Chapter 4
“Kallius! You grew taller!”
Daisy clapped her hands and truly admired how Kallius looked more grown-up.
“You don’t look like a baby anymore! You look like a child now!”
Kallius, who had looked like a 4 or 5-year-old before, now looked closer to 6 years old!
“What is this…?”
Kallius stared at his tiny hands for a long time and checked every part of his body carefully.
Then, with a serious face, he nodded.
“…I really did grow. I can also feel that my magic increased a little. It’s still nothing compared to my original power, though.”
“Oh! Maybe your body and your magic grow together?”
“That seems to be the case.”
“But why did your body suddenly grow? Do you have any idea?”
Daisy asked hopefully, and Kallius thought for a moment.
“Hmm… there was only one possible cause.”
He mumbled to himself, then suddenly grabbed his spoon and began to devour the porridge in front of him.
Daisy was shocked.
“Wait! You’ll get a stomachache if you eat like that! Drink some water too!”
Kallius ignored her and quickly ate more than half the bowl.
While eating, he kept checking his body here and there and nodded to himself.
After a while, Kallius put down his spoon with a clack.
“I figured it out.”
“What is it?”
“The answer is your porridge.”
“My porridge? What do you mean…?”
Daisy asked, confused. But instead of explaining, Kallius shot her a sharp look.
“Hey, slave. What did you do to my porridge?”
“W-what? I didn’t do anything!”
“The ingredients?”
“I already told you! We didn’t have much, so I only used beef and rice.”
“What else?”
“…Just water and some salt?”
“Those can’t be magical ingredients.”
“I don’t think so either.”
Kallius rubbed his head in confusion.
“…But every time I ate a spoonful of your porridge, my magic came back a little.”
Daisy tilted her head.
“That’s strange. I can’t even use magic.”
“Don’t you have any guesses?”
“No, but after what you said, I’m sure of one thing.”
Kallius’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you sure of?”
Daisy smiled at his sharp black eyes and said:
“That I’m holding the spoon now.”
“…What did you say?”
“You grew because you ate my porridge. That means I’m now someone very important to you. Right?”
Kallius’s forehead wrinkled deeply.
“…Ugh.”
He couldn’t deny it.
Later…
Daisy and Kallius sat facing each other and signed a contract.
“Well then, I look forward to working with you.”
Daisy smiled brightly and reached out her hand for a handshake. Of course, Kallius ignored it.
“Just bring me food already.”
Even though he was as rude as ever, Daisy felt warm inside.
“Of course! I’ll take care of everything.”
Their official contract was simple:
Daisy would stay by Kallius’s side and do her best to help him recover.
In return, Kallius would use his powers to help cure Daisy’s illness.
Very simple—they would help each other with what they could do.
Of course, Kallius could have chosen to eat someone else’s food.
But luckily, he didn’t want anyone to know about his current weak state.
“If people find out what I look like now, some of them will come running. Then things will turn into a mess. So you’re in charge of my meals.”
Daisy nodded right away.
‘Wait, does that mean I can hire a great archmage with just a few meals?’
That thought made her forget all of Kallius’s rudeness. He seemed kind of cute now.
Daisy pulled a spare piece of paper toward her and began taking notes.
“By the way, what kind of food do you like or dislike?”
“What for?”
Daisy gave a big smile.
“To plan your meals better, of course! I want to serve food that matches your tastes!”
Even though she had lived 18 years as a noble lady, Daisy still had strong memories from her past life.
‘I’m confident when it comes to food!’
In her past life, she had worked part-time in many kitchens. She had even dreamed of owning a restaurant.
That’s also why she started working in food service after becoming a commoner.
‘My dream was to open my own place and be the boss…’
But with her strange fainting illness, that dream was impossible—unless she got better.
Daisy stopped reminiscing and looked at Kallius with a bright smile.
“Anyway! I’m a hardworking person, so tell me your food preferences, please!”
Kallius frowned and replied reluctantly.
“Hmm. I…”
“Yes, Kallius?”
“I don’t really like eating.”
“You don’t like eating—wait, no fair! That’s not a real answer!”
Daisy shouted. But the real shock was yet to come.
“Even before I became an archmage, I thought meals were a waste of time.”
“Oh my gosh!”
She had guessed as much from how he picked at his food, but this confirmed it. He didn’t just dislike food—he found eating itself annoying. That was something Daisy, who lived to eat, could never understand.
She let out a huge sigh.
“Don’t you even like any flavors?”
“Hmm… maybe sweet things? They help me stay awake.”
“And?”
“Sometimes I eat bitter stuff. The awful taste helps me wake up too.”
“Oh boy.”
Daisy rubbed the back of her neck in disbelief.
Finally, she stood up and waved her hand.
“Alright. So the first step is getting you to not hate eating.”
“Hmph, then you’d better make the food as good as possible.”
Kallius gave a commanding tone. Daisy sighed deeply inside.
‘Wow, he’s picky!’
She had thought this would be easy—but now she had to deal with a fussy eater who hated food.
And so, Daisy and Kallius—archmage and picky eater—began their chaotic life together.
Meanwhile…
Daisy crossed her arms.
“What should I make first?”
Kallius clearly had no interest in food. That meant he didn’t even have favorite ingredients.
“If I had to pick… maybe he likes sweet things the most.”
So she decided to start by focusing on sweet flavors.
“Hmmm.”
Daisy wandered through the pantry, deep in thought. Thanks to preservation magic, it was cool inside.
“But there’s almost nothing here.”
The last time she searched the storage, she only found a handful of rice and one piece of meat.
“Hmm. Isn’t there anything else…?”
She dug through the dusty pantry shelves.
“For someone who hates eating, why is this storage room so huge?”
She grumbled while rummaging through boxes.
Rustle.
Something hit her foot. It was the corner of a rough sack. She opened it—and her eyes widened.
“Wait, are these… eggs?”
The sack was full of eggs in all shapes and sizes.
Striped eggs the size of chicken eggs, big white ones as big as fists, black ones the size of a head, and even reddish eggs with a shiny, metallic look like a watermelon…
They all looked strange, but not completely inedible.
And right now, Daisy couldn’t afford to be picky. Some monster eggs were edible, after all.
“If they weren’t meant to be eaten, why would they be stored in a pantry?”
Daisy picked up an egg and examined it. Then—ding!—an idea popped into her head.
A really good idea.
