Translator and Editor: Maru and Aki

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 21

Rere and I giggled in a good mood and arrived in front of the kitchen.

“Where is this?”

“It’s the kitchen! No one is using it for now so I’m using it for a while.”

“Aah! So it’s a kitchen only for mom!”

“Of course.”

The moment we were about to enter the kitchen, the nanny ran to us.

“I’ve brought what you said.”

It was the exact white apron I wore, only the size was different.

“…Well, isn’t it cute?”

As soon as she saw it, Rere came down from my arms with a delighted expression.

“Now, try it on.”

The nanny, who had a proud smile on her face, hurriedly put it on Rere. Then, Rere spun around after the white apron fastened to her blue dress.

“I’m not doing this because I like it. It’s because mom likes it.”

“I know. Our Rere is so big-hearted, so she always does what her mom wants.”

“That’s right. So let’s begin making the chocolate.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll prepare it.”

Just when I was busy taking out various ingredients on the table, someone entered the kitchen.

“You must be doing something fun.”

I was stiffened at the sudden appearance of a man.

“You…”

“I was on my way and stopped when I heard a noise coming from here. I also saw a lot of maids guarding here, unlike usual.”

At that time, Rere welcomed him with a bright smile.

“It’s Luca. Luca, do you want to see it? I’m making amazing chocolate.”

Only Rere didn’t care about his abrupt appearance. Rere grinned excitedly at him, while I was rather burdened by him.

I didn’t think he was a bad guy, but because of that, I felt more uncomfortable. I felt that he emitted forced emotion. Meanwhile, Rere held Luca’s hand and brought him into the kitchen.

“Miss, are you making your own chocolate?”

“Of course~ You’re looking forward to it, aren’t you?”

“Very much. Then, can I watch you from here?”

Luca had already pulled the chair and leaned against the table even before he was given permission.

“Of course. I’ll give Luca special permission to see it. Mom. you can start.”

“Huh? What?”

“Moving your hands like this and that!”

The child’s eyes glistened. I didn’t mean to teach her from the beginning, but when Rere told me to do it with so much confidence, I smiled and lifted the child to the small stairs.

“I can’t do that. We were supposed to do it together, right? What we’re going to do today isn’t difficult.”

Today, I’m going to make chocolate Pave.

“Rere just needs to diligently melt the chocolate.”

“Huh? Is that all I need to do?”

I glanced at the nanny, in case it was dangerous for the child, and she naturally clung to Rere’s side.

As anyone could make it easily, the recipe for chocolate Pave, which suits everyone’s taste, was simple. I just need whipped cream, chocolate butter, and cocoa powder.

I worked hard to prepare the mold by warming up the whipped cream next to Rere. In the meantime, the chocolate melted, and I poured the whipped cream on top of the melted chocolate made by Rere to make Ganache. Lastly, I held Rere’s hand to melt the butter and poured it into the pan.

“Now, it’s done.”

“Done? Aren’t you going to shape it up?”

“Yes. But we need to put it in there so it will solidify.” Rere pouted, displeased by my words.

“It’s not cool! It’s just ugly chocolate!”

As soon as I tried to soothe the child, Luca stood up, leaned closer to Rere, and stroked her head.

“There may be ugly chocolate in the world, but every chocolate made by miss is pretty. And it looks delicious. In my eyes, it’s prettier than any other chocolate.”

“…Tsk, I wanted to make something as cool as my mom’s…Don’t treat me like a child!”

But Luca’s effort to pacify the child was useless since Rere put her hands on her hips and glared at me.

“Of course not, Rere. If we do everything at once, there’ll be nothing left for us to do tomorrow, right?”

“Ah…!”

Only then did Rere lift her chin up as though she understood something.

“That’s right. Mom must be bored. Do you want to play with me that badly?”

“Of course~ I want to play with you everyday.”

“Okay. Since mom wants it so badly, I’ll make choco with you tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. That’s good enough, right?”

“Yeah!”

I ended up spending my time chatting about various things to match the child’s rhythm.

There was cold storage here. Simply put, it was similar to a modern refrigerator, only the shape was different. The storage was equipped with mana stone. As a result, the chilly air came out of the storage that looked like a drawer and cooled the chocolate.

Mana stone was convenient in many ways. From a cold storage to an appliance to keep you warm during night time. It could also be used to teleport, however, I couldn’t use it very well. In short, mana stone was used in various places and ways.

Surprisingly, I heard the Duke of Petri become more powerful and had plenty of assets compared to other noble families because of his possession of the rare mana stone mine.

“Fortunately, it’s all done!”

“That’s the end?”

When I took out the chocolate, Rere, who clung close to me, pouted her lips.

“Yeah! Now, it’s Rere’s turn to sprinkle this.”

I held out the cocoa powder to Rere.

“What’s this?”

“You just need to sprinkle it on top and we’re done.”

“We’re done already? What about the garnish?”

“That’s the garnish.”

“What is this..?”

When I was about to say ‘cocoa’, the child put her face close to the cocoa powder.

Perhaps because her nose was itchy, Rere suddenly sneezed loudly. Thanks to that, the cocoa powder flew around in an instant.

“Pfff…damn it…mom! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you!”

Along with the sweet scent, the cocoa powder flew around all over the place like a cloud of dust.

“No, that can’t be.”

But Rere was very angry.

“I…must excuse myself.” Luca said.

Since he stood in front of Rere, his state was the most awful. His handsome face was covered with chocolate powder. The child’s face was also crumpled.

“It’s not my fault! It’s mom’s fault!”

“Miss, I’m fine. More than that, your face is dirty, miss.”

As if he was the embodiment of the word ‘kindness’ itself, he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and immediately wiped Rere’s face.

Meanwhile, Rere, who took his treatment silently, became sullen and shifted her gaze to the floor.

“…Luca is sweet.”

“I’m only sweet to you, miss.”

“…I wish…Luca is my daddy.”

“Is that so?”

“Daddy…. He has never wiped my face with his hands. It’s not a compliment!”

The sullen Rere snatched the handkerchief from his hand and wiped her own face.

“Luca, go away. I don’t want to see you.”

“Alright, miss. Then, I’ll go and wash my face, too.” After that reply, he gave a short greeting and quietly left the kitchen.

As soon as he left, Rere took a deep sigh and handed me the handkerchief.

“Wipe it or not, I don’t care!”

“Are you giving me this so I can wipe my face?”

“What nonsense. I just want you to clean your face and return it to Luca!”

“Really? Thank you.”

“Ah, no, you can’t. I take back my word. When mom’s done, give it to nanny so she can return it to Luca. Mom, you should never, ever, meet Luca!”

Her red eyes directly stared at me, so I leaned slightly towards the child who seemed worried.

“Rere, why do you hate it when mom meets with Luca?”

“What if…mom…throws away my daddy and choose Luca! If it’s me, I’ll choose Luca, too. Because daddy’s really not good!”

“You’re right, Rere. Do you know how much I hate your stupid daddy?”

“…I know. Ah, no, I mean, I don’t know. And you’re mistaken, I don’t like mom, either!”

“Huh?” The child, who suddenly became furious, glared at me.

“Mom, you must think I like you, right?”

“Ah…well…maybe?”

“Stupid. I don’t like mom. You’re stupid. You always make mistakes. Rere doesn’t like you, but still, Rere wants you to stay! Daddy is the same!”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Mom, I don’t like you….but I want you to be with me. You don’t understand that feeling!”

I leaned over and listened to the child. But Rere thumped her chest with her hand as though she found it frustrating.

“How frustrating! Mom is clueless about it because mom is stupid, but that’s how my dad feels. So don’t carry any weird feelings! Okay?”

“Okay, I get it.”

Your daddy won’t choose me, and I won’t choose him either, anyway.

‘Even if I had a choice, I would never choose the duke.’

Sometimes, the Duke looked like a person who was devoid of any emotions. Particularly, he lacked kindness and affection. So, Rere didn’t need to worry about that since I won’t choose Luca, either.

As soon as the child is healthy, I’m going to leave this family and live in a place where I won’t hear any news about this family. My goal is still the same. ‘Run Away’. It’s only an extra that I would keep the child healthy so she won’t get hurt.

Meanwhile, Rere, who had shaken off all the cocoa powder on her face with the help of her nanny, sprinkled the remaining powder on top of the Ganache.

When I almost finished wiping my face with Luca’s handkerchief, Rere pointed her forefinger at the chocolate.

“Mom. Are we done with this?”

“Ah, we’re done.”

“Are you saying this ugly thing is delicious?”

“Yeah, try it.”

“No. Mom, you try it first in case it’s not delicious.”

Rere, who picked up the chocolate with her fingers that were fully smeared with chocolate, naturally held it out to me first.

“Are you giving it to your mom first?”

“No! I’m afraid there may be something weird inside. That white liquid that you put in the chocolate earlier is very suspicious!”

It was just whipped cream, but Rere kept stretching out her hand while mouthing ‘Ahh’. So, I had no choice but to put the chocolate into my mouth.

Perhaps because the ingredients were good, the chocolate melted in my mouth immediately.

“Mhm. It’s really delicious. It’s probably because I made it with Rere.”

“Really? Is it really delicious? It’s delicious because I made it well. I must be very talented.”

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Advanced Chapters!

Rate the novel on Novel Updates.

Join our discord to receive the latest updates as soon as possible!