ABFMV Chapter 5 Part 2

Ding! The oven popped open, the roast ready—all without a single human hand involved.

Xu Linlang was stunned.

She had known food here was machine-made, but seeing it for herself left her astonished.

The cook plated the dish, and Xu Linlang tried a bite. The flavor was strong, about the same quality as a modern-day restaurant.

The process reminded her of pre-packaged meal kits, though without the warmth of home cooking.

But flavor aside, this salty, heavily seasoned beef was no good for Snowball.

Cats couldn’t eat food with seasoning—it would damage their kidneys, especially the salt.

“Could you make a portion without any seasoning?” Xu Linlang asked, setting the roast down.

The cook looked troubled. “All recipes are programmed into the system. They can’t be altered, or it counts as a different dish entirely.”

Xu Linlang hadn’t expected such rigidity. In that case, there probably wasn’t any cat food in the program either.

If the machines couldn’t do it, then she would. Back in her world, she often followed food bloggers’ recipes and even made special meals for her best friend’s orange tabby.

This was second nature to her.

To the cook’s utter shock, Xu Linlang began rummaging through the freezer for ingredients.

Finally, she had enough to make something decent for Snowball.

She deboned a chicken leg, sliced mackerel into sections, and fed both into the grinder, blending them into fresh minced meat.

Xu Linlang rolled the minced meat into small balls and placed them in the oven.

As the meat roasted, a tantalizing aroma filled the air, drifting through the kitchen and causing several servants to pause at the doorway.

The Young Miss is actually cooking by hand? And without using the robots? And it smells this good?

Xu Linlang paid no attention to their astonished glances. She also used the high-pressure kitchen equipment to prepare a bowl of creamy fish soup.

Satisfied, she placed all the cat food on a plate and left the kitchen.

Pushing open the bedroom door, she finally relaxed when she saw the little cat still curled up on the bed.

She reached out, scooped the kitten into her arms, and held one of the roasted meatballs in front of it.

“Here, I made this for you. Let’s see if you like it.”

The little cat glanced at her. Its pale golden eyes seemed to lose a fraction of their usual coldness, looking at her with cautious curiosity.

Seeing no immediate reaction, Xu Linlang felt a bit disappointed. She wondered if the kitten simply didn’t like the food.

It seemed that interstellar cats were a bit different from modern Earth cats.

The little cat tilted its head for a moment, as if debating, then slowly bit into the meatball.

Its eyes widened in surprise as it looked at Xu Linlang.

It was delicious—flavor unlike anything it had ever tasted.

The aroma of the meat was rich, the texture layered, crisp on the outside, tender within, elevating the eating experience to its peak.

The kitten then sipped the fish soup.

The warm, savory broth slid down its throat, seeping into its very core.

Its whole body felt cozy, almost lazy, and it wanted to stretch in contentment.

After finishing, Seven Nights instinctively lifted a paw to groom it, only realizing halfway that Xu Linlang was still beside him.

He slowly lowered it again and softly said, “Thank you.”

Though he didn’t understand why Xu Linlang was being so kind, he had long accepted his fate.

A being as lowly as he was unworthy of kindness.

Every time people saw him, their first reaction was disgust. He had long since grown numb to it.

And yet now, the highborn Marshal’s daughter had voluntarily rescued him and even cooked for him herself.

He remembered reading in books about hearts racing like drums, once thinking it ridiculous—but now he felt it himself.

It was an unfamiliar emotion, one he knew he shouldn’t feel, yet Xu Linlang had touched him nonetheless.

Soft bedding, fragrant food, gentle demeanor.

Seven Nights tilted his head slightly, observing Xu Linlang, whom servants described as terrifying.

There was no arrogance, only pure kindness, and it drew his gaze.

According to people’s descriptions, Xu Linlang was not someone to be trusted. She supposedly delighted in seeing the weak struggle under her oppression.

A being as weak as he should have been nothing more than a toy to her.

She could have pampered him, made him forget himself, only to shatter him when reality struck.

Seven Nights lowered his head. He could no longer bear any betrayal.

He had no more capacity for genuine trust; it had been worn away time and time again.

Xu Linlang noticed the little cat suddenly bow its head, and her heart sank—apparently, the food she’d prepared still wasn’t to its taste.

“That’s fine. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. I’ll have the butler bring you some cat food.”

At the mention of cat food, the kitten’s tail twitched slightly.

Though Seven Nights was in a cat’s body, in his consciousness, he didn’t consider himself a cat—and he’d never eaten cat food before.

The thought of being forced to eat it was difficult to accept.

Besides, cat food wouldn’t be tastier than the dishes in front of him.

After a moment of inner struggle, he kept his head lowered and continued eating slowly, one small bite at a time.

Seeing how much the little cat enjoyed its meal, Xu Linlang’s mood lifted. She patted its head.

“If you like it, I’ll make you food every day from now on!”