n

n

n|The heroine will be absent for one more day - I have to use that time to make Horeo and Miriette even closer before it is too late!|

nDespite the frankly horrible situation that he found himself - and Mmiriette – in, Zoemi was actually planning to use one of the small-scale events to Miriette's advantage.

nAccording to his memories, the heroine would make cookies for the second prince as a thank you gift, but she would be intercepted by the villainess along the way.

nMiriette would slap the cookies out of the heroine's hands and they will fall to the ground and crumble into pieces.

nThe villainess would then start her spiel about the roles in the society and the difference between the commoners and the high-nobles – and that would be the time when the gold-haired first prince would enter the scene.

nHoreo would be all shocked about the cruel and unjust behavior of his fiance – which was already something that barely passed in the game, since in the times that they lived a class difference was actually a major thing and it wasn't morally or socially acceptable for a close relationship between someone like the heroine and the first prince, honestly when playing the game, Zoemi's previous incarnation thought that the dark-haired girl was doing the heroine a favor, and trying to save her from possible trouble – real, actual out-of-school consequences...

nBut back to how the event was supposed to play out in the game...

nHoreo would send the obedient villainess back to her room, before bending down and picking up one cookie to try it.

nAs expected, he would say that it was delicious.

nThat event would worsen the prince's opinion about his fiancee by a lot - and allow the heroine to get recognized in his mind instead.

nIt was the starter for the series of the events that would allow jumping from the second prince route straight to the first prince route – and was patched into the original game after an avalanche of complaints about extremely hard events in the second prince's route.

n...but that extremely difficult event didn't have the right to happen as of yet because it required the second prince and the heroine to leave together during a spring break...!

n|I thought I have a bit more time than this...!|

nZoemi cursed himself for his foolish optimism.

nAnd yet there was hope!

nSince the cookies would be the beginning of the villainess's downfall - then cookies could also be the beginning of her happy future!

nYes!

nAfter realizing what was going on, Zoemi decided to convince Miriette to make cookies and offer them to Horeo before the heroine could do that!

n|It should improve their relationship even more! With that even if I won't be able to do anything and the event with the heroine will happen, the first prince would be reminded of Miriette's cooking! That should work!|

n...at least that was what the black-haired boy has told to himself while clenching his fists...

n----------

nAfter the school day finished Zoemi returned with Miriette to her room – he even risked accidentally meeting with Grazio and completed his training in the morning just to be absolutely sure that he will have enough time to help out the dark-haired girl create the ultimate cookies that would steal the gold-haired prince's heart!

n

"My lady, what do you think about baking for someone...?

"

nThe black-haired boy didn't have much of a plan for convincing his master - if Miriette was in a bad mood she would straight up refuse any idea no matter how good.

nIt all depended on her mood really.

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"Oh? What do you mean by that?

"

n

"...!

"

nThe initial response was promising – the dark-haired girl tilted her head and looked at her attendant with clear, curious eyes.

n

"Baking. I'm talking about baking, my lady. I'm sure that prince Horeo would love to eat cookies made by you.

"

nZoemi declared with a bright smile making sure that only the left side of his face is showing.

n

"Ah... oh... I see...

"

n|It's about Horeo again...|

nMiriette flinched and rolled her eyes with resignation.

n

"Don't worry my lady! You might not be bothering yourself with making food, but I'm sure that your fiance will be ecstatic about something prepared by you – I'm sure that I would be! Also, I will be with you to help you prepare everything and I will be more than grateful to be given the honor of taste testing so that your cookies would be assured to catch his heart!

"

nZoemi tried his best to make it as appealing as possible to the young noble lady who to the kitchen wandered only once or twice - and purely by accident at that.

nThe black-haired boy thought that his master sighed because she believed that if she messed up and the cookies ended up a failure, her fiance would hate her.

n

"...eh...? EH...?!

"

nMiriette flinched and stared at Zoemi with sparkling eyes.

n|Ah! She took the bait!|

nZoemi stealthily clenched his hand in triumph seeing the immediate change in Miriette's act.

n|Did I hear it right?! He will be ecstatic over receiving something prepared by me AND he volunteered to be a taste tester...?! But, that means that he wants to eat the cookies that I made...! Ah! I see! He wants to eat my cookies but as my attendant, he can't just ask for something forward like that! Aww! He is trying his best to keep his love for me at bay because of the difference in status! My Zoemi~! I cannot disappoint him! Oh, and I have to keep up the act too, right...?|

n...but the truth was that Miriette had a... slightly different approach to the situation...

n

"Fine – I guess. We can go now, moving around in the kitchen will be a good thing for building up an appetite before the supper.

"

nThe dark-haired noble lady benevolently nodded her head, making it clear that she was simply going along with her attendant's whims because she found it a good way to pass some time.

n|She's so cute when she tries her best to act arrogantly.|

n|He's so cute when he acts all official.|

nAnd so the master and the attendant went to the kitchen.

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