A loyal servant was loyal to someone...
Tsubone had devoted her entire life to the Zoldyck family. The people she had served, from Zeno and Silva to the not-yet-born Killua, had always been the true or prospective heirs of the Zoldyck family.
So she hadn't thought she'd done anything wrong that day.
On the contrary, she had been trying to secure benefits for Silva.
The old man was too proud to ask his own son for advice, so it fell to servants like them to step in.
Now... there was no need for that anymore... Young Master Roy had dared to stab the camera and destroy it, yet Master Silva hadn't reacted at all. In fact, he seemed a little "pleased"...
From here on, Tsubone would have to change her attitude.
Tsubone walked out of the bedroom with a sword in her arms.
It was nearly evening. The sunlight streaming through the corridor windows no longer felt as scorching as it had at noon.
Being a butler wasn't exactly an easy job, either. It took years of hard work. Besides tending to their master's daily needs and training and recovery, butlers had to be perceptive and, when necessary, know how to make their master feel appreciated.
So there weren't many people in the entire Zoldyck family whom Tsubone considered worthy.
Gotoh was one of them.
And in the corridor leading to the storeroom...
The old butler and the young man he respected ran into each other today.
The former was headed to the storeroom to oil a katana. The latter had Snow Walk in his arms and was headed there for the same reason.
Katanas were both hard and brittle, and needed to be oiled regularly to prevent the blade from oxidizing and rusting when exposed to the air.
Ironically, swords like these were usually left unattended in the storeroom. Now... it was about to become the place where the two most renowned butlers in the Zoldyck family would make frequent appearances.
It was 5:49 p.m.
Gotoh had already oiled Snow Walk and emerged from the storeroom.
He had just stepped outside when he saw Tsubone approaching with a katana in her arms. He nodded to her, shifted to one side, and walked straight past.
"I thought you'd hate me," Tsubone suddenly said.
Gotoh stopped in his tracks.
The old butler didn't turn around. He simply continued, "I thought that after I'd made your master lose face, you'd do something for him. I've been waiting for you these past few days."
The idea that one should strike a dog to punish its master applied just as well in reverse in the Zoldyck family.
It was true. When Gotoh heard that Young Master had been ordered to provide a reason, he'd been seething all day.
He'd even been willing to endure the pain in his eyes to demand an explanation from Tsubone.
But after calming down... he gently touched Snow Walk in his arms, fell silent for two seconds, then said firmly, "I choose to trust Young Master."
"Just as he's willing to trust me, I've always stood by his side, and I always will. I won't cause him any trouble."
"His hair isn't silver," Tsubone said. She, too, fell silent for two seconds before turning her head to remind Gotoh, "So he's destined never to become head of the family."
"So what?" The young butler pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and shot Tsubone a scornful look. "At least—"
"Young Master treats me like a person."
With that, he paid her no further attention.
He didn't care what she thought, either.
He strode off toward the kitchen...
"Young Master said he's cooking something himself tonight... Good heavens~ I don't know what he's thinking. Is that any place for you to be?"
Worried, Gotoh quickened his pace. A moment later, he reached the kitchen and peered inside—
Roy had tied an apron around his waist and was already swinging a spatula with practiced ease.
The counter in front of him was laid out with chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic; peeled tomatoes; beaten eggs; minced meat; eggplant that had been salted and drained; and a bowl of prepared starch slurry.
There were two dishes in all: scrambled eggs with tomatoes and eggplant with minced meat. They were also the two home-style dishes Roy had been best at making in his previous life, one of the few he knew how to cook.
He hadn't touched a stove in nearly ten years, and had no idea how rusty his cooking skills had become.
Now, all he could do was follow his instincts, satisfy his Chinese palate, and improve the meals for the Kamado children. He gritted his teeth, gripped the spatula, and did something that Zeno, Silva, Illumi, and even their ancestor Maha would never do—tossing the wok as he stir-fried!
"Whoosh~" Flames leapt up from the stove...
The cooks Roy had sent out crowded around the doorway, poking their heads inside to watch...
The sun must have risen in the west today. Someone might even have seen a mouse eagerly go to wish a cat a happy new year...
Otherwise, there was no explaining why the Zoldyck family's eldest young master had suddenly appeared in the kitchen and insisted on cooking for himself!
He hadn't even let his personal butler, Gotoh, come in to help. He was tossing the ladle, flipping the wok, and controlling the heat all by himself...
Little by little, he rediscovered the feel of cooking. He went from clumsy to skillful, then to completely at ease, gradually getting into the flow.
At last, with a graceful flick of Roy's ladle—
The two home-style dishes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and eggplant with minced meat, came off the stove one after the other.
"It smells amazing... I've never smelled anything like it..."
"Look at the color. It's bright and vibrant, but still looks fresh. It should taste good, too..."
"What are you talking about? Isn't it obvious that Young Master is skilled? The way he swings the ladle and flips the wok, even that final flourish—those aren't moves a beginner could pull off. In fact..."
"I doubt even those famous Gourmet Hunters could cook as well as Young Master..."
The cooks whispered among themselves. It was just as they say: an expert can spot expertise.
Gotoh had been sent out, and he listened to their comments from beside the doorway, just as astonished as the cooks.
He'd watched Roy grow up with his own eyes... He'd been by his side since he was a baby... And yet—
He hadn't known that Young Master could cook. What a... colossal failure of duty!
Gotoh was kicking himself...
But Roy didn't give him time to reflect. He called him in to serve the rice.
Good food was meant to be shared. For a chef, the happiest moment was watching others gobble down the dishes they'd poured their heart and soul into, ideally licking the bowls clean so there'd be no need to wash them.
So Roy didn't mind eating with Gotoh. But the young butler considered himself too low in status, with too rigid a sense of hierarchy, and refused to sit at the table...
Just as today, after serving Roy his rice, he retreated behind him with his hands clasped.
Roy wasn't surprised. He didn't press the matter, either. He could only regret that Gotoh was missing out on—
A rare chance to taste food from another world.
Which meant it all went to Roy...
But what Roy hadn't expected was...
A gust of wind swept in...
Someone entered through the doorway and, before Roy could react, picked up a bite of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and popped it into their mouth.
Roy furrowed his brows and looked up. His pupils contracted, and he hurriedly stood and bowed, calling out respectfully:
"Great-grandfather."
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