For some reason, the saint of our school drops her façade when she's with me (GL) - Chapter 5

“Oh, merciful Saint, please have mercy on this poor lamb…”

That was my 19th loss.

I cursed myself for not realizing sooner that no amount of beginner’s luck could overcome the sheer difference in intelligence between us.

“Of course, I forgive you. After all, I am a Saint.”

The Saint effortlessly claimed her 20th victory, looking more alive than ever.

“Alright, with that 300-point damage, I win.”

“Ahhh! My poor Danchan~!”

“Unfortunately, I have devoured it. Now then, I’ll make the necessary adjustments for your 20 losses.”

“You monster! Demon! Saint!”

Did she really enjoy tormenting me this much?!

…Yeah, she did.

She completely ignored my protests with a look of utter satisfaction.

“I’ll have everything delivered in about two days. Let’s have fun then, okay?”

“Ah, speaking of two days from now—I might not be able to come tomorrow.”

“Do you have plans?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

I had promised to go out with Mizuki tomorrow.

On that note, considering she had arranged a maid outfit and a personal collar the day after offering me the job, I had some serious questions.

I decided not to think too deeply about it.

“Understood. You’ll be here the day after tomorrow, then?”

“No problem.”

“Then, that’s fine.”

She was still basking in the afterglow of her 20-win streak, clearly looking forward to having her way with me.

I always suspected it, but yeah—she was definitely a natural-born sadist.

After our card game, I headed to the kitchen in the Saint’s mansion.

Or rather, the kitchen that was actually a professional-grade kitchen.

It was so massive that I almost got lost on my way there.

No ordinary kitchen had commercial-grade refrigerators, so calling it a kitchen felt inappropriate—it was a full-blown kitchen of a high-class restaurant.

“So, you’re the classmate the lady hired?”

As I stood in awe, a deep voice called out to me.

I turned to see a large, intimidating man—clearly the head of the kitchen.

Honestly, he looked more like a mob boss than a chef.

“Yes. I’ll only be cooking dinner.”

“Yeah, I heard. Use whatever ingredients or equipment you need. I’m Hasegawa, the head chef.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Suzuki.”

I was surprised at how friendly he was.

I had mentally prepared myself for a harsher welcome, considering I was some random high schooler who got hired on a whim.

But he didn’t seem to mind.

Deciding not to dwell on it, I washed my hands and began gathering ingredients.

“Whoa… This is amazing.”

Every single ingredient was top-quality, the kind you’d only see on TV.

I started preparing dinner, while Hasegawa glanced at the ingredients and nodded in approval.

“Meat and potatoes, huh? Yeah, the lady will like that.”

“Has she had it before?”

“Nah. The monthly menu is fixed.”

“Because of her parents?”

“Yeah, more or less. Not that either of them have been home lately.”

“Oh, really?”

From the way he spoke, it sounded like the Aizome family had its own fair share of issues.

“Aren’t you curious?”

“About the Aizome family?”

“Yeah. The lady won’t talk about it. Figured you’d want to know.”

“If she wants to tell me, I’ll listen.”

Everyone has their own circumstances.

Even if I was curious, there are things you shouldn’t pry into—some topics are only meant to be discussed when the person is ready.

If Aizome wanted to talk about it, I would listen.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t ask.

“Fair enough. By the way, can I ask something?”

“What?”

“Are you a man or a woman?”

“Damn, you really ask things bluntly, huh?”

“You seemed like you wanted me to.”

Hasegawa’s name tag was displayed prominently on his chest.

Next to it was an old photo of what looked like a completely different person—but something about it seemed strangely familiar.

“I’m a man now. Used to be a woman. That’s all.”

So, a trans man?

His physique was entirely different from his old photo, which seemed almost magical, but hey—life was full of mysteries.

“There was a guy I fell for back then. He was kind, but had the worst luck. I really liked him, but after some… stuff happened, I decided to move on. But I still wanted to be close to him, as a friend. So, I became this.”

“I see.”

“His last name was Suzuki, if I remember right.”

“Huh…? Wait—what?!”

Suzuki was a common surname.

But I knew one unlucky, kind-hearted Suzuki all too well.

My uncle.

I glanced at Hasegawa, who smirked knowingly.

“Daughter? Niece? Whatever you are, tell your guardian I said hi.”

…So, he knew my uncle.

No wonder he wasn’t hostile toward a random high schooler suddenly working here.

What were the odds of that?

But hey, the world was smaller than it seemed.

I decided to call my uncle later and focus on cooking for now.

After all, I had a job to do.

And—if I was being honest—I wanted to hear the Saint say my food was delicious.

Sure, there was also a tiny hope that she might show me mercy regarding the skirt length penalty, but mostly, I just wanted to hear her say it tasted good.

That desire was surprisingly strong.

Did I just enjoy cooking for people?

Or was it because it was her?

At the time, I had no idea.

Looking back, maybe I was just slow to realize things.

But humans are like that.

Sometimes, we don’t recognize unfamiliar emotions right away.

That’s the excuse I’ll go with.