Chapter 63
Ding.
“Welco—…”
Ceres’s bright face quickly darkened the moment she saw who entered.
“If you make that kind of face at me, I’ll be hurt.”
Kainel’s aide, Del, smiled as if offended and spoke gently.
“If you don’t want to see this face, maybe don’t come here?”
“Haha, once you sign, I won’t need to come anymore. Should I ask if Lord Kainel wants to raise your salary?”
Why does talking to either of them feel like speaking to a wall? Makes you want to smash something.
“Lord Kainel, this is what you requested.”
Del had both arms full of small boxes.
The sweet scent wafting from them made it easy to guess what was inside.
A moment later, a variety of desserts were spread out across the table in front of Kainel.
“…You asked him to buy those and bring them here to eat?”
“Why? Is that a problem?”
“Wouldn’t you say it is?”
Ceres looked at Kainel, who casually nodded as if it were no big deal, in utter disbelief.
Bringing food from another shop to eat in her shop? Unbelievable.
You hate sweet things…
Did his tastes change?
But judging by how he still picks out bell peppers, probably not…
“Are you going to eat all of that? You like sweets now?”
“You can have some too.”
“Me?”
“My aide bought too much.”
Kainel clicked his tongue and pointed behind him at Del.
Del’s eyes briefly widened but quickly returned to normal.
‘You’re the one who specified the shop and asked me to bring one of each dessert they had, Your Grace.’
Though grumbling internally, Del smiled politely and bowed as if admitting his mistake.
“I want some too! Can I?”
“…Suit yourself.”
Chaian, who adored sweets, immediately raised his hand. He had clearly forgotten his earlier gripes with Kainel.
“Oh? This is from Laila Dessert Café, isn’t it?”
“Laila? The one at the intersection?”
“Yup!”
“Is that place still open?”
“Sure is. You know it, Ceres? Well, it’s been open for over 300 years.”
“…Of course I know.”
It’s been at least 320 years.
She could still clearly picture the lady owner and the patissier going around promoting the place.
She used to love their desserts so much that she made time to visit two or three times a week even when busy. When she couldn’t go, Arthia or Kainel would bring some back for her.
“Still so colorful as ever.”
The variety of cakes, vibrant and cute just like before, brought a wave of nostalgia.
“I love desserts from here!”
“Big surprise.”
Ceres chuckled and placed a slice of chocolate-dusted cake in front of Chaian.
Then she picked up a slice of walnut pie, rich with cinnamon scent, and set it in front of Kainel.
“……”
Kainel quietly stared at the pie in front of him.
It was the only dessert he ever ate, despite not being fond of sweets.
He’d always had this walnut pie when visiting that café with Grace since childhood.
Kainel’s gaze drifted toward Ceres, who was happily eating a slice of seasonal fruit cake.
The very cake that Grace used to love most.
…It doesn’t make sense.
This thought—really doesn’t make any sense.
And yet, Kainel couldn’t pull his eyes away from Ceres.
***
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going up?”
“Who are you?”
“Me?”
Ben, a member of the information guild Sky, let out a long sigh as he looked at the children staring blankly at him.
“A delivery guy.”
“A delivery guy? What are you delivering?”
“I’m here to watch over you.”
“Why are you doing that?”
“Beats me. Why am I doing this?”
Yeah, I’d really like to know that myself.
Ben sighed again, even deeper this time.
A few days earlier, Ceres had asked him for a favor—to look after the kids on her behalf for a few days.
There wasn’t anything specific to do—just stop them if they seemed like they were overworking themselves.
‘Why me?’
‘Don’t want to? Then don’t.’
‘…Then what are you going to do?’
‘I’ll talk to the Sky Leader and ask them to send someone else. What choice do I have? I’ll say I caught him because he’s incompetent, that he never listens, and that he’s useless. I’ll make sure they pay for putting someone on my tail without permission.’
‘I wasn’t caught because I’m incompetent!’
‘……’
‘…Fine, I’ll do it, okay?’
‘I’m telling you, I’m the best in our organization!’
To accuse him of being caught because of lack of skill—what a slander!
‘It’s that woman who’s weird!’
I mean, how does she pick up on my presence like that so quickly? What, is she a sword master or something?
But if this gets reported to the boss, and the other team members find out…
“…Kids, life really isn’t easy.”
“Huh?”
“What are you doing? Aren’t we leaving?”
“Well…”
“Whoever comes in last has to run up and down from the stone mountain to the snowy mountain three times.”
“Aaaah!”
“I’ll increase the weight of the pouches on your arms and legs too.”
Startled by the sudden threat, the kids—who had been confused by the situation—screamed and bolted forward at the mention of Ceres’s signature repeated-training threats.
“…Ha.”
Ben let out a long sigh again as he watched them take off.
His steps quickened as he chased after them, recalling Ceres’s final warning.
‘If the kids get hurt… You know what’ll happen, right?’
No way they’d really get hurt from this… right? Right?
“Damn it!”
Ben sped up even more.
***
“Good morning, Miss Ceres.”
Early in the morning, Ceres headed to the shop only to find Del, Kainel’s aide, standing perfectly straight out front. She clicked her tongue lightly.
‘Are they seriously trying to block business from dawn now?’
What time is it? Why is he already here?
“Kai— I mean, where’s your superior?”
“Lord Kainel didn’t come today. I’m alone.”
“Alone?”
Sure enough, there was no trace of Kainel nearby.
So he really came alone. But why?
“May I ask for a bit of your time?”
At the polite request, Ceres stared at him for a moment.
‘What’s he trying to say this time?’
That always-smiling face no longer looked kind to her.
As someone by Kainel’s side, he was perfectly matched with his master when it came to gently pushing her into signing contracts.
“Come in.”
Still, she couldn’t just leave someone who showed up this early standing outside, so Ceres let Del into the shop.
After sipping the tea she courteously offered, Del got straight to the point.
“Could we not consider this a debt collection but rather a transaction?”
“A transaction?”
“Yes. I’d be grateful if you thought of it as a trade with me.”
“What’s the difference? I don’t see any.”
Ceres turned her back to him, unimpressed.
What was this, wordplay?
“Lord Kainel isn’t eating properly.”
Del’s sudden follow-up made her stop as if he were trying to catch her attention.
“Who’s not eating?”
Ceres stopped mid-step on her way to the kitchen.
He’s not eating?
“…Picky eater, huh?”
He was a picky eater as a kid. And he was particular about so many things—it was hard to feed him.
Ceres looked at Del with a bit of pity, understanding the hardship.
You’ve got it tough, don’t you?
“It’s beyond picky. He’s basically not eating at all.”
“Not at all?”
“Yes.”
“Is he… crazy?”
Crazy or not—why isn’t he eating?
“It’s been a while now.”
Del let out a quiet sigh. Ever since Grace’s body was destroyed and vanished, Kainel had eaten even less.
“But he did eat the stew Miss Ceres made. So we were relieved for a while…”
“And now?”
Isn’t it fine if he at least eats the stew?
‘Wait.’
Has he even been eating stew lately?
He’s been coming to the shop, but… she didn’t recall seeing him actually eat.
“He says the taste has changed.”
“The taste?”
“Yes. He says the one made by you and the one made by the current chef is completely different.”
What nonsense is that? Even I can barely tell the difference between the stew I make and Mark’s.
‘Well, maybe… just slightly…’
It’s true there’s a very subtle difference in flavor—but he noticed?
—
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