TBEATMD || Chapter - 2
TBEATMD
The Bad Eater And The Mad Duke ~ I'll Eat That Demon Deliciously! ~
Chapter - 2 || The Marriage Life Of A Bad-Eating Lady
There was a reason why I came to the autumn party in the first place.
My father's wife, who did not think well of me, told me that if I didn't find a fiancé within the next year, she would leave me.
"You're going to a monastery!" She told me.
What's more, having a creepy hobby lowered my chance of getting married.
My brother was getting engaged, but he was just 3 years old. He would be at least 10 years old at the time I would get married, but I'd be out of the house by then.
Even if I didn't get married, I would be fine with living a modest life at a corner of the estate.
But a monastery was a different issue.
If I were to enter a monastery, I wouldn't be able to eat demons.
I would have to live very frugally, praying to the spirits every day, and meat was out of the question.
I wanted to avoid this situation at all costs.
However, my father, who was the only one I could ask for help, had reluctantly agreed when mother brought up my brother.
My father was vulnerable to his future wife who would give birth to another brother.
It was late to say, but in short, I would be thrown out if I didn't get married.
Nevertheless, I couldn't help but be grateful that they had given me a year's grace, and I hurriedly decided to attend the autumn party.
(Anybody who doesn't tell me what to do is fine by me.)
If I may say so myself, I'm not particularly badly gifted, and I think I have a pretty charming face.
The Count of Marshalade had a certain status, so I would be a popular choice as a political marriage partner.
However, I understood that the reason why there were no private conversations, and no response to the fishing books that my father had worked so hard to distribute, was because the rumours about me were spreading on their own.
『Devouring the raw flesh of demons』
『Drinking live blood instead of wine』
『Poisoned by a demon and no longer sane』
And so on. These were the rumours about me. One of the worst was that my children would be born as demons.
I didn't eat raw meat (it made me sick to my stomach) and I didn't drink live blood (it made me want to puke.)
The demons I ate were properly prepared and prepped before I ate them (or else even I would have an upset stomach.)
But my father, who took pity on me, said, "At this point, I don't care if he's just an ordinary knight. As long as he's decent, I'll allow you to marry him."
I was even told that I would have to find them, even if I had no choice.
When his wife heard this, she was very upset and chastised my father.
She said that ordinary knights were not nobles and were not suitable for the Countess of Marshalade.
When I arrived at the venue, I slipped past the wall of Knights guarding the place and hurried to become a wallflower... or a mushroom in the forest.
The banquet was also meant to be an opportunity for the bachelor aristocrats to get to know each other.
As the daughter of the Count of Marshalade, I would join them in their search for provisions.
I was aware of the fact that I was a useless young lady who still had no fiancé three years after my debut in the social circles, so I looked at them secretly and stealthily.
I wasn't talking about noblemen, I was talking about the Knights that were treading along the path of the venue as guards.
Perhaps they were noblemen, but their swords were covered in jewllery.
The general Knights seemed to be stationed outside the hall. After a while, a group of nobles appeared, glancing at me.
"Hey, look."
"Look at that redhead... she's rumoured to be a demon-eater."
"You're the bad eater of the Count of Marshalade."
"Do you eat raw meat with a face like that?"
"Why don't we talk to her?"
"Don't do that, what if she attacks you?"
"I heard she attacked the previous Countess of Marshalade..."
I heard such a rumour, and walked far away. It was a rumour with no basis and it was the worst possible thing I could've heard.
(I didn't attack my own mother!)
I decided that it was impossible to find a marriage partner from a nobleman, so for the time being, I went about my business as I pleased, enjoying the autumn weather.
Let's move a bit forward towards the general Knights.
Just as I was thinking about this, I was suddenly swept away by a crowd of people, not really understanding the situation.
——
As the two bloody people walked together, the crowd split and a path naturally formed.
The Duke of Galbraith, who was much taller than me, had a wide stride. I followed him at a bit of a trot, making my way through the people who were jumping back and forth in an interesting way.
"Um, Duke. Where are you going?"
"You'll find at least a change of clothes in the tent. It's not women's clothes, but it's better."
"I'm not so bad, am I? I'm only going home anyway, so as long as I make it back to the capital, I'll be fine."
The tent must be the tent set up by the Duke's family for the banquet.
He didn't have to go that far, I could just find an attendant and I wouldn't have to bother the Duke.
With that thought in mind, I tugged slightly on the Duke's sleeve. I felt dampness on my fingers, and my white fingertips turned red.
It looked like my skin was absorbing a lot of the blood even though it was starting to dry up.
"...Melfiera."
"Yes."
"You're going to get dirty."
The Duke called me by name again, as if by surprise, my voice betrayed my reply.
I looked up and saw the Duke looking down at me.
Those golden eyes that shone with arcane intent were calm and were now amber.
When our eyes met, I was so stunned that I stopped walking, and inevitably the Duke stopped with me.
"Are you willing to be stained with blood?"
The Duke placed his hand on my fingers as I gripped his sleeve and gently put pressure on it. I opened my fingers and noticed that the Duke had taken off his gloves and was now using his bare hands.
I never thought our bare hands would touch each other's! It was unavoidable, but I felt like I was doing something embarrassing and my heart was fluttering!
"Well, I handled it a week ago!"
"Handled?"
Unable to look directly at him any longer, I averted my gaze in the other direction.
Then the Duke started walking again, and I followed him as if I were being dragged along.
My hand was still held, and my heart was still thumping out of my chest.
I didn't have a choice.
There was no way that I, the daughter of a humble Count could shake the hand of a Duke off.
Instead, I thought back to the conversation, trying to concentrate on giving a proper reply.
I wondered how far the Duke was interested in this. If it was just a social courtesy, it would be foolish to explain in detail.
"Yes, I'm used to it! I can dismantle and cook demons when I receive them."
"So that's what you meant... You've got a lot of guts."
Thank God, it seems I got the meaning right. The Duke sounded somewhat impressed.
Of course, I didn't have to do everything myself, my servants could help me.
But the truth was that the servants were creeped out by demonic blood. It couldn't be helped since that was how demons were generally perceived.
Non-human creatures with magical powers were collectively called demons.
Beasts, fish, and insects were all called demons if they possessed magical power.
And people didn't eat demons.
In the old days, people gave various reasons, such as that they were cursed or defiled, but because they possessed magical power, they were not suitable for eating.
The reason for this was that the magical power and the poison would upset your stomach.
I was quite an odd person and a nuisance to the Marshalade family for wanting to eat demons.
My father must have wanted me to stop this hobby of mine.
I had assumed that the Duke had lost interest and that the conversation would not continue any further, but I was momentarily at a loss for words at his next question.
"So, is it good?"
"Huh?"
"I'm talking about demons. Does it taste good? And that Buckhorn I mentioned earlier, you've obviously eaten it before, right?"
"No, I, uh..."
"Have you eaten it?"
"...Yes."
"Yes?"
"Uh... Yes."
Naturally, the Duke was not convinced by such a reply.
Even though we didn't make eye contact, I could somehow feel his eyes on me.
I didn't know how to answer, so I gave up and explained honestly.
"The Buckhorn was very tasty, with meat similar to beef.
Since it was wild, I had to pound the meat very carefully, and then did a little searing and stewing."
"Oh, so it resembles a cow after all. So, as long as it hasn't gone mad, you won't get sick to its stomach from it's meat?"
It was a little different from all the questions I had been told to ask.
I looked up at the Duke's face and he looked like he really wanted to know.
Up until now, I had been scorned for my poor taste in food, but no one had ever taken a real interest in listening to me.
Even my father, who was the only one who understood my hobby, was only worried about my body.
"The demon's magical power can be extracted more easily than you think if you drain it along with the blood.
If you eat it normally, it will only give you symptoms like an upset stomach. If you don't make that mistake, it can be a great food."
"...So you've already tried it."
"Oh, it's not very flattering, but I've documented what's been proven."
Having said that, I swallowed the words, "If you're interested, would you like to view it?"
I was sure the Duke just found me unusual for liking to eat demons.
He was a kind Duke who cared about me like this.
It must have been small talk, just to keep the conversation going.
I felt embarrassed that I had gotten carried away and was blabbering on, so I tried to pull my hand out of his grasp.
But that didn't happen, rather the Duke put more strength into his hands.
"Uh... Melfiera. First time we've met, I'd say."
"Yes, Duke. I'm sorry. I'm embarrassed."
"Embarrassed? I don't know, I mean, what?"
The Duke, who was a little stunned, perhaps choosing his words, glanced down at me.
"I'd like to try some of that stuff myself."
——
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