CH 32

Two weeks later, news came that Stella had officially enrolled in Nazrat.

Stella told Heint the story before her possession and said she wished she had a father.

I wish I had a father.

Those words revealed Stella’s unspoken desire for Heint to become her father, knowing the situation and understanding that she couldn’t force it upon him.

As a result, Heint went through a difficult and agonizing two weeks.

As in the original, it was clear that he believed he didn’t deserve to be someone’s father after losing his precious child.

He couldn’t muster the courage to treat another child, who wasn’t his own, like his own biological child.

But he couldn’t keep Stella in a state of being an outsider forever.

Finally, he made up his mind to consider Stella his daughter.

When Stella visited Nazrat after enrolling, her expression had brightened. She was very satisfied with the fact that she had become Heint’s daughter.

“Now you’re Stella Nazrat. No matter what anyone says, you’re the only beloved child of Nazrat.”

If she had lived according to the original, she might have become Stella Flotina. However, she didn’t seem to have any lingering attachment to being Flotina.

More precisely, she said she didn’t even want to imagine becoming the child of the eccentric Duke Flotina.

“Congratulations.”

“It’s all thanks to my dad, really. I can’t even imagine how worried I was if Dad had refused. Luckily, I safely became dad’s daughter.”

Stella seemed happy, and it made me feel happy too.

“So, as a gift to express gratitude to Dad, I’m going to make chocolates. Would you like to make them together?”

“Chocolates?”

“Yeah. Dad loves chocolates, so I want to decorate them myself and give them to him specially. Would you like to give them to someone too?”

“Really? There is someone I want to give them to.”

To Ellen, Joan, Lady Yudif  and even to Sir Yudif!

There are only those four people to whom I want to give chocolates.

Unfortunately, the Divine Protector Floa and my father, Persis, were not included. Floa was excluded because he lied about losing all her belongings last time, and Persis was simply excluded because I didn’t want to give them to him.

“Then let’s make chocolates together. Come to our house on Friday, I’ll have everything prepared.”

“Sounds good!”

***

That day, I woke up unusually early. I was excited at the thought of making chocolates with Stella.

How long has it been since I last made chocolates?

I tried making them in middle school, but I didn’t have anyone to give them to, so it’s been quite a while.

I prepared to leave early, getting ready in the early morning.

When I arrived at Nazart, it was around 11 o’clock. We decided to make the chocolates in the parlor instead of the kitchen.

Stella had already prepared the ingredients for making chocolates.

Starting with milk chocolate, then dark chocolate, white chocolate, pink chocolate with added food coloring, and various decorative ingredients for decorating the chocolates. It seemed like we had plenty.

“Wow, you prepared a lot.”

“I told you I’ll prepare generously. You can take as much as you want.”

“Yes, I’m going to take a lot, for sure.”

“Go ahead then.”

We started making chocolates in earnest.

Since it was dangerous to use fire, the maids melted the chocolate for us, and we poured the melted chocolate into square molds.

The mold we used was a cube-shaped mold with each side measuring 3 cm. I poured milk chocolate into the mold, while Stella poured white chocolate.

“In the previous world, there were so many types of molds, right?”

“Forget about ribbon shapes, there were flower shapes, animal shapes… all sorts of things.”

“It’s a shame. But there’s nothing we can do. At least we have molds here.”

“Yeah, it was hard to find these.”

After pouring the melted chocolate into the molds, Stella called a maid and handed her the molds.

The maid took the molds and put them in the freezer.

“It will take about an hour for the chocolates to fully set. After an hour, we can take them out and decorate.”

“Wow, it only takes an hour? The freezer here is no different from the freezers in the previous world.”

Even in the Starcia Empire, they had freezing machines like 21st-century South Korea. It was called a freezer. The freezer was a machine made by the D-rank demon, Aicha, who created non-melting ice.

Aicha was like ice that didn’t melt, so sometimes they use it as is without turning it into a machine.

The freezer was created by turning it into a machine to store food conveniently. The freezing speed varies depending on how many Aichas are used.

We chatted while waiting for the chocolates to set.

“Who are you going to give the chocolates to?”

“To Ellen and Joan. And also to Mrs. Yudif and Mr. Yudif. I want to give them to these four people. Ellen is the maid who raised me, and Joan is a close maid. Mrs. Yudif is the governess, and Mr. Yudif is my father’s bodyguard.”

“I guess you’re not planning to give them to the guardian deity? Well, I wouldn’t have given it to them either.”

I responded as if it were obvious.

“Of course, I won’t give it to them. Why would I? It’s better for me to eat them all and get a stomach ache than to give them to my father. I’m a bit hesitant about Floa, though.”

“Why? Did you become closer during the trip?”

“We didn’t do anything special during the trip, but it was still fun.”

As I thought about the train journey, my inclination to give chocolates to Floa grew.

“Should I just give them to Flora?”

“Do as you please. We have plenty of chocolates.”

“Well, since the trip was fun, I should give him some.”

As we continued our conversation, an hour quickly passed.

The maid brought the solidified chocolates on a plate.

“I’ve brought the chocolates.”

“Place them on the table and leave. 

“Yes, Miss.”

After the maid placed the plate on the table and left, we started decorating the chocolates in earnest.

I took milk chocolate, while Stella took white chocolate, and we each decorated our chocolates.

Stella chose a small bag filled with melted pink chocolates as a substitute for a decorating pen. She drew something with it and showed it to me.

“How is it?”

On the white chocolate that Stella showed me, there was a pink heart drawn.

“Oh? I also drew a heart. We’re on the same wavelength.”

On my chocolate, colorful sprinkles were stuck in the shape of a heart.

After seeing that chocolate, Stella became curious.

“Who are you giving your heart to? Is there no one to attach a heart to? I’m giving it to my father.”

“What are you talking about? I’m only drawing hearts for Ellen and Joan.”

“Do you really like them a lot?”

“Absolutely. When I went to the orphanage, the people I wanted to see the most were Ellen and Joan.”

As the conversation turned to the orphanage, Stella seemed to recall memories from that time. She stopped decorating and pursed her lips.

“… Are you okay now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You mentioned the time at the orphanage so casually.”

“Oh…”

I replied while focusing on the decoration.

“I’m fine. Even if you look like this, you are an adult on the inside.”

Seemingly acting very mature and composed, Stella looked quite grown-up for a moment, but that didn’t last long.

“Huh… Achoo!”

When I sneezed, causing the sprinkles to scatter, Stella became annoyed.

“Hey! You’re supposed to sneeze into your elbow!”

“Sorry, it came suddenly… Hehe…”

I smiled sheepishly, and Stella glared at me.

“I’m going to eat all of this.”

“Really… Ugh. I have to endure, I suppose.”

Stella decided to restrain herself because she believed she was kind and pushed the chocolates in front of me. She continued to draw on the chocolates with the small bag of melted chocolate. It seemed like her annoyance over the spilled sprinkles quickly dissipated.

“It’s fun to be friends with you, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m happy to be friends with you.”

Upon hearing her sudden words, Stella blinked her eyes and then focused on decorating the chocolates again.

“… If anyone bothers you, tell me. I’ll curse them together. I’m confident in my curses.”

“I had a feeling you would say that. 

“You had a feeling? Do you want to die?”

I laughed in response to her entertaining reaction, and Stella gave me a playful glare, but a smile appeared on her lips.

***

After decorating the chocolates and packaging them in a box, I returned home and first gave them as gifts to Ellen and Joan.

“Ellen, Joan, I have a gift for you.”

“A gift?”

“Wow, what’s this?”

Joan opened her eyes wide as she saw the box tied with a blue ribbon.

“These are homemade chocolates. I decorated each one myself.”

“Can I accept handmade chocolates?”

“Of course. I made them for Ellen and Joan.”

“Wow, thank you, sir!”

“I’ll enjoy it, sir.”

Seeing Joan and Ellen happy made me feel proud.

After finishing classes, I handed a box to Mrs. Yudif.

“Here you go, ma’am.”

“Oh my, are you giving this to me?”

“Yes. They’re homemade chocolates.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll enjoy them gratefully.”

“Yes, please enjoy!”

Next was Floa.

I handed it to him, saying that it was a gift I happened to pick up.

“It’s not because Floa is pretty or anything.”

However, Flora seemed very happy, mistakenly thinking that I found her pretty.

“I will cast an eternal spell on it, so I will cherish it forever.”

“What kind of magic do you put on a single chocolate?”

“It’s the first gift you gave me, May.”

“I can make more chocolates, so just enjoy it.”

“Thank you, May.”

The last person I was going to give the chocolates to was Yohan.

I went to Persis’s office to meet Yohan. As expected, Johan was standing guard in front of the office.

“Sir Yudif!”

When I called him, Yohan noticed me and his tail wagged happily.

“Sir!”

I stood in front of him and handed him the chocolate box.

“This is a gift.”

“Are you giving it to me?”

“Yes, it’s chocolates. I made them myself.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

It was when Yohan was about to take the chocolate box from me. The office door opened, and Persis witnessed the scene and spoke up.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this is -”

I was about to explain that it was a gift for Yohan.

“It’s mine, I suppose.”

Persis, who misunderstood on his own, took the box away.

“Huh? Huh? That’s not for Dad.”

“… Then?”

“That’s for Sir Yudif. It’s handmade chocolates that I personally made to give to Sir Yudif.”

“Handmade chocolates?”

Persis stared at Yohan with displeasure, as if asking why he was receiving handmade chocolates.

Yohan seemed perplexed, as he didn’t understand the reason. Persis stared at the box for a while and then handed it back to Yohan.

And he looked down at me.