In the ledger's countermeasures column, Elena had written only three lines the previous night. "Court Banquet・Culinary Service Request・Unopened" That was all. From the moment she saw the royal seal pressed into the wax, she somehow couldn't bring herself to open it. In terms of her previous life's sensibilities, it was close to that uneasy feeling before opening an email that suddenly arrived from an executive. The morning at Tsukikage-tei always began in the kitchen. This small café, located one alley back from Central Market Street in the royal capital of Blanche, was still dim outside, yet only the kitchen glowed with light. The floor inscribed with cooling magic circles gleamed faintly, and eggs were arranged neatly on the shelves. Elena transferred milk from Petrika Village into a pot and set it over the flame, measuring out the sugar. Another pot for caramel sat cold and untouched. Elena retied her apron's waist cord while glancing at the sealed letter placed at the edge of the counter. The royal seal. Red wax. Ever since receiving it last night, it had been clinging to the back of her mind. "Inviting the head chef to the court banquet"—in other words, the café owner of Tsukikage-tei would be providing meals at an official royal dinner. Converting it to her previous life's terms, it was like a small restaurant owner suddenly being called to a state-level official banquet. (I'll just make it with all my strength... that's what I thought yesterday too) Her thoughts spiraled. Elena measured the pot's temperature with her magic power and began making caramel. 127 degrees. Her hands remembered. Then. Knock. The back door was knocked. Just once. Only once. Elena stopped. (Once? They usually bang from three directions at the same time) Suspicious, she opened the door—and outside stood three people, lined up horizontally. Alphonse on the right end, Sebastian on the left end, Leon in the middle. All three had their backs straight and were facing forward for some reason. "...Good morning," Alphonse said. "Morning," Sebastian said. "...Same," Leon said. Elena looked at each of them in turn. Alphonse with golden hair and azure eyes held a soft smile while clasping both hands in front of his body. Sebastian with silver hair had the shallow scar on his right cheek twitching from tension. Leon with jet-black short hair and red mesh highlights held a bundle of parchment under his arm, his golden eyes behind his glasses fixed on Elena. (Why is everyone being so formal?) Elena glanced at the unopened letter, then returned her gaze to the three. "...Could it be that you all—" Elena said. "Knew," Alphonse said. "Knew!!" Sebastian said. "Conceptually... knew," Leon said. BANG!!!! The door slammed shut forcefully. "Wait—" "Hold on—" "Open it" The three wedged their feet in the door gap. Thud! Elena pushed. The three pushed back. Elena pushed. Pushed back. Pushed back. Pushed back. "You all knew?!!" Elena said. "No, that's—" Alphonse said. "It's a chance!!" Sebastian said. "It's a chance," Alphonse said. "Conceptually approximate," Leon said. All three voices came out almost simultaneously. Elena stopped pushing the door. "...Did you three coordinate saying 'It's a chance'?" Elena said. "We didn't," Alphonse said. "We didn't!!" Sebastian said. "The results of individual judgments merely approximated," Leon said. They were too coordinated. Elena wrote in her ledger: "This is a trap." "It's not a trap!!" Sebastian said. "You were watching?" Elena said. "The letters are large..." Alphonse said. In the end, the three came inside. ━━━ Then Lillia appeared. She came through the front door of Tsukikage-tei—a bright-eyed, still-16-year-old commoner girl. The protagonist who had just started her trial period yesterday—the one who was supposed to be Elena's rival in the game—smiled brightly in front of the counter. "I'll watch the place!" Lillia said. It was immediate. Elena froze for a moment. Lillia continued. Her smile unchanged, she spoke firmly. "While Elena goes to the court banquet, I'll protect Tsukikage-tei. It'll be fine." "...It's only my second day of the trial period," Elena said. "Yes!" Lillia said. "What's the basis for 'it'll be fine'?" Elena said. "There's no basis, but I can do it!" Lillia said. (This girl doesn't waver...) Elena thought for three seconds. Alphonse said from the side, "That's reassuring!" Sebastian said, "That's dependable!!" Leon said, "The lack of logical basis is the sole concern." And then—the handover began. ━━━ Lillia held up her notepad. She stood ready with a quill pen. Elena opened her mouth. "Soup temperature needs to be between 85 and 90 degrees, and there's a timing to lower the heat just before boiling, and if it's even one degree higher, the aroma flies away. Pudding cooling is fixed at 4 degrees, which stabilizes when you keep the cooling magic circle output at thirty percent of minimum setting. Caramel burns at 127 degrees, and after removing from heat it rises 2 degrees from residual heat, so you actually stop at 125 degrees. Coffee steeping varies by bean expansion rate—beans first thing in the morning are a bit stiff so four minutes, but after noon they start absorbing moisture so three and a half minutes—" Lillia's pen raced at incredible speed. "Also, the beans come in mixed batches via Palmera route—Robusta and Arabica varieties—and when Arabica is more prevalent, bitterness comes out slightly so you adjust the sugar amount..." "Um," Lillia said. "Yes," Elena said. "My first notepad is full," Lillia said. A second one appeared. Meanwhile, Sebastian slipped in from the side. "I need a handover for my super spicy ramen too!!" Sebastian said. "Just make it spicy and it's complete," Elena said. "But there are different kinds of spicy! Which spice level?! Which level?!" Sebastian said. "The spicy kind," Elena said. "Be specific!!" Sebastian said. "The spicy... kind," Elena said. Sebastian slumped. As Elena tried to return to the handover, Leon raised his hand while spreading out parchment. "I have seven points of improvement suggestions regarding the kitchen's magic circles," Leon said. "Please leave," Elena said. "I'll narrow it to five," Leon said. "Please leave," Elena said. "Three points then," Leon said. "Please leave," Elena said. Alphonse raised his hand. His golden hair swayed, dimples appearing at the corners of his eyes. "Grant me priority ordering rights for pudding," Alphonse said. "No such right exists," Elena said. "Could it be established?" Alphonse said. "It doesn't exist," Elena said. "Is there room for consideration?" Alphonse said. "Zero," Elena said. Lillia's second notepad was full. A third appeared. Elena's handover continued. "Morning water temperature and evening water temperature differ by three degrees, morning is lower to take time with the rise to bring out more aroma, evening is slightly higher..." Lillia nodded. Nodded. Nodded. The fourth notepad was full. A fifth appeared. "Um, Elena?" Lillia said. "Yes," Elena said. "Is all of this important?" Lillia said. "All of it is important," Elena said. Lillia nodded. Like a robot, just nodding. ━━━ Then—Leon quietly spoke. "This part requires a practical demonstration," Leon said. Everyone stopped. Leon approached the cooling magic circle inscribed on the kitchen floor, his golden eyes behind his glasses fixed on it. "Please wait," Elena said. "I'm just touching it," Leon said. "Don't touch it," Elena said. "Just touching—" Leon said. His finger touched the magic circle. The next instant. WHOOOOSH!!!! A low sound rang out, and the kitchen air became bitterly cold. The cooling system malfunctioned. The temperature management system Elena controlled with intermediate magic—adjusted in 0.5-degree increments with precision—jumped to maximum output from external magical interference. Rattle rattle rattle rattle!!!! The dishes on the shelf trembled. The contents of pots rose in white mist. Cold air rose from the floor. "Wait—!! Why?!!" Elena said. "The calculation had an unexpected margin of error—" Leon said. "You were calculating?!!" Elena said. Their breath became visible. Everyone's. Truly visible. The kitchen temperature was plummeting. Lillia's six notepads cascaded from the shelf and scattered across the floor. Thud thud thud!!!! "Six notepads!!" Sebastian said. "The notes!!" Lillia said. "The cold air... it's freezing!!" Alphonse said. Alphonse crouched to pick up the scattered notepads. At the same moment, Elena also knelt to pick them up. Thunk. A dull sound. Their foreheads collided. Silence fell over the place. In the cold air, white breath spread softly. The distance between them was barely 10 centimeters. Alphonse's azure eyes were close. His gleaming golden hair entered Elena's field of vision. The tip of his ear—in the white breath, gradually turning red. Elena's heart skipped one beat. (Why) She didn't understand. It could be because it was cold. It could be because they collided. But—Alphonse's breath turned white, and she could feel its warmth at such a close distance, and somehow her eyes were drawn to that redness at his ear. Alphonse said nothing. Whether he couldn't or wouldn't, she didn't know. Only—his azure eyes were looking at her. No dimples showing. Not smiling. Just looking straight at her. "The floor is freezing!!!!!" Sebastian said. A full-force roar. BANG!!!! Sebastian stomped his foot. Shattering the freezing floor with loud thuds, he shook his silver hair wildly and closed in on Leon. "You!! What did you do!! What did you do?!!" Sebastian said. "I just touched it," Leon said. "Can it get like this from just touching?!!" Sebastian said. "The prediction exceeded its expected range slightly," Leon said. "Slightly?! Can you call this slight?!!" Sebastian said. Elena stood up. Holding the notepads. Her heart was still beating strangely. She deliberately ignored it. The same way she'd ignored things when a boss suddenly spoke to her during overtime in her previous life—the technique of immediately classifying emotions into the "non-work folder." "Leon. Please leave," Elena said. "The magic circle needs readjustment—" Leon said. "Right now," Elena said. "Just three points—" Leon said. "Leave right now," Elena said. Leon rolled up his parchment. Quietly, with his usual composed expression. Not a shred of cuteness. Alphonse and Sebastian were dragged outside by Elena. The door closed. From beyond the alley came "Priority pudding ordering rights!!" from Alphonse, "Detailed spicy ramen recipe!!" from Sebastian, and "The magic circle renovation proposal has merit" from Leon's emotionless voice, but Elena pretended not to hear any of it. ━━━ Only Elena and Lillia remained in the kitchen. For a while, neither spoke. Elena corrected the cooling magic circle herself. The temperature returned. She checked the pot's contents, straightened the dishes on the shelf, and the frost remaining on the floor melted. Warm air gradually returned to the café. Lillia held the six notepads tightly against her chest. After a while, she spoke. "...You're really anxious, aren't you," Lillia said. Her voice was quiet. Elena stopped. She didn't raise her eyes from the pot. Lillia continued. "That's why you tried to hand over everything, explain everything, have me write everything down. Because you're anxious, right?" Three seconds of silence. Something existed in the depths of Elena's chest. She couldn't quite put it into words. She wanted to process it rationally. But—she suddenly remembered those nights in her previous life when she kept making documents even though she knew no one would ever see them. That habit of converting anxiety into "moving her hands" to hide it. Elena didn't answer. Instead, she placed a single sheet of paper in front of Lillia on the counter. "I'll leave the pudding recipe here," Elena said.