<Chapter 34>
#4. The Exchange Meeting (6)
With a heart pounding in excitement, Melty took his first step into the banquet hall following Calix, only to deeply regret it within minutes. The saying that things are beautiful and wonderful only in dreams resonated deeply in his heart.
“Don’t wander off, I said.”
Thanks to Calix, who stuck to him like glue and nagged whenever he tried to go anywhere, it had been a long time since Melty had been able to properly look around. In truth, there wasn’t much to see. There were places to sit in the corner and rest, but Calix, who kept following him, was the variable.
It seemed like Calix was indeed the host of the exchange meeting, as many people wanted to speak with him. Each time they spoke, Calix dealt with them with a bored expression. Though Melty wasn’t a child, Calix followed behind him as if he’d left a child by the riverside. If they sat on the sofa with Calix, who was the center of attention, people would obviously flock to them.
The banquet hall, which he had so wished to visit just once, was vastly different from what he had imagined. His plan to blend into the crowd and observe quietly was thwarted the moment Calix grabbed him by the nape. From then on, he couldn’t move freely because of the stares from people.
At best, the only place he could go was the table piled high with snacks. Though it was inconvenient to have to get Calix’s approval for each item and to have half of what he gathered taken away, it was something he had agreed to for his safety, so there was nothing he could do.
‘What should I eat this time…’
Since Calix would take half of it anyway, Melty planned to build an even taller tower than before. As he was eyeing his targets with anticipation, a shadow fell across him.
“I don’t believe we’ve met at an exchange meeting before.”
At the clear, ringing voice, Melty looked up. She was the first person to greet him since arriving here. From the moment they entered the banquet hall, people had been gathered in groups, conversing with each other. Having been thoroughly warned by Calix, Melty hadn’t dared to approach anyone. As a result, he had been feeling quite lonely in the large banquet hall, so he was simply delighted that someone had approached him.
“Ah! Hello.”
A bright smile naturally spread across Melty’s face. At the sight of his round eyes curving gently and his red lips, she flinched and took a step back. She had come with the intention of grabbing him by the hair and demanding to know what his relationship with Calix was, but his innocent eyes, which seemed to know nothing, made her conscience ache.
After clearing her throat loudly, she examined his attire. Her keen eye easily recognized that the clothes he was wearing were the work of ‘Zephi,’ a highly valued designer known for the most excellent designs these days. Moreover, judging by the design, it was his latest work. Knowing full well that one had to make a reservation at least a year in advance to obtain his clothes, she didn’t think for a moment that this unfamiliar stranger had acquired the outfit through his own means.
“I don’t have the skill to beat around the bush. So let me ask you directly.”
“Pardon?”
“What is your relationship with Master Calix?”
At her question, Melty blinked calmly with a puzzled expression. He couldn’t understand why she was pouring hostility toward him, her eyes narrowed.
It wasn’t a difficult question to answer. Calix was the employer, and he was the employee. But he couldn’t simply answer someone whose identity he didn’t know.
“Before I answer, shouldn’t you tell me who you are first?”
“I’m Lila McNeil. Satisfied?”
Though grateful that she had spoken to him, Melty responded grumpily to her less-than-kind attitude.
“Not really, but I’ll say it’s fine. Calix-ssi and I have an employer-employee relationship.”
“…Employee?”
“Yes. Employee.”
Her eye corners rose at Melty’s sulky response. Having no intention or desire to continue the conversation with her, Melty turned around with a swoosh and stacked snacks neatly on the plate he was holding. Lila, who had been staring at his back, carefully followed behind him.
“Are you really just an employee?”
“Yes.”
“Not in a romantic relationship?”
Despite observing Melty cautiously, Lila couldn’t shake her doubts. There had been numerous exchange meetings before, but this was the first time she had seen Calix laughing with such pleasure.
And the small snake coiled around Melty’s wrist, flicking its tongue, was an ‘Ollua,’ which supposedly could only be handled by direct descendants of the Padrian family. Calix was not altruistic enough to give something that other families begged for but were denied to a mere employee.
Above all, the natural way they fed each other food was something she simply couldn’t overlook. Looking at her filled with suspicion, Melty frowned as he was in the process of stacking a thick cake on his plate.
“Why are you asking if you’re not going to believe me anyway?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you. I’m asking because it’s strange.”
“There’s nothing strange about it. Your questions have been much stranger from the start.”
“M-my questions are strange? How dare…”
“They are.”
All the questions she had been asking while following him around were strange and suspicious from beginning to end. Impulsively grabbing a bite-sized mini cupcake from his personal plate and bringing it to his mouth, Melty spoke while chewing.
“Why are you so curious about Calix-ssi’s and my relationship?”
“W-well…”
Unable to continue, she cleared her throat loudly and rolled her eyes. Staring at the triangular ears perched on her head, which were twitching, Melty asked with blinking, round eyes.
“…Are you interested in Calix-ssi?”
“Of course I am. We’re talking about none other than Calix Kuse Padrian. Who wouldn’t be interested?”
At her words, Melty almost answered with a small “I wouldn’t.” Scratching his cheek and staring blankly at her face, Melty tilted his head and spoke.
“But Lila-ssi is pretty, so couldn’t you meet someone better?”
“Y-you think so?”
Unlike her initially sharp voice, her now more shy question was met with Melty nodding without hesitation. Perhaps thanks to her dark blue dress, her white skin stood out more. Even without that, her red hair and eyes were eye-catching, and her sharp gaze and high nose bridge made her a striking beauty with a fierce and haughty image.
“Really?”
“…If you’re not going to believe what I say anyway, could you please stop asking questions?”
Having just experienced his earnest explanations being dismissed, Melty’s words came out pointedly. After retorting to her in a sulky voice, Melty turned his body in the opposite direction. Having turned his attention away from her, Melty methodically kidnapped well-displayed desserts onto his plate.
Lila, who had been carefully observing Melty stacking his dessert tower, moved closer to him. Opening and closing her mouth several times as if to call him while watching his reaction, she belatedly realized that she hadn’t asked for his name.
“Excuse me…”
Her gaze fell on the round ears cutely perched on his brown hair. Lingering around Melty, not knowing what to call him, Lila opened her mouth without thinking.
“Hey, Cutie.”
Melty’s ears moved as if he had heard her call. Although Lila confirmed with her own eyes that his ears had perked up, clearly listening to what she said, he didn’t turn his head.
“Cutie…”
“Don’t call me by strange nicknames. That’s ve~ry rude.”
At Melty’s words, she smiled awkwardly and rolled her eyes. Noticing that the desserts were now stacked so high on his plate that there was no room for more, she quickly extended her own plate.
“Isn’t it tiring to keep going back and forth?”
“It’s not tiring. I can just eat and come back again.”
Responding indifferently, Melty was wary of her persistently sticking to him. Having found something to talk to Melty about, Lila smiled brightly and pointed to a cake on one side.
“Haven’t you tried the lemon cake over there?”
At her question, Melty’s gaze naturally fell on the cake covered with pale yellow cream. On top of the small, bite-sized mini cake was a piece of lemon preserved in honey and a cute-looking cookie. It was something he had intended to eat anyway, but had postponed for the next opportunity as his plate was already full.
“And the chestnut cake next to it is a very, very special cake that can only be eaten at this time of year, have you tried that one?”
Like a devil’s whisper, her soft words in his ear made Melty’s ears twitch attentively. Like a puppet controlled by a puppeteer, Melty’s gaze naturally moved to the second cake she pointed at.
“Inside the mild cream, thin crispy cookies and chocolate wrap around the chestnuts. It’s not too sweet, but the texture is exquisite.”
Gulp.
Swallowing involuntarily, Melty looked down at his plate, which was already heaped high. More than half of the food he had taken initially were things he found delicious and wanted to eat more of. He hadn’t expected to feel regretful about the things he had piled up, since half of them would be stolen by Calix anyway.
“They’re so delicious that they might be gone if you come a bit later. Food at exchange meetings is usually popular.”
Of course, her words contained lies. The exchange meeting was literally a place for people from each family to communicate. The food laid out was merely a concept of snacks, different from a meal.
Naturally, the food here wouldn’t disappear quickly as she mentioned, and if it did run out, employees would promptly replace the plates with ones full of food.
It was a lie that no one would believe, but Melty, who was obviously showing that this was his first time at a banquet hall, was different. A light of agony clouded his brown eyes. There was no more space on his plate for other desserts.
“You seem troubled… Doesn’t Cutie want to eat before the cake disappears? As I said earlier, I can help you.”
Melty glanced sideways at Lila, who spoke with her nose haughtily in the air. Unlike the plate in his hand, which was boasting a heavy weight, the plate in her hand was clean and white.
“…Why would you get some for me?”
“Because I’ve taken quite a liking to Cutie right now.”
“I’m not Cutie, I’m Melty.”
Melty reluctantly corrected the mistake she had been making. Recognizing that what he had uttered was a declaration of surrender, though not explicitly expressed, Lila smiled brightly.
“That’s a pretty name. So, what would you like me to get for you?”
Watching her as she raised her plate as if to say “just try asking,” Melty swallowed hard several times and began listing the names of cakes he had postponed for the next plate.
