I stopped before the door of my house. From outside, I could already hear vague murmurs of conversation.
It is my mother's voice. However, the younger one, the more restrained one, was someone whom I never thought would be this close to me until yesterday.
With a sigh, I pushed the door.
Noticing me, two pairs of eyes shifted toward me. My mother sent her usual gentle smile.
"You finally come back," My mother complained, "Why did it take so long? It's late already!"
I leaned my spear against the wall before approaching them.
"Buying a property takes time," I replied, "It wouldn't be good if I bought the wrong building. We can't just sell it away, you know?"
I sat across from them, my fingers reaching toward a cup of water. I sipped it to rehydrate myself before I leaned my back against the chair to relax.
Then my gaze met hers—those scarlet eyes.
She started fidgeting with her skirt. From the way she is clutching her own arm, she must be nervous.
To ease her nervousness, I smile toward her.
"I just bought it. What do you think? It was right beside the main road, so I think it was good enough..."
I put the building blueprint I talked about before on the table. She and my mother immediately leaned their bodies toward it to check it.
My mother looked content with it.
"That's good enough. Not bad, Theo."
But she was different from us. Although my mother and I were also of noble family before, it was already the past. I have my memories from Earth, so noble things never connected with my way of thinking. And after years of living in this city as a commoner, my mother had become accustomed to the commoner's way of thinking.
Tizmilly Fallburn.
That was her name, before she was reduced to just Tizmilly after being discarded by her family following the cancellation of her engagement to the crown prince of the Empire.
"I think... We still have to renovate some places. The entrance is no good. We need it to be bigger. We also need more windows."
I leaned back, frowning, "The entrance really is no good, huh?"
Tizmilly nodded seriously.
"Yes. The building is a two-story building. We could also use the second floor to serve our customers, but without a proper entrance room, the effect wouldn't be ideal. It was still too cramped for a restaurant."
She looked downcast before she continued her explanation.
"Which means we have to spend more on the renovation."
I raised my eyebrow, "Hm? Sure."
I looked at her. She seemed conflicted about something.
While we were still discussing the building, my mother noticed that the outside was already dark, so she said that she would prepare the bath for us and went to the bathroom through the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" I tilted my head toward Tizmilly.
Her lips were opened and closed several times before she finally spoke up.
"I had made a calculation before I accepted your offer. You need at least 10 gold coins to open a restaurant—5 golds to purchase the building, and the remaining 5 for things like tables and chairs. At first, I thought you were the son of a merchant, so I assumed such a large sum was manageable for you. However..."
"... I am actually just a commoner." I finished her sentence.
Tizmilly bit her lower lip.
"It was already a miracle for you to possess 6 gold coins to purchase a building in such a good location. 3 more gold coins would be..."
"As I said, you misunderstood," I cut her off immediately, letting out a sigh.
Maybe because I had never explained everything to her—about the end of the world and all—she had started to think that I open this restaurant solely to help her. Unfortunately for her, I am not a selfless person.
"You see, the reason I came up with this idea was not as you thought. Of course, I wanted you to be my partner, but the reason why I even thought about it was not as simple as because I wanted to help you. It's deeper and more complicated than it might seems..."
Tizmilly frowned, clearly not understanding. "Deeper?"
Should I tell her? I hesitated for a moment, but recalling the crisis the world would face, I decided to tell her the truth.
After making sure my mother wouldn't be returning soon, I gestured for her to come closer. Tizmilly looked confused, but she obeyed and leaned in, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"I'll tell you the truth, then. The world—the entire world—will be destroyed in the future."
Tizmilly's eyes widened, her mouth agape as she recoiled from me.
"D-destroyed?"
She looked at me like she had just met a madman. The world had never seen such a peaceful era since ancient times, so she must have thought that I was spouting nonsense.
"That's right."
I ignored her reaction and looked at her seriously as I continued.
"You might not believe it, but I know this world's future. And I have to admit, we are powerless against the true doom. With this knowledge, I once thought life was useless. But one day, I realized that even if the end is waiting for us, who says I can't enjoy my life? Even if I'm going to die later, wouldn't dying with a smile be better?"
Tizmilly still looked at me as if I were insane, but she didn't interrupt and listened carefully.
"I've enjoyed my life as I pleased—diving into dungeons like a madman, honing my magic simply because I had nothing else to lose. But when I saw the prince cast you aside, I decided right then: I wanted to invite you into my final days. Why? Because I thought it would be fun. I'm an egoist, Tizmilly. I don't want to meet the end with a long face. I want to die with a smile, inside a warm place filled with joy until the very last second."
She was overwhelmed by my confession and didn't know how to react. After staring at me blankly, she gave a stiff smile.
"I-I see... That was a... Good motivation?"
'She didn't believe me, did she?'
...
The day ended quickly.
We took turns bathing before we sleep in our separate rooms.
I couldn't help but notice that Tizmilly was keeping her distance. Good grief, now she thinks I'm a madman. What have I done?
"Tizmilly must have never learn how to cook. I'll ask mom to teach her tomorrow..."
With that thought in my mind, I closed my eyes for the day.
The next day, we visited the nearby carpenter and blacksmith to order what we needed. The renovation would take roughly a week to finish, according to the carpenter, so we wouldn't be open for business immediately.
But that worked to our advantage; it gave us a week to train our clueless-at-cooking Miss Villainess.
The instructor would be my mother, with me as the assistant.
We gathered around the kitchen table, aprons on, as my mother explained the first steps to becoming a skilled cook.
"You have zero experience, right?" My mother asked Tizmilly.
She looked embarrassed but nodded.
"Don't be embarrassed," my mother comforted her. "I also had no experience before I married Theo's father. He was the one who taught me. And now, I've become so good that most chefs around Dungeon City can't compare!"
"I always wondered why Mom didn't just open a stall with skills like that," I couldn't resist commenting.
My mother only laughed.
Of course, I knew the reason.
The King was still furious with the Roost family at the time. Since all the recipes my mother knew were secrets of the Roost family, it would have been dangerous to make a living from them. Who knows how the wind might carry that news to the crooked King of the Tarram Kingdom?
"Let's start with soup. It's simple, easy, and very beginner-friendly."
Once the laughter died down, my mother began the lesson. Tizmilly gulped, but she looked determined to master the art. Good.
"Theo, bring the ingredients!" my mother ordered.
I complied, bringing over the items we had prepared yesterday.
My mother walked to the table and introduced each ingredient.
"The main ingredient is this: the Mirte Mushroom. It's as chewy as meat if cooked properly and it's cheap, making it perfect for our soup. It can also be used for broth. Then we have chicken, broccoli, potatoes, and carrots. For spices: salt, pepper, garlic..."
After the explanation, we moved to preparation. My mother showed Tizmilly the proper way to cut and peel, while I assisted.
"To avoid hurting yourself, hold the garlic as if you're about to scratch it, tucking your fingertips in like this. That way, even if you slip, you'll mostly just hit your nails."
Tizmilly tried to follow along, but she still managed to nick her finger. I immediately covered the cut with a bandage..
"Ah, not like that. You should line your fingers up like this..."
"O-okay..."
I held her left hand, positioning her fingers properly so she could slice without fear. Tizmilly's movements were stiff, like an ungreased machine. She also struggled with her own strength.
"Relax, Tizmilly. It's just garlic. No need to swing that hard!"
I nearly panicked when she looked ready to cleave the chopping board in two.
"U-ugh..."
Each mistake seemed to discourage her, but her determination didn't waver. I stayed by her side, guiding her so that she could work without hurting herself and the equipment.
Next came the actual cooking. My mother had me prepare two pots of water and activated the stove by inserting a fire elemental gem, setting the heat to a boil.
The rest was out of my hands. I watched from the sidelines as my mother guided Tizmilly through adding the ingredients one by one.
In the end, while her soup wasn't as good as my mother's, it wasn't bad at all. She actually seemed to have a knack for it. Maybe her refined noble palate helped.
As expected of the Villainess who always stood in the way of Ahlia's party in the game—she is truly a girl of many talents. What a waste the prince and her family made by throwing her away.