"Breakfast is ready~"
Alice appeared carrying two steaming plates, one in each hand, a gentle smile on her bandaged face. All three of them turned their heads toward her at the same time.
"Ara… did I come at a bad moment?"
Thank you for arriving, Alice. You really are an angel, Mara thought to herself, watching how the older woman's calm presence seemed to dissolve the tension that had been building moments earlier between Mordred and Cecilia.
"Good morning, Alice!" Mara exclaimed, deliberately steering the conversation away with an overly cheerful tone.
It was better to cut off any tension before it had a chance to escalate.
Alice's figure—with her immaculate bandages and a smile that radiated calm even without visible eyes—approached the table.
"Oh, hello, dear. Would you like a bowl as well? It's vegetable soup," she offered as she carefully placed two steaming bowls in front of the other two women.
"I'd love to," Mara replied, noticing how the mere smell of the food already felt like a small miracle.
Mordred and Cecilia, whose gazes had been crackling with challenge just seconds earlier, had completely redirected their attention to the bowls.
"Fufu, I'll bring yours in just a moment, Mara," Alice murmured with that soft, characteristic laugh of hers.
She then turned and headed back toward the door that Mara could now deduce led to the kitchen.
It was Mordred who broke the brief silence that followed, after taking a sip of soup with her spoon.
"Back to the topic, Mara," she said, wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand in an exaggerated gesture. "Is it clear now what Skills are?" Mordred asked, pointing her spoon at Mara.
"Yes, thanks for the explanation, Mordred," Mara replied, casting a furtive glance at Cecilia.
The blonde, oblivious to everything else, seemed completely entranced by her food.
It was clear that, at least for now, the soup was more persuasive than any argument.
Now that she had confirmed her initial idea about Skills was more or less correct, a more urgent and personal question surfaced in her mind: What would my Skill be?, She would bet anything it had something to do with some kind of CHARM.
And judging by Mordred's comments, it was clear that Skills weren't limited to combat.
Some were obviously not combat-oriented, yet still sounded incredibly useful—like breathing underwater or seeing in the dark.
Her train of thought, however, vanished instantly when a warm voice and an even more delicious aroma settled beside her.
"Here you go, dear. Enjoy it," Alice said, placing a bowl of hot soup in front of her. The simple gesture tied a knot of gratitude in Mara's throat.
"Thank you very much, Alice," Mara replied, and this time her thanks went far beyond courtesy.
They encompassed the previous night, the unexpected kindness, and now this breakfast offered without asking for anything in return—an act of pure generosity she had barely known in her past life.
"Oh! One last thing, Mara," Alice added, pausing before leaving.
Her voice took on a slightly more serious tone, though no less kind.
"When you're finished, could you come to the kitchen? There are a few things I'd like to talk to you about."
Mara simply nodded in silence as she took her first sip of soup.
"Fufu, I'll be waiting for you then," Alice said as she walked back toward the door that Mara now knew led to the kitchen.
The comment didn't go unnoticed by Mordred, who couldn't resist teasing her a little.
"Wow, Mara, you really know how to please women, huh?" she said with a crooked smile full of implications.
Suddenly, a sharp knock landed squarely on Mordred's head.
"Stop bothering her, you provocative cat," Cecilia said, without even lifting her eyes from her bowl of soup.
I wonder what she wants to talk about, Mara thought as she brought the first spoonful of soup to her lips.