The night air of the banquet still seemed to linger somewhere. After Elena had served thirty-two puddings, Karl's stern expression had finally shifted to "not bad," and the Count had excused himself with roughly four coughs—the afterimage of that single night was slowly dissolving in the corner of Elena's mind. The kitchen of Tsukikage-tei waited quietly as always, with its stone walls, wooden shelves, and magic circle floor. The next morning, before opening. Elena had lined up six notebooks on the kitchen counter. These were the handover records from when Lilia had been managing Tsukikage-tei alone. The covers were written in meticulous handwriting: "Soup Temperature・Detailed Version," "Pudding Management・Important Notes Summary," "Customer Notes (Super Spicy)," "Customer Notes (Dessert)," "Emergency Response Log," and "Everything Else." Six notebooks. "...Lilia, your handwriting is neat," Elena murmured to herself as she opened the first one. The soup temperature management instructions Elena had taught were reproduced almost perfectly, and there was even a note that read: "Currently experimenting on why the aroma intensifies at 170 degrees." Opening the second notebook, she found an observation record about pudding caramel management: "127 degrees is absolute (one time I tried 126.5 degrees and Elena narrowed her eyes)." (Did I really make that face?) Karl appeared at the kitchen entrance. His large frame was clad in a white apron, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. The presence of a man who had served as the royal chef for many years was not diminished even in Tsukikage-tei's cramped kitchen. "About His Majesty's additional two puddings last night," Karl said. Elena answered without looking up from the notebook. "I've recorded it in the ledger. His Majesty・Pudding Additional Two・Request・Pending." "Pending? What does that mean?" Karl asked. "I'll update it once I've decided on the response plan," Elena replied. "...Response plan," Karl murmured. Karl let out a small breath. The owner of this shop was apparently the type of person who classified a request from the king as a pending item in her ledger. In all his years as a royal chef, this was the first time he'd encountered someone like this. Then—bang!—the back door flew open. "Promote me to spicy level 11!!" Sebastian burst in, his long silver hair tied back, trying to slip an apron over his knight's uniform. His sharp silver eyes said he was serious. The shallow scar on his right cheek gleamed white in the morning light. Elena didn't hesitate for even a second. "One level at a time," she said. "Why!! I've grown both mentally and physically from last night's banquet!!" Sebastian protested. "The sight of the knight commander crying while eating is an obstacle to customer service," Elena replied flatly. "Huh?!" Sebastian's movements froze. "Crying?! Did I really cry that much?!" he asked. "Three times," Elena said. "Three times!!!" Sebastian exclaimed. Karl quietly added a supplement. "According to my records, it was four times." "Why are you even counting that!!!" Sebastian shouted. Leon entered next, carrying a bundle of parchment under his arm. With black hair and a single red streak, his golden eyes behind his glasses observed the kitchen's magic circle with no expression. "Regarding Tsukikage-tei's magic circle, I have three improvement proposals based on last night's operational data. First——" Leon began. "This is not a laboratory," Elena interrupted. "It is simultaneously a kitchen and a research subject. Conceptually, both can coexist," Leon countered. "Don't make them coexist," Elena said. Finally, Alphonse entered carrying a basket of provisions. His gleaming golden hair and clear blue eyes sparkled softly in the morning light, and when he smiled, small dimples appeared at the corners of his eyes. "Do you have a new pudding?" Alphonse asked. Elena answered without hesitation. "Please stop asking every day. Yes, we do." All three turned to look at her simultaneously. "That was fast," Alphonse said. "You had it prepared already, didn't you?" Sebastian added. "It's a matter of prep order," Elena explained. "That speed of 'yes, we do' can't be explained by prep order alone," Leon observed quietly. "You three are annoying," Elena said. Elena opened the sixth notebook. It was labeled "Emergency Response Log." Reading the first page, her movements stalled slightly. ━━━ The recollection began with Lilia's voice. A sixteen-year-old girl with six notebooks stacked before her had been quietly chanting in the kitchen before opening: "Soup at 170 degrees. Pudding at 4 degrees. Caramel absolutely at 127 degrees. Smile when customers come. For the spicy ramen regulars, ask about refills before offering water——" The preparations should have been perfect. She'd nearly memorized all six notebooks. Then the door opened, and a traveling merchant came in. A middle-aged man who ordered spicy ramen every time he visited Tsukikage-tei. Today too, he sat down with a smile. When Lilia said, "Spicy ramen, right?" and entered the kitchen, standing before the pot——the memory of all six notebooks suddenly vanished like mist. Only Elena's single phrase remained: "Make it spicy." "Everything else... I forgot," Lilia had said to herself. The merchant took a sip. There was a sound—splash. Tears poured from the man's eyes. Something came from his nose. Both his hands gripped the table. "...One more bowl," the merchant gasped. Lilia offered him water. "Please drink this. Drink it properly!" "Water isn't enough—give me another bowl...!!" the merchant pleaded. "That's not treatment, that's a finishing blow!!" Lilia cried out. Lilia shouted, but her hands kept moving. Adding water to the pot, measuring out broth. With a "what can I do" expression, she began preparing the fourth bowl. At another table, an elderly woman sat alone eating pudding. Her spoon scraped the bottom of the plate. One bite. That alone brought tears to the old woman's eyes. "...I haven't felt this happy since my daughter's wedding," the woman whispered. It was a quiet murmur. When Lilia heard those words, she stopped. She was crying too. Wiping her eyes with her apron, returning to the pot, wiping her eyes again. The merchant crying from spice, the elderly woman crying from pudding, and Lilia crying from sympathy—all three lined up across the counter. Under the small light of Tsukikage-tei, three different tears wavered. The old woman looked gently at Lilia. "Are you crying too?" Lilia answered, "The pudding is... ugh..." The old woman nodded deeply. "Yes, pudding is like that, isn't it?" She was completely convinced. After closing, Lilia took out a single sheet of stationery before the candlestick. She tried to write carefully. Her hand trembled slightly. "Everything was fine. The customer said they'd come again." The reason the ink was smudged, even Lilia herself didn't quite understand. ━━━ The recollection ended. Elena closed the sixth notebook. She slipped her hand between the pages and pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was in Lilia's handwriting—careful, as if she'd tried to write neatly, with a slight tremor. "Everything was fine. The customer said they'd come again." She read it once. Then again. When she tried to read it a third time——she gently tucked the paper back between the pages of the ledger. Her palm rested on the cover, unmoving for a while. Noticing that her fingertips were trembling slightly, Elena quickly withdrew her hand and closed the ledger. She tried to classify the tremor as "fatigue." She couldn't. A tiny amount of something remained at the edges. That's when Alphonse's voice came. "Are you crying?" he asked. Elena answered immediately. "The ledger numbers don't match." Sebastian continued with a straight face. "That's a lie. Your eyes are red." "It's steam from the spicy ramen," Elena said. Leon pointed out quietly. "There is no steam here." Elena's gaze swept from one end of the counter to the other. Indeed, there wasn't a trace of steam in Tsukikage-tei's dining area after closing. "...You three are annoying," Elena said. She sighed. But that sigh carried an odd quality to it. The three exchanged glances. No one pressed further. It was a second later when Sebastian shouted, "What steam are you talking about!! Tsukikage-tei is closed right now!!" Leon pulled out a notebook from his pocket and wrote something down. "Seventh instance of pointing out. Not acknowledged." Sebastian changed targets. "What are you recording!!" "Observational data," Leon replied. "How is that observation!! That's mockery!!!" "Mockery and observation are not mutually exclusive," Leon said. "The words are correct but the meaning makes no sense!!!" Sebastian protested. In the midst of that chaos, Elena caught something in her peripheral vision during a gap in the conversation. Only Alphonse stood slightly apart from the three-person commotion. He was smiling. But he was one step outside. That distance somehow caught Elena's attention. In a moment of relative quiet, Elena's gaze stopped at Alphonse's ear. The edge of his ear was still just slightly red. Realizing she'd noticed, Elena quickly picked up the ledger. Alphonse had seen that movement. The moment Elena picked up the ledger, the corner of his mouth had risen ever so slightly. From an angle no one else could see. His ear's redness didn't fade under the light of Tsukikage-tei at night——and the evening quietly deepened. ━━━ The next morning. Morning light streamed into Tsukikage-tei's kitchen. Elena and Lilia stood side by side preparing for opening. The soup in the pot steamed, and the pudding sat quietly solidifying on the cooling magic circle. Elena brought her fingertips close to the pot's edge with a short incantation, checking the temperature. 170 degrees. Perfect. Flipping through the ledger, she said quietly, "The elderly woman from yesterday——she ate two puddings, didn't she?" Lilia turned around. "Huh? How did you know that?!" "The sales record showed two," Elena replied. Lilia blinked. "Is that all?" Elena was silent for three seconds. Then she said, "Please inform the spicy ramen regular that they should pay for milk next time as well." "You didn't answer!!" Lilia cried out. Lilia shouted. Elena didn't respond and returned to the kitchen. Lilia watched her back and smiled softly. "Okay..." she said. Then, at the usual time, the usual three entered through the door. The moment Sebastian took his usual seat, he opened his mouth. "Spicy level 11——" "One level at a time," Elena answered immediately from the kitchen. "That was fast!!" Sebastian shouted. Leon spread out his parchment as he sat down. "Regarding Tsukikage-tei's magic circle, I have three improvement proposals I recorded yesterday——" "Don't do that in the kitchen," Elena said. "I cannot collect data outside the kitchen," Leon replied. "You don't need to collect it," Elena said. Alphonse slid into his usual spot and leaned his elbow on the counter. His blue eyes gleamed. "Do you have a new pudding?" he asked. "Please stop asking every day. Yes, we do," Elena replied. Alphonse's face broke into a full smile. The dimples at the corners of his eyes deepened. Elena headed toward the kitchen, but caught that smile in her peripheral vision. Realizing she'd noticed, she quickened her pace slightly. In front of the kitchen shelves, Elena placed the ledger on the shelf. From its edge, the corner of a folded piece of paper was barely visible. She reached out. She pulled it free. She unfolded it. "Everything was fine. The customer said they'd come again." She read the two-line letter just once more. She quietly gazed at the four characters. Everything was fine. She closed the ledger, tucked the paper back inside, and turned to the pot. Elena's shoulders had dropped slightly from the night before. Just barely, so sli