Shockingly, I watched in utter disbelief as Kang Jiesu sat down at the dining table. He calmly swallowed every single bite of the alien meal that I presented.

  He didn't even flinch while he spooned up the green cheese and spread it evenly across the defted ftbread. There was no indication that he thought that the taste was revolting, and he took several sips of the sour milk without the slightest reaction on his face. Instead, he chewed slowly as if he was a food connoisseur trying to savor every exquisite fvor of Michelin star cuisine, and he would periodically pause and remark to himself that this had a 'fascinating texture'.

  "Thank you for the meal," he said politely after wiping his pte clean. "It was very colorful."

  I tried very hard not to stare.

  While I vaguely understood that this was Kang's method of being polite, this was far too extreme. He seriously didn't have to finish everything, and it would had been fine to leave the disagreeable foods untouched. Even if I was just an ordinary maid, I would have easily gotten the message that some foods were good and others were bad. In fact, it was entirely expected for an esteemed guest to have dietary preferences.

  As a matter of fact, Kang Jiesu finished absolutely everything on his pte...

  ...So wasn't the only sensible interpretation that he was still hungry?

  I promptly went back to the kitchenette and prepared a second pte of food. The dishes were exactly the same as the first time, and I quickly returned with an identical meal. Smiling innocently, I pced the porcein pte in front of him.

  "Please enjoy, my lord." (I said in Galuterican)

  Kang Jiesu, however, stared bnkly at me.

  "Oh no, no. I'm very full! Thank you very much! I can't eat anymore." He refused (in Mandarin) while shaking his head.

  However, I feigned total ignorance.

  I tilted my head quizzically.

  What could my master possibly be saying~?

  "Could it be that these foods displease you?" (I inquired in Galuterican)

  Picking up the pte that I just set down in front of my cssmate, I returned to the kitchenette and prepared an alternative meal. This time, I chose different dishes and entrées, and I made sure to include a very ugly-looking dessert and pumpkin soup. Privately, I was getting a total kick out of this, and it was weirdly satisfying to be intentionally counterproductive.

  Honestly, I felt like I could do this all day long.

  I was fairly confident in my NPC acting skills, and I was determined to be as useless as possible.

  Whatever it was that Kang Jiesu wanted, I would make sure to get him the exact opposite.

  + + +

  Some time after this pointless back-and-forth exchange, I was collecting the dirty dishes to deliver them back to the kitchen. At this point, it was already the early morning hours of the night, and both of us were starting to grow tired.

  I was almost ready to bid goodnight to Kang, but my cssmate stopped me at the door while I was carrying a tray of silverware in my arms.

  "Would it be a problem if I took a midnight stroll?" He asked cheerfully (in Mandarin).

  I paused momentarily.

  "—Or are my friends and I under house arrest?"

  There was suddenly an ominous shadow on Kang Jiesu's face, and I felt a deep chill across my neck. Kang was still smiling cheerfully, but more than anyone, I knew how deceptive and fake my childhood friend could be. Oftentimes, Kang would say one thing, but in reality his true feelings were the exact opposite.

  He was a natural politician. An expert liar.

  Kang was a dangerous person to have as an enemy.

  Moreover, I also knew that this was a rhetorical question. Kang must have known that I couldn't understand him. As such, I went along with my script and pyed dumb. I knew absolutely nothing about what he was talking about, and furthermore I certainly couldn't understand his Otherworldly moon rune nguage. I'm just an irrelevant NPC, so why did the protagonist's pns matter to me?

  However, as I bowed and left my cssmate's room, I simply left the front door open.

  A sliver of light came in through the crack in the entrance.

  If Kang wanted to wander around the royal pace at night, he was certainly free to do so.

  Why would I bother to stop him?

  ?