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The one who barged into the kitchen was none other than the monstrous Luarel.
Accompanying her were several of her attendants.
“What’s going on here? I can smell something sweet coming from inside.”
One of the servants quickly stepped in, warning her.
“You must be careful, Miss Luarel. That’s sugar—if you get burned, it’ll be serious.”
“Is that so? What are you doing with the sugar?”
Luarel asked again, but I didn’t bother responding.
Because honestly—I didn’t want to include her.
“This is something only I get to do. Go away.”
I replied bluntly. Luarel just smiled brightly.
“Greedy, aren’t you? Why are you trying to hog all the good stuff for yourself?”
“What?!”
“Does this kitchen belong to you or something? That’s hilarious, seriously. Right?”
Her attendants, standing behind her, snickered in agreement.
They laughed while looking straight at me.
It didn’t feel good—at all.
“Just wait and do it later. I was here first!”
“Really? But I want to do it now. Then… Head Chef, can you make a spot for me, just for me? I really want to do it right now.”
Pushing her way through, she pressed the issue. The chef, Hans, looked uncomfortable.
“Uh… okay, I understand. Shall we set up a spot over there, then?”
“Sure. I had no idea my little sister was so selfish and mean. Even though the chef now has to do twice the work because of her, she’s still being stubborn.”
“Who are you calling stubborn?!”
“Oh my, what you’re doing right now is being stubborn. Didn’t you know? You’re being nasty and unwilling to share.”
Luarel widened her eyes as if surprised and covered her mouth dramatically.
‘Ugh! I have so much I want to say!’
I was boiling inside.
I wanted to immediately bite into the candy gifted by the Spirit King of Chaos and fire off a barrage of words at her.
“Why should I be the one to yield?! You came later—you should wait your turn! And besides, you don’t even know what we’re doing!”
“Goodness, did you just call your big sister ‘you’? No manners at all, huh.”
Luarel let out a soft chuckle and then came over to snatch the ladle from my hand.
“The elder sister goes first. The younger one waits.”
“Miss Luarel! You shouldn’t just snatch things away from Miss Shupetty like that! And to say such harsh things to your own sister—how could you!”
Lina, who had been watching, stepped forward and shielded me, speaking firmly.
But Luarel didn’t even pretend to listen.
She turned to look at me and said with a cold, serious expression.
“Your maid is awfully rude. Looks like she needs a good spanking.”
“Just try laying a hand on Lina. I won’t let it slide—I really won’t!”
“Then you shouldn’t have been so stubborn in the first place. I asked nicely to join you, and you refused, didn’t you?”
[The Water Spirit King, ‘■■■■’, clutches their neck and collapses.]
[The Fire Spirit King, ‘■■■■■’, clicks their tongue, remarking that it's the first time they've seen someone shift blame and gaslight so slyly.]
[The Chaos Spirit King, ‘■■■■’, looks on in awe, impressed by such well-honed skill.]
Grinding my teeth, I decided to ignore the monster and just do things my way.
No point in talking when she refuses to listen.
And seriously—why should I back down?
At that moment, a new set of footsteps approached—belonging to none other than Brother Mikard.
“What the—? I couldn’t find you. What are you both doing here?”
“Brother!”
“Let’s see… making candy, huh?”
Smiling as he looked around, Brother Mikard’s gaze rested firmly on the attendants. Under his silent pressure, they awkwardly bowed and quickly shuffled out.
“So, both of you want to make candy here?”
He then turned to Hans, the head chef, and asked in a light, friendly tone.
“Yes, young master. That’s correct.”
“Then it’s only fair for Shupetty, who came first, to go ahead. Luarel can do it tomorrow.”
With Brother Mikard clearly taking my side, the anger boiling inside me started to calm down.
See? Doing things in order is the right way.
“No. I’m going to visit Grandfather tomorrow. I want to give him a dessert I made myself.”
“Does it have to be candy?”
“I could’ve made something else, but Shupetty’s hogging the kitchen right now. I don’t have the space or time to make anything. And it’s not even her kitchen!”
“Hmm. Then I guess there’s no other way. You two wait here for a moment.”
Saying that, Mikard took Hans and Lina with him out through the side door.
While they were gone, Luarel and I stood staring each other down.
“I’ve decided. You’ll each take one side of the table—Shupetty over here, Luarel on the opposite side. Hans will oversee everything, and the kitchen staff along with Lina will assist.”
“…!”
“And I’ll be helping too. Let’s do this together—the three of us.”
Luarel puffed out her cheeks in a sulky pout.
“Well, if Brother says so, I guess I have to listen.”
“Good girl. Sugar syrup can cause burns, so Hans will handle that part. You just think about what flavor you want to make.”
Still standing on the child-sized booster step, I quickly reached out and pulled the bowl of red ginseng extract toward me.
No way was I going to let that get taken.
And of course—Luarel yanked several bowls of flavors over to her side in one go!
‘Who's the greedy one now?’
Fuming, I puffed my cheeks out even more as I watched Hans pour the sugar syrup onto the hot iron plate.
Then, Brother Mikard came back to my side, leaned down, and whispered quietly.
“Just hold on a little longer. This won’t take long.”
“…”
“You know, right? Little detective.”
His gentle hand ruffled my hair, and with that, I slowly let the puffed-up air out of my cheeks.
‘Right. Class Leader Leviwood said to accommodate Luarel.’
[The Emotion Spirit King ‘■■■’ suggests just throwing yourself on the floor and throwing a tantrum.]
[Crawl backward and scream!]
‘Oh, come on. Lord Emotion Spirit King, that’s what a baby would do.’
I’m already four years old. I’m a grown-up now.
Anyway, after that, we actually managed to make candy pretty peacefully.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a jewel candy mold.”
“Oh my, how childish.”
Luarel, the monster, briefly showed interest in my jeweled ring candy mold but then quietly lost interest.
She probably thought something like that wouldn’t suit a grandfather anyway.
‘But it’s so cute!’
Tick, tock—time passed, and finally, my first candy was complete.
I quickly slipped the candy ring onto my finger. It was already getting sticky, but I loved how it felt. I nodded in satisfaction.
“Lina, stir this for me.”
“…Yes, Miss Luarel.”
Luarel was making a second batch of sugar syrup, but of course, she didn’t stir it herself. She made Lina do it.
“Ugh, it’s hot. Isn’t there something to cool me down?”
“Would you like iced tea?”
“Yes, that sounds nice. I’m going to rest for a bit, so stir it and pour it in for me, Lina. Don’t forget the peach syrup.”
I scowled at Luarel, then got back to working on my next candy ring.
The finger hole was too small again.
My grandpa has huge hands!
“But hey, little one… Are you really going to put that on Grandpa’s finger?”
“Mhm? Yup!”
“Wow… I think you're the only person in the world who would ever think of doing something like that to the head of the Pashayen family.”
Brother Mikard looked amazed.
‘Sure, he’s the head of the family—but he’s also my grandpa.’
If I said, “I made it just for you, Grandpa,” I bet he’d let me put it on him!
“Is it done?”
“Yes, Miss Luarel.”
Even though Lina had done nearly everything, Luarel didn’t say thank you.
She just stood beside her and checked the bubbling pot of syrup.
Since I had finished mine, I packed everything neatly into a box, ready to escape the hot kitchen.
But then—
Luarel’s ladle struck the pot.
It wobbled.
“Ah—oh no!”
“...!”
The pot tipped over!
And it was falling—straight toward my head.
Scalding sugar syrup spilled out, everything moving in what felt like slow motion.
For a brief moment, the way it shimmered even looked kind of... pretty.
But if it hit me, it’d be really bad.
My legs wouldn’t move. I was frozen in place.
“Shupetty!!”
BANG!
In that single, fleeting second—while everyone else stood frozen in shock...
Brother Mikard moved.
...And so did Podong.
“Kyaaaaa!”
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