“Wha—warm, soft… Idledra, what exactly did you give me? Why did it have to be mouth-to-mouth?”
They had clearly agreed that only physical contact was necessary, yet this girl had pushed her luck again! Hailey wiped her lip where she had been bitten, glaring with a resentful expression at the calm person beside her.
“Hailey was the one who asked me to be proactive, so how can you blame me? If anything, it’s you who pushed me away so rudely… waah.”
Idledra licked her lips, putting on a weak, bullied act. She blinked her large, pink eyes timidly, looking tearfully at Hailey, who wore a look of utter disbelief and disgust.
‘Che… Hailey isn’t as easy to fool as before. What should I do? Should I quietly use force again? No, never mind. Hailey would definitely be unhappy. Although, Hailey as a little crybaby… hehe…’
Watching the expressions flicker across Idledra’s face like a performance, Hailey felt like this girl was brewing more wicked ideas.
To avoid being tricked again, she lightly wiped her hands and prepared to leave.
“I’m going to make lunch. If you dare to play any more tricks, there will be nothing on your plate this afternoon but bitter melon mixed with bitter melon salad.”
“Waah… Hailey, why are you so cruel? If you’re not by my side, even if I ate one thousand bitter melons, I wouldn’t feel the bitterness.”
Idledra complained like a spoiled child before lazily lying back on the sofa to let Hailey go. After all, a person shouldn’t go hungry; one needs a full stomach to have the strength for mischief…
Since she was being unusually obedient today, Hailey decided to set aside the bitter melons for now.
She would make some desserts instead; perhaps Idledra’s heart was still feeling a bit hurt and afraid.
Desserts were always the best at healing the heart. For someone like Idledra who loved sweets, they should be somewhat effective.
For some reason, an image of Idledra eating with relish floated into Hailey’s mind…
‘I-I’m not thinking about her. This is just what a chef imagines for every diner, okay? So, I definitely won’t feel especially happy just because I see her smile. I won’t!’
However, when she snapped back to reality, she realized she had subconsciously sprinkled a lot of powdered sugar on the Soufflé Cake in her hands.
She had even added some coconut-like seasoning brought by traveling merchants.
“Why was it so exquisite?!”
No, this was just a chef’s pursuit of excellence in their craft.
It definitely wasn’t because she was putting extra effort into preparing a snack for her.
Besides, she had prepared a portion for herself as well—
Hailey froze as she looked at her own portion, which was a simple cake with just a bit of powdered sugar.
For a moment, she couldn’t seem to find a new reason to convince her heart.
“It was a bit awkward…”
‘It’s fine, Edhailey. I’m just showing favoritism right now. In a bit, I’ll give her this very ordinary-looking cake to let her understand that I hold the power of life and death over her desserts—’
“Hailey~ I can already smell the dessert.”
Lying on the sofa, Idledra tilted her head back to watch Hailey walking toward her, seeing her upside down.
The aroma of honey and malt had already drifted out of the kitchen along with the exquisite snack on the plate.
She had to admit that a small part of the reason she liked Hailey was because she was so skilled at making delicious snacks.
For someone who had never tasted anything sweet since childhood, she had a bit of a compensatory complex.
Of course, that certainly wasn’t the only reason she liked Hailey.
Moreover, even if someone else’s snacks were more delicious or exquisite… in short, if Hailey didn’t allow it, she wouldn’t touch a single bite.
“Alright, alright, stop being a smooth-talker.”
Hailey handed the plate over casually and then picked up her own cake, eating it slowly.
She felt like something was wrong.
“Did I forget something again? No, how could I forget?”
“Hailey is the best. Do you want to try a piece of mine? It looks like snow on top.”
“Right.”
Her plan to firmly tease her had been completely forgotten.
Although she didn’t particularly like things that were too sweet, how could she forget this time… ‘mm’, it was actually quite good.
As a piece of soft cake was suddenly stuffed into her mouth, the taste of crunchy coconut and dense cake made Hailey temporarily forget her previous thoughts.
Her skills were indeed excellent.
It was also worth the effort she spent hunting for good goods from those traveling merchants.
Next time, she would try making coconut Pudding or something.
Hailey savored the bite with satisfaction, but her cheeks grew hot under the gaze of a certain someone who was constantly peeking at her.
“I’ve already given half of mine to Hailey. Does that count as Hailey accepting my apology?”
“It’s a snack I made myself, so it was mine to begin with anyway… chew… what kind of apology is that?”
Even though that was what she said, Idledra could already feel it; Hailey’s heart seemed to be wagging a little tail.
“By the way, Idledra… are you really okay now? About that matter…”
“What matter? Is it about Hailey secretly being mean in the kitchen and wanting to strip me of my right to enjoy sugar? Or about stealing my cake?”
Idledra teased Hailey leisurely as if nothing was wrong, but for once, Hailey didn’t respond. She simply remained silent.
“I can hear it.”
Hailey spoke suddenly. Idledra’s playful expression froze for a moment, and then her eyes turned calm yet somewhat helpless as she looked at her.
Since Idledra could sense Hailey’s mood, how could Hailey not sense the same thing?
“You’re crying. You’re still afraid, right?”
Idledra didn’t speak. She just sat there blankly. But those aggrieved, pitiful eyes seemed to be telling Hailey something.
‘I’m so lonely. Don’t leave me!’
She was just like those big kids who were afraid of thunder; in front of others, they would put on a brave act as if they feared nothing in the world.
What did she mean by saying she would be fine after crying once by her side? What did she mean by saying it would be fine if she left some marks? She was still forcing herself to be strong.
Even though they had done so much preparation before, Idledra was actually becoming more and more afraid, despite her calm appearance.
Hailey had no choice but to expose the bad child who liked to lie.
Who told her to keep everything bottled up inside, refusing to say it out loud?
“I don’t have Mind-reading, you know. I just feel like you’re still sad. Let’s just hug for a bit…”
“Even so, it felt like she was the one who had been caught, right?”
She was the one who had almost been killed by that damn Pope.
No matter how you looked at it, shouldn’t she be the aggrieved one?
Forget it, she would comfort her first.
At the very least, she wouldn’t be able to cure this girl’s Separation Anxiety in the short term. She would just have to take it one step at a time.
“…”
With teary eyes, Idledra looked up and nuzzled against Hailey, as if she were about to act spoiled and ask for something again.
Without needing to think, Hailey could guess what she wanted to do.
“Again? …This is the last time. Remember to be gentle. I’ll move the Mana closer…”
Hailey closed her eyes, something she rarely did, and allowed a certain someone’s lips to carefully press against her own.