After the incident a few days ago where two thieves broke into the mansion, everything was now back to normal. Luckily they hadn't taken anything and everything was still in order except for the kitchen which had become very dirty and messy.
Of course it was Seira who had to clean it up. But she felt quite relieved that the three knights returned on time. Just when she was almost killed by the two thieves.
From that day on, she never heard about the two thieves again from them. Albert had said that he and Leonard did kill the two thieves and threw their corpses into the forest to be eaten by the animals on the ground.
Seira felt that it was quite a cruel thing to do but to the two of them it was a normal thing they always did to people who dared to go against them.
"It's not important. After all, they were at fault for daring to enter our mansion in the first place. And that's the consequence they have to accept," replied Leonard who was now acting normally towards Seira.
He never flirted with her like before, but somehow his attitude had changed to approach her in another way.
"Do you need help carrying it?" Leonard asked when he saw Seira carrying a basket of fruits and vegetables in her hands. It looked like she was carrying a lot and it was difficult for Seira because she felt that the basket was very heavy.
"It's okay, I can carry it myself. You don't have to help me because it's my job," she replied. But Leonard immediately took the basket from her hand and carried it into the mansion's kitchen.
The change in the man's attitude made Seira quite confused. But she thought, Is Leonard acting like that to attract sympathy from her? Like he was trying to get her attention so that Seira would melt and want to be with him?
She then approached him and stood right next to Leonard who had just placed the basket on the new dining table.
"I don't understand your true intentions. But if you're doing this to make me melt and want to spend my time with you, you're wrong. No matter what you do to get my attention, you won't get it easily or ever," Seira said honestly to him.
However, Leonard chuckled when he heard that and gently rubbed Seira's head.
"I'm not doing it to get your attention or melt your heart. I think I've pretty much given up on that, I know you're not a woman who would give yourself to me easily," he replied with a smile.
Seira watched the man and tried to study him. She wanted to know what exactly his intentions were, did he really think that way or was this also one of his tricks?
She sighed softly, while pushing Leonard's hand away from her head. "You don't have to do this to me."
"You don't like it when someone touches you? Even just a rubs head?"
Seira replied that she was just not used to getting that kind of touch from anyone else but her family. She was uncomfortable when people she didn't allow to touch her suddenly touched her like that.
"If you're often like that, you'll have trouble finding a partner later on. Men really like to give affectionate touches like head rubs or others," she said.
"I realize that. It's just that right now my goal is not to find a partner, but to do my job well."
'And achieve my goals that I've always wanted.'
Her answer made Leonard pause for a moment, but he didn't want to make a big deal out of it and just sat on the dining table chair while watching how Seira put all the vegetables and fruits she bought into storage.
Ever since the day Seira made it clear why she was rejecting him, Leonard felt something between himself and Seira. He seemed to have a different attraction than before.
'She was indeed different from most of the women who threw themselves at me. This one has never even once looked into my eyes with a seductive gaze nor melted with my words. Yet the look in her eyes strongly suggests that she is stronger than me,' the man thought.
He thought back to Harvey's earlier words about Seira and now just like Albert, he was also curious about the story Seira had all along.
While he was daydreaming, Seira suddenly placed a plate of pudding in front of him. This made Leonard turn to Seira with a confused look on his face because she didn't ask for anything from him.
"What's this? Are you trying to flirt me right now?" Leonard asked while joking about it.
But the look in Seira's eyes was still the same, looking at him with a face that wasn't so flat but didn't show much expression there either.
"I tried to make this pudding for three of you. But Lord Harvey and Lord Albert are away, so I wanted you to try this pudding before they return."
"It's very unusual for you to make a dessert like this, but I will try it because it looks very delicious," he replied.
He did not eat the pudding, however, and asked Seira to join him. "I won't eat it if you don't eat it too. I'm sure you made more and not just for us."
Seira had wanted to refuse at first, but Leonard also refused to eat if she didn't eat her pudding. So she took a piece of pudding for herself and sat down together with him.
When Leonard finally ate the pudding, he suddenly became silent as if he felt something strange from the pudding he was eating.
"Lord Leonard? What's wrong?" asked Seira in confusion as she saw the knight just silently staring at the pudding after he took a bite.
After a moment, Leonard seemed to come to his senses and he turned to Seira.
"I'm just surprised that your pudding tastes so good. It reminds me a bit of the pudding I had when I was a kid," she said.
He explained that when he was a child, his mother had once made a pudding for a man who always 'played' with her. Leonard, who was intrigued by the pudding, asked for it from his mother despite being scolded because she had no intention of making it for him.
"However, when I was sitting alone in the living room. Suddenly she came and gave me a small piece of the pudding she had made before she left to meet the man," he explains.
He admits that his mother didn't say anything about it, but simply placed the plate of pudding nearby and left.
"But I heard from Lord Albert that your mother rarely pays attention to you and is at home," Seira said.
Leonard didn't deny it and it was true that his mother was rarely home because she was busy sastify the noble men.
"But sometimes there are times when she notices me and gives me something without saying anything. Sometimes I don't understand what she has in mind, but I feel the same way when I'm with you."
"Why is that?"
She looked up at him, waiting for the continuation of his words which made her quite curious about it.
"When everyone likes me, only you and my mother never seem to look at me. But behind that, you guys still treated me quite well without saying anything."