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That evening.

As soon as Olivier appeared in the Great Hall, he immediately caught the attention of all those who knew him.

Especially the attention of those who were a bit older.

From a glance, it was hard to believe that the old man who looked as if he might die any moment suddenly stood tall and robust.

People’s impressions can change just by altering their expressions and posture.

Of course, it was possible that he had used potions and magic tools to combat the unavoidable wear that comes with age.

However, Olivier’s face and movements were overflowing with vitality to the point that this explanation felt insufficient.

It wasn’t that he had suddenly become physically adept and was awkwardly trying to follow the commands of his brain.

He moved as though he had always been like this, without any discrepancy in his movements.

“Olivier! What on earth happened to you that you look like you’ve reversed in age? You seem forty years younger! Just kidding, of course. But really, you look much better than before.”

“You, who always complained about back pain—what’s this? No, could it be that you experimented on yourself?”

“Lord Butap, is it alright for you to move like that? I mean, aren’t you a person of a certain age doing backflips—”

“When I don’t have a single ache in my body, how could I not be able to? I’ll pay as much as you need.”

Of course, Olivier didn’t reveal the cause of this transformation.

He had to keep it a secret even from his lord, Alfred.

Catherine and Olivier’s opinions coincided for once after a long time.

“I think we should tell the Duke.”

“But what if the fact about dragon materials gets leaked? This is Seophon. The fact that we’ve already cooked and eaten them—”

“Indeed, we cannot overlook the risk of rumors spreading. Let’s keep it a secret!”

Karem lightly flipped his original stance, in agreement with the two grand wizards.

Regardless of whether it was a one-time-only permanent effect or the flavor of undead-aged mammoth meat being inferior, one simply couldn’t just give dragon meat to anyone.

Of course, Alfred was definitely not just anyone. He was merely hiding the truth until the right moment came.

For that reason, while Olivier was busy wrapping himself in the guise of “vision” and rising to stardom among the elders…

Creak—

“How many times is this now?”

“Twenty-third time, Junior Karem. Unfortunately, cooking is off the table for a while.”

“Off the table? What’s that happy expression for?”

“Heh, did you notice?”

Well, the deep-seated resentment boiling up inside…

However, Karem had to concede.

Mary’s smirking comment was right.

No matter how one looked at it, a situation where every cooking tool was getting crushed made it impossible to cook.

Karem had initially planned to push through as well. But seeing fingerprints on the handle of the giant pot made of iron, he decided against it.

Thus, temporarily sidelined from work, Karem aimed to understand the cause of the situation alongside Catherine.

The answer came swiftly.

“Come to think of it, the blessing we received from earlier was that it would enhance physical abilities, right?”

“That’s right. Unlike regular holy magic, it seems this blessing is always in effect.”

“So that’s what it was.”

Catherine speculated that the sudden increase in physical ability due to cooking dragon meat, combined with Yustitia’s blessing, had resulted in a misaligned sense of strength.

As Mary mentioned, with such poor control over strength, cooking was simply impossible.

At least it was fortunate that there was no impact on smell, taste, or touch.

It was just a guess, but in any case, Catherine’s conclusion regarding the inability to control strength was straightforward.

Rehabilitation.

Coincidentally, Karem also knew a few things.

Moving beans with chopsticks.

Picking up eggs with fingers.

Stacking wooden blocks, and so on.

“…Is this rehabilitation?”

However, the method suggested by Catherine completely exceeded expectations.

To simplify, Catherine dragged Karem into the office and seated him in front of a work desk. The culprit plopped down on top of it.

Catherine turned to the human cushion, who was flinching in surprise, as if bewildered.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just… what do you call it, if it’s rehabilitation…”

“You just need to train delicate control over strength, right? Then is there a task more delicate than this?”

“Uh, no.”

“Then just stroke gently.”

Karem kept his mouth shut and gently stroked Catherine’s head.

It wasn’t anything new. It was quite common for her to sit on his lap or thighs. Although his heart always raced each time.

And Karem soon realized it. The situation was no simple matter as it felt different from his usual cat-petting experiences.

The root cause lay within Karem himself.

If he couldn’t control the strength to crush the pot handle, he might end up pulling out strands of hair that were finer than thread.

People say one breaks through their limits when faced with a crisis.

But Karem was determined to make it work. He desperately adjusted every movement of his fingers, elbows, and wrist as he felt the muscles inside his arms.

In an instant, a statement from an action star he adored in his previous life came to mind. He said he loved chicks, but he was scared they would burst if he squeezed too hard.

He understood the sentiment now.

At first, unsettling thoughts cropped up. Of course, he had grown a bit accustomed, but it was only natural to think those thoughts when they were this close.

Yet, the idea that he could injure her if he misjudged his strength quickly took over.

“I’m a bit rougher than usual.”

Karem’s every action came to a halt upon hearing Catherine’s comment, filled with strange characters he couldn’t decipher.

“…Did I pull any hair?”

“No, that’s literally what I meant.”

“Should I control it more delicately?”

“Um, no.”

Catherine shook her head. Her fingers dove into hair smoother than silk, starting from her thumb and slipping between her fingers.

“No, do it just like that. I’m not expecting high grades from the start.”

Catherine naturally leaned her back and head against Karem’s chest. Her neck and chest brushed against his hair.

Feeling as if her cool body temperature, derived from ice-element magic, was flowing through the fabric, Karem felt the second time since they’d first fallen after tripping.

Karem excluded the events from Bendleig from this count.

Counting it would be improper; of course, the kiss was something Catherine had initiated, almost like a manly assault.

Regarding that, Karem had no complaints.

He was already somewhat fluttered in this regard himself.

Thus, he welcomed Catherine’s actions with open arms.

As Catherine resumed scribbling on the documents, Karem cautiously stroked her blonde hair while combing through it.

Then suddenly, he noticed her ears were slightly redder than before, peeking through her soft golden locks.

Watching it made Karem’s own face feel warm.

After all, it had been so rare to be this close.

Being embarrassed was unavoidable.

Karem inadvertently frowned. Even though Catherine had often sat on his lap or thighs both before and after their confession.

But to be holding her waist securely while stroking her like a cat in such close proximity had only happened once.

Still, Karem felt reassured. The rhythm of their heartbeats felt quite similar through Catherine’s back that rested against his chest.

Of course, Karem’s emotions did not manifest in his arms and hands.

He felt like that would break his concentration and result in pulling out Catherine’s hair.

How much time passed, Karem wondered.

While holding Catherine in his lap and pampering her for a while, he sensed both their heart rates gradually calming down.

Before long, Catherine seemed to have grown somewhat accustomed to the situation, as her reddened ears settled into a soft pink. Karem felt the heat on his face begin to subside too.

As his cluttered mind cooled down and his heart calmed, Karem caught a familiar floral scent mingling with the musty odor of old books.

It was obvious where the source of the aroma was.

The light weight that helped cool his heated body, the soft sensation, and the quiet office with only the sound of scratching from a quill.

Clang!

Suddenly, a tray appeared where there had been none on the table.

Both Catherine and Karem were startled simultaneously, unsure of who reacted first.

As their eyes blinked, on the tray was a kettle filled with Alraune’s Tear, wafting with the rich aroma of coffee, and on the square plate, there was a thinly sliced block of chocolate along with a log-like cake lavishly decorated with Amadeus.

One person alone could teleport in and out of this tower as if it were home.

“Mary, can you teleport objects too?”

On the log-shaped Amadeus roll cake, there was a small flag drawn with a thumb’s-up symbol.

“I’ve given her two breaks; surely she wouldn’t dare pull the same stunt thrice.”

“Well, it seems she couldn’t bear the idea of skipping a snack.”

“Tsk. Still, since she showed some awareness, shall we let it slide then?”

While Catherine poured Alraune’s Tear into a glass, Karem adjusted his posture and carefully cut slices of the roll cake, ensuring the knife and fork wouldn’t get crushed.

“The cake doesn’t even feel heavy.”

“Hmm, but now that you mention it…”

“What?”

“It’s more embarrassing than I expected.”

“You’re the one who knew that and did this?”

Catherine swiftly turned her head, staring intently at him.

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“Me?”

No way!

Karem firmly pulled Catherine closer with his left arm and fed her a piece of cake.

 

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