Fu Yuan, seated at the table, smiled at Scáthach. "Since time was limited, I only made steak. If I'd had more time, I could have prepared a more lavish dinner to welcome you into the house."
"That is enough. I am not particularly interested in cooking, so this is already sufficient."
Fu Yuan glanced at Scáthach, who had once again said she was "not interested in cooking," and the corners of his lips curled into a teasing smile.
He was confident he could make Scáthach take those words back. As long as she tasted this steak, she would never again say she was "not interested in cooking."
Fu Yuan's smile made Scáthach arch her delicate brows. "Fu Yuan, why are you smiling so strangely?"
"Ahem, what is strange about it? Come on, try the dinner I carefully prepared." Fu Yuan hastily said, reining in his smile.
"Mm." Somewhat impatient, Scáthach lifted the cover. Then, the intertwined fragrance of steak and sauce wafted out.
That indescribably rich aroma was like an invisible little hand, constantly teasing Scáthach's sense of smell and her heart, bringing an expression of enjoyment to her lovely face.
Hadn't she said she was not particularly interested in cooking?
Though the aroma was exceptionally rich, because Fu Yuan had added plums to the sauce, it also carried the fresh scent of plums beneath its richness.
The Joy Brought by Cooking VII
The rich flavor of beef and the freshness of plums combined together, stimulating the secretion of saliva.
Seeing the enjoyment on Scáthach's lovely face, Fu Yuan smiled in satisfaction. Then, as though suddenly recalling something, he bent down and sneakily looked beneath the dining table at Scáthach's legs.
When he saw that Scáthach's legs were pressed together beneath the table, Fu Yuan's satisfied smile grew even broader.
"Fu Yuan... where are you looking right now?"
Scáthach's slightly annoyed voice reached Fu Yuan's ears. Evidently, she had caught him peeking beneath the table.
Fu Yuan hurriedly explained, "Scáthach, don't misunderstand! I was only checking whether you had your legs pressed together!"
What kind of explanation was that...? Wasn't he just confirming that he had been looking at Scáthach's legs?!
"Because when Aige and the others ate the steak I cooked before, they would unconsciously press their legs together like that!"
Scáthach looked at Fu Yuan, who was frantically explaining himself from across the table. She crossed her slender legs clad in black stockings and said helplessly, "The more seriously you explain it, the less I know what to say to you."
Still, Scáthach did not dislike Fu Yuan's clumsy frankness.
"If you do not know what to say, then do not say anything. Let's eat." Feeling embarrassed, Fu Yuan skipped over the subject of having peeked beneath the table.
Although Fu Yuan had not harbored any strange thoughts, he had indeed peeked beneath someone's table...
Scáthach glanced at Fu Yuan's faintly flushed face. Smiling slightly, she went along with him and let the matter pass.
Scáthach picked up the prepared knife and fork. Though she had spent several thousand years in the Land of Shadows, she seemed to understand all sorts of things from the modern age.
Just like the car from before, she did not need Fu Yuan to introduce or explain the knife and fork used to cut and taste steak. She already knew how to use them.
Scáthach's slender hand picked up the knife and fork. She gently pressed down on the steak on her plate, and despite the resistance, the small dining knife sank straight into the meat.
The A5 beef, having been kneaded, was just that tender—yet it was the sort of tenderness that still retained its springiness.
Scáthach speared a cut piece of beef with her fork. Her cherry lips parted slightly as she prepared to place it into her mouth, but her movement suddenly stopped because Fu Yuan, seated before her, was watching with expectant eyes.
"Why are you looking at me? Aren't you eating?"
"I am, but I want to know what you think of the steak I cooked even more. If I do not know your thoughts on it, I will not be in the mood to eat." Fu Yuan spoke seriously.
Scáthach rolled her crimson eyes at the man before her. Then, beneath Fu Yuan's gaze, she placed the sauce-coated beef into her cherry lips.
!
The steaming beef burst in Scáthach's mouth with a tender, rich flavor. This deliciousness relentlessly ravaged her taste buds, making her crossed legs beneath the table unconsciously press tightly together.
With every chew, the beef in her mouth offered a wonderful softness and elasticity. The juices firmly locked within the meat seeped out along with the motion of her chewing.
Sometimes, beautiful food brought people not only a wonderful taste, but also an exhilarating sense of satisfaction!
And that satisfaction often brought pleasure~
So, up and down, pointing here and there... so delicious!
Seeing the beautiful blush emerge on Scáthach's snow-white cheeks, Fu Yuan was utterly satisfied. Queen Scáthach of the Land of Shadows, just like Sajyou Manaka whom he had once fed, had involuntarily become intoxicated by the steak he cooked.
"How is it? Is it good?"
"It is good." Chewing the beef, Scáthach honestly admitted that Fu Yuan's cooking was delicious.
After swallowing the beef in her mouth, Scáthach licked the sauce lingering at the corner of her glistening lips as though she wanted more. That gesture made Fu Yuan hurriedly avert his gaze.
Because it was simply too alluring.
Could anyone imagine this seductive and enchanting queen before them, her lovely face flushed red as she extended her rosy tongue to lightly lick her cherry lips...?
Originally, Scáthach's expression had been calm, her gaze as still and lifeless as stagnant water. But after meeting Fu Yuan...
Her calm expression would always reveal a smile because of him, and now, after tasting the beef, her once-unruffled eyes had melted like an iceberg into a pool of gentle spring water that stirred the heart.
Perhaps Fu Yuan's desire to make Scáthach fall in love with cooking had already been conveyed to her heart through his food.
"Whew~" Scáthach exhaled a sweet, heated breath and smiled at Fu Yuan, who sat before her. "The food you cooked is wonderful. It is the best food I have ever eaten."
"Is that so? Then that is truly wonderful." Fu Yuan smiled happily.
For a cook, having the food they prepared praised by another person was the greatest source of joy.
"Mm." Scáthach lowered her crossed leg. With her legs pressed together, she continued tasting the food Fu Yuan had cooked for her. For a while, the only sounds in Fu Yuan's dining room were knives and forks striking plates, along with the occasional strange, satisfied sounds from Scáthach.
As expected of Fu Yuan, a man of Shenzhou. His cooking was so powerful that even the queen of the Land of Shadows, whose heart had been as still as dead water, had turned into a pool of soft spring water.
Scáthach had forgotten how long it had been since she had last eaten, and she had also forgotten how it had felt to eat back then. Yet she would never forget the food she ate that night.
Because Scáthach had never imagined that, aside from battle, something else could bring her such satisfying pleasure.
What incredible cooking.
No, if anything is incredible, it should be this man. As she tasted the steak, Scáthach glanced at Fu Yuan seated before her.
Ever since Scáthach met Fu Yuan, she felt that her entire self had changed because of him. Her state of mind, once like a stagnant pool, had begun to ripple through her battles with him.
Thus, in Scáthach's heart, Fu Yuan truly was an incredible man.
Watching Scáthach quietly savor her steak, Fu Yuan said contentedly, "Ever since I moved from the Sajo Family home in Tokyo to Fuyuki City, I have always eaten dinner alone. But now that you have moved in, Scáthach, I probably will not have to eat dinner alone anymore, right?"
Before you continue