* * *

“Oh my! Young Master Remy!”

A boisterous voice snapped him out of his musings.

A cheerful woman approached him, her demeanor brimming with warmth.

Remy quickly surmised that this must be Emily.

“Hello, Emily.”

“I heard about your Omega manifestation! Congratulations!”

“Ah, thank you.”

Speaking informally to someone clearly older than him felt odd, but Remy managed it well.

“Please, have a seat! I’ve prepared your favorite venison!”

“I’ve heard. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Go ahead and try it!”

The meal began with bread and appetizers before the main course—venison—was brought to the table.

Emily stood by with a beaming smile that felt almost oppressive.

Keeping his composure, Remy picked up his knife and fork.

The dish looked as refined as something served in a high-end restaurant. It even smelled the part.

“Thank you, Emily. I’ll enjoy it.”

‘Please, just stop staring at me like that.’

Swallowing his thoughts, Remy cut into the meat, which was tougher than expected.

He brought a piece to his mouth and began to chew.

The taste was… catastrophic.

Instead of melting in his mouth, the meat was dry and gamey, devoid of any hint of fat.

The fishy aftertaste was so overpowering it was almost inedible.

“How is it? Do you like it?” Emily’s expectant eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Y-Yes. It’s… amazing, Emily.”

“Oh, I knew you’d love it! I’m so glad!”

Remy forced a smile as he struggled to swallow the unreasonably tough piece of meat, silently lamenting his predicament.

Remy couldn’t bring himself to swallow the venison in his mouth.

Instead, he awkwardly bit down on it and forced a smile at Emily.

‘Alright, alright. I’ve praised you enough, so please step aside now, Aunt Emily.’

Thinking this to himself, he glanced at her.

Yet, this kind and overly enthusiastic attendant showed no signs of leaving her spot.

Remy had no idea that Emily’s role during meals was to stand by the table and attend to him.

“Emily,” Ashton, who had been silently observing the two, finally spoke.

“Yes, Young Master?”

“Something refreshing. Do we have anything to drink?”

“Refreshing? Like what?”

“Lemon juice, for instance.”

“Oh, lemon juice…! I’ll get it for you right away!”

Emily waddled off to the kitchen with her characteristic tottering steps.

Only then did Remy let out a sigh of relief and slump in his chair.

He couldn’t spit it out, considering the effort Emily had put in, so he forced himself to swallow, but it was tough.

In truth, meat from wild animals like deer is tough and gamey, making it hard for anyone unfamiliar to enjoy.

For someone like Remy, who came from the modern world, it was only natural that it didn’t suit his palate.

Completely unaware of this, Remy endured an agonizing time at the dining table, unable to tell if this was how it was supposed to taste or if Emily had simply botched the cooking.

“Young Master, here!”

Emily returned, almost running, holding a large bottle of juice.

Ashton rose from his seat and took the bottle from her.

The transparent bottle, filled with slices of floating lemon, exuded a refreshing scent.

Ashton poured it into Remy’s empty glass and slid it over.

“Drink.”

Remy blinked up at Ashton with his large, round eyes.

He didn’t know why Ashton had suddenly brought up lemon juice, but since he was told to drink, he brought the glass to his lips.

“Ah…”

As he downed the juice, Remy finally understood Ashton’s boundless kindness.

The sourness of the lemon juice washed away the gamey taste lingering in his mouth.

Glancing up at Ashton with a slightly moved expression, Remy saw Ashton silently pick up the pepper shaker on the table.

“From now on, add plenty of spices to Remy’s meat,” Ashton said, sprinkling pepper over the venison on Remy’s plate.

Emily seemed a bit surprised but quickly nodded.

“When marinating, use lots of bay leaves to kill the gaminess,” Ashton continued.

Though Emily didn’t understand why Ashton was suddenly making these specific requests—after all, Remy usually enjoyed the wild taste of venison—she didn’t question him.

“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure to do that,” Emily replied.

“Now head back to the kitchen. No need to linger here.”

“Pardon? Oh, yes, sir.”

Though she couldn’t fathom how they’d manage without an attendant during their meal, Emily left without further question.

Watching her retreating figure, Ashton smiled warmly at Remy.

“Try it now. It should be a bit better than before.”

With a short nod, Remy reluctantly picked up his fork and knife.

Just thinking about the earlier gaminess made it hard for him to muster the courage, but since Ashton was watching, he had no choice but to pretend.

“Hm…”

Cutting a small piece, Remy brought it to his mouth and began to chew.

While the toughness hadn’t changed, the gamey smell was noticeably reduced, likely thanks to the pepper.

“From now on,” Ashton said as he sliced the meat on his own plate, “don’t force yourself to eat food you don’t like. There’s no need to do that.”

Remy flinched. Did it show that much? He had tried his best to hide it.

“You don’t have to go that far for Emily to know you’re kind,” Ashton added.

Ah. A small exclamation escaped Remy.

Ashton had known all along. He knew Remy had been forcing himself to eat the venison for Emily’s sake.

“Here,” Ashton said as he pushed his plate toward Remy.

On it, the venison was cut into small, bite-sized pieces.

Though Remy didn’t realize it, Ashton had carefully cut against the grain to make it easier to chew.

But instead of being grateful, Remy froze.

This kind of thoughtfulness—right now, it felt like poison.

“Was it tough to eat?” Ashton asked gently, noticing Remy glaring at the plate but not touching it.

Danger signals blared in Remy’s mind.

This ridiculously good-looking, sweet, and considerate alpha was triggering every warning light in his head.

Remy gritted his teeth.

Whether it was his nature or something else entirely, he resolved not to fall for this overly kind alpha’s tricks.

“No, not at all! It’s perfectly fine! So delicious, this venison!”

With exaggerated enthusiasm, Remy shoved the venison into his mouth, chewing furiously.

Damn it.

No matter how hard he tried, the venison was still unbearably tough.

---

“Ugh!”

The first thing Remy did after returning home was cling to the toilet, throwing up every bit of venison he had eaten.

“Ugh, what the hell… I knew it.”

He had forced himself to eat something that didn’t agree with him, and his body had rebelled.

After emptying his stomach, Remy staggered to his feet, rinsed his mouth, and shuffled out of the bathroom.

He moved like a zombie toward his bed.

“Living in this world is exhausting. Why does everything taste so bad?”

It wasn’t unreasonable for Remy to feel this way.

After all, he was only two days into living in this new world.

He’d barely had a few meals, but they were all rich and heavy Western-style dishes—practically poison for someone who had lived off simple and comforting meals like rice and soup.

Add to that the tough, gamey venison he had to finish earlier—it was a miracle he was still alive.

Remy felt utterly dejected.

“Oh… I’d kill for just one bite of kimchi. Just one spoonful of soup…”

Visions of kimchi danced before his eyes.

Was this why people became patriots when they went abroad?

Tears pricked his eyes as he lamented the thought of enduring the heavy meals of this world.

“Well, whatever. That’s tomorrow’s problem.”

Remy sighed. Tomorrow, he had to return to the castle to help plan Allen’s birthday party.

That meant he’d be meeting the other love interests again.

“Honestly, today was rough. Ashton… He’s way friendlier than I expected…”

In the original story, Remy’s appearances were few and far between.

That made sense—he wasn’t the main love interest.

Why waste narrative space on a minor villain?

* * *