Hera looked at the servant who had just questioned her.
“Wasn’t it because the lord was angry and dissatisfied with the food we served?”
Hera spoke while chewing the piece of chicken in her hand.
The servant slowly nodded.
“Yes, I know. But that’s not what I meant.”
She looked at the table, now covered with chicken, vegetables, fruit, and other dishes brought from the dining room.
“Isn’t this punishment still strange?”
Hera’s movements gradually stopped.
She was still holding the piece of chicken near her mouth, but she did not continue eating.
Now that she thought about it, the servant was right.
Zeldryn had called this a punishment.
But what kind of punishment involved ordering them to finish such delicious food?
Hera lowered her hand.
“Yes. I actually find it strange too.”
The other servants began paying attention to her.
One of them asked,
“What do you mean by strange?”
Hera remained silent for several moments.
She tried to remember everything that had happened since Zeldryn woke up that morning.
“Everything has felt different since the lord woke up.”
Hera looked at her bandaged hands.
“I haven’t even been hit once today.”
The kitchen immediately became quieter.
Several servants who had been eating slowly stopped chewing.
Hera had said it in an ordinary tone, as though being struck was simply part of her daily life.
“Normally, the lord hits me at least three times a day.”
She stared at the chicken in her hand.
“Sometimes more when he is in a bad mood.”
A female servant sitting nearby clenched her fist.
Everyone in the mansion knew how Zeldryn treated Hera.
As his personal maid, Hera spent more time near him than anyone else.
That also meant she received more of Zeldryn’s anger, shouting, and punishment than anyone else.
But no one dared help her.
Zeldryn was a noble.
They were only servants.
“The lord hasn’t hit me at all since this morning,” Hera continued.
“He even ordered me to stop waiting outside his bedroom all the time.”
The servants immediately exchanged glances.
“He really said that?”
Hera nodded.
“He said I should work like the other servants. If he needs me, he will call for me.”
“That really is strange.”
“Weren’t you previously required to stay outside his bedroom until he ordered you to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Even while he was asleep?”
Hera nodded again.
Another servant joined the conversation.
“I also heard that the lord returned a servant’s greeting this morning.”
“That wasn’t just a rumor,” replied the servant beside her.
“I saw it myself. The lord really returned her good morning without getting angry.”
Another servant quickly interrupted.
“I saw him walking through the corridor earlier too. He didn’t shout at anyone.”
“He even looked like he was struggling to walk.”
“That was because of his injuries.”
The kitchen gradually filled with conversation.
Each servant shared what they had seen or heard about Zeldryn since morning.
One had heard Zeldryn asking questions about the mansion.
Another had seen him speaking to a guard without insulting him.
Someone else claimed that Zeldryn’s expression had appeared much calmer than usual.
But according to Hera, none of those things were the strangest.
“The strangest part was when the lord punished Henry and Aeglo.”
The moment those names were mentioned, several servants showed expressions of disgust.
Henry and Aeglo frequently visited the mansion.
The two always claimed to be Zeldryn’s friends and loyal followers, but every servant knew they were only exploiting the boy’s noble status.
They ate whatever they wanted, used the mansion’s facilities, ordered the servants around, and often threatened people using Zeldryn’s name.
“The lord usually allowed them to do whatever they wanted,” Hera said.
“But this morning, he punished both of them.”
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One servant stared at Hera in disbelief.
“He actually punished them?”
“I saw it myself.”
“What did they do?”
“They were harassing two servants inside the hall.”
Hera looked down at the table.
“The lord saw them and punished them.”
The servants exchanged glances once again.
It had already been difficult to believe that Zeldryn had returned someone’s greeting.
Now Hera was claiming that he had punished Henry and Aeglo for harassing servants.
“That’s impossible.”
“But Hera saw it herself.”
“Maybe the injury to his head changed his personality.”
“Or perhaps he lost his memory.”
“Don’t say things like that. If the lord hears you, all of us could be punished.”
“But something about him really is different.”
“It could only be temporary.”
“I think he’s planning something.”
One servant raised the piece of chicken she was holding.
“What kind of plan involves making us eat chicken?”
Everyone immediately fell silent.
They looked at the food in their hands.
No one could answer that question.
The conversation continued.
As time passed, more theories emerged.
Some believed Zeldryn had genuinely changed.
Others considered everything a coincidence.
There were also those who believed Zeldryn was preparing a trap and merely waiting for them to lower their guard.
Hera herself did not know the answer.
Zeldryn’s face was still the same.
His voice was the same too.
But his eyes and the way he spoke felt different.
Even when Zeldryn woke her outside his bedroom earlier, he had only tapped her cheek gently.
The old Zeldryn would never have done that.
Normally, he would have kicked her or shouted until she woke up.
Hera looked at the servants who were still arguing.
“Enough.”
They gradually stopped speaking.
Hera raised the piece of chicken in her hand.
“In the end, isn’t this strangeness actually good for all of us?”
The servants fell silent.
“No one has been hit today. Henry and Aeglo were punished. Now we can even eat food like this.”
A faint smile appeared on Hera’s face.
The smile was small and still filled with uncertainty.
“So let’s just enjoy it while we can.”
She looked at the chicken in her hand again.
“Who knows? The lord might return to normal tomorrow.”
Hera’s final sentence made the room fall silent once more.
They all realized that Zeldryn’s change had only lasted a few hours.
There was no guarantee his behavior would remain this way.
By tomorrow morning, Zeldryn might return to being the furious child they all knew.
One servant eventually picked up a piece of fruit.
“You’re right.”
Another servant nodded.
“For now, let’s just finish everything.”
“It’s also the lord’s order.”
“If we leave anything behind, we might actually be punished.”
They resumed eating.
This time, there was no hesitation.
The chicken, fruit, and vegetables on the table slowly disappeared.
They ate eagerly, and several servants even took additional portions.
For almost an entire month, they had eaten nothing but hard bread and dried vegetables.
To them, today’s food felt like a grand feast.
Meanwhile, Zeldryn sat alone inside the dining room.
He picked up a chicken thigh and took a bite.
From its appearance, the chicken looked extremely appetizing.
Its skin glistened as though coated in oil or fat.
The meat was still warm and tender.
However, after chewing several times, Zeldryn’s expression became blank.
It lacked flavor.
He continued chewing.
It did not taste truly bad.
The seasoning was simply too light.
There was barely any salt, no strong flavor, and none of the seasoning properly clung to his tongue.
Reka’s palate had grown accustomed to fast food, flavor enhancers, sauces, and the various seasonings of the modern world.
KFC, McDonald’s, roadside smashed chicken, and the different kinds of fried chicken he used to buy had much stronger flavors.
The chicken before him tasted as though it had merely been roasted, sprinkled with a little salt, and immediately served.
Zeldryn picked up a piece of bread near his plate.
He bit into it.
The bread was hard.
Not hard enough to hurt his teeth, but it was clearly different from the cheap bread sold in convenience stores.
Even bread costing only a few thousand rupiah had been softer than this.
Zeldryn then tried the soup.
He scooped up a spoonful, gently blew on it, and placed it into his mouth.
It was bland too.
Zeldryn looked at all the food before him.
It certainly appeared luxurious.
But the flavor was far simpler than food from the modern world.
Perhaps spices and cooking techniques in this world had not developed as much as they had in his old one.
Or perhaps the mansion’s cook simply was not very skilled.
Zeldryn sighed.
Well, there was nothing he could do about it.
He examined the condition of his body.
Wounds, bruises, and pain still covered almost every part of him.
What mattered was that this food could help his body recover.
If he wanted to accomplish anything in this world, the first thing he needed to fix was his body.
There was no point in knowing countless things if walking from his bedroom to the dining room nearly exhausted him.
I need to recover quickly.
Zeldryn resumed eating the chicken.
Even though the taste did not suit his palate, he continued eating slowly.
Chicken, vegetables, fruit, bread, and soup steadily entered his stomach.
After eating for quite some time, Zeldryn finally leaned back against his chair.
He felt completely full.
“That’s enough.”
He looked at the remaining food on the table.
There was not much left, but he could no longer finish it.
Zeldryn then turned toward the door.
“Servant.”
Not long afterward, the dining room door opened.
A female servant entered and immediately lowered her head.
“Yes, my lord?”
Zeldryn looked at her briefly.
“Call Hera to my bedroom tonight.”
The servant’s body visibly tensed.
“I have something to discuss with her.”
Zeldryn did not notice the change in her expression.
He was only thinking about the information he needed to obtain.
The fragments of the previous Zeldryn’s memories were not enough for him to understand this world.
There were countless basic things he did not know.
He did not understand the condition of the Giorry territory.
He did not know the relationship between this mansion and the main family.
He also knew almost nothing about the Mana system, noble politics, currency, religion, nations, and many other things.
For now, Hera was the most suitable person to question.
She was his personal maid.
She had lived in this mansion for a long time and knew a great deal about the previous Zeldryn’s life.
No matter what, I need to get more information from her.
On the other hand, the servant standing before Zeldryn gritted her teeth.
Calling Hera to his bedroom at night sounded terrible.
Especially considering how the previous Zeldryn had often treated his personal maid.
The servant had no idea what Zeldryn was thinking.
To her, the changes since morning might only have been temporary.
Perhaps Zeldryn now intended to punish or torment Hera inside his bedroom, where no one else could see.
She felt angry.
But she did not dare question a noble’s command.
“Yes, my lord.”
Zeldryn nodded.
“Take the remaining food too.”
The servant looked at the unfinished dishes.
“Do not throw it away. Save it for later.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The servant began clearing the table.
After placing every dish onto a tray, she bowed.
“Then I shall excuse myself.”
“Go.”
The servant immediately left the dining room.
Zeldryn watched the door close again.
Several seconds later, his brow furrowed.
I feel like I missed something.
He tried to recall what he had said.
Calling Hera to his bedroom at night.
There was nothing strange about it.
He only wanted to ask her about this world.
But the servant’s expression had seemed slightly different.
What was that about?
Zeldryn continued thinking.
Unable to find an answer, he eventually ignored it.
Meanwhile, the servant who had just left the dining room hurried toward the kitchen.
Her expression was filled with anger.
When she arrived, she saw the other servants still enjoying the food Zeldryn had given them.
Hera was still there too.
The servant placed the tray on the table.
“Hera.”
Hera stopped moving.
“What is it?”
The servant looked at her with a grave expression.
“The lord has summoned you to his bedroom tonight.”
The entire kitchen immediately went still.
Several servants suddenly stopped eating.
One was still holding a piece of chicken near her mouth.
Another stopped in the middle of chewing.
“He summoned her to his bedroom?”
The servant nodded.
“The lord said he has business with Hera.”
Every servant’s expression immediately changed.
One of them clicked her tongue.
“I told you.”
She roughly placed her food down.
“A bastard will always be a bastard.”
“So all of his changes since this morning were only an act?”
“Maybe he was only playing some kind of game.”
“He’s probably going to punish Hera again.”
“Poor Hera.”
“And we had only just started thinking the lord had changed.”
Various voices immediately filled the kitchen.
Several servants who had begun trusting Zeldryn now became suspicious of him again.
To them, summoning Hera to his bedroom at night could not possibly lead to anything good.
They had seen Hera leave Zeldryn’s room with a trembling body or fresh injuries far too many times.
Not a single one of them believed Zeldryn merely wanted to ask her about the world.
Hera said nothing.
She stared at the food still remaining in her hand.
Her appetite slowly disappeared.
The fear that had begun to fade returned.
Her hand trembled slightly.
But Hera knew she could not refuse.
She was Zeldryn’s personal maid.
Whenever he summoned her, she had to come.
Hera finally placed her food down and slowly nodded.
“All right.”
Her voice was quiet.
“I’ll go to the lord’s bedroom tonight.”
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