IOBTML 23

“A lord doing something like this?”

Penelope let out a small scoff. He clearly didn’t understand the simple joy of roasting sweet potatoes on a cold winter’s night.

“Since we’re here, let’s roast and eat them together.”

“Me? Personally?”

Ahwin’s eyes widened in disbelief. Penelope replied, “Personally.”

In front of the gardener’s house, a roaring bonfire reached up toward the night sky.

It was a masterpiece, quickly assembled by the knights at Penelope’s request.

Ahwin sat on a makeshift log bench, staring blankly at the fire.

The flames, glowing crimson in the dark, cast an almost hypnotic spell. Anyone sitting before such a fire would find themselves entranced, a phenomenon modern people might call “fire gazing.”

The sky above was dark and still, and the ground was blanketed in soft, pristine snow.

Ahwin cleared his throat. His eyes met Penelope’s for a brief moment.

Penelope broke the silence. “Now that you’re outside, isn’t it better than you expected?”

“I still don’t see the point of doing this when there’s a perfectly warm house,” Ahwin grumbled, as though he had been waiting for the chance to complain.

That annoying mouth of his—it really made her want to grab him and shake him.

But instead, Penelope calmly poked at the fire, offering advice.

“I know you’ve been in a bad mood lately, but moving around a bit might help. Staying idle for too long can make a person depressed.”

“You sound just like Rector.”

Rector, the head of the Mage Tower’s branch in the Grand Fortress, was the one who had sent this troublesome wizard here in the first place.

The mere mention of Rector made Penelope clench her teeth.

Just one punch—just one. No, hold back. I’ll wait until he gains some weight first.

Penelope resolved herself to the patience of a saint.

“You pretend otherwise, but you’re as much of a meddler as Rector,” Ahwin muttered, his tone petulant.

Ignoring his grousing, Penelope used a fire poker to shift the logs and flipped the roasting sweet potatoes with perfect timing.

“They’ll be ready in just a bit,” she announced.

Ahwin watched her intently before speaking up.

“You’re oddly good at this. How do you even know how to roast sweet potatoes? Most noblewomen wouldn’t even consider doing something like this themselves.”

“Well… it’s all intuition, really,” Penelope lied without missing a beat. There was no point telling him she had once roasted sweet potatoes in the countryside during her past life. He wouldn’t believe her anyway.

Her memories of the past often came in handy, but sometimes they were just an inconvenience—like now.

Ahwin didn’t press further, simply turning his gaze back to the fire.

Then, unexpectedly, he spoke. “Thanks for doing this… for me.”

The overly honest wizard—he could be surprisingly straightforward at times.

Despite his usual grumbling, there was something endearingly clumsy about him.

Penelope chuckled softly. “Not thinking about it now, are you?”

“…About what?” Ahwin rolled his eyes, feigning ignorance.

Penelope gave him a knowing smile. The look in her eyes made him visibly uneasy.

“Letting go of someone from your past. You do it like this: stand under the falling snow, roast some sweet potatoes over a fire.”

“W-what? You—you know something?”

Ahwin stiffened, leaning back as if to guard himself.

Penelope scoffed, amused. “How could I not know? With how obvious you’re being, even the knights probably figured out that the lord’s wizard got dumped.”

Ahwin gasped, the shock robbing him of breath.

The knights know? Surely not…

“Wait—did you really think no one noticed?”

He had.

Ahwin had genuinely believed he had hidden his heartbreak well.

Meanwhile, the knights standing a little way off subtly covered their mouths, struggling to suppress their laughter.

Ahwin, caught between disbelief and embarrassment, exhaled sharply, his breath forming white puffs in the cold air.

Penelope offered some blunt advice.

“Unless you plan to die over someone who’s left you, it’s time to focus on your own life.”

“…”

Ahwin said nothing. If it were that easy, he wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place.

Betty had been everything to him.

He would have done anything for her—given up his life if she had asked.

But Betty hadn’t chosen him. The pain of unrequited love, experienced for the first time, felt like the sting of betrayal.

After a long pause, Ahwin finally spoke.

“I thought she was worth giving everything for.”

What a waste of words.

Penelope’s response was firm and immediate.

“No one in this world is worth that.”

***

Ahwin stared blankly at the fire for a long time. Penelope didn’t interrupt him.

In the meantime, the sweet potatoes turned into charred lumps of coal.

Leaving Ahwin lost in thought, Penelope quietly returned to the gardener’s house.

“Were you cold out there?”

Giselle asked as she took Penelope’s coat.

Penelope shook her head. “The fire was warm enough. I was fine.”

“That’s good to hear.”

With a faint smile, Penelope spoke to Giselle.

“Oh, and if the wizard refuses to eat again, just call me. I’ll handle it.”

“Yes, of course.”

Though she agreed, Giselle hesitated, looking like she had more to say. Penelope noticed and asked, “What is it?”

“Well… I was just wondering. Aren’t you afraid of the wizard? I mean, he seems incredibly powerful, and his personality is a bit… cold.”

“Are you afraid of him?” Penelope asked in return.

Giselle hesitated before answering. “I’m not sure. But after spending time around him, I don’t think he’s a bad person.”

Penelope smiled softly.

“I feel the same.”

***

The next day, the snow stopped for the first time in a while.

Penelope strolled through the yard in front of the gardener’s house, the crunch of snow under her boots feeling wonderfully refreshing.

Afterward, she enjoyed a shower in the bathroom, with hot water heated by the newly installed boiler—a luxury she didn’t take for granted.

Then she sat down to have the breakfast Giselle had prepared for her.

“What’s this? You’re already eating breakfast?”

It was Ahwin. Startled, Penelope looked up.

“You scared me! Couldn’t you at least knock?”

“Why knock when the door’s already open?”

How was that supposed to work?

Ahwin’s expression was one of complete disbelief. Even though his face was half-hidden by his messy hair, Penelope could clearly read his irritation.

Flustered, she blurted out an offer.

“Do you want to join me?”

“…Can I?”

Ahwin hesitated, his tone unusually uncertain. His reluctance felt out of character.

‘What’s this? Is he still embarrassed about last night?’

Even someone as brazen as Ahwin seemed to feel some lingering shame about the previous night.

Suppressing a laugh, Penelope nodded.

“Hurry and sit down. The soup won’t taste as good if it gets cold.”

“Well… thanks, then.”

Ahwin approached hesitantly and sat across from her. Giselle, ever attentive, quickly prepared a meal for him.

Penelope sliced her bread into smaller pieces, dipping them into her soup before taking a bite. The food tasted noticeably better now that higher-quality ingredients were being used.

She glanced up on impulse.

Ahwin was eating with surprising enthusiasm, already halfway through his soup.

“You’ll get indigestion. Eat slower,” Penelope said.

“This is me eating as slowly as I can,” Ahwin replied, speaking through a mouthful of boiled egg.

Penelope didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t expected Ahwin’s appetite to improve so dramatically overnight.

‘Looks like he’s sorted things out.’

Whatever he had been thinking about last night, it seemed he’d made enough peace with it to regain his appetite.

Either way, seeing him eat well was a relief.

Ahwin, sprinkling pepper onto his mashed potatoes, caught her staring.

“Why are you just watching me? Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’m just surprised you’re eating so well.”

“What’s so surprising about that? If you’re not going to eat, I’ll finish yours too.”

“I’m eating,” Penelope retorted, resuming her meal. She took a large spoonful of mashed potatoes, smearing a bit on the corner of her mouth in the process.

Ahwin reached out reflexively, then hesitated, withdrawing his hand when he realized Penelope was looking at him with wide eyes.

Clicking his tongue, he said, “You’ve got mashed potato on the corner of your mouth. What kind of noble eats like that?”

“Oh no, really?” Penelope quickly wiped her mouth.

After breakfast, Ahwin continued to devour snacks with remarkable enthusiasm.

It was as though he was determined to make up for all the nutrients he’d missed in one sitting.