---

Mary teleported the moment she heard the rumbling sound.

She immediately looked around the refrigerator.

Crunch, crunch—! Crunch, crunch—!

Robin was munching on the Bersengzeto Cookies from the shelf.

It wasn’t particularly unusual. Other mages from the Mage Tower also grabbed snacks from the refrigerator while having a midnight feast.

“Ugh… I’ve been caught…!”

“Yes. I never thought you’d be so obvious in your territory.”

“If only I wasn’t hungry…”

“Yes, indeed.”

But Alicia.

Normally, access to areas other than the lobby on the first floor of the Mage Tower required prior permission through letters or representatives. Otherwise, one would be regarded as an intruder.

Let alone the fact that it was the dead of night with the moon shining.

An intruder had no excuse for their actions.

That would usually be the case, but it became a little ambiguous when it came to Alicia.

It wasn’t just about her age or status.

The fact that Alicia had snuck into the tower out of sheer boredom and amusement had exceeded double digits long ago.

As a result, Catherine outright turned a blind eye to Alicia’s comings and goings, granting her something akin to a hidden pass.

At least if her target was a restricted area, it would make sense, but it wasn’t even that.

Alicia’s destinations in the tower were limited to a small portion, including the lobby and kitchen. Moreover, this was her first incursion at such a late hour. Even this, Catherine would stop if she said not to.

Thus, among the mages in the Mage Tower, Alicia had effectively become a regular attraction.

Only Mary had not given up.

The moment she sensed Alicia, she went in for the capture.

Of course, by now, the formal reason of being an unauthorized intruder was mixed with the professional ethics of a Brownie.

It had almost come to be a mere formality now.

Still, normally, if she caught Alicia, she would inform Catherine of the fact as part of the usual procedure.

“Alicia, are you hungry?”

“I was just trying to prevent my hunger from making me sleepy, and I never expected it to turn out like this…”

Mary couldn’t take her eyes off Alicia, who was clutching her grumbling stomach.

“What? A pig? You didn’t eat enough? How much?”

“Half of what I usually eat…”

“Are you insane? Are you sick like your mother or something?”

“I was just curious about the secret food Karem was making for Mother.”

“…At this time?”

Alicia seemed to have nothing to say about that and avoided Robin’s gaze.

“Then why were you eating cookies?”

“When you think too much, sweet and crunchy stuff just calls out to you.”

Alicia quickly turned her head and glared at Robin with her slim eyes.

“At such a late hour?”

“Unlike some pigs, I live openly in the tower! Plus, Mary refilled the empty Bersengzeto Cookies; how can I resist?”

“Hmph, I’ll tell Mrs. Poppins!”

“Wait, hey—”

Then, Alicia and Robin began to bicker, each threatening to tell their mother about the other’s misdeeds, but Mary, caught in shock, couldn’t intervene.

‘What did I just hear?’

Mary’s eyes trembled as she tried to regain her composure. No Brownie could overlook that statement.

‘You only ate half of the meal?’

Alicia was a big eater.

Considering her size, it was certain she was the biggest eater in Winterhome.

Moreover, she was extremely obsessed with food.

For her to say she had only consumed half of her usual dinner—a snack as well—wasn’t a problem at all. The amount a person eats can vary depending on their condition.

However, a hungry person had just intruded into the territory of a House Fairy.

And not just any outsider, but one who had practically half-way become part of the tower, Alicia.

This was a very serious issue.

An unthinkable matter.

“Alicia, why don’t you fill your stomach first before thinking?”

“W-What? Are you not going to fetch Kitty?”

This time, Alicia seemed a bit flustered by the unusual pattern compared to when she was caught before.

“Yes. I’ll let you try a little of what you want.”

“Oh, really?”

Alicia’s face brightened at the thought of potentially being dragged away by Mrs. Poppins.

“So can I have some too?”

“Are you interested?”

“Of course! Being holed up in my room, I hadn’t been able to hold a quill since hearing that my mother couldn’t have meat. If it’s meat that Mother can eat, I definitely want to try it.”

“Ah.”

With those words, Mary momentarily regained her senses.

‘If it’s not meat… I shouldn’t say that out loud.’

Karem and Zigmeser had mentioned it before, and later, Karem had specifically warned her. It was a secret until Elizabeth’s morning sickness passed.

“Then please wait a moment in the kitchen. I’ll just gather the ingredients.”

Fortunately, it seemed that Robin and Alicia had not caught on.

*

*

*

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

As Mary chopped the ingredients, boiled the contents of the pot, and tasted the broth, the kitchen table was enveloped in silence.

Dunk, dunk— dunk, dunk—!

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Normally, Alicia would have been fidgeting with excitement and anticipation.

In that situation, Robin would have called her a pig and admonished her to behave, leading to an argument between them.

However, Robin and Alicia were both gazing at Mary’s back with narrowed eyes.

“Um, Robin.”

“What?”

“Something seems off.”

“Right?”

“There’s no meat.”

Robin and Alicia tilted their heads this way and that as if they were cats drawn to a laser pointer, inspecting the kitchen.

Their actions were nearly identical. Aside from hair and attire, their heights and facial features were so much alike they could easily be mistaken for close siblings.

Fortunately, there was no one here to point out the commotion being caused by Robin and Alicia.

“Cabbage, carrots, onions, leeks, mushrooms, radishes… it’s all vegetables.”

“Then is that what I think it is?”

“Where?”

“Over there! You pig.”

Normally, Alicia would have kicked Robin playfully, but she didn’t.

“Um… white… pudding?”

Instead, she looked at the tip of Robin’s finger, which was pointing.

A white cube was stacked neatly.

“It looks a bit too firm to be pudding.”

“It has no moisture. But it doesn’t seem like meat…”

“There’s no meat-like substance anywhere but that.”

Alicia was reluctant to admit it.

However, begrudgingly, Robin’s words were correct.

“It might taste like chicken meat or bird meat.”

“Chicken breast doesn’t look like that. It might be Snowrunner meat…”

Yet, the uncertainty didn’t fade. Alicia still felt it did not resemble meat.

“It probably lacks fat, so it might be dry.”

“It isn’t dry.”

Mary responded without turning her head.

“The texture seems dense.”

“Still, in terms of texture, it would belong to the softer side. Perhaps even softer than chicken legs or beef tenderloin.”

Alicia and Robin frowned in unison.

“Does that make any sense? It’s probably just light lip service.”

“Of course, depending on how it’s cooked, a chewy texture can be achieved. So there’s no need to worry.”

With that, Mary loaded the freshly made Yuba Pouches along with tofu, various vegetables, and mushrooms, pouring in the broth to season it.

Boil, boil, boil—

As time passed, the kombu broth began to extract the flavors of the soy sauce and pepper, with vegetables and mushrooms becoming savory.

It was definitely light, yet the aroma was rich enough to draw their gazes toward Mary’s back.

With eyes filled with wonder and curiosity, Alicia swallowed.

Already hungry, the aroma of the hot broth was making her empty stomach absolutely demand food right now.

Robin wasn’t much different.

The butter caramel and almonds from the ingredients of the Bersengzeto Cookie.

Having gorged himself on it, his mouth, filled with the thickness of the nuts, still lingered with the sticky sweetness.

As time went by, a contradiction of light yet intense warmth intensified.

Gulp—

The sounds of them swallowing echoed in unison.

The nerves to say not to imitate each other were lost on Robin and Alicia at that moment.

Of course, it wasn’t heavyweight meat dishes that fell into their stomachs, even if it would be enjoyable at any time.

However, given how late it was and the fact that it was before bed, a soothing broth dish by the scent shouldn’t be too bad, right?

Swish!

As soon as Mary covered the pot with a lid, she gestured lightly.

“What was that magic just now?”

“I just made it boil a little faster since the guests are waiting.”

“Is there such magic among House Fairies?”

“Of course.”

Clunk—

With that, when Mary brought the pot to the table, Robin lost his interest in the curiosity about fairy magic, overtaken by hunger.

Alicia’s gaze deepened even further.

What was reflected in her eyes could be summarized in the emotions of appetite and hunger. And each time she licked her lips while gazing at the pot, her stomach grumbled rhythmically.

“I will serve the hotpot right away.”

And then, clink— the lid was lifted.

“The aroma is comforting.”

At the sight inside the pot, Alicia snapped back to her senses.

“Um… vegetables…”

Again, Alicia did not dislike vegetables. Her preference was simply a little more towards meat, like in a utopian society where some are even more equal than others.

As Alicia instinctively felt the absence of animal protein, Robin sipped the broth first.

Slurp—!

“Waaaah, the broth…”

Robin completely ignored everything and continuously gulped down the broth.

The rich sweetness of the broth, infused with the umami of the soy sauce, washed down his throat.

As the hot liquid filled his stomach, deep satisfaction echoed from Robin’s core in the form of an exclamation.

Heavy, greasy meals filled the cravings of youth, stress from various homework and tasks, snacks to relieve stress, irregular sleeping hours, and so on.

Although still young, Robin felt as if he were being healed in real-time right now.

“It permeates my stomach…”

Alicia stared at Robin, who was melting into his bowl, and cautiously scooped a Yuba Pouch with her spoon.

“Ah, Alicia, you need to eat that carefully.”

“Hm? Careful?”

“The Yuba absorbs the hot broth; if you’re not careful, you might burn your mouth.”

At those words, Alicia looked at the Yuba Pouch she had scooped with her spoon.

The Pouch surely had absorbed the broth like a sponge, making it feel heavier than it looked on the spoon.

If it weren’t tied with vegetable strings, it seemed like it would burst at any moment.

Grrroooowl—

However, her empty stomach didn’t care if it burned; it demanded that she shove it inside immediately.

The gentle yet strong aroma that wafted up promised a delightful taste and the warmth starkly contrasted with the emptiness waiting to be filled.

“Whoo, whoo, whoo— ahh.”

Blowing on it to cool it down, Alicia took a large bite of the Yuba Pouch.

Naturally.

“Ugh!”

“Well, of course, if you eat it all at once, that’s what’ll happen, you pig!”

The Yuba Pouch was still hot.

 

---