Chapter 14: A Summons at Night

Hera looked at the servant who had just questioned her while chewing the piece of chicken in her hand.

"Wasn't it because the lord was angry and dissatisfied with the food we served?"

The servant slowly nodded. "Yes, I know. But that's not what I meant."

She glanced at the table, which was now covered with chicken, vegetables, fruit, and other dishes brought from the dining room.

"Isn't this punishment still strange?"

Hera's movements gradually stopped. She was still holding the piece of chicken near her mouth, but after considering the servant's question, she slowly lowered her hand.

Now that she thought about it, the servant was right. Zeldryn had called this a punishment, but what kind of punishment involved ordering them to finish such delicious food?

"Yes. I actually find it strange too."

The other servants began paying attention to her.

"What do you mean by strange?" one of them asked.

Hera remained silent for several moments as she tried to remember everything that had happened since Zeldryn woke up that morning.

"Everything has felt different since the lord woke up." Hera looked down at her bandaged hands. "I haven't even been hit once today."

The kitchen immediately became quieter, and several servants who had been eating slowly stopped chewing. Hera had said it in such an ordinary tone that being struck sounded like nothing more than another part of her daily routine.

"Normally, the lord hits me at least three times a day," Hera continued as she stared at the chicken in her hand. "Sometimes more when he is in a bad mood."

A female servant sitting nearby clenched her fist. Everyone in the mansion knew how Zeldryn treated Hera. As his personal maid, Hera spent more time near him than anyone else, which also meant she received more of Zeldryn's anger, shouting, and punishment than anyone else.

But none of them had ever dared to help her. Zeldryn was a noble, while they were only servants.

"The lord hasn't hit me at all since this morning," Hera continued. "He even ordered me to stop waiting outside his bedroom all the time."

The servants immediately exchanged glances.

"He really said that?"

Hera nodded. "He said I should work like the other servants. If he needs me, he will call for me."

"That really is strange."

"Weren't you previously required to stay outside his bedroom until he ordered you to leave?"

"Yes."

"Even while he was asleep?"

Hera nodded again.

Another servant joined the conversation. "I also heard that the lord returned a servant's greeting this morning."

"That wasn't just a rumor," replied the servant beside her. "I saw it myself. The lord really returned her good morning without getting angry."

Another servant quickly joined in. "I saw him walking through the corridor earlier too. He didn't shout at anyone."

"He even looked like he was struggling to walk."

"That was because of his injuries."

The kitchen gradually filled with conversation as each servant shared what they had seen or heard about Zeldryn since morning. One had heard him asking questions about the mansion. Another had seen him speaking to a guard without insulting him, while someone else claimed that Zeldryn's expression had appeared much calmer than usual.

According to Hera, however, none of those things were the strangest.

"The strangest part was when the lord punished Henry and Aeglo."

The moment those names were mentioned, several servants showed expressions of disgust.

Henry and Aeglo frequently visited the mansion. The two always claimed to be Zeldryn's friends and loyal followers, but every servant knew they were only exploiting the boy's noble status. They ate whatever they wanted, used the mansion's facilities, ordered the servants around, and often threatened people using Zeldryn's name.

"The lord usually allowed them to do whatever they wanted," Hera said. "But this morning, he punished both of them."

One servant stared at her in disbelief. "He actually punished them?"

"I saw it myself."

"What did they do?"

"They were harassing two servants inside the hall." Hera looked down at the table. "The lord saw them and punished them."

The servants exchanged glances once again. It had already been difficult to believe that Zeldryn had returned someone's greeting. Now Hera was claiming that he had punished Henry and Aeglo for harassing servants.

"That's impossible."

"But Hera saw it herself."

"Maybe the injury to his head changed his personality."

"Or perhaps he lost his memory."

"Don't say things like that. If the lord hears you, all of us could be punished."

"But something about him really is different."

"It could only be temporary."

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"I think he's planning something."

One servant raised the piece of chicken she was holding.

"What kind of plan involves making us eat chicken?"

Everyone immediately fell silent and looked at the food in their hands. No one could answer that question.

The conversation eventually resumed, and as time passed, more theories emerged. Some believed Zeldryn had genuinely changed, while others considered everything a coincidence. There were also those who believed he was preparing a trap and merely waiting for them to lower their guard.

Hera herself did not know the answer. Zeldryn's face was still the same, and his voice had not changed either, yet something about his eyes and the way he spoke felt different.

Even when Zeldryn had woken her outside his bedroom earlier, he had only tapped her cheek gently. The old Zeldryn would never have done that. Normally, he would have kicked her or shouted until she woke up.

Hera looked at the servants who were still arguing.

"Enough."

They gradually stopped speaking, and Hera raised the piece of chicken in her hand.

"In the end, isn't this strangeness actually good for all of us?" she asked. "No one has been hit today. Henry and Aeglo were punished. Now we can even eat food like this."

A faint smile appeared on Hera's face, small and still filled with uncertainty.

"So let's just enjoy it while we can." She looked at the chicken in her hand again. "Who knows? The lord might return to normal tomorrow."

Her final sentence made the room fall silent once more.

They all realized that Zeldryn's change had lasted only a few hours. There was no guarantee his behavior would remain this way, and by tomorrow morning, he might return to being the furious child they all knew.

One servant eventually picked up a piece of fruit.

"You're right."

Another servant nodded. "For now, let's just finish everything."

"It's also the lord's order."

"If we leave anything behind, we might actually be punished."

They resumed eating, and this time there was no hesitation. The chicken, fruit, and vegetables on the table slowly disappeared as they ate eagerly, with several servants even taking additional portions.

For almost an entire month, they had eaten nothing but hard bread and dried vegetables. To them, today's food felt like a grand feast.

Meanwhile, Zeldryn sat alone inside the dining room.

He picked up a chicken thigh and took a bite. From its appearance, the chicken looked extremely appetizing. Its skin glistened as though coated in oil or fat, while the meat was still warm and tender.

However, after chewing several times, Zeldryn's expression became blank.

It lacked flavor.

The food did not taste truly bad. The seasoning was simply too light. There was barely any salt, no strong flavor, and nothing that properly lingered on his tongue.

Reka's palate had grown accustomed to fast food, flavor enhancers, sauces, and the various seasonings of the modern world. KFC, McDonald's, roadside smashed chicken, and the different kinds of fried chicken he used to buy had all possessed much stronger flavors.

The chicken before him tasted as though it had merely been roasted, sprinkled with a little salt, and immediately served.

Zeldryn picked up a piece of bread near his plate and bit into it. The bread was hard, not enough to hurt his teeth, but clearly different from the cheap bread sold in convenience stores. Even bread costing only a few thousand rupiah had been softer than this.

He then tried the soup. Zeldryn scooped up a spoonful, gently blew on it, and placed it into his mouth, only to discover that it was bland as well.

He looked over all the food before him. It certainly appeared luxurious, but the flavors were far simpler than the food of the modern world. Perhaps spices and cooking techniques here had not developed as much as they had in his old world, or perhaps the mansion's cook simply was not very skilled.

Zeldryn sighed. Whatever the reason, there was nothing he could do about it right now.

He examined the condition of his body. Wounds, bruises, and pain still covered almost every part of him, and what mattered most was that the food could help him recover.

If he wanted to accomplish anything in this world, the first thing he needed to fix was his body. There was no point in possessing knowledge about countless things if walking from his bedroom to the dining room nearly exhausted him.

'I need to recover quickly,' Zeldryn thought.

He resumed eating despite the taste not suiting his palate. Chicken, vegetables, fruit, bread, and soup steadily entered his stomach until, after eating for quite some time, Zeldryn finally leaned back against his chair.

He felt completely full.

"That's enough."

Zeldryn looked at the remaining food on the table. There was not much left, but he could no longer finish it, so he turned toward the door.

"Servant."

Not long afterward, the dining room door opened. A female servant entered and immediately lowered her head.

"Yes, my lord?"

Zeldryn looked at her briefly.

"Call Hera to my bedroom tonight. I have something to discuss with her."

The servant's body visibly tensed, but Zeldryn did not notice the change in her expression. His thoughts were occupied entirely by the information he still needed to obtain.

The fragments of the previous Zeldryn's memories were not enough for him to understand this world. There were countless basic things he did not know, including the condition of the Giorry territory and the relationship between this mansion and the main family. He also knew almost nothing about the Mana system, noble politics, currency, religion, nations, and many other things.

For now, Hera was the most suitable person to question. She was his personal maid, had lived in this mansion for a long time, and knew a great deal about the previous Zeldryn's life.

'No matter what, I need to get more information from her,' Zeldryn thought.

The servant standing before him, however, interpreted his request very differently. Her jaw tightened as she thought about what it meant for Zeldryn to summon Hera to his bedroom at night, especially considering how the previous Zeldryn had often treated his personal maid.

She had no idea what Zeldryn was actually thinking. To her, the changes since morning might only have been temporary. Perhaps Zeldryn now intended to punish or torment Hera inside his bedroom, where no one else could see.

The thought angered her, but she did not dare question a noble's command.

"Yes, my lord."

Zeldryn nodded toward the unfinished dishes.

"Take the remaining food too. Do not throw it away. Save it for later."

"Yes, my lord."

The servant began clearing the table, placing every remaining dish onto a tray before bowing.

"Then I shall excuse myself."

"Go."

The servant immediately left the dining room, and Zeldryn watched the door close behind her. Several seconds later, his brow furrowed.

'I feel like I missed something,' Zeldryn thought.

He tried to recall what he had said. He had only told the servant to call Hera to his bedroom at night because he wanted to ask her about this world. There was nothing strange about that.

Still, the servant's expression had seemed slightly different.

'What was that about?' Zeldryn wondered.

He continued thinking for a while, but when he could not find an answer, he eventually dismissed the matter.

Meanwhile, the servant who had just left the dining room hurried toward the kitchen with an expression filled with anger. When she arrived, she found the other servants still enjoying the food Zeldryn had given them, with Hera sitting among them.

The servant placed the tray on the table.

"Hera."

Hera stopped moving and turned toward her.

"What is it?"

The servant looked at her with a grave expression.

"The lord has summoned you to his bedroom tonight."

The entire kitchen immediately went still. Several servants stopped eating at once, with one still holding a piece of chicken near her mouth while another froze in the middle of chewing.

"He summoned her to his bedroom?"

The servant nodded.

"The lord said he has business with Hera."

Every servant's expression immediately changed.

One of them clicked her tongue and roughly placed her food down.

"I told you. A bastard will always be a bastard."

"So all of his changes since this morning were only an act?"

"Maybe he was only playing some kind of game."

"He's probably going to punish Hera again."

"Poor Hera."

"And we had only just started thinking the lord had changed."

Various voices immediately filled the kitchen. Several servants who had begun trusting Zeldryn now became suspicious of him again. To them, summoning Hera to his bedroom at night could not possibly lead to anything good.

They had seen Hera leave Zeldryn's room with a trembling body or fresh injuries far too many times. Not a single one of them believed Zeldryn merely wanted to ask her about the world.

Hera said nothing. She stared at the food still remaining in her hand as her appetite slowly disappeared, while the fear that had begun to fade returned. Her fingers trembled slightly around the food.

But Hera knew she could not refuse. She was Zeldryn's personal maid, and whenever he summoned her, she had to come.

Hera finally placed her food down and slowly nodded.

"All right," she said quietly. "I'll go to the lord's bedroom tonight."