After the meal was finished.
After clearing the dishes to one side, we faced each other.
I pretended to be calm, but I was quite tense.
I knew she wouldn't seriously injure me, but she was capable of other things.
What did the original Viol do to Ceres?
Since Ceres wouldn't listen to him, he ordered the palace servants to ignore her to break her pride.
Let them ignore me. I don't really care.
There was also the threat of killing Ares, but since she already promised not to, that's unlikely.
Ah, wasn't there also that time he forcibly held her down, unable to move, saying he'd show her the difference in strength?
As I recalled various things and tensed up, Viol finally opened her mouth.
“Do you know why I granted your trivial request and brought you here?”
I answered her firmly.
"Because you're going to fall in love with me."
“No, it's precisely to correct that insane idea of yours!"
Viol glared fiercely.
"You're the craziest bastard I've ever seen. I thought I wasn't normal, but compared to you, I'm infinitely sane."
Treating me like a complete lunatic.
“You think everyone will love you just because people adore your beautiful looks.”
“Didn't you just say I wasn't that pretty?”
"Shut up!"
When I pointed out the contradiction, she got angry instead.
Viol tried hard to hide that I'd hit a nerve and continued speaking.
"Insolent brat. Talking down to me so casually since earlier.”
“Even if I started speaking formally now, you wouldn't take it well."
“I'll make sure you can never take that attitude again. I'll thoroughly shatter that sweet delusion that I love you.”
She spoke menacingly, but I remained calm.
“Then why did you give me a meal? Wouldn't it have been better to just starve me? Or are you planning to starve me from now on?"
“...No, you'll get meals."
Viol observed me with displeasure.
“It would be troublesome if you died from skipping meals with that frail body. I still need to torment you more, so I'll bring you three square meals a day.”
"That's actually troublesome. This body gets full from just one proper meal a day. I'm a light eater, so I can't eat more than that.”
“...What on earth is wrong with your body? Fine, I'll bring just one meal as you wish!"
Viol picked up the remaining dishes.
“Today is a day off. Tomorrow it begins in earnest, so be prepared. From now on, I'll train you so you can never defy me again."
Viol said with a sneer before leaving.
As expected, she wasn't going to just let it go.
I didn't know what she'd do, but hearing her talk like that, it wouldn't be anything ordinary.
I braced myself and spent the day.
“Even if you can't eat things you find unpleasant, rejecting meat entirely is bad for your body. I soaked it in water and ground it as finely as possible to make a stew, so try it."
The next day, an incredibly elaborate dish arrived.
Having tensed up about the 'training' talk, I stared bewilderedly at the food Viol presented.
She had ground the meat so finely it was barely visible, added it to soup, and made a stew.
Since there were no blenders in this world, it must have been made with great effort.
“What are you doing? Eat before it gets cold."
"Uh-huh."
It was absurd for her to bring this after talking about training, but I didn't bother pointing it out.
While I ate, Viol stared at me intently without a word, then spoke once I finished.
“How does it taste?”
“It's delicious, just like yesterday's. Please tell the chef I enjoyed it."
“No need for that.”
Then why does she keep asking?!
It was truly baffling, but she repeated this for several days.
“Today, along with the stew from last time, I also brought a salad with a special dressing and fruit. And tea with honey."
“Today is a fish dish seasoned with vinegar and a tangy fruit sauce. The fish fillet is soft, so you should be able to eat it, right? I removed the oil beforehand too.”
“It's bread with fresh cream and strawberry jam. There's also cocoa made with milk that's been reheated several times, so have it together.”
She brought elaborate dishes, asked how they tasted, and tried to strike up conversation.
“You... Never mind.”
At first, her words were short as if she had nothing to say, but as the days went by, she talked more.
"Is this room perhaps cold? If it is, I'll make it warmer. If there's anything else uncomfortable, tell me. I can change the room itself.”
“What's the point? Even if you change it, it's still solitary confinement.”
Most of it was trivial talk, but her attempts to somehow keep the conversation going were almost pitiable.
Is she falling for me much faster than expected?
This wasn't a good development for either Viol or me.
“Hmph! Unable to do anything on your own, just eating the food I bring you. How childish.”
One day, perhaps having run out of things to say, she started picking a fight like when we first met.
This time, I didn't endure it too much or get angry, just responded casually.
“That's rich. You're the one who locked me up, so why am I the child? Says the one wearing pigtails.”
The original Viol also had long red hair, but he wore it down.
Even though he was a crazy bastard, he maintained a cool hairstyle; he didn't childishly tie it in pigtails.
“What's wrong with this?”
Perhaps never imagining I'd point this out, she didn't get angry but made a strange expression.
Viol touched her pigtails and spoke.
“Do you perhaps prefer something else? Then I'll change…”
“It's not that I prefer something else, it just doesn't suit your age. You were twenty-eight, right?"
“...I'm still twenty-seven!"
In the original work, Ceres was in her early twenties, while Viol was in his late twenties.
There was definitely a scene where he told Ceres he was twenty-eight. Since I met her earlier than in the original, she's still a year younger.
Anyway, it's not a hairstyle someone in their late twenties should have.
When I pointed this out, Viol got angry.
“Are you getting back at me like this just because I teased you a bit? What business is it of yours how someone else ties their hair?!"
“Aaaargh!!”
Viol screamed and rushed out. I clearly said she could ignore it, so why is she acting like that?
The next day.
“Mealtime."
Viol, who came to bring my meal as usual, had changed her hairstyle.
It was down and slightly wavy. It looked like she'd put considerable effort into styling it.
I felt a little sorry.
Did my words bother her that much?
I couldn't focus on my meal and kept looking at Viol's hair.
“How is it?”
Viol initially pretended to ignore my gaze while observing me, then asked for my opinion.
“I changed it as you wished."
“It's not like I specifically told you to get a new hairstyle."
"Shut up and tell me if it's pretty or not!"
“It's pretty.”
It wasn't an empty compliment.
With her long, gorgeous red hair meticulously styled, it couldn't possibly be unattractive.
"Huhu, I knew it.”
Viol was happy by the compliment, but...
"Sorry, I think the pigtails looked better."
My following words made her expression contort.
“Why? You just said this was prettier!"
“Seeing long, flowing red hair reminds me of someone unpleasant."
“Who is that?”
You, the male version.
Because the hairstyle was similar now, the male Viol came to mind more strongly, making me uncomfortable.
But I couldn't tell the truth, so I trailed off, and Viol exploded.
“You bastard, you were just planning to mess with me all along!”
She misunderstood and became terrifyingly angry.
Viol snatched away the meal I was eating.
“No food for you for a while!"
After taking the meal away like that, she didn't visit again.
And then the next day.
“Looks like she really isn't going to give me any.”
It was already late at night, but Viol hadn't visited.
I was locked alone in solitary confinement, starving.
"I'm bored."
Now that Viol, who had at least been someone to talk to, was gone, the boredom intensified.
It felt even stronger than the hunger.
But there's nothing to do here.
My body can finally move, but I can't use it to entertain myself.
When I was a mess, at least I had books to read lying in bed.
To forget the boredom as well as the hunger, it would be good to focus on something else.
I forced myself to find something to focus on.
Don't protagonists usually train their abilities in times like this? And my ability is holy power, so...
“Should I give it a try? Healing myself.”
The health deterioration caused by the holy power can't be healed, but other things can be treated easily.
I hadn't had a reason to use it until now, so I should try it.
I took out a fruit knife from the drawer.
Viol brought it yesterday when she delivered the meal, intending to peel fruit, but left it behind when she rushed off.
I planned to give it back when she came later, but I guess I'll have to use it first.
"Hm."
I tried cutting my hand with the fruit knife.
The soft, delicate hand tore easily and bled, but only for a moment.
It healed immediately, not because I actively treated it, but because the holy power acted automatically.
This damned ability protects me from dying even as it causes me pain.
That's why the original Ceres couldn't die, despite enduring all sorts of hardships, until her holy power disappeared.
Should I test it more intensely?
Just as I was attempting to cut my wrist this time...
“What are you doing right now?”
Viol, who had returned with her hair back in pigtails and was carrying a meal, saw me just then.