Chapter 275

Volume 2 Ch 18: Devouring It at a Frenzied Pace

Ryan stepped out of the bathroom and pulled the door shut behind him.

The corridor was quiet. Wall lamps cast a soft glow, and the faint aroma of food drifted from the direction of the dining room—roasted meat and hot soup, warm and rich in the air.

It seemed the food he had instructed the servants to prepare earlier was ready. He truly did need to eat something.

The ritual just now had consumed an astonishing amount of energy. The hollowed-out feeling deep in his body was now being replaced by a clearer demand.

He needed energy. A great deal of it.

He followed the scent forward. The dining room door stood half open, and when he pushed it open, the room beyond was brightly lit.

Alone in the spacious, steam-filled bathroom, Iruya braced herself against the edge of the bath and rose to her feet. Warm water ran down the curves of her body.

On the tall stand by the door, neatly folded at some unknown point, was a brand-new set of clothes. Clearly, Ryan had instructed the servants to prepare them for her.

The fabric was soft and fine to the touch, of excellent quality. The style was simple and elegant, and the fit was unexpectedly perfect.

She dried herself off and changed into the pale moon-white dress.

It fit her beautifully, outlining her slender but by no means fragile figure just right. Her skin, fresh from bathing, carried a healthy flush, and the warmth and steam had left a rosy tint on her cheeks as well. Her damp black hair spilled loose over her shoulders, droplets still falling from the ends.

She picked up another thick, soft towel from the side and began slowly drying her hair.

At that moment, an enticing aroma of food slipped faintly through the crack beneath the door. Iruya paused, and her stomach gave an embarrassingly soft growl.

She was hungry too.

She quickened her movements, blotting the water from her hair with the towel. Then she picked up the small composite Magic Tool she had set aside earlier, a portable device that combined stable fire-element heating with the guidance of a miniature wind element. A warm, gentle stream of air immediately began to blow, driving the dampness and water droplets from her hair.

As she ran her fingers through her hair to let the warm current pass evenly through it, she listened to the faint sounds outside the door—footsteps, a little more frequent than usual.

It seemed the food was already prepared.

Very soon, her hair was mostly dry. She switched off the Magic Tool and put it away, then straightened her dress before the mirror, still clouded with steam.

The black-haired girl reflected there had delicate features and sharply defined collarbones. Her earlobes were small and neat, and because of the lingering heat, her skin looked especially fine.

She took a steadying breath and pushed open the bathroom door.

The corridor was quiet, but now the fragrance of food was much clearer, coming distinctly from the dining room downstairs.

She followed the scent down the stairs to the doorway of the dining room.

The room was brilliantly lit.

When Iruya pushed open the heavy wooden door, the scene before her made her pause in surprise.

The dining room was bright, and several servants were moving quietly and swiftly around the long table. They came and went through the side door, carrying large silver platters heaped with food to the head of the table, then carrying away platters of the same size that had already been completely emptied.

But that was not what surprised her most.

What drew her eyes most strongly was the two towering stacks of spotless plates by the head of the table, so high they nearly blocked the diner from view. At a glance, each stack must have been at least ten or more plates tall.

Frowning slightly in confusion, Iruya took a few steps closer.

Then she saw what lay behind the mountains of plates.

Ryan sat at the head of the table, already changed into a clean set of dark gray casual clothes, his damp silver hair loosely tied behind him.

He was focused on... eating.

Yes, eating, because “dining” no longer seemed an accurate description of his current state.

His movements were fast, yet oddly, they had not entirely lost the basic framework of proper table manners.

A roasted bird leg, golden brown and crisp, was cleanly separated with knife and fork and then taken straight into his mouth. What came back out was a bare, spotless bone. A thick-cut steak still sizzling with fat was sliced into several large pieces, and then one of them was immediately skewered and sent into his mouth. His cheeks moved slightly as he chewed a few quick, powerful times, and then his throat rolled as he swallowed.

It was not uncouth, not even really ugly to watch. In fact, there was still something oddly elegant about it. But the speed with which he was annihilating the food, along with the mountain of empty plates in front of him, was nothing short of astonishing.

The servants kept bringing fresh platters piled with meat and silently clearing away the empty ones.

Those empty plates were swiftly stacked to the side, and somehow the two mountains only grew taller, which meant Ryan was finishing the food even faster than the servants could remove the plates.

The entire process barely paused. Occasionally, he lifted a glass of water and drank, or used a napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth.

The aroma filling the room was unquestionably enticing, but seeing Ryan consume it all with such frightening intensity left Iruya momentarily at a loss for how she ought to react.

She stood still, still holding the towel she had used for her hair. Her violet eyes widened slightly as she stared at the extraordinary scene before her.

Ryan finished off another piece of meat drenched in sauce. Perhaps sensing her gaze, he paused slightly and turned his head, looking at her through the gaps between the stacks of plates.

He picked up a napkin and dabbed at the corner of his mouth, where a little dark sauce had stained it. His complexion looked much better than before, no longer pale with exhaustion, but faintly luminous with restrained vitality.

Only, in the depths of his gray-blue eyes, that faint ring of gold around the pupils seemed even clearer beneath the bright dining room lights than it had in the bathroom.

“The consumption earlier was a little high,” he said, glancing at Iruya and then at the mountain of food in front of him. He seemed to realize his current eating habits were a bit alarming, so he added quite naturally, “My body needs to replenish itself.”

Iruya looked at Ryan’s efficient, almost tyrannical speed of eating, then at the steadily rising towers of empty plates before him, and for a moment she found herself speechless.

The rich scent of roasted meat and broth kept drifting into her nose, and her stomach answered with a clear emptiness of its own. The ritual had exhausted her just as badly. She was hungry too.

Perhaps sensing that she was still standing there, Ryan raised his head from the mountain of food before him and gestured with his fork toward several platters the servants had just set down at the other end of the long table.

There, in addition to the meat dishes, were roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes drizzled with olive oil and herbs, and a small basket of golden bread smelling richly of wheat.

“Would you like to sit down and eat something?” Ryan asked. Then, having said his piece, he returned his attention to the mountain of meat before him.

Iruya gave a small nod and finally walked to the far end of the long table, taking a seat across from him. A servant immediately laid out her cutlery and set before her a steaming bowl of thick soup sprinkled with chopped herbs.

She truly was hungry.

Helping Ryan through that dangerous ritual had nearly emptied her reserve of spiritual power and Mana, and now her body was issuing a very clear demand for nourishment.

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