“Ooo~ya—— Lady Emilia and our gue~st, wel~come to the man~sion.”
Subaru’s thoughts on otherworldly food were cut short.
The dining hall doors swung open again.
Before the person even stepped inside, his magnetic voice had already grated on Subaru’s ears.
He was incredibly tall, about half a head taller than Subaru—roughly the same height as Reinhard, maybe even a bit taller.
He had long dark blue hair that reached almost all the way down his back.
However, in terms of physique, unlike Reinhard’s robust and upright build, this man was quite slender, and his skin was a sickly, pale white.
His features were sharp and well-defined, and his eyes were heterochromic—the left yellow, the right blue.
He looked exactly like a gloomy, melancholic, handsome young man.
—That is, if it weren’t for the bizarrely colored, eye-gouging outfit and the clown makeup plastered on his face.
“Huh?”
Subaru stared at the newcomer in amazement.
“Do you guys hire a clown for entertainment before every meal?
I really don’t understand aristocratic tastes…”
“Um, Subaru…
he is…”
Emilia, unable to bear watching the impending trainwreck, awkwardly turned her head away.
“No, no, no, I don’t mi~nd at all~, Lady Emi~lia,” the clown spread his hands, slowly walking to the master’s seat at the head of the table and sitting down.
No way?
Don’t tell me…
Subaru’s eyelid twitched.
The clown spoke with a bizarre, sing-song cadence: “I~ am the master of this mansion, Roswaal L Mathers~…
Subaru Natsuki.”
The perverted noble dressed as a clown had the thick skin to cheerfully announce his title, before suddenly dropping the act to call Subaru’s name in a dead-serious tone.
He was completely different from the dignified, grandfatherly aristocrat mage Subaru had imagined!
Though one thing did match up…
nobles really do have bizarre fetishes!
Subaru forced a stiff smile.
“Now then, please eat fir~st.
As for you, I’ve already heard the situa~tion from Ram.
We can discus~s it after the meal.”
Attended to by the twin sisters, Roswaal arranged his silverware and gestured for Subaru and Emilia to begin eating.
“Well then, thanks for the food.” Subaru scooped up a spoonful of the richly aromatic soup and brought it to his mouth.
“Mhm!
This is way better than normal food!”
“Hehe—right, righ~t?
Seen in that light, Rem’s cooking is quite a bar~gain, isn’t it?” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Roswaal nodded proudly.
Subaru looked over at Rem, who was presumably the one who had cooked the meal.
Catching Subaru’s gaze, Rem raised her hand, pointing her index and pinky fingers upward.
Subaru didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it was probably this world’s equivalent of a peace sign, right?
“This dish was made by the blue-haired…
uh, I can call you Rem, right?
Did you make this?” Subaru took a bite of the salad.
It was equally delicious; the pairing of vegetables and dressing was absolutely perfect, and the crisp, refreshing texture thoroughly satisfied his taste buds.
“Yes, guest.
The meals for this table are handled by Rem, because my sister is not very skilled at it.”
Rem nodded, answering Subaru politely and formally.
“Haha—so it’s a ‘twins with different specialties’ kind of deal!” Subaru mimed sweeping the floor with his spoon.
“So, your sister is better at cleaning and verbally abusing people, then?”
“Yes, exactly.
My sister excels at household chores like cleaning and laundry.
However, Rem does not agree with the statement regarding verbal abuse.”
“Well, I was definitely emotionally damaged by your sister…” Subaru noticed Ram’s glare turning a bit sharp, realizing he was probably going to get ruthlessly attacked by the sharp-tongued maid again later.
“So that means Rem is good at cooking, but not good at cleaning and laundry?”
“No, Rem is fundamentally excellent at all household chores,” Rem corrected him, shutting that theory down.
“Rem is also excellent at cleaning and laundry.
Better than my sister.”
“Then the only meaning to your sister’s existence really is just verbally abusing people?!”
Subaru drew a sharp breath.
An all-capable younger sister, and an older sister who was worse than her sibling even at the things she was supposed to be good at.
For a twin dynamic, this was actually incredibly fresh.
Ram seemed entirely unbothered by her younger sister’s remarks.
But even so, wasn’t Ram’s complete lack of reaction a bit of a problem in itself?
“You’re quite somethin~g.
Ram and Rem both have very strong per~sonalities,” Roswaal unhurriedly wiped his mouth with a napkin.
“Which is why they aren’t very welcomin~g upon first meeting.”
You’re lecturing me about being unwelcoming?
Who could possibly top a guy with a fetish for dressing up as a clown…
Subaru grumbled internally.
“Yeah, right,” Subaru really didn’t want to chat with this weird-sounding pervert while eating.
When faced with delicious food, one should pair it with a charming conversation partner instead.
The moment Subaru tried to strike up a conversation, Emilia, who was dealing with her salad with a fork, responded with a total poker face.
What’s up with her…
Subaru tilted his head in thought, and then she let out a quiet sigh.
“Listen, Subaru.
Chatting during a meal is forbidden.
It’s very rude to Rem and Ram, who prepared our food.
If you don’t have proper etiquette, your efforts will all go up in smoke during important situations, you know.”
“I haven’t heard anyone say ‘go up in smoke’ in ages…
Anyway, you’re talking about table manners, right?
Things have already gotten to this point and you’re only mentioning it now?”
Subaru stared speechlessly at the green peppers that had suddenly materialized on his plate.
He felt Emilia was being a bit childish, though he didn’t dislike it.
“Dumping the food you hate onto someone else’s plate isn’t exactly in line with proper table manners, you know.”
“I gave you those green peppers because…
Ugh, that’s not it at all!” Having lost the argument, Emilia pouted.
She was so cute it made Subaru laugh.
“Jeez, dummy.”
Subaru picked out a point of inquiry from what she had said earlier.
“By the way, Ros-chi, I think I just heard Emilia-tan say there are only two servants in this massive mansion?”
Given the nickname “Ros-chi” by Subaru, Roswaal didn’t seem to mind the familiar address in the slightest.
“Aha~ That is indeed the current situatio~n.
It is just Ram and Rem.”
“Are you kidding me?
There are only two people taking care of this insanely huge mansion?”
Faced with Subaru’s question, Roswaal fell silent, intertwining his fingers on the dining table.
A smile floated on his face, but as he looked into Subaru’s eyes, the emotion within them had clearly shifted.
“You truly are quite inexplicabl~e.
Formidable strength, extraordinary power, dispatching the Bowel Hunter without breaking a swea~t,” Roswaal rested his chin on his intertwined hands.
“You understand neither etiquette nor letters, and you hail from a very~ very far away place.”
“Most cruciall~y, you suddenly appeared right beside Lady Emilia, a Royal Selection candida~te, and volunteere~d to act as her muscle…”
“To add a further explanatio~n, you made contact with Lady Emilia and simultaneously formed a connectio~n with the Mathers house…
Though it is all circumstantial evidence, if one were so inclined, this alone would be enough to—”
“Alright, I get it…” Subaru put down his knife and fork, crossing his arms and leaning back against his chair.
“I am super suspicious!”
Subaru Natsuki’s expression had changed.