Chapter 7
“Miss Daisy, you were unconscious for a whole day. Do you have a chronic illness?”
“Yes, something like that,” Daisy answered casually.
Pell sighed with concern.
“Oh dear… Have you thought about seeing a doctor in a big city?”
Daisy waved her hand.
“It’s okay. I know how to fix it—it just takes some time.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
Pell gave a soft smile. Then he glanced at Kallios and whispered,
“Your little brother seemed really shocked. He barely spoke and didn’t eat anything except a sip of soup.”
“Oh no…”
Daisy rubbed her neck.
“Kallio— I mean, Kalli! You didn’t eat anything all day?!”
Kallios replied with a sulky voice,
“What’s the point of eating food that doesn’t help me?”
He meant the soup didn’t help restore his magical power.
‘So only my cooking works for him… Well, that’s good for me, I guess.’
But still—skipping meals in a child’s body? No way!
Daisy jumped to her feet.
“Oh come on! I can’t live like this! I’ll just have to cook myself!”
“Miss Daisy? You just woke up! You shouldn’t move around so fast,” Pell warned.
But Daisy shook her head.
“It’s fine. I know my body best. I feel much better after sleeping!”
“But still—”
“Besides! My poor baby skipped a meal! I can’t let that happen!”
Daisy was secretly thinking:
‘What if he gets even smaller from not eating?!’
She absolutely refused to let that happen.
“Miss, you can’t just enter the kitchen like this.”
“Oh please, let me use it just for a bit. Here, take this…”
Daisy slipped a silver coin into the chef’s pocket.
The chef’s face immediately changed.
“Use whatever you want! Let me know if you need anything!”
“Thanks!”
As the chef walked away, Daisy smirked.
“See? Money really is the fastest and easiest solution.”
Of course, it wasn’t her own money. It came from Kallios’s wallet.
She happily looked around the small inn’s kitchen. It didn’t have many ingredients.
“Hmm… What should I make…”
She had one goal: Make the picky eater Kallios eat something.
‘Right now, nutrition doesn’t matter. He just needs to eat something tasty.’
She needed a kid-friendly meal.
‘The only thing he seemed okay with is eggs… So it should be something filling too…’
After thinking hard for a while, an idea popped into Daisy’s head.
“Butter Egg Rice!”
Of course! Kids love butter egg rice!
It’s easy to make, smells good, and tastes salty and buttery. What’s not to love?
“Hmm. Do they have soy sauce?”
She searched the kitchen and luckily found something like soy sauce.
‘Glad the seasonings in this world are similar to the old world.’
She started cooking rice right away. An electric rice cooker would’ve been nice, but that was just a dream in this world.
While the rice cooked, she cracked an egg into a pan with oil and let it sizzle.
“Sunny side up—half cooked!”
Making butter egg rice wasn’t even real cooking. It was done in no time.
“Finished!”
She scooped some hot rice into a bowl, placed a piece of butter and the egg on top. The butter melted gently over the rice, filling the air with a rich smell.
“Mmm, smells delicious!”
– Drizzle!
She poured soy sauce over the top.
Daisy swallowed her saliva and carried the dish to Kallios.
It was time to feed the stubborn wizard.
Daisy held the bowl out in front of Kallios.
“Kalli, eat this right now. If you don’t, you might shrink even more.”
“Ugh…”
“There are no vegetables in it, so stop glaring at the rice like that.”
“Tch.”
“Use your spoon and mix it well.”
Grumbling, Kallios picked up the spoon. He stirred the rice and egg, and the soft yolk broke, turning the rice golden yellow.
Daisy smiled proudly.
“See? I never give you anything bad, right?”
“You forced me to eat gross green leaves.”
“That was for your own good, Kalli!”
“…I guess.”
“Anyway, trust me! Just take a bite!”
With a sigh, Kallios finally took a bite of the butter egg rice.
Daisy watched his chubby cheeks move as he chewed.
Kallios barely chewed before gulping it down.
Daisy’s eyes sparkled.
“See? Isn’t it tasty? It goes down smooth, right?”
“Hm, chew chew, better than I, chew, thought… chew…”
His cheeks were puffed up like a hamster. Daisy smiled sweetly.
‘He must’ve been really hungry. Well, he did skip a whole day of meals in a growing body.’
She looked at Kallios with a proud expression.
Then Pell came closer and whispered,
“You really care a lot about your brother. He seems to depend on you a lot too.”
“Whaaat? Kalli depends on me? Pfft—”
Daisy couldn’t hold back her laugh.
Kallios, depending on her? Depending on her a lot?
That was the funniest thing she’d heard all day.
“He probably thinks I’m just his maid who makes food.”
After all the rude things he said to her, it made sense.
But Pell just chuckled softly.
“You’re being a little mean.”
“I’m just being honest.”
“While you were unconscious, Kalli didn’t sleep. He stayed by your side the whole time. And whenever I got close, he acted like a wild cat protecting you.”
“That’s just how he is.”
Daisy didn’t take it seriously.
‘Kallios? With that nasty attitude? He was probably just hungry and cranky.’
She waved her hand and changed the topic.
“By the way, Sir Pell, we’ll be leaving tomorrow. How much do we owe you for the medical care and room? We’ll pay properly.”
“No need. I didn’t help you for money.”
Hearing that polite refusal, Daisy’s eyes gleamed.
‘Wow… is he really from a rich family?’
Even in the countryside, inns don’t come cheap. And he paid for strangers without blinking?
‘Lucky me!’
Daisy bowed her head gratefully.
“Then thank you. I’ll accept your kindness.”
Daisy’s policy was: never refuse free help.
“You helped us, so good things will come your way. Nice people always get rewarded.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“Yes! But if someone lives badly, they get punished later.”
“You have a very positive outlook.”
Daisy glanced at Kallios—the future punished villain—and shrugged.
“Well, that’s what books always say. And stories don’t lie.”
At least, the stories she knew didn’t.
“You really believe in that, don’t you?” Pell asked, smiling.
“I have my reasons.”
“Oh? What are they—?”
Just then, Kallios suddenly slammed his spoon down.
“…I lost my appetite.”
“Huh?”
