Pastel examined the round bread. Its somewhat hard and rough surface caught her attention.
It looked like a giant cookie.
Once she spread whipped cream and put strawberries on it, it should have been a complete cake, but considering the state of the bread…
“Is anyone in there~?”
When she knocked, a dull sound echoed. Something that seemed like bread crumbs or flour scattered.
“Wow!”
It’s a real cookie!
“Well, it’s ended up like this.”
Melissa muttered gloomily.
“The excessive flour made the dough rough and dry. Since I baked it as is, it’s practically just baked flour.”
What a smart remark!
Pastel was taken aback!
As the kitchen became noisy, Alshia, who had been peeking, looked at Melissa.
“Didn’t you dry it?”
“I did… I told you that using too much flour and sugar is bad. Not to mention the taste. Sugar turns into liquid in the oven. If you put in too much, the dough becomes gooey and ends up being clay-baked instead of fluffy bread.”
“Clay-baked.”
Alshia muttered, glancing down at the completed clay-baked creation. Thanks to the excessive flour, it resembled clay with too much sand mixed in.
“Yeah, clay-baked.”
She turned her gaze back to Pastel. A reprimand asking what she had made even after hearing this explanation.
Pastel suddenly felt wronged.
“Why? It’s not a bad result!”
Even after listening to Melissa’s explanation.
A lot of flour makes it dry, and too much sugar makes it gooey, so if the two create a fantastic synergy, wouldn’t we be able to make a super ultra amazing cake?
She thought about it and ended up just baking crumbly and gooey clay, but that’s still good in its own way!
Pastel picked up her cookie friend.
“Cookie friend! Don’t be sad at such harsh criticism! You’re not finished yet! You’re just a flower yet to bloom!”
Like how Pastel takes time every morning with help from the demon, the original appearance is more than half about the decor.
The cookie with whipped cream on it isn’t even halfway done yet!
“I’m going to make this a congratulatory cake?”
Melissa gasped.
“I don’t know who the opponent is, but it doesn’t seem like a good choice. I hear even the commoners these days won’t eat such rough bread. Not for a celebration.”
Totally disrespecting her cookie friend.
No matter how it looks, it still tastes like bread!
And then.
A cookie with whipped cream?
Totally mainstream!
Pastel felt a surge of confidence.
“Great inventions go through ups and downs! The moment we shout challenge, the unfamiliar invention is already a foreseen future!”
She felt no fear at all!
Instead, her heart raced!
“Should a congratulatory cake go through ups and downs?”
“Ding ding! This isn’t a congratulatory cake; it’s a congratulatory cookie! A giant whipped cream cookie!”
Yes, yes!
“So you gave up on the cake.”
“Now that you mention it, it’s actually closer to a cookie recipe than a cake.”
Ignoring their comments, she started preparing the whipped cream. Since it wasn’t a cake, she didn’t spread it thinly but instead dolloped large droplets on top.
“Finished!”
Pastel lifted the giant cookie.
“Giant whipped cream cookie!”
It had its ups and downs, but she completed it!
Just like she envisioned, it must be a cake she had never been able to make with the demon’s help!
She placed it on a plate and went back to the demon.
“Mr. Demon! Mr. Demon!”
“Hmm?”
The demon, sitting in a chair and reading a book, turned around.
“Look at this!”
As she turned the plate, the large droplet of whipped cream spun along with it.
“Giant whipped cream cookie!”
“Oh?”
The demon accepted it.
“You worked hard to make this. Is it a cookie? Good call. For a beginner, it’s easier to make cookies than cake. Good judgment.”
“Please try it! Please try it!”
“Of course.”
The plate was set on the table. The demon sliced the cookie with a knife. Cookie pieces were made. With a graceful gesture, the knife scooped up the giant whipped cream and placed it onto a piece. The whipped cream piece entered his mouth.
The first cookie gift.
Her heart raced, thumping.
What taste would Pastel’s first cookie have?
The demon closed his eyes and savored it.
And leisurely said,
“I can taste the flour.”
Gasp.
“Friends from the Student Council! Were you waiting for me?”
Pastel burst in without knocking. The disordered and haphazardly stacked documents caught her eye.
A boy, with dark circles under his eyes, looked back while rummaging through the papers.
“Pastel!”
His tired face brightened.
“Yes! I’m Pastel! Hello, Dustyn!”
She waved as she stepped in.
Elly wasn’t here. Maybe she went to work.
She placed a paper bag on the table.
“Want to eat cookies together? It’s handmade cookies from the southern warlord!”
She must have shown it off right away; the giant whipped cream cookie must have been attractive!
“Ah, thanks. But if Camelot made it, can I eat it?”
“It’s fine! Want to try cookies from the northern warlord too? It’s a single raisin placed on the dough completed by the southern one!”
Some might think it’s just a single raisin placed on it, but that’s when you say ‘the final touch’!
We’re talking about a cookie touched by the clumsy hands of a ducal lady!
You can see the progress in their relationship, as Melissa didn’t ridicule Belmont’s terrible baking skills and lent her dough, which is hard to make!
Feeling proud.
“Uh-oh.”
Dustyn, who seemed to have never received a cookie gift from a girl, received it and sat on the main seat.
“Whew.”
His body relaxed.
“I feel like I’m more suited for the management side than the field work. It makes my heart at ease. Dustyn, you seem like you belong in field work, right? Isn’t that right, Dustyn?”
“Uh, uh.”
Dustyn, who was examining the cookie, looked dazed.
“Eat while you talk! While greeting my friends on the way here, I found the atmosphere a bit disheveled?”
Maybe everyone was glad to finally meet Pastel, who hadn’t been at school for the last few days, but it felt different.
Everyone seemed to be trying hard not to upset the ruler’s mood.
“I just knew! Ah! I’m going to have to deal with Craft’s grievances again! I didn’t even do anything! Aah! The intuition hit hard! So I came right away.”
“About that.”
Dustyn carefully moved the cookie bag aside. His face, dark-circled, became serious.
“It’s right to push Professor Horace as acting president, right? No one else.”
The seriousness in his gaze was unfamiliar, causing Pastel to tilt her head.
“Isn’t that so? Senior Horace is the greatest contributor to normalizing the Academy, and personally, we’re close.”
Is something serious happening?
Is there a problem with the righteous plan to elect an acting president through a majority vote of the professors?
She straightened her posture.
“Did senior betray you?”
Maybe as he gained support from many professors during the presidential election, he decided to confront Pastel out of greed for power?
That wouldn’t be a good choice strategically, but…just maybe?
“No. Rather, he wanted to talk about business privately and told me to let him know as soon as you return.”
I see.
“Then did another professor decide to run against him? Maybe Professor Carlow?”
She suspected that he cooperated with the radical demon faction’s terror and had instructed monitoring, so it didn’t go well?
“That professor has gone missing.”
He ran away.
It seemed that the warning given one-on-one on the day of the terror had put him under pressure. He could have managed it while warning, so it’s a double-edged sword. It’s more about student safety than arresting the suspect.
“Then who?”
“Professor Marius.”
Professor Marius?
Pastel recalled.
Marius, Marius.
She felt like she had heard the name somewhere, or maybe not.
Her pink eyes sparkled.
I don’t remember at all!
Who are you…?
“He has strong support from some of the faculty. Professor Horace would find it quite troublesome to ignore that and proceed with the majority vote of the faculty, as it would complicate future academy matters.”
What’s going on?
Could it be that he gained strong support with substantial cash?
How much money does he have?!
I’m totally jealous, no, no!
“Above all, the big problem is that there are rumors amongst the professors that Professor Marius has come on board reflecting Craft’s intentions. That’s why everyone is taking a wait-and-see approach.”
“Why am I suddenly in the picture? I don’t have that much money! No, no! I don’t know that person!”
“Well, that’s the case. The policy he wants to implement once he becomes president is…”
Dustyn hesitated. His gaze briefly moved to an empty spot before returning.
“The expulsion of all demons from Sky Island.”
Pastel froze.
Huh?
Expelling all demons from Sky Island.
“Because this recent terror was instigated by demons.”
Her pink pupils gazed at the empty space. It was where the girl Dustyn had glanced at moments before had sat.
“Where did Elly go?”
Dustyn wiped his face.
“She took a leave of absence.”
Looking around, she saw the disordered stacks of documents. They were administrative papers left unkempt.
“I’m sorry; I couldn’t do it alone.”
Pastel felt a cold sensation in her chest.
This isn’t a minor trouble. If she couldn’t solve it, she’d have to give up her popularity title.
“Eh, where’s Elly’s home?”
“It would be the Demon Realm.”
That’s very far to clarify.
She felt Dustyn’s gaze on her.
Pastel sprang to her feet.
“I—I’m innocent!”
Dustyn nodded.
“Elly didn’t say much either. Anyway, she has a lot of work and was about to collapse, so she took a leave of absence.”
Uah!
Pastel clutched her head.
She won’t believe something like that! The popular Pastel doesn’t lack in friend experiences!
“Get a status report and present it!”
I’ll turn it upside down!
With her popularity title on the line…!
