The deep blue eyes looking down at me were as indifferent and cold as their colour.

 

If someone who didn’t know the situation had met those eyes, they would have been so scared that they would have unconsciously stepped back.

 

However, I was calm even when I met those eyes.

 

Because I knew very well what kind of personality Joy Partran had.

 

Joy looked like a villainess from a romance novel just by looking at her appearance.

 

Sharp eyes and tall stature.

 

Blonde hair with a slight curl, commonly called ringlets.

 

With a beauty that could stab you if you touched it, she was an elegant and noble person who fit the description of a daughter of a duke family very well.

 

However, she was different inside.

 

The Partran duke family, contrary to the many vicious rumours circulating among the public, was just an ordinary family.

 

Joy, who grew up with love from a blunt but loving father and a nagging mother, was just an extremely ordinary girl inside.

 

It was written like this in the character description.

 

She had the appearance of a villainess and the soul of a timid high school girl.

 

Soul Academy players like to call Joy, who was very capable but easily confused and panicked, a foolish young lady who would accidentally forget her own skills.

 

“It’s been a while.”

 

The moment I heard her blunt and overbearing tone, I was inwardly impressed.

 

When I looked through the monitor, I thought it was excessive that Joy was a source of fear to anyone outside of her close friends in the Academy.

 

Joy’s appearance may seem like a bad person, but she was timid and kind-hearted, so it was hard to believe she would be an object of fear.

 

However, after meeting Joy in real life, I could understand the setting.

 

Her voice.

 

Her eyes.

 

Her actions.

 

She was so natural that she dominated people and suppressed others.

 

Even I, who knew all the details, would cringe a little, but if someone who didn’t know anything saw Joy, they would have lowered their heads in fear.

 

“Are you visiting Tierra Mars?”

 

‘Yes, that’s right.’

 

“That’s right. I heard a rumour and came here, but this trashy store only allows customers with reservations.”

 

Joy’s mouth hardened as she heard the words translated from the Mesugaki skill.

 

At first glance, Lucy’s rude remarks might seem irritating, but they weren’t.

 

Joy is a kind-hearted person who would be around at school.

 

She doesn’t have the all-embracing benevolence of the saint we’ll meet soon, but she doesn’t get angry or even irritated by anything.

 

Her expression right now must be a bitter smile.

 

If you look closely, the corners of her mouth seem to have slightly raised.

 

“Didn’t you know that it was a reservation system?”

 

‘Yes…’

 

“Yes, but I only heard rumours. I didn’t know it would be such a rude place.”

 

Because of the Mesugaki skill, I’m scared to talk.

 

Even more so because I don’t know how my ordinary words will be distorted.

 

Up until now, no matter what came out of my mouth, it wasn’t a big deal.

 

The servants couldn’t say anything because of their status, and Benedict would just laugh off whatever I said, and the knights would shrug their shoulders, saying it was nothing compared to what they heard on the battlefield.

 

But now it’s different.

 

Joy is not my subordinate, and she’s not someone who would laugh at anything I said.

 

If I were to act rudely, that rudeness would only result in Joy hating me.

 

I don’t want to be hated by a character I like.

 

I once said something nonsensical about being criticized, but that was just a joke.

 

Who in the world would be happy to be scorned by someone they like?

 

At least not me!

 

Let’s avoid mentioning Joy’s name.

 

Let’s not call her Young Lady either.

 

I have no idea what this person who calls Benedict “idiot father” would call Joy.

 

If we leave out the title part, Lucy’s just a bit of a spoiled brat, so Joy would just smile bitterly and move on.

 

I’m glad that they use polite language when they’re really low in rank.

 

If I had said something like “Hey, you’re so sloppy” to the duke’s daughter, it would have been irreversible.

 

“It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing I can do. Rules are rules.”

 

‘It’s my fault for not looking into it properly.’

 

“I said I didn’t look into it, but it’s a really arrogant restaurant.”

 

Since Joy came here, does that mean she’s planning to visit Tierra Mars too?

 

Judging from the fact that she wasn’t flustered when I told her about the reservation, she must have made a reservation.

 

Is that the reservation slip you’re holding tightly in your right hand right now?

 

I envy you.

 

I really wanted to try the food at Tierra Mars, where the heroine, who rarely expresses her emotions, would smile.

 

It’s unfortunate, but what can I do?

 

It was my fault for coming empty-handed to a place where even the duke’s daughter made a reservation to visit.

 

Let’s make a reservation again next time.

 

Then where should we eat?

 

How about the cake shop we always visited when we went on dates with the characters we could romance in Soul Academy?

 

It was a place where if you just went there together, your favourability rating would go up so much that you’d hear people say that they put something in the cake.

 

It would be fun to go there and find out what the favourability cake was.

 

I was concerned that we were going to eat dessert for the first meal but if it tasted good, it would be okay, right?

 

After making that decision, I took my eyes off the ticket and raised my head to say goodbye.

 

At that moment, Joy’s hardened eyes met mine.

 

Why are you looking at me with such scary eyes?

 

I know you’re not angry, but it still stings a little.

 

“Lady Allen.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“… Would you like to go eat together?”

 

Yes?

 

Joy screamed inwardly as she looked at Lucy Allen’s face sitting across from her with a blank expression.

 

I’m crazy.

 

Why did I ask Lucy to eat with me?

 

I was so looking forward to eating Tiara Mars’ food, so why did I include Lucy in that enjoyable experience?

 

You idiot!

 

But at that time, it was an act of God.

 

Lucy was annoyed that she couldn’t enter the restaurant, and then she just stared at the ticket in my hand.

 

My ticket was detected by the hedgehog’s radar that was shooting thorns, so what should I do?!

 

In that situation, if I left Lucy behind and went inside!

 

Would she think I bragged in front of her?!

 

She would have resented me more than if I had pretended not to know her and gone in!

 

Joy didn’t want Lucy to hate her.

 

It was scary…

 

But that wasn’t the only reason.

 

After all, Joy was the daughter of the Partran family, so Lucy couldn’t harm her.

 

Then the reason she was reluctant about Lucy was because of her attitude.

 

Most people had a hard time dealing with Joy.

 

She was the daughter of the Partran family and had an intimidating appearance.

 

Except for her friends and family who had known her since childhood, most people were kind to her.

 

There were exceptions, but at least no one showed hostility as openly as Lucy.

 

Even after several years, Joy remembered the first time she met Lucy.

 

The day she spoke to her, drawn to her small and beautiful appearance that made her look like a living doll.

 

And then she heard, “What kind of slacker are you to talk to me?”

 

Those arrogant eyes that made her look down on her even though she was looking up from below.

 

“Do you think I’ll be scared if you look down on me, a slacker who’s as flat as a pole?”

 

After that Benedict, who figured out the situation came to apologize with Lucy, but Joy still couldn’t forget that day.

 

It was the first time she’d ever been treated with such direct hostility and insults.

 

Although she later realized that it was better than some other words from Lucy.

 

As Joy recalled the past, she noticed that Lucy was unusually quiet today.

 

It was strange.

 

I know it’s rude to say this, but Lucy was usually far from quiet.

 

She always seemed to be trying to make at least one person feel worse, and she was always at the center of the commotion.

 

But today was different.

 

Lucy waited quietly for the food to come out.

 

She looked around and watched the others eating, but that was all.

 

Her silence was awkward and strange, but Joy didn’t bother to point that out.

 

There was no need to light the fuse when a time bomb would just sit there quietly.

 

“Soup, an appetizer.”

 

While they were spending time in silence, the servant brought out the first dish.

 

The servant talked about something over the soup, but Joy didn’t listen to him.

 

Any food is fine as long as it tastes good.

 

Studying is hard enough, so there’s no need to study food.

 

After the servant left, Joy took a spoon and took a bite, and was surprised by the taste that dazzled her tongue.

 

The light smoky flavour that spread as soon as it entered her mouth, and the flavour of butter swaying beneath it.

 

The potatoes and onions melted on her tongue as soon as they touched it.

 

And the salmon that was doing its job in the middle of it all.

 

The servant didn’t need any explanation.

 

This food was like a manual that showed its own taste.

 

Did Lucy feel the same way?

 

Joy, who raised her head slightly to look at Lucy’s face, quickly covered her mouth with one hand when she saw Lucy moving her spoon without stopping.

 

Her round, large pink eyes were fixed on the soup.

 

Her mouth, which had been tightly shut until just a moment ago, seemed to be absorbed in savouring the taste of the soup, and her small hands were so fast that it was almost like an afterimage.

 

What surprised Joy even more was that Lucy was eating so hastily while maintaining the minimum manners.

 

Joy, who had forgotten to eat her own food and was observing Lucy’s appearance, only reached for the soup again after seeing Lucy looking regretfully at her empty bowl.

 

The food that came out after that at Tiara Mars was all delicious.

 

Joy, who had enjoyed all kinds of gourmet food in the dukedom was impressed.

 

However, she focused more on watching Lucy eat than on eating the food.

 

She really is a cute doll-like person whenever she shuts her mouth.

 

In the sense that her outside and inside don’t match, she might be similar to me.

 

In my case, I have a fierce appearance and a soft inside, but this person is soft on the outside but fierce on the inside.

 

Huh?

 

Complete opposites?

 

By the time they finished eating, Lucy was smiling with a satisfied smile that Joy had never seen in her life.

 

Was she entranced by that smile?

 

For a moment, Joy forgot what kind of person Lucy was and asked her first question.

 

“Was the meal satisfactory?”

 

Lucy smiled as she heard the question and answered, “It wasn’t bad, Foolish Young Lady.”

 

Huh?

 

Foolish Young Lady?