The Unbound World’s “Normal” is Difficult - Vol 2 Chapter: 2.2

Continuation

　As soon as it was cut off, Georg unconsciously snorted when he saw the golden cross section of the melted cheese. It looked like it had been perfectly cooked, not too hard and not too soft.

　The colorful appearance of the tomato, the glossy yellow of the egg, the white of the cheese and the brown of the sausage also made it look very appetizing.

　After examining it carefully, he finally put a piece of it into his mouth and his eyes widened for a moment.

　The saltiness and umami of the meat, the acidity and sweetness of the tomato and the richness of the cheese, all of it blended together, giving the omelet the same depth of flavor as the lost butter would have, no, even more than that.

‘I see… Did she cover for the flavor of the butter by adding ingredients?’

“As usual, amazing.” Feeling inferior to being frequently assisted by her, Georg murmured this and Elma calmly replied to him;

“It is ‘normal’ to help those who are in trouble, especially those who are indebted to them on a daily basis.”

“…”

The corners of Georg’s lips twitched as he thought that he had sensed a little sarcasm in her remarks.

“By the way, head chef, this time, I learnt from my mistakes of last time when I was scolded by you for breaking the eggs with air pressure.”

“…”

   He knew that Elma was staring directly at him with her single-minded gaze, but he couldn’t see it because of her glasses.

“Ah, hey…”

　Georg unconsciously adjusted the position of his toque. Even for him, who was used to seeing women every day in his home country, it was quite difficult to get through this phase smoothly.

　Since Elma had been detained by Prince Lucas the other day, he has been trying to make a promise to her that he was ‘normal’.

　The reason was simple.

　Felix had taken care of Elma, who was in a bad mood after being interrupted when she was trying to decide on her dynamic homecoming.

“Do you really think that you will be able to successfully accomplish the task your mother gave you?”

　By provoking her with this, he had made her decide to stay initially.

　As usual, she didn’t really understand what ‘normal’ was, so she thought that it would be better if she was evaluated as ‘normal’ by a certain number of people.

“This much is ‘normal’, isn’t it?”

“Ah…I see.” Georg replied, averting his gaze.

　Georg also knew that Elma was from prison and that her mother had apparently told her to; “find out what it means to be a normal girl.”

　However, he did not think that what she really meant was; “Even if you are a demon, live as a normal human.”

　Even if she came from a bad background, it was troubling to see her trying to follow her parents’ instructions and try to be normal.

　If possible, Georg would have loved to say to her; “Oh, what you just did was perfectly normal!” Just like she wanted, but――

‘No, I can’t lie to her like that!’ He thought to himself.

　It was impossible for him to make a comment like that in front of his subordinates, as she had cracked hundreds of eggs in the blink of an eye and wielded a kitchen knife like a demon.

“Ah… well, how should I put it… rather than normal, it’s a little… relatively… quite… abnormal.”

“…?”

“No… Look, your method of cracking an egg has gotten a lot closer to ‘normal’, but I feel like it’s the speed or something.”

　In addition to his nervous stammering, he also tried to choose his words carefully, which was quite a hassle for him.

“…”

　Georg panicked as Elma silently lowered her face. He understood now that his relationship with the girl had deepened.

“Ah, no, that’s…”

　‘Why? Why do I have to sweat so much when I try to praise people?’  He questioned himself.

　Georg, who was proud even when he had broken a plate in front of the royal aristocrats, had now completely stiffened up.

“Oh! I’m here! Elma!”

　The kitchen door burst open again and a light voice jumped in.

　She had a quirky blond hair with cat-like green eyes.

　It was Elma’s senior maid companion, Irene.

　Despite the stiff atmosphere around her, she stepped briskly into the kitchen and her eyes lit up when she saw the giant omelet on the cutting board.

“Well, what is this? An omelet? Did you make it, Elma?”

“Yes…”

　Elma was heartbroken and had mumbled the answered, but Irene smiled at her; “Well!” and picked up a knife for tasting.

“Head chef, do you mind if I have a small bite?”

　And as soon as he nodded his agreement, she cut out a piece and bit into it with a satisfactory groan.

“It’s delicious! It’s delicious! Elma! Hey, this is unusually delicious!”

“… I’m sorry that it’s not normal…”

“Why are you apologizing?”

　Elma’s eyes widened for a moment at her words, however, Irene didn’t notice what was hidden behind her glasses, so she continued to talk casually.

“So, Elma, I have a message for you.”

“… Irene, you shouldn’t talk while eating.”

“I mean, it’s just a sample.” replied Irene, who was stuffing her mouth with a fluffy omelet.

　The hungry little devil hurriedly gulped down the omelet, then peeped out her tongue and innocently dropped a bomb from there.

“Hurry up and go to the king’s room. His Majesty, King Felix, and His Highness, Lucas, are waiting for you.”

“Again?”

　A summons from the king, who stands at the top of the kingdom of Ruden, and his younger brother.