Chapter 32 – You Wanted to Eat Cake Too, Didn’t You, Leo-san?
“I’m so sorry, Sibel. You were supposed to have the afternoon off.”
“Not at all! I didn’t really have anything else to do, and I feel fine anyway!”
“Thank you, truly.”
One of the senior dorm mothers had caught a cold.
So, since I had the afternoon off, I made some warm bread porridge at lunchtime and went to check on her.
I just wanted her to get better soon — I’d made it with that wish in mind. Hopefully, after eating it, she’d feel a little stronger.
That senior’s regular duty was cleaning the knights’ rooms.
And today, she was supposed to clean Leo-san’s room.
Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to take her place.
…But wait—
Was it really okay for me to go inside Leo-san’s private quarters!?
Just the thought made my heart race, but I kept repeating to myself like a spell: “This is work. This is just work.”
So I took a deep breath and entered the personal room of Captain Leo.
By this time of day, he was of course out working.
But still… thinking about how just a few hours ago, Leo-san had been here — sleeping here, changing here…
My face was burning up.
No! Stop it, Sibel!
This isn’t a reward — this is your job!
I reminded myself firmly and got straight to work.
I swept the dust from every corner and then started wiping the floor with a rag.
Leo-san’s room was hardly dirty at all.
He probably only uses it for sleeping.
But still, just imagining him resting here after a long day… somehow made me feel fired up—
No, not that kind of fired up!
I just wanted to clean extra well so that he could rest comfortably!
I decided not to look directly at the bed.
If I did, I’d probably start imagining all sorts of things and wouldn’t get any work done.
I told myself I could look later as a “reward.”
Humming happily to myself, I was scrubbing the floor when—
Leo-san himself walked in.
Maybe he’d heard I was cleaning even though I wasn’t assigned to his room, and came to check.
The gratitude in his eyes was clear as he thanked me sincerely.
Then he told me to stop cleaning and invited me to have lunch with him.
Since I had just finished anyway, I nodded happily.
Before leaving, I took one last look around—
and noticed a white shirt lying on the bed.
It looked like it had just been taken off and left there.
…Wait. That was Leo-san’s sleeping shirt…!?
It must be laundry, right?
I picked it up, suppressing the urge to hug it to my chest, and called out to him—
but he quickly said he’d carry it himself.
I didn’t want to insist and seem strange, so I agreed and handed it to him.
Just then, something fell softly to the floor.
Huh? What was that?
Before I could even bend down to pick it up, Leo-san moved incredibly fast, snatched it up, and turned away from me without meeting my eyes.
“Huh…?”
Confused, I followed behind as he briskly walked out of the room, carrying everything himself.
***
The next day—
“Sibel!”
“Yes, Leo-san?”
Around lunchtime, Leo-san suddenly appeared, looking a bit rushed.
“Do you have a moment?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“If you’re free, would you like to have some tea with me—and share this?”
“Oh my…”
He held out a box.
Inside was a large, beautiful cake — covered in white cream and topped with bright, colorful fruit.
“Did… you buy this yourself, Leo-san?”
“Yes. It’s from a new shop in town. People say it’s delicious.”
“My goodness…”
A new shop like that must be so popular. He probably even had to line up early to get it!
“Thank you so much. I’ll go make some tea right away.”
“Ah, great!”
Leo-san really is such a kind man.
Yesterday he’d asked if I liked sweets, but I never imagined he’d go buy cake for me—
and so soon after, too!
“Oh, Sibel, you look so cheerful today. What happened?”
“Ah, Elga-san! Actually, Leo-san just brought us some cake.”
“Cake?”
“Yes! From that new, popular bakery, apparently.”
As I hummed while preparing the tea, Elga-san started chatting with me.
“Oh my, could it be that shop? Wow! You have to line up early in the morning or it sells out right away.”
“Really?”
Hearing our conversation, one of the senior dorm mothers—already feeling much better—clasped her hands together in delight.
“Wow! That’s amazing! As expected of the Captain! I’ll go call everyone!”
Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t seen Leo-san this morning…
so that’s what he’d been doing!
He really went out of his way just for this…
While I was lost in thought, the senior brought all the dorm mothers over.
Even the one who’d been sick earlier came along, declaring, “Thanks to Sibel’s porridge, I’m completely healed!”
The cake was large, so of course I wasn’t planning to eat it alone.
I prepared lots of tea for everyone.
“Captain! We’ll be having some cake now, thank you!”
“Ah—y-yes… go ahead.”
When Leo-san, waiting in the dining hall, turned around, he froze for a moment—
his eyes widening at the sight of all the dorm mothers gathered behind me.
…Maybe I should’ve asked before bringing everyone?
“I’m sorry, Leo-san. I only need a small piece, so—”
“No, I bought it for you. I don’t need any—please, enjoy it, Sibel.”
“Ehh~ Captain! Don’t tell me you bought it just for Sibel?”
“Eh—n-no! Of course not! It’s for everyone—to thank you all for your hard work!”
“Wow, thank you so much! Let’s eat!”
Overwhelmed by the cheerful dorm mothers, Leo-san stood up and took a small step back, retreating slightly.
“…”
As everyone laughed and cheerfully divided the cake, I noticed him quietly letting out a small sigh—barely audible.
“…Leo-san.”
“I’m glad everyone’s enjoying it. Sibel, have some too, all right?”
“Ah—but you, Leo-san—”
“Oh, I just remembered, I have some paperwork to finish. I’ll get going. See you later.”
He smiled, waved, and left the dining hall.
But… somehow, his back looked a little lonely.
He really is such a kind person.
But deep down, I know—
Leo-san wanted to eat some cake too, didn’t he?
I’m so sorry, Leo-san… (；ᵕ；)
