not daring to look into Heimer's eyes at all.
Even her hands holding the plate were trembling slightly.
Because in that plate,
it was another pitch-black lump.
From the outline, one could faintly recognize that it once probably, perhaps, might have been a fried egg.
"I'm sorry... I... I'm really not good at cooking..."
Shame.
So shameful.
Yesterday, she baked the sandwich into charcoal.
Today, she fried the egg into this hellish substance.
"It's fine."
"After all, everyone has their own specialized fields."
"Everyone has things they are good and bad at, there's nothing to be ashamed of."
After saying that,
Heimer quite decisively pushed the plate in front of him aside.
"Um..."
Ryu bit her lip,
seeming to want to make up for her mistake.
Seeing that the cup in front of Heimer was empty,
she immediately stepped forward.
"Lord Heimdall, let me refill it for you."
-------------------------
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