The Captain's culinary skills were perhaps a tier higher than even Rita's.
This was Miss Dull Goose's conclusion after finishing breakfast.
It was truly, incredibly delicious.
So delicious that she almost instinctively bit her tongue.
If Rita was a master chef, then the Captain was nothing short of a god of culinary arts who had mastered and integrated the styles of a hundred schools.
My perception of Li Zihan is getting closer and closer to that of a premium, gender-bent version of Rita, Durandal thought, looking at the smiling boy beside her.
---o---
"Would you like a glass of milk with honey?"
The boy's smile was a carbon copy of Rita's, just without her charming and flirtatious air. He looked at the girl who had initially planned to discuss business while eating but had ended up going on a rampage the moment the food was served. His smile carried a hint of teasing.
Yes, please.
The girl thought it was an excellent suggestion.
But—
Her expression quickly became dejected.
She had eaten a little too much today.
"No, if I eat any more, I'll exceed my limit."
Hearing the heavy teasing in his voice, Durandal, who had always kept her diet under strict control, refused.
Perhaps because of the high physical exertion from all the running around, she had already feasted without restraint. She couldn't eat anymore.
Then, a rather merciless statement reached her ears.
"No, you've already exceeded your limit."
Durandal's expression stiffened.
"So, it wouldn't matter if you ate a little more, right?"
Li Zihan chuckled lightly as he spoke.
"It's not like I'll despise you for it."
Despise?
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Durandal nearly leaped to her feet.
Hey, hey, hey, who the hell do you think you are?!
Despise me for gaining weight?
"Captain, don't you think your comment is a little… inappropriate?"
"What's inappropriate about it?"
The boy looked at Durandal with a strange expression, as if he had just heard something completely unreasonable.
"Hasn't Sirin already revealed our relationship?"
Durandal fell silent.
Sirin, who practically had 'I like Li Zihan' written all over her face, had a specific name for her: "the cheating cat."
Cheating cat—it refers to one who steals a bite of something they shouldn't, a metaphor for illicit affairs between men and women that go against moral norms.
And that was what Sirin called her.
And Sirin's lover…
Durandal looked at the boy, who always seemed so flippant, and was speechless for a long time.
"The future can be changed."
Before she had developed her temporal resistance, Durandal felt like the entire world was pushing her toward Li Zihan. After a moment of thought, she spoke up.
"I feel that, having gained temporal resistance, it's unlikely I will follow the same old path."
Hearing this, Li Zihan paused for a moment, then smiled as if he understood something.
"That's true."
"So, Captain, please show me some decency."
Durandal sighed, looking at the impossibly dissolute fellow.
If this guy wasn't such a philanderer, he would actually be an amazing man.
What a pity.
"Alas, it seems I've overestimated my favorable impression on you," the boy said, as if muttering to himself, with words that were actually quite infuriating.
Durandal's mouth twitched, and she squeezed a sentence through her teeth.
"Captain, why on earth would you think I have a high opinion of you?!"
"Right, it looks like I overestimated my own charm."
Li Zihan frowned as if he had realized a very important problem.
It's good that you know, Durandal retorted in her mind.
But before she could finish her thought, another question was posed to her.
"In that case, do you hate me?"
The handsome boy stared into Durandal's azure eyes, asking with utmost seriousness.
Being watched with a gaze that seemed to be handling an extremely important matter, Durandal instinctively shied away.
And…
For some reason, she was getting a little ticked off!
The girl, being pressed for an answer, felt that it wouldn't be a problem to just say, "Captain, I hate you."
"Answer seriously, now."
And then—
The boy's pressing question once again entered her ears.
Do I have to seriously answer whether I hate the Captain?
Durandal fell into deep thought.
The answer was obviously no.
In the past, she had even admired Li Zihan immensely. While it wasn't to the level of a brain-dead fan like Ana, she respected him deeply.
The degree of respect was close to what she felt for Otto, but because they weren't close, it was tinged with a bit of awe.
Although his idol persona had crumbled rather quickly later on, it had collapsed in the direction of her good 'ji' friend, Rita.
Before she learned that Li Zihan's roots were actually in another world, Miss Durandal had once suspected that he and Rita might be directly related by blood.
Otherwise, how could they look so damn similar?
Would anyone hate an outstanding member of the opposite sex who was so remarkably similar to their own best partner?
Looking at the boy whose smile was almost identical to Rita's, the girl's heart wavered.
She didn't seem to hate this guy very much.
In fact, she quite liked him.
"Looks like you do like me, after all."
As if he had seen right through her, a very cheerful smile appeared on the boy's face.
"Who—who would like you?!"
Like a balloon that had been pricked with a needle, Durandal's reaction was unbelievably fierce.
"I-I just said I don't hate you, that's all!"
"Yes, yes, I understand."
The boy, who had some understanding of this tsundere goose's temperament, replied perfunctorily.
His extremely dismissive tone made Miss Durandal's face flush red with what was probably indignation.
"So, Miss Bianka, since you don't hate me, could you please stop avoiding me all the time in our future interactions?"
"You're always avoiding me, but the moment you run into critical trouble, you come looking for me first. This feeling of being treated like a tool is pretty awful for me, you know."
"I-I have never avoided you."
Durandal, who had indeed been dodging a certain someone recently, sounded a little lacking in confidence.
"Alright, I get it."
Still smiling, the boy replied.
"It was all because of our different work assignments that it created the illusion that you were distancing yourself from me."
Aaaargh!!!
What is this feeling of having the entire conversation controlled by someone else?!
Durandal was going crazy, feeling that the situation was developing in an increasingly ominous direction.
At this rate, if he keeps leading me on like this, I'm doomed!
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's get down to business."
With a rather stiff tone, Durandal forcefully changed the subject.
Her actual business here was to discuss how to handle the Babel incident. How had things gotten so twisted?
"You're right. We should get back on topic."
Li Zihan didn't press her further, just chuckled lightly.
Durandal was about to reach her teasing limit; any more and she would explode.
Some things didn't need to be rushed.
"That's great."
Durandal breathed a sigh of relief, having finally escaped.
Then, perhaps for the convenience of their conversation, she scooted her seat a little closer to Li Zihan's side.
---o---
And on the second-floor corridor, a girl with long purple hair happened to be passing by. Her cool gaze coincidentally fell upon this very scene.
"The cheating cat."
After a long moment, those three words escaped her lips.