Chapter 16: Playing ‘Hide and Seek’ and Making ‘Crepe Cakes’

“I found you, Mana!”

“Ah..!”

I can’t believe I was found out so quickly hiding under the bed!

“Hahaha, I’ve hidden in all those places when I play hide-and-seek by myself!”

“Wow~ You’re really amazing, Young Lady!”

…That statement just now is a little shocking.

You’ve been playing alone diligently, Young Lady…

“Now it’s Mana’s turn to find me! You have to count to a hundred! Okay!!”

“Yes, Young Lady! Hurry up and hide!”

“Kyaaaaa!!!”

The young lady runs out of the room.

“One~ two~ three~ …Phew.”

Being a child is harder than I thought.

I lie down on the bed for a moment to recover my stamina while waiting for the young lady.

…It’s already been two hours of hide-and-seek.

…It’s more fun than I thought.

Is it because I’ve become a child?

Or… is it the first time I’ve played at the age of 8?

I haven’t played like this in this life.

I was busy living as an elite maid.

I lie down on the bed for a moment… and then get up.

Okay, let’s go find her!

“I’m going to find you now, Young Lady!”

– Yes!!!

If you say it that loudly, won’t she get found out?

I go in the direction where I heard the young lady’s voice.

Hmm~ The study.

“Young Lady~ Are you here~~?”

..I don’t hear any sound.

But for some reason, I feel like she’s here.

“Young Lady~~ Ah, where are you~~”

Ah, she’s there.

The young lady is hiding behind the large curtains.

The curtains are clearly messed up, unlike how I usually set them.

And above all…

..There are wiggling toes.

“Aah~ I have to find the young lady~ I can’t see where the young lady is at all~”

And every time I can’t find her, she wiggles more and more.

I subtly approach the young lady and then move away, and the young lady laughs softly.

“Hmm~ Strange~ I definitely heard a sound from the study earlier~”

“Hehe..!”

“Oh my~ Is it not the study~~? I should go to the next room~~'”

The curtains are shaking, it seems like the young lady is really enjoying it.

Then~ right now!

“Wow! I caught you, Young Lady!”

“Kyaak!!! Hahahaha! I surrender!!”

I hug her with the curtains and the young lady squirms and struggles, bursting into laughter.

“You were here~”

“What! How did you know!”

“How did I know? You kept laughing, Young Lady!”

“Oops…”

…She’s so cute.

I open the curtains and tidy up the young lady’s messy hair.

“Hehe… that was so fun…”

“It was. I had a lot of fun too, Young Lady.”

“Let’s play something else now!”

“Hmm…”

It’s 3 o’clock now…

“You still have to study a little, Young Lady, right?”

“Study..! Hmph… I want to play with Mana.”

“You can’t do that, you know? You can’t become a wonderful young lady just by playing. I have a goal to raise you into a wonderful young lady!”

“Okay! If Mana wants me to!”

Good girl~

I pat the young lady’s head a few times and take her hand to leave the study.

“What are we going to do today?”

“I see. Shall we do math today? We’ll do addition and subtraction!”

“Okay!”

I wonder what’s so good about it.

Children of that age usually just want to play, eat, and sleep every day.

“Do you like math, Young Lady?”

“No! I like Mana!”

Oh, my…

“Yes, yes, I like you too, Young Lady.”

“Then let’s stay 8 years old forever!”

“Eh, that’s not possible. It’s uncomfortable to be short, you know.”

“Hmm… is it good to be tall?”

“Of course? There are a lot of things that are more convenient.”

“I see…”

The young lady thinks about something carefully and then nods her head.

“But I like holding hands and making eye contact with Mana like this! It’s easier to hold hands because we’re the same height! And I can make eye contact!”

“Then please grow up quickly? I’ll be waiting for the day you grow taller, too.”

“Yes!!”

“Now let’s go do math!”

“Noooo…”

…She’s so cute.

“But I’ll make you a delicious crepe for a snack today!”

“Crepe? What’s that?”

“It’s a very delicious cake!”

“I love cake!!!”

Gasp..

So, my neck, it’s, it’s hard to breathe, Young Lady…

After studying math with the young lady diligently,

“Now, then I’ll make you a crepe!”

“Yay!”

It’s cute to see the young lady happy about a food she doesn’t even know…

“Then, heave-ho..!”

..Since I’m small, I need to move a little faster.

“First, flour and milk!”

“I’ll help you! Mana!”

“Hmm? No, it’s okay, Young Lady!”

Of course, the flour is on the shelf, but like this..!

Jump!

I can jump and grab it.

“Wow… Mana, how did you jump just now..?”

“I just jumped? Now, and I got the sugar too.”

“Um… When..?”

“Because it’s on the next shelf.”

I bring flour, sugar, and milk and slowly make it into a batter, and crack the eggs, and add water and salt.

Melt the butter and add it…

The important thing here is to cool the batter once.

While it’s cooling quickly in the magic refrigerator, I make whipped cream.

“Me too! I want to stir too!”

“Hmm… I wonder if dessert is okay…”

“Dessert is okay! I want to make it with Mana!”

“Then I’ll hold it, so please stir carefully and diligently, okay?”

“Yes!”

I add a little lemon juice, condensed milk, and sugar to the whipped cream and mix it well.

“Hyaaaap!!”

Ah, Young Lady, gently!”

“H..ya..a..ap..!”

If you stir like that, the whipped cream is completed.

“Wow..! It really became cream!”

“It’s amazing, right? Now, try it.”

“Nom… slurp..!”

..I didn’t mean for you to lick your fingers too.

Well, it’s cute.

“Mana, you try it too!”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up!”

The young lady puts cream on her finger and brings it to my mouth.

…Nom.

Rich milk and sweet sugar and condensed milk, a little sour taste.

Hmm… good…

“It’s delicious, right!”

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

“Slurp!”

“..Slurp?”

“Hurry up!”

…Slurp.

I lick all the whipped cream left on the young lady’s finger.

…Th, this isn’t right.

Anyway, I’ve made the cream. I take the quickly cooled batter from the refrigerator, strain it once, and then.

“Young Lady, the frying pan is a no-no.”

“Yes! I’ll just watch from the side!”

I climb onto the footrest and put a ladle of batter on the frying pan.

And then tilt it immediately to spread it thinly..!

Okay.

“Now I’m going to cook this very thinly.”

“Then it’s not a cake? A cake is fluffy, bouncy, soft, and puffy!”

“But it will be soon. Please trust me!”

“Yes! I trust Mana!”

Oh, she’s so cute.

By the way, it’s a bit difficult to do it with a small body.

All the kitchen utensils feel big.

How did I do this 8 years ago?

When one side is cooked, flip it over and cook the other side slightly, then take out the cooked one and the next one..

Hmm, I can’t do it with just one frying pan.

I quickly bring 3 more frying pans and put the batter on to cook.

A hand that quickly bakes crepes like a machine.

Hmm, yes, this is satisfying.

“Wow.. it’s like magic…”

“You have to be this good to be an elite maid.”

“Mana is really an amazing elite maid!”

“Of course!”

So I bake about 60 crepes.

Hmm.. normally, about 30 would be enough.

But today, both me and the young lady are 8 years old, so I’ll make a cake with about 20 layers and make a total of 3.

“Now, Young Lady, first lay down one layer.. and then spread the cream very gently~”

“Me too! Me too!”

“Yes, yes, will you help me?”

“Yes!!”

The young lady carefully spreads the whipped cream on the crepe.

The young lady focusing on something is also cute…

“And then put one more crepe on top..”

“Yes!”

“And put the whipped cream on again!”

So if you keep repeating it, thin crepes and thin whipped cream are stacked alternately.

About 20 layers.

“It became like a cake!!”

“It’s amazing, right? Now, I’ll put syrup on top of this. It’s nothing special, just water and sugar mixed in half. It also has the jelly that you like, Young Lady?”

“Wow..!”

I brush the syrup on the cake and…

“Now, put it in the refrigerator and wait a little bit!”

“Can’t I eat it now?”

“It’ll be more delicious if you wait!”

“…It’ll be more delicious if I wait?”

“Yes! Sometimes you have to wait to make it more delicious?”

“How long..?”

“Hmm.. our refrigerator has good performance, so 30 minutes will be enough!”

The young lady nods her head.

“Then, shall we make the remaining 2 cakes?”

“Yes!”

After making 3 milk crepe cakes and cleaning up, I sit in a chair with the young lady and wait for the cakes to cool.

“Mana is usually not fast, but when it comes to housework, she seems to be very fast.”

“Hehe, because I’m an elite maid!”

“Elite maids are amazing!”

Even if I look like this…

Hmm.. let’s not bring up the dark past.

Anyway, I sit in a chair with the young lady and eat the leftover whipped cream from the cake with a spoon.

Nom nom… sweet, soft, rich milk flavor…

Very good…

“Mana! Ah~”

“Nom.. I’ll give you some too, Young Lady.”

“Yes!”

“But let’s just eat this much and wait, okay?”

“Okay! I’ll put it away!”

“Yes~”

The young lady takes two spoons and a bowl of cream and walks to the kitchen.

…She’s cute just by existing.

“Huh?”

The young lady trips on the chair.

And to the side?

“Young Lady!!!”

Bang..! I bounce my body and catch the young lady.

Fortunately, she’s safe in my arms before she falls.

The spoon is in the young lady’s hand.

…Phew.

“Young Lady, be careful,”

Thump..!

..?

Something.. slimy got on my head.

This is… whipped cream?

Now that I think about it, the bowl of whipped cream is not in the young lady’s hand.

….It’s on my head.

“Ma, Mana, are you okay?”

“Are you hurt anywhere, Young Lady?”

“Mmm…”

…Well, I can wipe off the whipped cream.

I shouldn’t have asked the young lady in the first place, you idiot maid.

I help the young lady up and pull out the plastic bowl of whipped cream on my head.

Hmm… slimy.

This is definitely a shower.

I’ll have to wash my clothes diligently.

“Mana… became a cake maid…”

“Pfft, that’s right. A cake maid, isn’t it?”

“Nom.”

Hmm.. there are about 15 minutes left for the cake to set..”

Ah, Young Lady?!

The young lady approaches me and slurps the whipped cream on my arm.

“Ah, Young Lady! That’s dirty!”

“Mana is not dirty!”

“Th, that’s not the problem..!”

“I’ll eat it all!”

“Eek!!”

The young lady holds me tightly so that I can’t escape and licks the whipped cream on my body little by little.

“Ah, Young Lady..!”

“It’s my fault, so I’ll take responsibility! That’s etiquette, right!”

“Th, that’s not what I meant..!”

Eek..!

“St, stop..! There’s cream on your body too, Young Lady!”

“Then Mana, you eat it!”

“Ah, no!!”

“Chuu… nom..”

“No, not the neck..! Eek..! It tickles!”

After that, the young lady and I took a messy bath together and ate the milk crepe a little late.

“Mana, why is your face red?”

“Ah, it’s nothing…”

The milk crepe was very delicious.