✦ ✦ ✦
The plan that Mira and Floedina had come up with wasn’t to simply force Alfina to try tomatoes, but to entice her to eat them of her own volition.
And this was precisely why Floedina had requested Mira’s assistance. Given how devoted Alfina was to her master, she wouldn’t very likely be able to continue ignoring food that her master had helped make. What’s more, if she left the food on her plate without touching it, it’d undoubtedly sadden her master. In which case, Alfina had but a single option. She had to eat the tomatoes herself.
Floedina’s plan had been a success, and she’d gotten Alfina to take a bite. And having enticed her to take that very first bite, she could now let her cooking speak for itself and have Alfina learn just how delicious tomatoes were.
Moreover, Mira had quickly rolled with the punches and adjusted the plan, which had initially consisted of her and Floedina acting out a prearranged exchange, when the events with Christina transpired. Thanks to this, the operation had proceeded even more naturally than they’d initially planned, which left Floedina feeling incredibly relieved.
This was because, on the off chance that their operation was compromised, Floedina would be exposed as the mastermind behind the whole plot, and she could only imagine how difficult her life would become if that were to happen. And yet, with things now having resolved themselves without her and Mira needing to act out their little exchange, she no longer even had to use the line “But Master said she wanted to eat tomatoes,” which she’d been keeping as her ace in the hole.
Having polished off her salad stew in no time at all, Alfina immediately stood up and began trotting over to where Mira was doling out stew.
This isn’t quite what I expected to happen…
She’d planned on casually mentioning the tomatoes to get Alfina’s attention, but before she knew it, she’d become a lunch lady. Having finished pouring seconds for Bruce, who’d gotten in line after the sisters, Mira looked at the pot as if her work was just about done. There was just enough left for one last portion, with several tomato chunks and several pieces of meat lying at the bottom.
Well now, just like I planned!
Mira had held on to that ladle so that she could dole out the stew as she saw fit, thereby leaving a few choice morsels of meat for herself without anyone catching on to what she was doing.
However, because her other plan had gone off so well, this particular one wouldn’t end up being a success.
“Master… Could I have some more as well?” Alfina said, sounding somewhat modest and yet having a hopeful gleam in her eyes, as she approached Mira with plate in hand.
Looking up in surprise, Mira caught sight of Alfina’s face, as well as Floedina’s, who was sitting opposite her. And then Mira realized that, at some point, their operation to conquer Alfina’s dislike of tomatoes had succeeded. This was because Mira suddenly caught sight of Floedina doing a fist pump.
“Hrmm, yes, of course. Make sure you eat your fill.”
At any rate, if she’d helped get Alfina to overcome her dislike of tomatoes, then she was happy. Feeling proud of her, Mira took Alfina’s plate, dished out the remaining tomatoes and half of the remaining meat onto it, and handed it back.
“Thank you!” Alfina said, taking the plate and looking utterly overwhelmed with emotion. And yet, Mira’s next words just about made her pass out.
“But there isn’t much left, so we can split it,” Mira said before putting the remaining half in her bowl. This seemed to really strike a chord with Alfina.
“Ah, split food with Master…?”
It seemed that getting a half serving that she was sharing with her master was an even better treat than getting another full serving. Returning to her seat with a radiant look on her face, she began taking bite after bite as if she’d never disliked tomatoes in the first place.
Well now, that’s one case closed.
Mira thoroughly enjoyed the meat she’d gotten while she looked around at everyone enjoying themselves at their tables. And so, the whole group enjoyed a truly peaceful and relaxing breakfast.