People Born for Each Other

"Those two should just get married already!"

Alicia, who had been listening to the story all along, restlessly cried out. She had never known about the old Pope's past with Yura. No wonder the two of them had always been exchanging flirtatious looks whenever she saw them before.

"Marriage and all that... His Holiness and Teacher both knew how the other felt, but he knew Teacher still had many things she needed to do, so he never said it. When Teacher left, His Holiness was the one who cried the hardest."

Mayuna saw that Ruben was also puzzled over why the two had not gotten together, so she explained a little. After becoming a Saint Mage, there would be plenty of time to waste. There was no need to enter the grave of marriage so early. Yura had never been one to sit still, but no one had expected the accident to come so suddenly.

"I'll go make dinner first."

Ruben bowed to the small grave before leaving. He had nothing to say to Yura, nor did he want to disturb Mayuna.

"Teacher, I'm back."

Mayuna bent her knees and knelt before the grave, telling the teacher she had once thought she would never see again about everything that had happened after she left.

"Teacher, you always used to tell me not to become too obsessed with training. You told me to go out and see the world, to meet more people. But I never listened, because in my heart, only continuing to train and fulfilling your expectations was the best way to repay you. So even now, there are still many things I don't understand."

"That person just now was Ruben. He saved me. He's a truly incredible person. He clearly has no magic power, yet he can make so many things that even surprise me. Aside from you, Teacher, he's the first person willing to tolerate me and let me be as willful as I want. As we spent more and more time together, I kept thinking..."

At the mention of Ruben, a gentle smile appeared on Mayuna's face. With the innocence of young affection, she voiced her thoughts.

"Maybe he stayed in that little wooden cabin all along in order to save me, and maybe I became a Mage God for his sake, so I could protect him forever. If the two of us were born for each other, then just thinking about it makes me so happy."

"I don't know what this feeling is, but I'm not confused either. Some answers are only interesting when you find them yourself, right?"

Mayuna spoke for a long time. By the time she stood up, her legs had already gone numb. Her body swayed backward, and just when she thought she would fall to the ground, she unexpectedly landed in a warm embrace.

"Is dinner ready?"

"No. Your friend is here."

Without asking, Ruben knew how Mayuna was doing. He supported her and led her to the front yard, where the armored imperial princess was already waiting.

"You actually left me alone over there and walked off. That's so like you, Nana."

"Don't you have any self-awareness?! And the cathedral is so far from our place—how did you just run all the way here?!"

Mayuna was furious. The Mage God girl clearly did not want Tinasha interrupting their dinner for two. Naturally, it was because she was afraid Tinasha would steal their food.

"Anyway, two people can't finish all this food today."

Ruben patted Mayuna to calm her down, then walked over to the lobster, whose ice had already melted. As he fiddled with it, he considered how to eat it.

"This is a Twin-Clawed Beast, right? It tastes pretty good."

Although lobster was precious, Tinasha had naturally eaten quite a lot of it as an imperial princess. She was simply curious about how Ruben planned to cook this enormous creature.

"Just asking, how do you usually cook this thing?"

"This magical beast has a very hard shell. You just throw a Fireball at it, cook it through, and eat it."

"What a waste. Tinasha, do me a favor and cut it open from here."

Ruben pictured that horrifying scene in his mind. The lids of countless master chefs' coffins seemed about to burst open, leaving him no choice but to helplessly mark the lobster's head with a hand chop, indicating for Tinasha to cut straight down the middle.

"That'll be hard to cut. I have enough strength, but the angle..."

Tinasha took out her weapon and gestured with it. The lobster was lying flat on the ground. If she chopped down from above, she could cut it halfway at most before the weapon sank into the dirt.

"Then let's do it this way."

Ruben also thought it would be difficult to cut like that, so he grabbed both of the lobster's claws and lifted it in front of himself.

"No, no. If something happens to you, Nana will definitely kill me."

Tinasha hurriedly shook her head. Although she did not know how close Ruben and Mayuna were, her sixth sense told her this was a terrible idea. One careless move, and she could cut Ruben and the lobster in half together.

"Tinasha, I trust you."

Ruben's gaze was serious and direct. He trusted that he had not judged her wrong. Everything about Tinasha's words and actions made her worthy of his trust.

"O-okay, then."

Ruben's unconditional trust made Tinasha freeze slightly. Seeing that Mayuna had no intention of stopping her, she could only nod and agree.

With a clean sweep of the spear, the lobster split in two. The spear tip fell so close that it nearly grazed the clothes on Ruben's chest, making one unable to help but admire Tinasha's control.

"Perfect."

Ruben gave Tinasha a thumbs-up, then began cleaning the filth out of the lobster's head. Tinasha also cast Mayuna a pleading look, hoping for praise, but the Mage God girl ignored her completely.

With Dragon energetically helping, plate after plate of lobster dishes was brought to the wooden round table Mayuna had made with magic. All kinds of pots, bowls, and utensils could become perfectly intact, making Mayuna increasingly feel that Dragon was indispensable in daily life.

"Wow, it's so lavish I could float into the sky."

Mayuna looked at the table full of lobster meat, the stars in her eyes nearly enough to turn her into a member of the Starry Night Family. But when she reached out to grab some food, Ruben mercilessly smacked her hand away.

"Wash your hands."

"Tch."

The Mage God girl unhappily condensed a ball of water in the air and rubbed her hands inside it a few times. Tinasha had already removed her heavy armor and was ready to dig in.

Tinasha had initially been willing to listen as Ruben introduced the unfamiliar names of each dish, such as lobster gratin with cream cheese, steamed lobster with minced garlic, grilled lobster, lobster roe tofu, and more. But after taking the first bite, her mind went completely blank. Together with Mayuna, she abandoned all decorum and stuffed meat into her mouth with both hands.

"I... I can't eat anymore..."

Half an hour later, Mayuna lay motionless on the soft cushion made by her cloud magic. Her brain told her to eat a little more, because once it was gone, she might never get to eat it again. But her stomach told her it would die if she ate another bite. The conflicting feelings were tormenting her so badly that she wished she were dead.

"Damn it, why can she eat so much?"

Mayuna looked resentfully at Tinasha, who was still eating. There had to be a spatial magic array inside that woman's stomach, teleporting away everything she ate. That was the only explanation.

"Because you consume different amounts of energy. You should learn from her and exercise your body too."

"No."

"Haaah, this is the first time in my life I've eaten something this delicious. Now I understand why Nana cares about you so much. How wonderful. I want to eat food Ruben makes every day too."

Even though Tinasha was not an imperial princess particularly fond of indulging her appetite, Ruben's cooking was enough to make even a saint fall from grace. Tinasha had every reason to believe that the gluttony Satan had used to tempt angels into falling had been Ruben's cooking.

"You're ten thousand years too early if you think you can compete with me. I'm full, so I'm going to sleep."

Mayuna stretched lazily, waved her hand, and headed back toward the house.

"Huh? Nana, have you always been this lazy?"

Tinasha watched Mayuna's retreating back in confusion. For her, nighttime exercise had only just begun, yet Mayuna was already preparing to return to her nest.

"I always have."

After night fell, Mayuna lay in a bed she had not used in a long time, unable to sleep. Ruben was sleeping next door, separated by only one wall just as they had been in the little wooden cabin, but she somehow felt that the distance between them had grown. It was probably because the rooms were too large.

Knock knock knock.

"What, you think the room is too big too? Then I can reluctantly let you sleep on the floor..."

Hearing the knock, Mayuna immediately climbed out of bed and went to open the door, muttering words that made the visitor extremely happy.

"Really? I thought you would definitely refuse. That's great."

Tinasha stood at the door in pajamas, holding a blanket and wearing an expression of delighted surprise. Hearing Mayuna say that, she was so happy she nearly jumped up.

Crash.

Ruben was awakened by the sound of something smashing through a window and falling into the courtyard. He raised his head in confusion and looked around, then went back to sleep. As expected, even the imperial capital was not very peaceful.

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