Chapter: 13
“Today, we have a guest coming.”
“A guest? Should I prepare some tea and cookies?”
“Well, it would be nice to prepare something.”
Mia thought of the cookies that Lian had baked before, licking her lips at the memory. The cookies, dotted with dark little bits, were so ridiculously sweet that they could almost melt her usual expression away.
‘By the way, what were those black bits?’
She felt a fleeting curiosity but quickly brushed it aside. After all, Mia had zero talent in cooking. Considering her knack for alchemy, it was a bizarre contradiction.
Thus began another day just like any other.
*
Ding -.
With a lively chime, the oven came to a halt.
“Let’s see -..”
As I opened the oven, hot air rushed out. I pulled out the tray piled high with cookies like a pro.
“Heh, perfectly baked.”
The kitchen table was like a mountain of cookies, thanks to my careful consideration of the children’s appetites.
“Ah..”
“Wow…”
As the sweet smell of cookies wafted through the air, the kids peeked through the kitchen doorway, their eyes glued to the cookies.
“I’ll give you some after you eat your lunch, so behave and wait, okay?”
“Okay!”
“Yes!”
The kids, who had just started their training with Noah, could already manage simple phrases.
‘Now, should I prepare a few other things before the guest arrives?’
I needed to tidy up the area for the guest and find some tea to serve. Muttering to myself, I grabbed the kitchen drawer handle.
“The tea should be in here -.”
As I opened the drawer with a hint of skepticism, I discovered a glass jar filled with tea leaves.
‘Today must be my lucky day.’
You see, there are some funny rules in the comedy world. When a pile of random objects is stacked, it’s treated like a single mass and looks kinda dull, like brown or gray. And when you rummage through a mountain of junk, sometimes stuff you’ve never seen before pops out.
Just like now—if you hint that something’s inside, an object that wasn’t there before might just show up! But hey, it doesn’t always happen—it’s pure luck!
‘I thought it would take about 245 tries. Guess I’m lucky!’
Constantly opening and slamming a drawer like a madman is hard work, but hey, coming from a comedy background, flinging doors open and shut with the speed of wind? Easy peasy.
‘Tea’s ready, time to grab other stuff!’
Setting the tea aside, I left the kitchen. From the corner of my eye, I saw the kiddos who’d been hanging around the kitchen getting herded off by Noah and Pia.
‘How heartwarming.’
It warmed my heart to see the kids who used to nearly starve in prison now getting a taste of ‘ordinary’ life. As I wiped my nose with my finger, I felt my waist getting a bit heavy.
“…Jess?”
“Hmm.”
“What are you doing over there?”
“Playing with Lian.”
Jess mumbled while clinging to my back.
“Why…?”
“Protect Lian.”
Her words tugged at my heart. Ah, is this what it’s like to raise a daughter?
“Alright, let’s stick together today.”
“Mhm.”
With Jess firmly attached to my waist, I began cleaning. She was a beastkin and super light, so it was no problem at all.
“Phew, this should be good enough.”
Looking at the shiny reception room, I wiped the sweat trickling down my forehead with my sleeve.
Swish, swish.
I could feel Jess wagging her tail against my waist. Sometimes the tip of her tail would thump against my thighs.
“Let’s get ready for the meal now.”
“Mhm!”
With her little voice brightening as she peeked from my back, Jess was in high spirits.
Thump thump thump!
Her tail was wagging wildly. Honestly, I was worried she’d hurt herself, so I hurried towards the dining room.
*
In one corner of the reception room stood a full-length mirror over 2 meters tall. Suddenly, its surface began to ripple—a bit like when a stone drops in water.
Zing -..
With eerie sounds, the mirror rippled even more, and suddenly, a shiny shoe tip popped out from the bottom.
Woosh -.
It looked like someone was being ejected from the mirror.
“Haah, looks like I’ve arrived right on time.”
Dovan emerged from the mirror, his cheekbones twitching as he waved a small wand in his hand.
His form became all translucent and shiny. Admiring his brilliant use of dark magic, Dovan thought he looked fancy gazing around the room with a pleased grin.
“Ahh -.. As expected, this place lacks beauty… Huh?”
Just as he was about to click his tongue at how basic the décor was, Dovan’s eyes landed on something sparkly on the floor.
“What’s this… Ahh?”
It dawned on him that the sparkle was not just on the floor but also up the walls.
“How could this be…!”
Astounded, he stepped forward.
Snap!
“Ugh…!”
Dovan fell flat on his face, having tripped over his own feet. The floor was way too slick, making him slip like a cartoon character.
Thud!
“Ugh…!”
Still sprawled like a frog on the floor, he grabbed his chin and started standing up.
“That wench set up a pretty decent trap, huh?”
Dovan was itching to unleash his dark magic and blow the place up, but he stifled his anger.
‘Huff… I’ve got to hold off to snag those poisonous herbs.’
His initial plan was never to hide in Mia’s lair. He had simply wanted to pass along some quality ingredients in exchange for the poisonous plants he desired.
‘That cursed wench, what the heck is she experimenting with? She’s totally clueless about aesthetics!’
Mia had turned down Dovan’s request because she was keen to experiment with the poisonous herbs on Lian.
Frustrated by continuous experiment failures, Dovan hatched a plan to sneak into Mia’s hideout and swipe the toxic herbs.
‘All I need to do is quietly nab the herbs and skedaddle!’
With his eyes gleaming, he slowly slithered out of the reception room.
Click.
He popped open the door and peered out. His first sight was the deep purple floor and beige walls. The expensive wood allowed the house to glow in a dark purple hue slightly mixed with black.
‘Lucky me, looks like I’m not detected.’
Feeling relieved at the absence of magical energy, he stepped out the door.
‘Keke, if Lania hadn’t chosen her, she would’ve been tossed aside. So, it’s no surprise there’s such a gap in our abilities.’
He couldn’t help but grin as he waved his wand.
‘Alright, point me to where those poisonous herbs are!’
Suddenly, a black energy, visible only to Dovan, shot forward ahead of him. He followed the gleam, stepping onward.
“Let’s go there.”
“Okay!”
After how long, he began to hear the awkward voices of little children. Dovan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
‘Ha, acting all high and mighty claiming she’s uninterested in human experimentation, but she’s been sneaking behind like a rat? Ridiculous.’
With a crooked smile, he thought to himself.
‘Heh, since this is the case, might as well have some fun!’
He lightly clenched his fist and tightened his grip. His hefty arm began to shake about like someone had cranked up the mischief dial.
The parasites inside his arm reacted to the magic power, squirming like crazy. Dovan summoned the parasites towards his palm with magical force.
Then, his palm split open just enough for something resembling a black worm to wiggle out. It was about the length of a grown man’s middle finger, soaked in a dark red liquid that looked suspiciously like dried blood.
‘Planting this little wriggler will sure make for some entertaining scenes.’
He approached the two kids while holding up the wriggling parasite, and it squirmed disgustingly in his grip.
‘Go now -.’
Just as Dovan prepared to toss the parasite at one of the kids, Lian strolled around the corner of the corridor. He was on his way to the dining room after putting the cleaning tools used in the reception room away.
Jess had been perched on Lian’s back but was snatched away by Noah, who wanted to lighten his load, leaving him unaccompanied.
“…! Yay!”
“Yay!”
The two kids, faces all lit up, darted towards Lian. In the chaos, the parasite Dovan had thrown just landed flat on the floor. But that wasn’t the end of it.
The parasite, weakened and close to death from being out of a body for too long, scrambled desperately to return to its original host. So, it flung itself off the ground and landed right on Dovan’s face, who was still grinning.
“Huh? What are you kids doing here?”
“Eating together!”
“Yay!”
The kids mimicked eating with their hands, making it look like they were sharing a meal, which prompted Lian to nod and say,
“Oh, you were heading to eat?”
“Yes!”
“Yay!”
The little ones, just learning to speak, offered up shy smiles but hadn’t quite adjusted to laughing yet due to their traumatic backgrounds.
‘Gah! That cursed little brat!’
Dovan swatted away the parasite trying to burrow into his eye and threw it to the floor, spinning around to glare at Lian.
‘…!’
Caught in Lian’s gaze, Dovan’s expression went blank. In less than a few seconds, his eyes gleamed with greed.
