"Miss Valentina! I'm back again!"
When Herbert returned to the prison the next day, he wasn't met with a verbal assault from the old guard.
Instead, he was greeted by a messy-haired back of a head and an angry cold snort.
"Hmph!"
Herbert's lip twitched slightly, feeling a bit speechless.
No, dear elder sister.
It's been over a day, and you're still upset?
How about this, let the Great Emperor give you a place, and you can be in charge of ignoring the world instead.
But the fact that the Giant Dragon Miss was still angry was within his expectations, so he decisively took out the specially prepared countermeasure tool.
"I brought you a gift, handmade by me."
He placed the wooden box he was carrying on the ground and opened it, revealing its contents.
Clang clang——
"Now! Turn around and look at me, don't stay silent, what outcome are you really after?"
Hey, hey hey hey!
"...Hmph."
The Giant Dragon Miss emitted a slight snort as she listened to the commotion behind her, stubbornly stiffening her neck and refusing to turn around, having lost to him once yesterday.
"Hmph, just give up! There's no way I'm turning around!"
I'm so strong today, I definitely won't lose again!
Definitely won't... Hmm?
Sniff sniff.
Her nose suddenly twitched, slightly moving on its own.
Wait a minute, what is this smell?
It's so fragrant, but it's a bit different from yesterday's aroma, this smell is...
Sniff sniff!
Valentina seemed like she hadn't smelled this scent in a long, long time... oh, right!
It's the smell of meat!
She turned her head and saw a pile of meat skewers placed in front of Herbert, who was fanning the aroma towards her with his hand.
And when he saw her turning around, he smiled, deliberately pinching some white grains of salt between his fingers, sprinkling them like fine rain, bouncing off his arm before landing on the meat skewers.
bling~bling~
"...Ah?"
What, what the heck?
Valentina's eyes widened, feeling like her brain was short-circuiting a bit.
What did I just see?
Even a thousand-year-old Giant Dragon like herself had never seen such a bizarre action.
You could say this guy is playing...
His expression was serious, and his movements looked extremely elegant and smooth.
But if you say he's sincerely cooking...
It didn't quite look like that either.
Very strange.
After replicating the iconic Salt Bae pose, Herbert pushed the wooden box forward and introduced with a smile, "Today's meal from the Albert Family! Herbert's honeyed skewers!"
"Madam, please enjoy!"
Gulp.
Valentina snapped back to reality, gulped, and hesitantly glanced between the skewers and Herbert, asking, "You... what do you mean?"
"Don't worry, there's no plot or scheme here."
Herbert raised his hands slightly to show his innocence, smiling as he explained, "It's just a small gesture of gratitude for your kind reminder yesterday."
"If it weren't for your warning, I might have fallen for that Sea Siren's trick."
Herbert's expression was sincere, with a hint of fear after a narrow escape, causing Valentina, who was initially suspicious of his intentions, to suddenly understand with an "Oh!"
"Oh—I see."
So that's what it's all about.
Looking at the boy with a respectful face, she proudly lifted her chin, emitting a pleased hum.
"Hmph~hmph."
She picked up the skewer with peace of mind and quickly stuffed it into her mouth.
When the juicy, flavorful skewer touched her tongue, the taste buds that had been dormant for centuries suddenly awakened, revealing an overwhelming desire for food!
Crunch!
Crunch!
Crunch!
Under Herbert's raised eyebrows, Valentina, unable to hold back, even chewed through the wooden skewer, swallowing it down in just a few bites.
She wasn't worried about Herbert poisoning her food, nor did she mind a little bit of wood.
Giant Dragons have extremely strong digestive abilities, capable of easily digesting and absorbing eaten stones to reinforce their scales.
"Mm!!!"
Herbert watched with a gentle smile as the Giant Dragon Miss was easily subdued by the food, his lips curling up slightly.
In fact, the reason Herbert told Valentina was made up.
All of it.
The actual truth was—without the hint, the Sea Siren's falsetto wouldn't have succeeded yesterday, and the Sea Siren who got caught was given a good lesson, retreating into the water in shame.
But does that matter?
This truth, Herbert knew it, Fremay knew it, but Valentina was oblivious!
Does the truth of reality matter?
It's not important.
In social interactions, it's crucial to make the other person feel like they played a role, that's... quite important!
In fact, people generally prefer those whom they've helped over those who help them.
Simply put, people like to think of themselves as intelligent and sensible individuals.
When people help others, they feel that their actions align with their self-perception, enhancing their charisma and bringing them joy, making them closer to those they've helped.
And what Herbert is doing at this moment is amplifying the joy in Valentina's heart.
To make her believe, thanks to you, I can be safe and sound.
To make her understand, I'm not someone who doesn't repay kindness, there's a benefit in helping me.
If once isn't enough, then twice, thrice, until she's entirely accustomed to these two concepts.
Once these ideas form a habitual thought pattern in her mind, by that time... hehe.
"Mm!?"
Before starting to eat Valentina could still hold back, thinking not to appear too out of control, but now she's completely lost her rationale, greedily devouring the skewers.
As she continuously stuffed skewers into her mouth, she still found the space to ask, "What's with this flavor, what exactly did you put in it!?"
"It's onion, I added onion."
The key to delicious food naturally isn't magic, but spices!
Herbert added spices he brought from the Duke's house during the marinating process of the skewers.
In this world, akin to the Middle Ages in its stage of civilization, there aren't many types of spices, and their prices are quite exorbitant.
Though there's a Druid proficient in plants, they'd rather devise ways to make plants grow faster than focus on developing food spices.
In many places, spices can be traded for their weight in gold!
Aside from the nobility, ordinary people typically don't encounter spices in their daily lives, and their food is mostly enjoyed in its original taste—fishy, dry, and insipid.
This extravagant usage was naturally something Valentina had never tasted before.
"Is it tasty?"
"Mmm mm."
"Do you want to eat more in the future?"
"Mmm mmm!"
Watching Valentina completely lost in the taste, Herbert unexpectedly asked his final question.
"Then as long as you refrain from using foul language in the future, I'll bring you food regularly, how about that?"
"Mmm mm... Huh?"