Chapter 13: A Strange Punishment

Zeldryn continued staring at the dishes covering the entire table. There was more than one kind of chicken, several bowls of vegetables, fruit, bread, soup, and other foods he did not even recognize. This was clearly not meant for one person.

The sight suddenly reminded him of a comic he had read in his previous life. Its protagonist had experienced a similar situation after being reincarnated as a low-ranking noble, and one day, his servants had presented him with an absurd amount of food.

The difference was that the protagonist in that comic had far more freedom. He possessed a special ability, knew the future, recognized every member of his family, and even understood who could be trusted. When faced with that much food, the protagonist had simply ordered his servants and subordinates to sit down and eat with him.

Zeldryn clicked his tongue.

"Tch."

'There's no way I can do something like that,' Zeldryn thought.

If he suddenly ordered the servants to sit and eat with him, they probably would not feel happy. They would become even more suspicious. They might think Zeldryn was testing them, or worse, they could believe it was a trap meant to lead into some kind of punishment.

'What a pain,' Zeldryn thought.

Without Zeldryn realizing it, Hera and the servants standing near the table immediately tensed after hearing him click his tongue. They exchanged uneasy glances, and one servant subtly signaled to another by shifting her eyes toward the food.

They assumed Zeldryn was dissatisfied.

Eventually, one female servant stepped forward hesitantly. Her hands were clasped together in front of her body while her head remained lowered.

"Please forgive us, my lord."

Zeldryn turned toward her, and the servant immediately became even more nervous.

"We will take this food back and prepare something better."

Zeldryn frowned.

"Huh?"

The servant immediately approached the table and reached for a plate of chicken that had only just been placed there.

"Stop."

Her hand froze in midair. She slowly pulled it back, and her body began trembling because she thought she had made another mistake.

"What do you mean?" Zeldryn asked.

The servant lowered her head even further.

"Please forgive me, my lord. I assumed you did not like the food we prepared. Because of that, we intended to take everything back and prepare different dishes."

Zeldryn looked across the table again. So they had misunderstood the sound of him clicking his tongue.

However, the servant's words made him realize something. If all this food was taken away, there was no guarantee it would be stored for later. They might genuinely throw everything away simply because they believed he disliked it.

There was no way Zeldryn could finish it all by himself, but he also did not want this much food to go to waste.

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An idea suddenly appeared in his mind, and the corner of his lips slowly rose into a smile.

The moment the servants saw that expression, several of them immediately lowered their heads. They recognized that kind of smile as a bad sign.

"That's right."

Zeldryn leaned back against his chair.

"I am dissatisfied."

The servants' faces immediately turned pale.

Zeldryn raised one hand and pointed toward several dishes on the table.

"Take that chicken. That one too."

His finger moved toward a bowl of vegetables and several plates of fruit.

"That, that, and the one over there."

The servants immediately moved according to his directions, picking up every dish he pointed at without daring to question him. Zeldryn continued choosing until only one whole chicken, several kinds of vegetables, fruit, bread, and a drink remained in front of him.

It was still a large amount of food, but at least it was reasonable enough to eat slowly.

The servants stood while holding the plates Zeldryn had ordered them to take. They assumed the food would be thrown away or replaced with other dishes, but before they could leave, Zeldryn spoke again.

"Do not throw it away."

They immediately stopped walking.

Zeldryn looked at them one by one while maintaining his faint smile.

"This is your punishment."

"Punishment?" one servant unconsciously repeated.

Zeldryn immediately glanced sharply at her, and the servant quickly closed her mouth before lowering her head again.

"All of you must finish that food," Zeldryn said. "You will eat everything without leaving a single bite. I don't care how you do it."

He rested his chin on one hand.

"If any of it gets thrown away, you already know what will happen, don't you?"

The servants tensed again. They did not stop to consider how strange the order was. The threat of consequences if the food was wasted was enough to make them immediately obey.

"Y-yes, my lord."

Zeldryn waved his hand, signaling them to leave.

"Now get out."

"Yes, my lord."

The servants bowed almost simultaneously and carried the dishes Zeldryn had chosen out of the dining room. Hera followed them after making sure Zeldryn had no other orders.

The moment the door closed, Zeldryn's smile grew wider.

"Kekeke. A perfect plan."

He looked at the food remaining on the table with obvious satisfaction. If he had ordered the servants to eat normally, they might have become suspicious or even refused out of fear. By calling it a punishment, however, they would finish everything without questioning his intentions.

"Good thing that servant misunderstood me."

Zeldryn picked up a piece of chicken from the table.

"Otherwise, I only had two choices. Force myself to finish everything or let all that food go to waste."

Meanwhile, the servants carried the dishes toward the kitchen area and placed the plates on the long table normally used for preparing food. The other servants inside the kitchen looked confused when they saw the dishes being brought out of the dining room, but after being told that Zeldryn had ordered them to finish everything as punishment, no one dared refuse.

They immediately sat down and began eating.

At first, their movements remained hesitant. Some repeatedly glanced toward the kitchen door, afraid that Zeldryn might suddenly appear and announce that everything had been a trap. However, after some time passed and nothing happened, they gradually began eating more eagerly.

The warm chicken was quickly cut apart and shared. Fruit moved from one hand to another, while the vegetables and bread were divided among their individual plates.

Hera sat among them. She had barely found any opportunity to eat properly since morning, so the moment food was placed in front of her, she began eating eagerly, although she still tried to maintain her manners in front of the other servants.

One servant holding a piece of chicken suddenly stopped. She looked at the food in her hand, then at the plates covering the table.

"Isn't this punishment a little strange?"

Another servant turned toward her.

"What do you mean?"

"Usually, when Lord Zeldryn is angry, he shouts at us, hits us, or gives us additional work." She raised the piece of chicken in her hand. "But now we're being punished by being ordered to finish all this food?"

Several servants began exchanging glances.

"We've spent almost an entire month eating nothing but bread and dried vegetables."

Another servant slowly nodded.

"That's true."

"There's even chicken and fruit here."

The atmosphere inside the kitchen gradually changed. They continued eating, but now their minds were filled with the same question.

One servant eventually turned toward Hera.

"Hera."

Hera stopped chewing and swallowed her food before looking at the servant.

"What is it?"

"What exactly happened?"

The servant leaned slightly closer.

"Earlier, you ran into the kitchen in a hurry and said that Lord Zeldryn wanted a large amount of chicken and vegetables."

She pointed toward the food they were eating.

"But why did he end up ordering us to finish almost all of it?"