Chapter 429 Everyone Loves Elayne's Pastries

-----

"It's done like this. See? Now mix the cream with all your strength so it doesn't fall into a liquid again. Make sure to add some sugar as well, this merengue gotta be really sweet!" I said.

"Ahh, like this?" Mark was trying his best to mix the merengue for the lemon pie, but he was constantly doing it wrong.

It always felt like he was afraid of using too much strength for some reason.

"Don't be so shy, use your strength. Come on!"

"A-Alright, alright!"

Mark began mixing faster and faster. The cream started rising and rising as I helped him adding powder sugar in small bits, slowly yet steadily, the merengue was done.

I took a little scoop using my finger and tasted it, it was really sweet.

"Here." I said playfully, touching his nose and leaving some merengue over it.

"Ahhh, you…!" Mark quickly did the same with me.

Without realizing it, the two of us began playing around and laughing like children. And we ended covered in merengue too… Ah, this is embarrassing.

After cleaning ourselves a bit, we got into making the pie. I utilized the dough I already made yesterday and built the shape in the pie mold, after that I just added the cream made using lemon and other ingredients, such as condensed milk and eggs, and a LOT of the Magic Lemon juice, sugar, and other things. And then, the merengue on top.

"And done! Looks pretty, right? We have to leave it in the freezer for a tiny bit and then into the oven." I said. "Want some lemonade?"

"Sure, I haven't drank any liquid since this morning." Mark sighed tiredly, sitting in a chair.

"Here. This is magic lemonade. We should keep it hidden so not everyone drinks it though…" I quickly saved the bottle of lemonade inside of my [Inventory].

It was sweet, citric, and really cold, it really hit the spot! It was so nice I just kept drinking. And the fuzzy sensation that the magic gave to our bodies once we drank it was amazing.

"Phew! I feel recharged." Mark sighed.

"Alright then, let's go meet with everyone else, we've been ignoring everyone for a little while…" I sighed.

"Right, let's go then. I saw your father preparing to roast something." Mark pointed out.

Like that, we reencountered with the rest of my family. I noticed Elena going around with Patches. Been a while since she even gave her any attention. Anna and Elisa seemed really fascinated with the horse though. My parents were preparing food.

Mom was making a lamb stew using the leftover meat from yesterday, and father was making roasted chicken. I saw them bleeding some hens this morning, so I guessed they wanted some chicken today.

"Hey look who's back!" My mom said.

"Well, well, well." My father said. "Looks like you guys are finally done playing all lovey-dovey?"

"W-What are you talking about dad?!" I sighed.

"Hahaha, she got all red!" Harry pointed my face, laughing.

"Heh, I was making a tasty lemon pie but I guess I won't share with meanies." I said while crossing my arms.

"Eh? Don't be like that sis!" Harry immediately changed.

"You made lemon pie?! I love it! Don't be so cruel with your poor and sickly old man!" My father cried.

"Hahaha, then don't be mean." I said while puffing my chest. "So anyways, mom, let me help you with that!"

"Alright dear but leave me some lemon pie too." She said.

"Why are you so obsessed with what I make?" I sighed.

"It just your hands! They're blessed!" Harry said.

I guess my family really loved my cooking above all things…

"Mom did you made fruit kuchen?" My daughter wondered, having already stopped ridding Patches.

"Yep! You want some?" I wondered. Good thing I also made normal versions of these pastries, the special magic versions are only for me, Mark, and Rita for now.

Elena nodded to my question.

"Then I will give you some for dinner dear." I said with a smile. "How have you been? You seem to be having a lot of fun."

"Yeah, its more fun than I remembered it, honestly…" My daughter sighed. "Anna and Elisa are having fun too, though I was wondering if we could go to the river or the lake tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah! We should definitely go there!" I agreed. "Alright then, plans for tomorrow are already decided!"

"Nice." My daughter said with a smile. "…Can I have a piece of kuchen now?"

"No."

"Ah…"

Like that, with family, friends, and my beloved daughter, time went by faster than I thought. Time when you're having fun goes so fast, it almost feels unfair, isn't it? The night came quickly, and we had dinner with everyone. My pies and the kuchen were especially well received, my family seemed to miss my pastries. Harry always says I make them tastier than mum.

And so, as everyone went to sleep, we decided to finally do our "secret meeting" with Mark and Rita. We left some chat messages back in the game using the app, saying we wouldn't be logging in for a few days. Mostly because we will be REALLY busy with what we need to do here, hunting hollows, teaching magic to my friends, and ultimately helping them awaken it of course.

Thankfully, NPC can talk to players when they're inside a guild, Titania, and the other chiefs assured me everything was going to be well taken care of, and I even granted some special privileges to them so they can upgrade and expand the village if necessary. Titania ascended to a [Second in Command] because she's the one I trusted the most and was also the smartest.

My daughter was already logged in and started angrily telling me to log back and not be a slacker. But ultimately she gave up and went with her friends to slay some Boss monsters to gain contribution while "waiting for the next big update to happen".

-----