A strawberry cake, made with heartfelt care. How should one go about it?
The exceptionally virtuous girl, wearing an apron, moved with practiced skill around the kitchen.
She beat the eggs, added powdered sugar, and whisked the mixture until it formed silky ribbons before folding in cake flour and vanilla powder. Butter was added and mixed until uniform, then the batter was poured into a parchment-lined cake mold.
She tapped the mold to release any air bubbles and placed it in a preheated 180-degree oven for about 20 minutes. Afterward, it was inverted and removed from the mold. She then heated water and powdered sugar to make a simple syrup, stirring until it dissolved before letting it cool completely and adding a splash of Cointreau.
The washed strawberries were hulled and cut into thin slices.
Next, she brushed the surface of the cake with the syrup, spread a layer of whipped cream, and smoothed the surface with a spatula. The sliced strawberries were arranged on top of the cream, followed by another layer of whipped cream.
She smoothed the cream to cover the strawberries, placed the second layer of sponge cake on top, and frosted the entire cake with whipped cream, evening it out with the spatula.
She tidied the surface, making the appearance smooth and sharp-edged. A piping bag fitted with a star tip was filled with more whipped cream. She arranged whole strawberries in a circular wreath on top, then piped pointed petals beside them.
"That smells amazing!"
A loud, carefree voice drifted in from the living room.
A moment later, a white-haired fluffball poked her head into the kitchen, her small nose twitching constantly at the wonderful aroma.
She looked rather like a foraging white hamster.
"Can I have some?"
Miss Mei's bestie—Miss Sirin—bounced into the kitchen, drawn by the temptation of food, and posed the question to Mei.
Perhaps because Sirin had agreed to go wedding dress shopping with her, the girl was in high spirits. She placed a beautifully finished slice of the strawberry cake onto an exquisite plate.
Then, she pointed to the other small cakes still on the large platter and smiled at Sirin.
"Of course, you can."
That kind and gentle smile, landing on Sirin—who had just spoken with Kiana and promised to help her—caused a flicker of guilt to cross her face.
Kiana loved Li Zihan.
It wasn't just ordinary love; it was a pathological love.
Because of her decidedly unpleasant past, she clung to the young man who had pulled her out of that miserable history with a morbid dependency.
Even knowing that Ah Li wouldn't abandon her, she couldn't bear the thought of him suddenly marrying Mei.
Miss Herrscher of the Void, who could send people directly into outer space or cram them into the Earth's core just by remembering their coordinates, recalled the pleas of the girl whose everything she had once stolen. The sense of indebtedness in her heart grew even heavier.
I'm sorry, Mei.
Kiana needs the status of 'wife' far more than you do.
Your wedding will have to be postponed.
I'm sorry.
...I'm sorry.
"Sirin, are you thinking about something?"
Mei, who had clearly noticed the change in Sirin's expression, looked a little puzzled.
"I was just thinking about the food I made back in that world Ah Li called 'Campione!'," the white-haired fluffball said, her melancholy and guilt quickly masked by a goofy smile as she spouted nonsense.
"Back then, I made a whole table of really awful food and made Ah Li taste-test it. Thinking about it now, I feel pretty bad for him."
"Did that really happen?"
Miss Mei, who had also been to the Campione! world but in a different group from Ana and Sirin, looked somewhat confused.
"It was Tianhuo Cuisine."
The girl, who had actually punished him severely because the Servant he summoned was a ridiculously sultry loli, continued her tall tale.
"That bastard Ah Li was always looking down on the Tianhuo Cuisine my old man invented. It really pissed me off."
Tianhuo Cuisine?
Miss Mei recalled what, exactly, Tianhuo Cuisine entailed, and couldn't help but shiver.
Hey, hey, hey, that stuff where you just throw everything together regardless of what it is and light it on fire... is that really meant for human consumption?
She felt she could finally understand why Sirin was capable of eating raw dumplings when she was starving.
If you grow up eating things like Tianhuo Cuisine, being able to stomach uncooked frozen dumplings wasn't strange at all.
"If he ate a whole table of Tianhuo Cuisine, then Zihan... really had it rough."
Rough my ass.
Hearing Miss Mei's words, Sirin fumed internally.
That bastard Ah Li had taken advantage of her guilt over her excessive punishment, dragged her in front of a full-length mirror while she was wearing a cat-eared maid outfit, and did that kind of thing.
Watching the entire process of herself being possessed in the mirror was explosively shameful!
How was he the pitiful one?
The pitiful ones were her and Ana, who was forced to knead dough for a midnight snack in the kitchen while being kneaded and "outputted" herself, all under the pretext of "control training"!
The mere thought of that unbearable past made Sirin want to bite that bastard's thing off and just be "sisters" from now on.
Unfortunately, she couldn't do that.
She couldn't, if only for Kiana's sake.
At that thought, a hint of frustration appeared on Miss Sirin's face.
However, this was obviously not something she could tell Mei.
Describing her various 'plays' with Mei's fiancé right in front of the bride-to-be was tantamount to flaunting the affair right in her face.
The little boat of their friendship would capsize on the spot.
Although Miss Sirin was about to help Kiana, she was not prepared to have a complete falling out with Miss Mei.
"That's why I feel a little guilty," Sirin said with an awkward smile, the guilt actually stemming from the fact she was about to help Kiana complete her own wedding and get a marriage certificate before Mei's could even begin.
"After all, I forced Ah Li to eat a whole table of it."
Zihan really is unlucky, Miss Mei thought.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore."
"Now, it's time to enjoy some delicious food!"
Very quickly, Miss Sirin picked up a piece of cake, stuffed it into her mouth, and began chewing heartily.
The sweet taste of the cake made the girl squint her eyes in pleasure.
"By the way, Sirin, can you do something for me?"
While the other girl was wolfing down her cake, the girl who had already planned to ask Sirin for a favor smiled gently and made her request to her bestie.
"What is it?"
Sirin, seeing a trace of guilt deep in Mei's eyes, blinked and asked.
"Cake is best when it's fresh."
The girl, still holding the plate with the strawberry cake, had a smile so shy it made even Sirin's heart flutter.
She wanted her lover to be the first to taste the cake that was filled with her affection.
She turned to the girl who commanded the power of space and voiced her request.
"Could I ask you to take me to Chaldeas?"
Author's Note:
PS: Damn it, damn it, this plot development is not right.
How did I end up persecuting Mei again, ahhhhhh!!