Bonding time at the Tensai Residence.

People may wonder why Delilah Wisler had chosen a man like Leonardo to hold the Book of Eros. If the goal was to fill the Book with as much sexual energy as possible, he certainly didn’t look like the best choice. He had enough drive to want it, sure, but perhaps not enough to devote every aspect of himself to the cause. But that was exactly why Delilah had picked him. She wasn’t one to say that the end justified the means. And because Leonardo was the way he was, in only one day the atmosphere around the Tensai Residence had changed.

“Wait, so there is more than one pronoun to refer to myself?” Valerie asked Leonardo from behind the kitchen counter as he mixed ground meat with onions and other spices in a bowl by hand.

“Yeah, and depending on which you use you give off a different image of yourself. I know, it’s weird,” he nodded. He looked around the dining room, and when he caught Kaede glancing their way a small smirk appeared on his lips. “Chiteki-san, could you come over for a moment?”

“Eh?” the girl blinked and stood up from her seat to approach the two in the kitchen. “W-What is it?”

“I’ll translate for Valerie, but can you tell us more about Japanese pronouns? A classmate told me today I sound really stiff, but I’m not sure why.”

“Oh. Well, you see, the way you speak and the words you use usually say more about yourself than the content of said words. For example, if you refer to yourself with ‘ore’…”

Delilah watched the scene from her seat at the table with a fragrant cup of green tea and the newspaper in her hands. Kaede tried to explain to those two the more implicit uses of the Japanese language while Leonardo translated for Valerie, but such a simple act like that helped immensely in clearing the air of the tension that was here yesterday. For the most part, at least. Angela was sitting with her at the table with eyes set on the TV, yet not paying attention to it. Seemed like someone had a bad day.

“I’m home,” they heard from the entrance. Seina entered the dining room nearly dragging her feet and with a tired but sufficiently satisfied expression.

“Welcome home, dear,” Delilah greeted. “Everything went well, I hope?”

“Yes,” Seina answered, sitting next to her and nodding. “I start next week. Thank you, Wisler-san.”

“No problem. I really would’ve rather you had a proper vacation, but I understand that there’s fierce competition in your industry and you need to stay relevant somehow.”

“Yes, but just being away from photo shoots and fan events will let me rest, so again, I’m thankful you convinced my agent to let me come here.” As the two talked, Leonardo walked up to them and put a cup of green tea in front of Seina. “Oh,” she exclaimed, looking up at him as she blinked in surprise. “Thank you.”

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” he told her with a smile.

Delilah saw Seina’s shoulders relax, and the fragrant aroma and flavor of the tea helped soothe her exhaustion.

The room was lively with the sound of conversation, more so than it had been in years. The only one missing here was her daughter Lucia, but she was still sleeping and probably would be for a while longer. She had caught in Leonardo’s eyes a hint of guilt after last night, so she imagined her daughter had gotten more than she bargained for and was now paying the price.

“By the way,” Delilah said, looking towards the man of the house. “Why isn’t Reiko-chan with us today?”

Leonardo flinched and turned to her with a small, shy grin. “She said she didn’t want to intrude now that there were so many people here,” he said, hiding his own disappointment at it.

“Nonsense,” Delilah told him. “Reiko-chan will always be welcomed here. We have her to thank for the Book of Eros working as it does now, so do not hesitate to invite her over.” Her words had the effect of drawing Kaede’s and Seina’s eyes towards him.

“So you two are really…” Kaede muttered lowly, not finishing her sentence.

“Right. We’re here for the Book of Eros…” Seina said, averting her eyes. Her cheeks reddened and her hold on her ceramic cup tightened. Delilah could see her getting more nervous by the second, and it was little wonder why.

It was her turn tonight.

Delilah had arranged for it to be that way. Seina was an adult, after all. Unlike Valerie and Kaede who had only started to feel the effects of the curse relatively recently, Seina had to deal with them for longer while she also focused on her work. Out of all of the people in this house, she probably needed this the most.

15 minutes later, Leonardo had finished dinner and they were all sitting around the table. He’d made a relatively simple meal of rice and a hamburger steak with a dark sauce poured over it, yet it all had such depth of flavor that it took Delilah by surprise. She wasn’t a gourmand by any means, but she could tell there was more to the dish than just making a patty of ground beef and throwing it on a pan. And well, after the incident yesterday, she wanted to make sure these girls knew the effort Leonardo was putting in, so she decided to ask. “This is very good, Leonardo. What did you put in it?”

“Eh?” he exclaimed, taken by surprise. “Um… The hamburger is half pork, half beef with salt, pepper, eggs, both raw and fried onions and breadcrumbs moistened in milk. I fried them for a while before adding red wine, water and steaming them until they were ready. The sauce is made with the fond left from cooking the hamburgers, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ketchup and sugar.”

“That much work goes into this?” Kaede asked, looking down at her food with eyes full of wonder and a hint of guilt. Right, she’d been the one to request this for dinner.

“Hm? This is actually pretty easy,” Leonardo told her matter-of-factly. “I enjoy making stuff like this every once in a while.”

“Easy, he says,” Angela sighed. “I can’t even make scrambled eggs without some of the shell getting in.”

Everyone continued eating, but Delilah saw in their eyes a newfound view of their meal, and the man that made it. This was one of the subtle ways she could make Leonardo’s job a little easier.

Author's Note: Chapters 77 to 80 available at my Patreon.