BXBX NOVEL Chapter 200: Gratitude And Appreciation
"Is my food really as good as you say?"
Camila asked expectantly as she saw me eating her food with conflicted eyes and a concerned look on my face, not knowing what to make of it.
"Are you really not exaggerating to make me feel better about myself and the food I made, like you always do, Kafka?"
"First of all, I never exaggerate and overact at whatever you do, since whatever my Camila does will always be top-tier in my eyes and make me want to scream out praise for you since you deserve it all." I said, which made her shyly bump shoulders with me after being unable to handle my obsession for her and made her feel as if there was nothing in the world that she couldn\'t accomplish when she had such a loud and devout supporter by her side.
"...And second of all, even if you don\'t believe me, you can still trust the other people who\'ve eaten your food quite often, like your family, since I\'m pretty sure that they also would\'ve had the same reactions as me and thanked you after every single meal for creating such wonderful delicacies for them every day."
"Oh...Well, about that..." Camila gave an awkward smile and looked at the other two seats on the table, which were probably for the rest of her family, with a rather crestfallen look on her face. "My daughter and husband never really say anything about the food after eating their fill and would just go in their own ways, leaving me to clean the dishes by myself."
"The only time they would ever speak about my food was when they would tell me what they wanted me to make them the next day and also when they had complaints about the food, like it was too sweet or spicy for them, so I\'m not used to getting any praise or compliments for my food..." She said as she remembered the nights where she would be waiting for any comments from her family on the dishes she made with all her effort and hard work, only to be ignored and not get a single word of praise to her disappointment.
"That\'s why, even though I know the food I make is quite tasty and am quite proud of my skills that I\'ve honed all throughout these years, I\'m still insecure about what other people think about my food, which is the reason why I couldn\'t easily believe that you like the dishes that I make so much..."
Camila said as she looked up at me with a rather pityful and desolate smile on her face, which immediately made me wrap my hands around her and give her the warm hug she needed at the moment, while caressing her back to console her for what she had been going through all these years at the hands of those ungrateful wenches she had been calling family.
Hug!~
"Listen to me, Camila..." I said in a caring and protective tone as I pulled her in closer to me.
"I don\'t know what your family said about your food in the past or how cruelly they treated you after you put so much effort into making them meals that would make them happy, but I promise you that this simple rissoto dish you\'ve made today is the tastiest thing that has ever touched my tongue to this date...And this praise is coming from the world\'s best reviewer when it comes to delicacies, so you should be proud that you were able to impress someone as hard to impress as me and know from now on that your food is the best in both worlds, since I said so."
Camila giggled even though she was also tearing up from my words when she shamelessly heard me calling myself and her food the best in the world without any regard for the actual five-star restaurants out there and their award-winning dishes.
I then let her go and said, while looking at her face, where there was a slight smile forming from successfully cheering her up,
"And know that there won\'t be a single day from now on that I won\'t praise the dishes you make, and I\'ll even make sure that the whole world knows about your hidden talent, if I have to."
"Really?...You\'ll even praise me if I bring some mud from the garden, mould it into the shape of a cake, give it to you, and call it a chocolate fudge cake?" Camila asked with a sly look on her face to put me in a tough spot while wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Of course, Camila!~ I would without a doubt still thank you for it!~"
I said with a genuine look on my face, which surprised her.
"As even though it may not taste the best, you still put in the effort to dig the soil out of the ground, mould it into shape no matter how dirty it is, and present it to me with some intention in mind...So even though I may not be able to eat it, I\'ll still thank you for your efforts and appreciate all that you have done or will do for me in the past and future, respectively, and simply think of it as a joke to lighten the mood and thank you for making me laugh."
"Dammit, Kafka!~ Here I\'m trying to tease you and make it difficult for you to see you panic, and here you are effortlessly turning the tables on me and making me fall for you even more!~" Camila exclaimed in anger and covered her face in frustration, while I could still see her cheeks slowly turning a bright shade of red and her legs below that were swinging around in an excited manner.
"You might as well be the son of the God of Love with how easily you sway my heart in your direction and make me feel all giddy inside like a little girl whenever you speak!~"
[The God of Love Amora wishes what she said were true and finds it\'s a pity that you were born to Lady Vanitas and not her, as she surely would\'ve spoiled you rotten up here in the Heavenly Axis] Evageline\'s voice rang in my ear, which made me wonder if Lady Amora was looking to adopt, since I wouldn\'t mind another mother when I already have three of them...