When Damien and Irina returned to the wooden house, the fire at the entrance had been extinguished, and a large part of the wolf meat had charred. After restarting the fire, Damien invited Irina to eat the meat. “Quickly come over, some parts of it are ready to be eaten.”

Irina, who was enthusiastically fiddling with the condiments, walked to the fire and asked with a slightly displeased look, “We’re going to eat it just like that?”

Damien cast a dubious look at Irina. Then, he brought out a stone bowl containing white powder. “Of course we’re going to dip it in salt and eat. Why are you so stupid?”

Damien felt that she wasn’t merely stupid, but it also seemed like his female had a severe lack of common knowledge. She must have been reared in captivity by her tribe since young. It made sense though—she was so good looking, so she must have been cherished, and the food she ate was probably seasoned before being brought to her mouth.

Irina stared at the salt bowl, stunned. Dip it in salt and eat… you think this is a dipping sauce?

Afraid Irina didn’t understand what he was saying, Damien grabbed a slice of meat with his fingers that had sharp and tough nails. He dipped it in the salt, then brought it to Irina’s mouth. “Here, eat it.”

Irina swallowed her saliva and took a bite from it curiously.

Ugh, the meat was super dry. But even though Damien seemed to have dipped it in a lot of salt, the level of saltiness was actually just fine. Perhaps the purity of the salt wasn’t high. But the meat tasted better as she chewed it—there was a plant-like fragrance, not something you’d expect from meat.

“Why is there a fragrance to it?” Irina didn’t believe that wolf meat itself carried a plant-like fragrance. Moreover, she had watched as Damien roasted the meat and hadn’t seen him add any seasonings to it.

Wait a minute. Damien had asked her what flavor she wanted. Could it be… that firewood?

Irina looked at the fire, then glanced back at the firewood in the house.

Damien watched her with a look of admiration in his eyes. Not bad. Although his female lacked common knowledge, she was quick to respond and was very bright. She was indeed a member of the ape tribe.

“This is the fragrance of sandalwood bark. I’ll roast it with willow bark next time and let you try it. Meat roasted with willow bark has a fatter and more moist taste.”

Irina’s horizons expanded. This world’s food culture was truly unique!

But come to think of it, this was within reason. Just like there was a difference between Eastern and Western food culture. Before the various parts of the world interacted with each other, they had developed their own different cooking techniques. Since this world of beastmen had no connection with the world she lived in, the difference was naturally starker.

She took another bite of the meat. The sense of novelty made her feel that the bland meat she was eating tasted even better now.

Seeing Irina enjoying the meat, Damien felt invigorated. He kept helping Irina tear out roasted meat from atop the fire.

“Eh, try and use these things to roast the meat. My people do this. It tastes really good with these.” Irina handed Damien the condiments she had selected earlier.

Damien instantly said, “These are medicine, they can’t be eaten.”

“Believe me, just try it!” Irina looked at Damien earnestly. The mud and marl had mostly fallen off, revealing her oval-shaped face with delicate features.

Damien felt his heart pound wildly at being stared at by the pretty female he fancied, his handsome face instantly turning red. There was no way he could refuse her. “Okay, then let’s try it.” At most, he would try it himself first. And if there was no problem, he would then let the female eat it.

In the past, he had despised those males who had lost all their intellect after getting a female. It was only now that he had a female himself that he suddenly understood why they behaved like that.

Never mind medicine, even if the female wanted to eat his meat, he would cut a slice of it for her without even blinking his eyes.

Damien took out a garlic bulb from the stone bowl and was about to simply shove it into the meat. Irina then tsked and snatched the garlic from him. “You have to wash it first. Do you have any knives at home? They’re tools to cut things up.”

“Do you mean blades? I have a stone blade and an ivory blade.” Damien got up and walked into the house. He then walked out with two daggers. One was light gray and made of stone, while the other was carved from animal teeth and ivory in color.

The ivory dagger wasn’t suitable for chopping vegetables as it was carved in the shape of a crescent moon. Irina then took the stone dagger from Damien and said, “This is fine. I’ll go wash the sea—I mean, the medicinal herb.”

“Your ankle’s injured, so just sit down. I’ll be right back.” Damien got Irina to sit on the ground, then picked up the bowl of medicinal herbs and stone dagger and walked towards the river, leaving Irina with a tall back view. His tail poked out from between the seams of his skirt and curled up in a pleasing way.

This warmed Irina’s heart. The whole mate thing aside, this beastman was so nice to her that she couldn’t find fault with him.

Damien returned in no time. Irina minced the garlic, ginger, and other seasonings on a stone and then applied them on some wolf meat that had been previously cut. After that, she sprinkled some salt on the meat and roasted it over the open fire.

Irina wasn’t very good at cooking, and she was just trying things out.

Before long, a wonderful smell came from the meat. Damien took a huge whiff of it, then sneezed as the smell was too overpowering.

“Oh my god! What’s this smell?” There was amazement in Damien’s eyes as he sniffed carefully. His mouth couldn’t help but water.

Irina knew from the aroma that she had succeeded. Pleased, she raised an eyebrow at Damien and cut a piece of meat with the stone dagger. “Try some.”

Damien took the piece of meat before his brain could react and stopped once he came back to his senses. He immediately thought that he was trying the meat for his female, then calmly placed it in his mouth.

“Mmm!” Damien’s golden eyes suddenly rounded and his vertical pupils dilated. He looked adorable in a dorky way as if he was a kitten who’d just secretly eaten some delicacies.

How did it taste so good? He couldn’t believe it!

“Is it good?” Irina licked her lips as she looked at Damien in anticipation.

“Mm mm mm!” Damien nodded instinctively, then stopped and chewed calmly. “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

“Tch!” Irina rolled her eyes. He clearly loved it. Did he think she couldn’t tell?

Irina cut a piece of meat for herself. It tasted good, but the meat was still extremely dry, and it was nothing compared to modern roasted meat. However, there was still a world of difference between the taste of this and that of the meat simply dipped in salt.

At this point, Damien believed that this was how people in Irina’s tribe roasted meat, and he no longer worried that the meat was poisonous. He excitedly roasted meat for Irina and fed her until she was full, then began to wolf down the rest of the meat.

Irina’s eyes widened as she watched Damien devour the rest of the meat. Before long, Damien had finished eating all the wolf meat, and there were only bones left.

Irina looked at Damien’s flat and firm abdomen in astonishment. Was this guy’s stomach a compressor?

Damien licked his lips and let out a burp. Satisfied, he said, “Mmm. I haven’t had such a good meal in a long time.”

Irina asked him worriedly, “Are you okay?”

Damien gave Irina a sidelong glance and said haughtily, “Don’t forget your male’s species. We leopards are carnivores, and we can definitely eat much more than you apes.”

Okay. Irina was convinced.