Chapter 12: Make ‘Paintings” And ‘Sweets’ Together

Like dandelion seeds carried by the wind, brushing against a roadside tree as if they might touch.

I give the young lady the most I can do as a servant, a kiss.

“Fuaaaaah..!”

“Good morning, Young Lady.”

“Yes! Good morning, Mana!”

Morning,

Time flew by while watching the sleeping young lady.

Yaaawn… the young lady woke up and as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw me and said ‘Good morning kiss…’ while rubbing her eyes.

And so, we had our second kiss of our lives.

…The second for both the young lady and me.

Is this really right…

“Let’s live happily today too, Young Lady?”

“Yes! I want to live happily with Mana!”

Sigh, what can I do?

It’s my fault for giving her a wish, and my fault for not thinking that such a fairy tale book existed.

If the young lady is happy, then…

“Then, shall we go take a shower?”

“Yes!”

“What’s for breakfast today??”

“I was thinking of preparing a fruit salad and pancakes for breakfast today, but is there anything you’d like to eat?”

“Um… I like anything Mana makes!”

Yes, there’s no way a pure and innocent young lady like this would know the meaning of a kiss.

Good morning kisses don’t count.

Let’s not count them as kisses, okay?

“Our young lady is the best~”

“Mana is always the best to me too!”

I head to the bathroom while holding the young lady tightly.

Well, shall we start the day?

“Today, we’re going to draw together, Young Lady.”

“Draw?”

Ta-da, crayons and colored pencils.

I bought a lot of paper too.

8 years old, if it were Korea, she would just be starting 1st grade in elementary school.

It’s a little late, but it’s important to give her various experiences.

“Hmm.. so we’re going to scribble what we usually see on paper.”

“For example…”

I pick up a red crayon and draw a circle on the paper.

“Ta-da, what do you think this is, Young Lady?”

“Um…a red circle.. an apple!”

“That’s right~ This is called drawing!”

“Like the pictures in picture books!”

“Aha!”

“I understand!”

“Then shall we start by drawing something simple?”

“Hmm…”

“I want to draw Mana!”

“Huh?”

The young lady looks at me with sparkling round eyes.

“I’m going to draw Mana! My first drawing will be Mana!”

“Ah…”

Young Lady… I’m so touched again today…

“Mana, stay still! I’ll draw you!”

“Yes! I’ll stay still!”

The young lady looks at me and diligently picks up crayons.

Brown, green, blue, white, black, apricot.

Oh, she picked the colors correctly..!

“I’ll draw Mana well!”

“Yes! I’ll look forward to it!”

Scribble scribble..! The young lady draws on the white paper.

Ooh..!

That unrestrained hand movement!

And that focused face!

Delicate touch..!!

The result is!!!

“…Hmph.”

“It doesn’t look like Mana…”

Hmm, that is to be expected!

“Ah, no, Young Lady!”

“It looks a lot like me!”

“It’s my spitting image, isn’t it?”

“…Mana is lying.”

…As expected, the young lady has a talent for immediately recognizing lies.

“Uuuu.. I’ll draw it again!!”

“Okay! Draw it again as many times as you want! Ah, first give me the one you drew.”

“No!”

“I’ll draw it more beautifully and give it to you!”

“But I like that drawing too?”

“Um… why?”

“Because you drew me, Young Lady.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course!”

The young lady carefully looks at the first Mana drawing she drew and scribbles… adds something more.

A red heart?

“Ta-da!”

“Wow~ Thank you~”

“The heart is my love for Mana!”

“Really??”

“Yay~ Thank you!”

“Yes!”

“I’ll draw the second one now! I can draw it better than the first one!”

“Gasp, don’t just draw me, draw other things too.”

“Okay?”

“…Yes!”

She seemed a little hesitant.

..Anyway, I received the drawing that the young lady drew.

For a child’s scribbles, it’s a pretty good drawing.

She expressed the brown hair and the eyes that seem to be a mix of green and blue.

The maid’s uniform also has a lot of detail.

Our young lady, could she be…

Could she be a genius?!

She could be..!

How can someone who is drawing for the first time draw so accurately!?

“Mana! Don’t move!”

“Yes!”

Hmm hmm, the young lady will definitely become an outstanding painter in the future.

Or maybe not?

Should she become an author instead?

Or maybe she has a lot of other talents too..!

Our young lady is the best!

The best!

I understand what it feels like to want to brag to everyone!

“Mana, are you happy?”

“Yes!”

“I’m happy!”

“If I had known you were so good at drawing, I would have bought them for you sooner!”

“Really?”

“Am I good at drawing?”

“Yes!”

“You’re very good at drawing!”

“..! Then I’ll draw Mana ten times!”

The young lady shows me ten fingers covered in crayons.

“Ten times?!”

“Yes!”

“I’ll draw you ten-ten times!”

“Ten-ten times?”

“Ten times two!”

Ah, twenty times!

I should teach her math too.

…Do elementary school students originally learn the four arithmetic operations?

…I’ll just teach her and see, right?

“Wait..! I’m almost done drawing the second Mana!”

“Yes!”

“I’ll wait!”

The young lady finished the finishing touches with sparkling eyes.

“How is it!?”

“Wow! It’s so pretty!”

“??? Yes! Then take it, Mana! I’ll draw another one!”

“Thank you!”

Hmm~ Hmmm~

The young lady drew me..!

This is an honor for the family!

…Of course, I don’t have a family to speak of.

I carefully pack each of the drawings that the young lady drew and put them away.

I’ll show these to the young lady later and brag about them.

Yes, it would be good to show them to the young lady when she’s going through puberty.

The young lady draws diligently and gets tired and goes to sleep for a while.

The young lady, diligently washing her hands covered in crayons, was also very cute…

Yes, I can always do etiquette lessons later.

Then, shall I do some housework in the remaining time?

“Hmm… I should make a snack.”

I should prepare egg tarts so that the young lady can enjoy them when she wakes up later.

I leave the room and go to the kitchen…

“Young Lady?”

“Mana!”

The young lady is waiting for me in front of my room.

Huh??

“Did you come down after sleeping?”

“Yes!”

“I want to play with Mana more!”

Gasp.. you look at me with such sparkling eyes..!

“Um… then shall we go to the kitchen together for now?”

“Kitchen?? Why??”

“I was going to make a snack for you to eat from now on.”

“Then I want to make it together!”

“You can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because entering the kitchen is something that low-ranking people do, you know?”

“It’s against etiquette for high-ranking people to make food?”

“What’s that!”

“What!”

“Um… um…”

But in reality, when other members of the earldom came to the kitchen, they were mostly looking for alcohol or snacks, or they came to play pranks.

And in reality, the kitchen is a space for servants, and it’s definitely not a place for high-ranking people to come.

Ah, yes.

Then… shall we make cookies together?”

“Cookies?”

“The one Mana gave me at first?”

“Yes, if it’s that, I think the young lady can make it together too.”

“Yes!”

“Okay!”

“I’ll do it!”

Cookies should be fine.

In fact, the first and third young ladies also made cookies and gave them to people they admired.

Of course, arranged marriages are usually fixed, though?

Still, the young lady will also later…

“Mana?”

“Oh, let’s go quickly!”

…Whoever it is, when someone steals the young lady’s heart later, I’ll definitely find out what kind of scoundrel they are.

I won’t let some random trash take the young lady..!

“…Mana is thinking weird thoughts?”

“No!”

“I was thinking about the young lady’s future!”

“My future?”

“Mmm hmm, you’re still young though.”

“I’m not young! I’ll be an adult soon too! I’ll be taller than Mana!”

“Pfft… Yes. I hope that day comes soon.”

The day the young lady becomes taller than me..

I don’t know if it will ever come.

I suffered a lot when I was young, so I couldn’t get proper nutrition.

But the young lady, I…

…The young lady also suffered a lot when she was young.

“Young Lady, please grow taller than me?”

“Yes! I’ll be taller than Mana!”

…I’ll definitely make you taller than me, Young Lady.

I will do my best to serve you.

“Well, then shall we start making cookies now!”

“Yes!”

It seems that the young lady remembers the cookies I gave her first, so I should teach her how to make those cookies.

“First, the main ingredients for cookies are like this.”

“Flour, butter, salt, sugar, eggs.”

“It’s not easy to make cookies without these five ingredients.”

“I see…”

“Then from now on…”

I start making cookies with the young lady.

The young lady is still short, so she has to stand on a small chair…

But as time goes by, she’ll grow quickly again.

I hope the young lady, who will grow up well later, will be happy.

“Now, and now we’re going to pat this dough!”

“Pat!”

“Pat!”

…It’s more like squishing, but you’re doing well..!

“And spread out the dough..”

“Me too!”

“I want to try it too!”

“Yes, would you like to try?”

I carefully lift the young lady up and let her roll out the dough herself.

“You’re doing well!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Really~”

…The young lady is good at cooking too.

“And now we’ll use this mold to cut it out!”

“Hearts and stars and… circles and squares!”

Yes!”

“Now, shall we press it down?”

“Press…!”

A golden smell comes from the oven.

“Wow… Mana.. the cookies are growing..!”

 “Haha, you shouldn’t look at it for too long. It’ll hurt your eyes~”

“Yes!”

“I’ll wait quietly!”

The young lady comes and sits next to me… then goes back to the oven to watch the cookies baking…

Seeing the young lady going back and forth is very cute.

“How much longer??”

“How much?”

“Hmm.. another 5..”

“5 minutes?!”

“4..3..2..1!”

– Ding!

“What!”

“How did you know?!”

“I can know everything~”

I was actually calculating the time.

“Now, now, would you please come out for a moment, Young Lady?”

“Yes!”

When I carefully open the oven door, a rich sweetness spreads through the air.

Mmm..! It’s well baked.

“It smells delicious!”

“It smells good~”

Now, if I take this out and let it cool for a bit, then eat it.

“I want to try it now!”

“It’s too hot now. It’ll taste much better if you let it cool down a bit, you know?”

“Okay!”

“I’ll wait!”

…Oh, our young lady is really too cute.

The young lady sitting in a chair waiting for the cookies to cool.

She keeps shaking her legs up and down, so she seems to be looking forward to it.

“Now, it’s ready.”

“Wow!”

Perfectly baked, moderately crispy yet maintaining a hint of softness, high-quality handmade cookies are complete!

“Now, now, hurry up and try one, Young Lady.”

I offer a round one to the young lady.

“Not that one!”

“Huh?”

“Heart!”

“Heart!”

“Yes, yes, a heart shape~”

“Thank you!”

Nom nom nom, the young lady eats the freshly baked cookies deliciously.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes!”

“It’s delicious!”

“It’s sweet!”

“I’m glad~”

“I’ll give you one too!”

The young lady gives me a heart-shaped cookie.

“Thank you, Young Lady.”

Mana, hurry up and eat it too!”

“Yes.”

“Then…”

Hmm.. it’s just right.

In Korean terms, it’s a ‘not too sweet dessert’.

Which means it’s sweet.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes!”

“Very much so!”

“It’s even more delicious because I made it with you, Young Lady!”

“Of course!”

“Hahaha!”

Seeing the young lady shrug her shoulders makes me smile.

Ah, really.

She’s really too cute.

“I’ll help with food from now on too!”

“Ah, that’s okay.”

“Please don’t take away my work.”

“Th, then I’ll watch from the side!”

“Thank you~”

“Ahem!”