Why Shouldn’t a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?! 4

“Do you know her?” Myuke asked, feeling a bit awkward about being left out of the conversation. She pushed Anima to quickly introduce her.

“Remember when I went out to get Marie her birthday present? I ran into, umm…”

“Camilla.”

“I ran into Camilla when I escorted her daughter Ena back to her.”

“You’re helping people even when we’re not there, huh?”

Myuke was impressed with his good deed. Earning his daughter’s respect filled Anima with a sense of pride.

“And Camilla, this is Myuke.”

Myuke bowed slightly to her.

“I want to learn how to cook so I can help Mommy out! I’m not very good yet, but I’ll work super hard on everything you show us, so please be patient while I learn everything I can!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to teach you everything you need to know. I really like cooking, and the more the merrier. We’ll have plenty of fun in the kitchen, okay?”

Myuke happily nodded to Camilla’s encouraging reply. They seemed to have finished their introductions, which gave Anima the chance to ask something that has been on his mind.

“Is Ena inside?”

The house was really quiet, so if she was home, she was probably sleeping.

“She’s out with my husband.”

“Oh, they went out? Sorry to make you stay behind.”

“Ah, no, it’s not like that! I was planning to stay home today anyway.” She smiled at Anima. “Today is actually my birthday.”

“I see. Well then, happy birthday.”

“Happy birthday!”

“Thank you. You know, that little rascal was practically screaming in the kitchen to my husband about how she’s going to surprise me.”

Ena had gone out with her Dad to buy a present for Camilla, which explained why Camilla had been happy to stay at home. Anima would have done exactly the same if his girls did that for him.

“She sounds like a great little girl!”

“She really is! I can’t wait for her to get home, but she’s so incredibly curious that there’s no such thing as a short outing with her. She has to look at every last thing, and asks you about all the things that are around her! I wouldn’t expect her to get home until the evening, so I’m all yours until then. Ah, but don’t worry, I’ll help you even after she gets home. You don’t understand how grateful I am to you for bringing her back to me, Anima.”

“That’s incredible, thank you. We’d like to come three times a week, if that works for you.”

“That’d be perfect.”

Anima was worried that she would find his request to be too burdensome, so he was incredibly relieved when she accepted it with a smile. Even so, he didn’t want to trouble her for too long. He wanted to learn to cook as quickly as possible so that he could help Luina out in the kitchen.

“Can we get started?”

“Of course! Grandma told me that you’re looking into making healthy food, is that right?”

Anima nodded.

“My wife, Luina, is pregnant. I don’t want to overwhelm her with heavy food.”

Camilla had a daughter, so she surely understood what Anima was going for. She likely had experience in that style of cooking.

“Okay. Follow me to the kitchen.”

He and Myuke followed her through the immaculate hallway and into the kitchen, the room farthest back in the house. It was smaller than what they were used to, with the table and kitchen range taking up around half the space, but it was at least as clean as if not cleaner than the hallway.

“I probably should have asked earlier, but what are we doing about ingredients?”

“You can use anything you find in here.”

“That’s too much. You’re already sacrificing your free time to teach us; we can’t possibly use up your ingredients.”

“Please, it’s completely fine. Grandma always brings over so many ingredients that we don’t know what to do with them—especially pumpkin. We have a lot of pumpkin, but since Ena doesn’t really like it, we don’t use it very often.” Anima suddenly got a strong urge to boast about how Marie would eat anything, but he quietly fought it off. Not only would it have been rude to bring that up, but Ena was younger than Marie, so it was possible that she would grow to like pumpkin in a year or two. “It’s funny, she started hating pumpkin because she saw me cut myself once while I was preparing one. She’s been refusing to eat it ever since.”

Camilla’s boasting about how kind her daughter was reignited Anima’s urge to boast about Marie, but he once again repressed it. He wanted to start cooking as soon as possible.

“Cutting pumpkins is actually really difficult, but once you learn how to deal with them, you can deal with pretty much anything else.”

“Ah, I wanna try cutting a pumpkin! I wanna see if the knife I got is comfortable!”

“Be careful not to cut yourself.”

Myuke put the case down on the table and took the knife from it. Camilla praised her on the cute design, which made her even more excited to use it.

“How big should I cut it?”

“Cut it into small, bite-sized pieces. We’ll be frying them in butter later. We’ll also be making pork and beans today, so we’re going to be busy.”

“Fried pumpkin is one thing, but isn’t pork and beans kinda tough to make?”

“Is it that difficult?” Anima asked.

“I don’t exactly know how to make it, but steaming soybeans takes like half a day. Or, well, steaming them doesn’t take that long, but you have to soak them in water for that long before you can start working with them.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t have that much time. Anima had promised the girls that they would be home by dinner, and he was set on keeping that promise.

“Do you know how to steam the beans?” Camilla asked Myuke.

“Yeah, of course. That’s easy.”

“Perfect. I’ve already soaked them, so could you steam them for me? It should be simple for you.” That crisis was averted. Plus, since Myuke knew how to steam soybeans, Anima could always ask her about it given that he had no idea. “Now, let’s get to it! Remember, slow and steady wins the race. There’s no rush, so be careful not to cut yourselves.”

With that, their first cooking lesson had officially begun.

◆◆◆

Anima and Myuke had gotten the fried pumpkin down very quickly, but the pork and beans had proven to be way above their skill level. Camillia had had to walk them through every single step, so it had taken them a while to finish making it. On the upside, though, it had tasted great, and they’d even been offered to take home the leftovers despite Camilla having provided the ingredients. She really was like a saint, and while Anima understood that she felt indebted to him, he was going to make it a point to get her a small token of his thanks to give to her at their next lesson.

“See you in two days!” Camilla called out to them as they headed out the door.

The sun was already partially hidden below the horizon by the time they left. They had to make it home quickly to avoid letting the laundry go damp and the girls go hungry for the night. They put the food in their basket, said their goodbyes, and started their walk home.

“I gotta say, this knife is super sharp!”

“You picked a great one for sure, but your tools are only partially responsible for your success. It takes a good bit of skill to cut such perfect cubes of pumpkin.”

“I can’t wait to make all kinds of food with this!”

“I’ll work hard to keep up with you.”

They continued their idle chit-chat until they made it back home.

“Welcome home, Anima, Myuke.”

Luina came to greet them as they entered the warm dining room. Marie and Bram were both lying down on the table, but while Marie bolted upright the second she heard Luina’s greeting, Bram didn’t even budge. She glanced at the two and acknowledged them with the tiniest of nods.

“Welcome back, m’kay?” she mumbled. Playing with Marie all day seemed to have taken a lot out of her.

“I dawed a pishure!”

Anima put the basket down on the table and looked at the picture Marie proudly presented to him. It was a drawing of them eating sweets at the town plaza.

“It’s beautiful; well done! Hmm, based on the pattern, are those waffles we’re eating?”

“Uh-huh! I like wapples!”

“Do you? Okay then, we’ll have some once the weather gets warmer.”

“Yaaay! Then, then, I payed tag with Brum!”

“Oh, really? Did you have fun?”

“Uh-huh! I winned!”

“Wow, you won against Bram? That’s incredible; you must have a real talent for tag! Ah, I know! Do you want to play tag with me tomorrow?”

“I dooo!”

Marie instantly became so excited that she started running around in circles. She hadn’t gotten to play with Anima at all that day, and Anima fully intended to make up for it the next. While she was busy celebrating, Bram suddenly perked up.

“Something smells awesome, m’kay?”

“Daddy and I made fried pumpkin and pork and beans today!” Myuke explained as she proudly turned toward Bram. She had clearly been waiting for someone to make a comment. “It’s gonna blow your minds! It was sooo hard not to eat it all before we got home!”

“Ooh, I wanna try it, m’kay?!”

Bram struggled to keep herself from jumping in and rummaging through the basket, but managed to restrain herself while Myuke pulled two plates out of it. She was moving deliberately slow, giving the other a chance to notice her ring.

“What’s that? Looks like a magic stone, m’kay?”

Myuke smirked as Bram noticed her treasured magic stone.

“Yep, it’s a fire rabbit stone! Daddy got it for me!”

“That was very nice of him,” Luina said. “Did you make sure to thank him?”

“Of course I did! Ah, and look! He also got me a knife! How cute is this?!”

Myuke opened the case and showed off her knife.

“Iss cuuute!”

“I really like the engraving, m’kay?”

“Right?! I’m gonna make so many dishes with this! I can’t wait for our next lesson!”

“When is your next lesson?”

“The day after tomorrow!”

“That’s sooner than I thought…” Luina was a bit confused. She had expected there to be a much longer break between lessons. “How long are you going to be learning there?”

“Until we get good! Right, Daddy?!”

“Yes, exactly. We’ll be there three times a week.”

“That’s a lot… Won’t that interfere with the doctor’s work?”

“Actually, we’re being taught by her granddaughter. Do you know Camilla? She must be about five or six years older than you.”

“I feel like I saw her once or twice when I went for check-ups years ago, but I’ve never spoken to her before. I don’t know what kind of person she is.”

“She’s awesome! Super nice, really helpful, and an amazing cook!”

“Don’t you fall for her just ’cause she’s nice, Daddy, m’kay?” Bram said teasingly, but Anima took that comment extremely seriously.

“I won’t fall for her. There’s only one woman in this world for me, and that’s Luina. I love her from the bottom of my heart, and that’s exactly why I want to learn to cook as quickly as possible. I’ve chosen to train hard so that I can be there for you when you need me.”

“I’m very happy to hear that.”

Luina expressed her gratitude toward Anima’s efforts with a warm smile, just like she had the day before, but something felt off. She sounded a bit stiff, possibly even sad. She’d happily sent them off that morning, but she’d had no idea that the two of them were going to end up going over there so frequently. The idea of Anima being gone for the day three times a week must have been terrifying to her.

Putting himself in her position, Anima realized just how sad it would be to not see his family for half the week. In his fervent quest to lighten Luina’s physical burden, he had accidentally increased her psychological burden tenfold. In realizing that, he came to understand what he had to do.

“Daddy, did you notice?” Myuke whispered, having caught on as well. Anima nodded and looked into Luina’s eyes.

“I don’t mind cooking at Camilla’s place, but I feel like we’d be giving her a lot of trouble.”

“Yep! We should train at home!”

“I agree. Let’s go and tell her about it tomorrow. Luina, would you be so kind as to—”

“Yes! I’ll teach you!”

Clearly having been waiting for them to ask, Luina answered with a beaming smile. She hadn’t wanted to undermine Anima’s enthusiasm from the day before, so she’d let him follow through with his plan, but all she’d wanted was to teach them how to cook.

“I can’t wait to learn from you! I’ll show off all the skills I learned today! Your jaw’s gonna drop, I guarantee it!”

“I learned a thing or two that I’m excited to show off as well.”

“Then let’s start tomorrow!” Luina cheerfully proposed.

“I’m happy to listen to you guys talk about what you’re gonna do tomorrow,” Bram interrupted, “but let’s get eating, m’kay? All this delicious food is sitting right in front of me and I can’t even touch it yet. It’s like torture. I’m starving, mkay?”

“My tummy goin’ ‘Grrr’ too!” Marie exclaimed.

“I’m hungry myself!” Luina chimed in. “And this all looks very yummy!”

Anima wanted to dig in as well, so the five of them quickly set the table and started eating. Amidst the cozy family dinner, Anima and Myuke’s creations were met with nothing but the highest praise.