“Food’s ready!”

Nudging the door open gently with her foot, Lilith broke apart the strange atmosphere settling over the couple.

In the corner, Phalaliah let out a tiny breath of relief, sweat continuing to trickle down the side of his face. Honestly, the tension between his Lord and Lady were enough to make his blood feel as if it might run backward.

Wearing an exasperated frown, Lilith came forward, eying Luther with suspicion. “Sire, are you trying to be naughty right now? You know better than that. Do I have to ensure Kushiel finds himself at your bedside tonight?”

Feeling a bit dazed, Lucia had the strange experience of seeing the black of Luther’s skin begin to fade into a dark grey shade.

The giant shot to his feet, hands in the air as if he was worried about being accused of touching what he wasn’t allowed to.

Light blue eyes wide, Lucia glanced between Luther’s pale face and Lilith’s smug expression.

“That’s better,” Lilith smiled warmly, stepping by Luther to approach Lucia.

“Vile witch!” Luther hissed darkly, but he moved to the other loveseat without being asked.

“...Haha, such a good little boy!” Grinning wickedly, Lilith turned her attention back to her young mistress. “Now, sweet girl, eat up and rest.”

Offering out a tray with a plate containing a sandwich on it, Lilith’s expression softened immensely. “Please excuse my rude behavior earlier. It’s been so long since I last saw one such as you that I forgot myself. I am overjoyed to see you have returned to us after your disappearance.”

Glancing between the strange food item and the woman, Lucia slowly reached out her hands to take the offering. “Um...thank you for the food. A, also, what do you mean by ‘returned’?”

Turning her head, she glanced at Phalaliah, who’s red-brown eyes quickly lowered back down to the object he was working on. When she turned her head further and looked at Luther, his gold eyes shifted away as well while the black color slowly returned to his skin. Returning her gaze to Lilith, Lucia sighed tiredly.

“I’ll explain some of it to you, but I don’t know nearly enough about it to give you many details. But please, while I speak, make sure to eat your food, Mistress.” Waving her hands urgently, Lilith motioned to the sandwich.

Taking in the sight of the round dish—with what looked like a cooked slab of meat, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and strips of some other sort of meat—Lucia slowly brought it to her lips.

The round bun on top had small white seeds decorating it like flecks of white dust, but when Lucia actually tasted the dish, she found that the seeds were nearly tasteless. Instead, they provided a slight crunch, along with the crisp lettuce, accented by the bright, acidic taste of the tomato.

Somewhere in there was an unknown creaminess that coated her tongue even as she bit into the crunchy strips of meat that held a fatty, greasy flavor that seemed to be tamed somewhat by the creamy sauce under the bun.

The unknown meat slab was quite thick and the juicy, hot flavor of the freshly cooked meat rolled along the back of her tongue in a dance with all the other flavors.

Watching the plethora of expressions crossing over the young miss’ face made the three in the room pause.

“Is...is it good?” Lilith had to ask, despite herself.

The bright, happy smile that she gained, along with the big bite Lucia took next, was the answer the deviless needed.

Flushed cheeks, mouth full while she chewed contentedly, humming unconsciously under her breath from how happy she was, bobbing back and forth in a constrained squirm of delight….

The little miss was a joy to the eyes!

In the hearts of everyone present, a long, drawn-out “Awwwwwwww!” was shouted at the top of their proverbial lungs.

“W, what is this dish?” Lucia managed to ask after taking a few more bites. She had to eat in a careful, graceful manner but what she really wanted to do was devour this dish in haste, forcing all of it into her belly as quickly as possible.

“BLT...It’s called a BLT sandwich, Mistress,” Lilith coughed to clear her throat awkwardly. “It stands for ‘bacon, lettuce, and tomato’.”

Pursing her lips in thought, Lucia nodded once sagely. “I see. A BLT sandwich, what an interesting name. Please ensure that my compliments are granted to the chef for such a wonderful dish!” Smiling warmly, Lucia took yet another bite, small hands holding onto the sandwich tightly, as if she was subconsciously afraid someone would take it away.

Seeing this, Lilith wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

Please don’t worry, Mistress. If anyone dared tried to take your food away from you, they’d be obliterated in a second by an army numbering in the billions. ...In fact, I’d enjoy crushing the little bug who would even dare under my own foot!