About 30 minutes later, Lucia and I were able to make it back to her parents house, without too much trouble due to Lucia’s fire magic.

“Phew, finally home.”

I said with a hint of relief in my voice before taking off my boots.

“Hey, hold still… I’m still trying to dry you off, Otto.”

Lucia said while rubbing my head with a dry towel.

“Can’t you just use your fire magic?”

“Do you want your hair to burn off?”

“On second thought, just continue doing what you were doing.”

I replied quickly.

“Thought so.”

Lucia said before resuming to dry my hair.

“By the way Lucia… is it just me or is it a tad quiet here?”

I asked with a hint of curiosity in my voice.

Just this morning, the place was bustling with conversations but now… it’s basically dead silent except for Lucia and me.

“Now that you mention it… at this time, Ameil is usually getting reprimanded for doing something he shouldn’t have.”

Lucia replied before letting me go, content with the state of my hair.

“Weird.”

I said simply before taking my coat off and hanging it on the coat rack near the front door.

“Where do you think everyone is right now?”

“Hmm… I don’t know about Ameil and Anne but as for my parents, they usually tend to leave a note in the kitchen whenever they leave abruptly.”

Lucia said before walking over to the kitchen counter, and picking up a piece of paper.

“Kinda like this one.”

Lucia said and then proceeded to start reading the note.

“What’s it say?”

I walked over to Lucia.

“Just that they went downtown to pick up some groceries.”

“I see.”

“That being the case, they probably ended up staying at some nearby inn when they saw the snow starting to fall.”

“That’s a relief.”

I said before walking back into the living room and taking a seat on the couch.

“As for Ameil and Anne, they’ll probably be fine as well, Anne’s got a good grasp on restoration magic so they won’t die from frostbite and Ameil can probably deal with any unnatural wildlife that they end up encountering.”

Lucia replied casually before putting the note back down on the counter and taking a seat next to me.

“What about us?”

“Hmm… we’ll probably just be spending the rest of the evening just enjoying each other’s company in peace, I suppose.”

Lucia said with a smile on her face.

“Looks like we got off easy then.”

“Yeah, looks like we did.”

Lucia replied before putting her head on my shoulder.

“Only thing we have to think about is what we’ll be having for dinner, and fortunately, the pantry’s been filled to the brim with food ever since I was a kid.”

“Is there anything in particular that you’d like to have for dinner? I can probably cook something with whatever you have left in there.”

It couldn’t be as hard as what I needed to do 3 weeks ago, right? After all, it wouldn’t be a contest this time.

Although… I do run the risk of accidentally poisoning the person that I am currently dating. 

…Perhaps the stakes are a tad higher than before.

“Sure, I’m not that picky, I’m willing to eat basically anything. Pretty sure I even ate a whole onion one time because there wasn’t anything left around the house.”

“Did you at least cook it beforehand?”

“Nah, I was still just getting the hang of my fire magic at that time and mom didn’t trust me enough to let me use the stove.”

“I wonder why.”

I said with a bit of a mischievous look on my face.

“Don’t be so smug!”

Lucia said in return, while playfully cupping my face.”

“Alright, alright. I give!”

I said with a bit of a smile before gently putting my hands on hers.

“So, do you wanna eat something right now or do you wanna wait a bit later to get something to eat?”

“Mhmm, that sounds good, you want me to help you in the kitchen?”

“I don’t see why not, would probably be better than having me bumble around your kitchen alone for 30 minutes looking for the salt.”

“Okay, let’s get going then.”

Lucia remarked before helping me to my feet and walking me to her family’s kitchen.

Inside there were a couple overflowing drawers and cupboards, and a freezer that seemed to be powered by a glowing ice crystal.

“...Yeah, so this is gonna take a bit longer than I originally anticipated.”

Lucia said while looking at the cluttered room.

“How does your mom whip stuff up so quickly if the place is organized like this?”

“Honestly, I have no clue how she does that, probably uses some form of divination magic to keep track of everything.”

She said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice before starting to look through the freezer.

“Let’s see… we’ve got some steak… mutton, chicken. Oh, hey we even have some turkey in here still.”

“Pretty good selection, honestly.”

I remarked while rummaging through the cupboards to see if I could find where the spices were hidden away.

Back at home, I could hardly even imagine having access to such fresh produce. 

The majority of the stuff I had access to back then was processed or in cardboard box.

Most of the time, it was both. 

“Ah, I think I found the spices.”

I said before grabbing a couple canisters filled to the brim with what looked to be a variety of seasonings.

And while I could recognize the majority of them, such as cinnamon, salt, and pepper, there were a couple that I could not identify. 

“Huh, what’s this glowing green stuff?”

I asked with a hint of confusion at my voice while poking the jar filled to the brim with what looked to be a crushed herb that was radioactive. 

“That’s just crushed basil.”

Lucia replied candidly. 

“But why is it glowing?”

“The type of basil that’s made from grows in damp caves, so I believe the fact that it glows is just some sort of neat adaptation.” 

“Works for me, does it taste any different compared to regular basil?”

“Nah, it tastes exactly the same, I’m pretty sure.”

Lucia said before putting the things that she found in the fridge on the countertop.

“Okay, that should be all the meat that we have right now, is there anything else that we need, Otto?”

“Maybe some sort of grain? Like bread or rice.”

I remarked while continuing to rummage through the cupboards, before finding what looked to be white rice.

“Ah, there we go. With that, we should have everything we need to make something edible.”

“What are you thinking of making?”

Lucia asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice. 

“I dunno, probably something simple like rice and chicken. I never was that good at making intricate meals.”

I said while washing the rice.

Mostly because I’ve never had access to a ton of ingredients, but I digress. 

“Alright then, let me know if you need any more help, in the meantime I’ll just get the house warmed up, it’s starting to get a bit chilly.” 

Lucia said before giving me a kiss on the cheek and beginning to walk towards the fireplace.

Before she could though, I grabbed ahold of her left hand and stopped her for a second.

“Did you already get lonely without me?”

She said, slightly teasingly.

In response, I gave her a peck on the cheek as well.

“Nah, just returning the favor.”

“...Then allow me to make you owe me another one later.”

Lucia said with a bit of a mischievous expression on her face before grabbing my collar and pulling me into a deep kiss. 

Afterward, she simply just went back to tending the fireplace.

…I really should stop trying to compete with that girl.

Then again… if this is the sort of stuff that comes out of it… I’m not sure that I mind losing that much.