Chapter 48. Seriously, Why Are You Acting Like This?
Sia entered her second destination, a restaurant inside the department store famous for authentic French cuisine.
The first thing to catch her eye was the chandelier that decorated the elegant interior.
The walls carried patterns inspired by the Palace of Versailles, while luxurious carpets completed the atmosphere.
“Wow. This is definitely intimidating, but….”
Clench!
“I’ve always wanted to visit an expensive restaurant!”
Today was the day she had decided to do everything she wanted.
Gathering courage with a clenched fist, Sia followed an employee and sat at a table covered with a white cloth.
Biscuits and madeleines were already arranged there like pre-meal bread.
While Sia was still looking around the restaurant, an employee handed her the menu.
“What would you like for your aperitif?”
Sia accepted the menu and blinked.
Seeing her confusion, the employee immediately explained.
“It is a drink served before the meal to stimulate the appetite. Depending on the main dish, many guests prefer champagne or red wine. Some people choose not to have one at all, so please select whatever you are comfortable with.”
“Uh… I’m fine without alcohol.”
Sia rarely drank even normally, so she declined the aperitif.
“Of course. Then while you choose your meal, we will bring today’s amuse-bouche.”
What’s an amuse-bouche?
Hearing yet another unfamiliar word, Sia carefully looked through the menu.
The structure allowed customers to select an entrée, main dish, and dessert.
Eventually, overwhelmed by unfamiliar terms, she pulled out her phone and searched for what they meant.
Tap.
While she searched, the employee placed a tiny dish on the table.
There was barely enough food for one bite.
“Today’s amuse-bouche is scallop wrapped in dumpling skin, served with a cheese-based sauce.”
“Is it something like an appetizer?”
“Similar. It is a small starter meant to stimulate the appetite, and it is provided as complimentary finger food.”
After hearing the explanation, Sia ordered the dishes she had already chosen.
For the entrée, onion soup.
For the main dish, filet mignon.
For dessert, crème brûlée.
Phew. Good thing I searched everything. I would’ve had no idea what was happening. Good job, Yoo Sia!
Sia praised herself for surviving the ordering process.
Someone else had been watching her.
“Um… sir? W, would you like to order?”
An employee nervously handed Michael a menu.
Despite his ridiculous disguise, the eyes visible behind his thick-framed glasses looked cold enough to drown someone without blinking.
Worse, he was carrying a sword.
The employee probably thought he was some kind of dangerous cosplayer.
“Hmm. What am I supposed to order?”
Michael briefly looked at the menu and frowned.
His eyes were already sharp.
When he frowned as well, the employee felt her knees weaken.
Still, perhaps expensive restaurants only hired people trained to deal with difficult customers.
She forced herself to smile and explained as politely as possible.
“I, is this your first time here? The course consists of an aperitif, amuse-bouche, entrée, main dish, and dessert. Y, you can choose whatever you like from each category. W, would you like recommendations as well?”
Michael did not understand why she was trembling while speaking.
He shook his head and started ordering.
“Aperitif… right, the drink before eating. Skip that. Entrée? Give me today’s entrée, the beef carpaccio. For the main dish… Magret de canard, that’s duck breast, right? I’ll take that. And none of these desserts look good, so I’m not eating one.”
Most of the names were familiar enough to Michael, so ordering was not difficult.
Visiting restaurants with Sia several times recently had also helped.
“Y, yes! We’ll prepare it immediately.”
The employee relaxed after realizing that despite his atmosphere, Michael’s order itself was perfectly normal.
She started turning away.
BANG!
Michael suddenly slammed the table.
“Hic! S, sir? Is something wrong?”
“Ah… nothing. I need to use the bathroom for a moment.”
Michael left the restaurant, gripping the sheath tightly.
His senses had detected demonic energy nearby again.
“Damn cockroaches. No matter how many I erase, more keep appearing.”
After Michael left, the employee suddenly realized something.
“Wait, why does he keep talking casually to me…? Rude bastard.”
At a glance, Michael looked about the same age as her.
In Korea, where politeness toward strangers was important, she firmly classified someone who spoke casually to everyone as a nightmare customer.
Click! Click!
“Oh my god, I have to take pictures of this.”
When Sia’s food arrived, she photographed every dish with her phone.
Taking pictures made her even hungrier.
She lowered the phone and picked up her spoon.
Nom, nom.
“Mmm, this is so good.”
The thick onion soup carried a deep flavor.
Each bite spread the rich taste of caramelized onion across her tongue.
“Wait, that isn’t all?!”
Behind the onion came the deep meat stock forming the base of the soup.
Its savory richness combined with the sweetness of the onion, creating a warm, comforting taste.
Still, Sia was not satisfied yet.
Chomp.
“Wow, this tenderloin practically melts.”
Next, she stabbed a piece of sliced filet mignon with her fork and put it into her mouth.
The beef was as soft as melting butter.
Together with the sweet red wine sauce, the rich flavor and juices filled her mouth.
It was truly a feast of taste.
“Hmm? Demonic energy?”
Just as Sia was enjoying heaven inside her mouth, she sensed demonic energy from somewhere.
She had used her senses repeatedly since the trial.
Now her body was beginning to activate them naturally.
I’m on vacation…. No, I’m still a priest. I can’t let civilians get hurt…. But I’m on vacation.
The thought of having to work even during her vacation created an endless dilemma in her mind.
“Fine! I, I’ll finish this first.”
After deciding, Sia scooped up her final crème brûlée and placed a large spoonful into her mouth.
She chewed slowly, trying to enjoy the taste for as long as possible.
Then the demonic energy she had detected disappeared.
It vanished like a shooting star.
That immediately made Sia think of something she desperately did not want to imagine.
“…No. No way. That crazy bastard didn’t follow me all the way here, right?”
Sia shook her head in denial.
Even if Michael had become overprotective, surely he had not followed her here.
Just imagining it made her shake her head again.
“I’d report him.”
After finishing the meal, Sia stood to pay.
“I’m uneasy, so I should at least search the area.”
She still had plans left on her list.
However, she was a priest first.
Searching for the demon took priority.
“That will be 95,000 won.”
Tremble.
When she heard the price of a single meal, her hands shook harder than when she had first seen a demon.
Sia held out her card with trembling fingers.
