In the end, even though Maeve still couldn’t eat much—maybe only a bite or two—she could at least fill her stomach with water.

It wasn’t good for her, but it was still better than having nothing at all.

"Are you really not hungry?" Ikarus asked as he gently laid Maeve down beneath the dead tree.

Before that, he had carefully spread several animal pelts across the ground so her back wouldn’t ache while she rested.

"I’m hungry," Maeve admitted softly.

She slowly closed her eyes and lay flat on her back. It was the only position that didn’t make her stomach churn with nausea.

"But every time food reaches my stomach, I feel like throwing up," she continued. "So I decided not to eat."

To be honest, her mouth still watered whenever she saw something delicious. She wanted to eat it. She really did. But no matter how hard she tried to swallow the food, her stomach always rejected it.

At this point, she suspected that it wasn’t just her body rejecting the food, but that her child didn’t like that kind of food either.

"Ikarus," she suddenly called.

"Hm?"

"What’s your favorite food?" she asked.

Ikarus frowned slightly, clearly not expecting that question. Even so, he answered without hesitation. "A Cindermaw’s brain," he said. "It tastes even better when you eat it raw."

Maeve nearly gagged. Just hearing that was enough to make her stomach turn.

A moment ago, she had actually been considering trying Ikarus’ favorite food. Since she suspected the baby might be rejecting certain foods, she thought there was a chance their child would enjoy whatever Ikarus liked.

But now that she knew exactly what his favorite food was, she would rather go hungry.

"Why did you ask?" Ikarus tilted his head. "Do you want to try it? I swear, it tastes really—"

"No," Maeve cut in immediately, forcing an awkward smile onto her face. "I mean... maybe later. Not now. Besides, it’s not like we can find any Cindermaws around here."

"Oh, we can," Axan suddenly said. "Those pests are everywhere, so I’m sure I could find one in no time."

Maeve went completely still.

She knew them well enough by now. If she so much as hinted that she wanted to try Cindermaw brain, the three of them would probably leave this very second and come back dragging a dead monster behind them.

"I see..." she said slowly. "That’s... very good information." Then she quickly added, "But I think it’s better to rest now than hunt Cindermaws in the middle of the night."

Before any of them could say another word, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it over her head. "Good night!" she announced from underneath it.

The blanket muffled her voice, but her message was clear: the conversation was over.

Axan, who had been about to say something else, stared at the blanket-covered lump for a moment before deciding to keep quiet and let her sleep. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Meanwhile, hidden beneath the blanket, Maeve silently prayed that nobody would bring her a Cindermaw brain tomorrow.

===

It turned out that the Sky Mother loved her so much that she didn’t want Maeve to go hungry. Because of that, instead of answering Maeve’s prayer from the night before, she had done the complete opposite.

"Wife, I brought you a Cindermaw’s head."

Ikarus stood proudly in front of her, smiling as if he had just returned from some great achievement. The way he held up the monster’s head made it look like he was waiting for praise after working hard to catch it.

Maeve, however, could only stare at the giant centipede head in horror.

Seriously, how had this thing survived the apocalypse? More importantly, how had it become people’s favorite food?

"I... I don’t think I’m that hungry," Maeve said weakly. "Besides... it looks... scary."

She had told them before that she didn’t like food that looked terrifying. But even so, they still tried to convince her that food with an ugly appearance could taste good.

"I can chop it up for you," Cerus offered enthusiastically.

Before Maeve could stop him, he grabbed the Cindermaw’s head and carried it a short distance away. A moment later, he raised his stone axe and brought it down on the monster’s skull.

Thud!

Maeve immediately looked away. Somehow, watching it get chopped apart wasn’t making it look any more appetizing. In fact, it was having the exact opposite effect.

A moment later, Cerus carefully arranged the pieces of Cindermaw brain on top of a smooth log. After being cut into small slices, they looked surprisingly neat.

"Why don’t you try it, at least once, Maeve?" Cerus asked with an encouraging smile. "You might end up liking it."

Maeve swallowed nervously as she stared at the pieces in front of her. Now that they had been sliced up, they almost looked like sushi.

Unfortunately, she still couldn’t forget what they had looked like a few minutes ago. The image of the Cindermaw’s giant centipede-like head was still burned into her mind, making her stomach twist every time she remembered it.

But strangely enough, the longer she stared at the neatly cut slices, the more conflicted she became.

Because despite knowing exactly what it was, and despite the fact that she had been horrified only moments ago, her mouth suddenly started watering.

Maeve froze. "No way..."

She quickly looked away from the Cindermaw brain, only for her gaze to drift back to it a few seconds later, and somehow, it looked even more tempting than before.

"Fine," Maeve said at last. "I’ll try it, but only a little." She looked at the triplets and added in a serious tone, "Only. A little."

"Of course, of course," Ikarus replied immediately. He carefully moved one of the slices closer to her. "As long as you take a bite, that’s enough."

For some reason, all three of them looked far too hopeful. Taking a deep breath, she reached out and picked up one of the slices.

The texture felt softer than she expected.

’It’s just food,’ she told herself. ’Just food. Definitely not the brain of a giant apocalypse centipede.’