"I am so happy, master!"

Milka squirmed as she put a meatball in her mouth.

"It's been so long since I last ate your food."

"E-Equally," Becca added.

"I feel a little offended that you guys don't show as much enthusiasm when I cook," Danna said as she enjoyed her food. "But I admit that I was also missing master's food."

After a busy afternoon, Sian took over the kitchen with Danna as his assistant. His goal was to make a dinner to celebrate Ophi's reunion with her sister. Since it was a special occasion, it was not a simple meal, but a sumptuous banquet.

Swallowing the food in her mouth, Illianna entered the conversation, "This lasagna is delicious, probably the best I've ever had."

"Oh, really?" Sian asked expectantly.

Since Illianna came from another world, probably the same as the person who sold the sacred treasure, Sian questioned her about various things, especially about food.

Since she said she was someone from high society and had already eaten a lot of delicacies, her words had some weight for him.

"That's right," she nodded, "but I find it hard to believe that someone with such a bad personality is so good at cooking."

"Hearing that makes me want to take your plate."

"Even if that is a compliment?"

"Well, may I say that I enjoyed that compliment so much that I'm in the mood to shove the rest down your throat."

"You two get along very well," Danna seemed to be amused at the interaction of the two. "It's quite rare for master to be so friendly with someone."

With nods of agreement coming from Milka and Becca, Ophi added, "It seems they are always on a warpath, but they are good friends."

"I don't think we're good friends," Illianna retorted.

"In that case, are you master's woman?" Danna asked.

Denying it promptly, Illianna said, "You shouldn't even joke about it."

Introducing herself into the conversation, Fran said to Illianna, "Did you know that all of Little Sian's pots are made of rare materials?"

"I had already taken a good look at them," Illianna said. "The most common one is made of mitrhil. I find it a bit overdone for simple pots."

"Hey hey, these are not simple pots," Denying, Sian continued proudly, "I even went to the trouble of searching for white iron and magic silver. Each of my pots was made after much sweat and research."

"To me it doesn't change that this is a waste of valuable metals," Illianna argued.

"Nothing is a waste when it comes to food," Sian replied.

One of Sian's biggest food fans was Ayze, and to prepare food for her, an ordinary pot would not do. So she provided knowledge and materials for Sian to create his pots.

Generally speaking, Sian's specialty was making weapons and armor, so pots, while challenging, were not something far from his purview.

Pulling a few bottles of drinks from her magic pouch, Milka placed them on the table.

"Since this is a celebration, you can't go on without booze."

Following Milka's cue, Beth prepared glasses for everyone.

"I'll follow the kids and keep the juice," Sian said.

"Don't be a chicken, master," Milka teased. "Drink with us too."

"No," Sian declined. "And knowing how strong your drinks are, you'd better not overdo with the girls."

"The drinks this time are weak, they'll be fine."

Standing up, Milka raised the bottle high.

"Everyone, raise your glasses, it's time to celebrate!"

Filling glass by glass, Milka poured drinks for everyone except Sian, Fifi, Beth, Emily and Tina, who were drinking juice.

Seeing that Fifi seemed a bit out of place, even though it is not Sian's nature, he tried to be friendly with her for Ophi's sake.

"You don't have to hold back, you know?"

"Y-yes!" she replied as she lowered her head.

"She's only like that when you're here," Lin said. "Normally, Fifi is a cheerful, outgoing girl, but when you're around, she looks like a helpless, frightened little puppy."

Pretending not to hear anything, Sian stood up and raised his glass.

"Since this is a happy occasion, let's have a toast."

Following his example, the others did the same.

"""Hooray!!!"""

They all said in unison and drank from their glasses.

***

At the end of dinner, Beth served dessert to everyone present.

"That ice cream is delicious too," Illianna said. "It's super creamy and seems to completely envelop my taste buds."

Stuffing her huge chest proudly, Milka boasted, "Of course it would be delicious. It was made with my milk!"

While that wasn't a line to worry about, Illianna stared at Milka's breasts that looked slightly smaller than normal.

"By your milk, do you mean the milk you milked from the cows?" she asked.

"I mean my milk!" Inflating her breast, she declared. "Master milked me personally!"

In the face of the silence that had formed at the table, Sian felt compelled to argue.

"Cowkins can produce extremely tasty milk. Since Milka said she would only give it to me if I milked her, I had no choice."

"I would rather not know the source..." Illianna muttered.

"At first I was a little apprehensive too, but don't underestimate Milka's milk," Lin said, "Her milk is tasty, but not only that, it's invigorating and good for the body."

"Just think of her milk as a special ingredient of some strong monster," Danna added.

"Special ingredient?" Illianna asked.

"Let me give you an example," Danna said. "The stronger a wyvern gets, the nasty, tougher and more poisonous they flesh gets, which can be used to make poisons. On the contrary, there are also monsters that the stronger they get, the more delicious they are. Another example is the royal jelly you tasted in the morning."

"But Milka is not a monster," Illianna said.

"That doesn't change the fact that she is a living being, and because her power and constitution are on another level, the milk she produces would be no different either."

By the end of Danna's explanation, Ophi and Fran were asleep at the table without even tasting the ice cream. Apparently even Milka's weak drink was strong for them.

Since Sian didn't want to wake them up, he took them carefully to their respective rooms and as he left Fran's room, Illianna was waiting for him.

Although she didn't get as drunk as Ophi and Fran, Illianna's face and unsteady feet showed that she was also affected by alcohol.

"You should go to sleep too," Sian said.

"I don't need you to tell me when to sleep, I'm here because I have something important to talk to you about."

After these words, Illianna called Sian over for a private chat and they proceeded to the balcony.

"Although we couldn't say for sure before, I can now state that there is something strange going on."

With a brief pause, Illianna continued, "Ophilia's sister is another coincidence for the count."

"Well, I think so too, but we can't do anything about it."

"There's more," she said. "Maybe you don't think it's weird, but the fact that you look like a boy who was caught cheating when Ophilia saw you and Milka is also weird. I mean, you have a few women and never felt guilty about being with another, so why now?"

"To tell you the truth, although I feel like having other women, I feel a little bit of guilt." With a brief pause, Sian continued, "Maybe that's because of love?"

"Love? I don't believe in things like love. It's just a superfluous and unnecessary feeling. Besides, if that feeling were real, could someone like you really feel it?"

Ignoring Illianna, Sian's mind began to wander as he admired the moon.

Considering that various coincidences have happened so far, there may be even more surprises ahead. But since the things that happened were only good things, there was nothing to worry about. At least not at the moment.

After some time of chattering, Illianna finally got tired and went to her room. Sian also went to his quarters, but when he got there, a surprise awaited him.