Chapter 171
The morning kitchen of the hotel is a bustling place.
To prepare the buffet dishes, the chefs woke up at dawn to come to work, and the assistant staff arrived even earlier to prep the food.
At this point in time, with the increasing number of wealthy businessmen and competition between hotels intensifying, a hotel that wasn't bustling with breakfast preparations likely didn't exist in the capital of the United Kingdom.
However, this place was different.
The hotel where Governor-General Pastel—who had such a unique palate that eating the wrong thing would make her vomit blood—was staying had no commotion or noise, only the sound of whipping fresh cream echoing through it.
Lord Demon, wearing an apron, diligently whipped the cream. He was so skilled that his hands were a blur as he stirred, yet not a single drop of cream splattered from the bowl.
Pastel sat on a chair, swinging her legs as she watched his back. Her pink eyes stared at the demon through half-closed lids.
"I am worried sick. You finished all your work, yet instead of leaving the gambling den, you bet money on the Sky Mackerel race. Your misdeeds are only increasing as time goes on."
"I don't commit misdeeds. And, and, I think it's fine since I ended up breaking even with a seven-fold payout. Nathaniel lost everything. Governor-General Pastel made a total save."
"Yeah, right. A save, my foot."
Lord Demon shook his head and lifted the hand whisk. The cream, having absorbed enough air to become firm, formed a stiff peak.
"By the way, Lord Demon. How did you end up liking Mom?"
Pastel maintained a nonchalant attitude, acting as if the question carried no ulterior motive. Beneath the table, out of the demon's sight, her legs swung frantically.
"Haa."
Lord Demon set down the finished whipped cream. Pink Eyes looked back at him.
"Must you bring up that topic? Your mother broke her promise and locked me back in prison. There's no 'liking' or anything of the sort."
"Is pink hair your type?"
Pastel needlessly combed her hair with her fingers. Her pink hair flowed through her fingers.
"Why are you so curious?"
"Just because."
Just because, just because.
Lord Demon crossed his arms. His brow furrowed as he looked up at the ceiling, as if to ponder.
"My type. If I had to choose a type, it would be a blonde."
"What?!"
Her Pink Eyes went wide.
"Why?!"
Pastel slammed her hands on the table and jumped to her feet.
"Melissa was your type?!"
A noble blonde aristocratic young lady!
She has everything I don't!
A totally formidable foe!
Lord Demon was dumbfounded.
"Look at the age difference, why are you even bringing her up as a candidate?"
"If you look at it that way, the age difference between you and Mom was huge too! Wanjeonwanjeon huge! When Lord Demon came of age, Mom wasn't even born, let alone a soul fragment!"
No, wait, since he was sealed in the magic sword before Mom was even born, doesn't that mean he has watched her since she was a baby?!
This is an even bigger lack of conscience than the age gap!
The over-400-year-old Lord Demon flinched. He swept his bangs up, then grabbed the bowl of whipped cream and inspected it.
"Hmm. Should I mix in some magic stones?"
"That hit a nerve, didn't it?! Didn't it?!"
Just admit you have a thing for younger women!
And pink hair as a bonus!
Perhaps finding it hard to deny, Lord Demon casually added.
"The Crown Prince and your father did use that as an excuse to restrain me."
Gasp.
The dark history of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Dad making an appearance.
The ugliness of attacking someone's age because they feared a direct confrontation with an elder.
Wanting to hear more, Pastel quietly sat back down in her seat.
However, Lord Demon seemed to have no intention of talking further as he twisted the magic stone pepper shaker.
"According to the Old Testament, God had golden hair like sunshine."
Black powder sprinkled softly over the white cream.
"Now that I've become a demon, I suppose there's no reason to follow such standards anymore."
Red Eyes looked down at the whipped cream.
"Perhaps I do like pink, just as you said. Otherwise, there should have been a limit to how much I let those Kraft bastards scam me."
"Heh."
Her legs swung rapidly.
Pastel put on a serious expression.
"Then am I not in a completely dangerous situation? I'm a 100% match for Lord Demon's type, and I'm the perfect target for you to abuse your position as my guardian."
Gasp.
She wrapped her arms around her body.
"The absolute epitome of a demon's type!"
"Yeah, right."
Lord Demon snorted.
"What's with that reaction?!"
"What kind of reaction do you want? More importantly, when is the evidence to shake the Hawks arriving? We went out of our way to visit the gambling den, yet it's late."
"Mr. Penguin will surely give it to us in due time! More importantly, what's with that reaction?!"
If he doesn't answer, she plans to sulk!
Lord Demon shrugged.
"Why are you asking such questions? Did that guy Nathaniel say something weird? There isn't a single thing I like about him, from his scrawny forearms to everything else."
Ah?
"Nathaniel gave me some life advice before he left. Meonggameongga, you could say it's extremely important. But actually, I'm still not sure and I'm a bit dumbfounded, so how should I put it... Gasp, you're right! Why did I ask a question first, unlike a popular person? What the heck."
Realizing this belatedly, Pastel jumped up from her seat. Her hand shot out, pointing a finger at the demon.
"Just you wait and see!"
The girl hastily fled from the kitchen.
Suddenly left alone, the demon became perplexed.
"Wait and see what?"
He began to ponder the reason but gave up and finished whipping the cream.
"Is she hitting puberty? This is going to be a hassle."
#
Pastel arrived at her private room.
She wandered aimlessly around the room, crossed her arms, uncrossed them, and wandered aimlessly again.
Is it really love?
If it weren't for Nathaniel's example, she would have cheered, *Gasp, it is love! Happy-happy Pink-Pink!* but she couldn't be sure.
"At times like this, the cool-headed perspective of a third party is needed!"
Who should I consult?
Ellie, who would reliably analyze it for me, is a princess who can't help but be swayed by national interests, so I kicked her out of the hotel temporarily. And Melissa, who is usually smart, learned about romance through fairy tale books, so she's too burdensome.
Huh, fairy tales?
Something flashed in Pastel's mind.
When it comes to love, the fairy is the expert!
I have my reliable fairy!
She cupped her hands around her mouth.
"fairy~!"
Usually, it was *Grant my wish, fairy!* but this time was different.
It was *Give me relationship counseling, fairy!*
She looked all around the guest room. She checked under the pillow, under the bed, and behind the flowerpot.
―Did you look for me?
A presence came from the bookshelf, which was practically just for decoration. A thick book was pushed aside, and the small fairy revealed herself from the gap.
Oh.
That was the place where I hid cookies to eat at night without Lord Demon knowing!
The fairy was munching on a cookie that was burdensomely large for her small body.
Uwaaah!
My cookie...!
Pastel felt like she was living with a mouse friend. However, since calling the fairy a mouse friend seemed incredibly rude, she held it in.
I'm so nice...
―I saw you eating some kind of jewel, so I tried it, and this fits my body perfectly, doesn't it?
The fairy bit into a magic stone fragment embedded like a raisin. As the fragment crumbled, a black aura was absorbed into the fairy's body.
―Maybe because I granted a few wishes, I was losing strength and feeling tired, but eating this makes me feel recharged!
"Ehh? Really?"
It seems the fairy's palate is similar to mine.
―Yeah! Offer this jewel to me from now on! If you do, I can grant as many light wishes as you want!
Wow.
We are offering magic stones as expensive as gold for wish-making!
Oing.
Pastel was unsure whether this was profitable or not.
In the first place, if you spend that much gold, wouldn't almost anything come true anyway?
However, the kind Pastel would never calculate profitability when it came to her friendship with the fairy, so it was a meaningless worry.
Wow.
"I actually have something I'm worried about! Not a wish, but a light relationship counseling matter!"
―Relationship counseling? That's this fairy's area of expertise! Hurry up and tell me!
The fairy boasted.
Having her first relationship counseling session in her life, Pastel felt her heart thump-thump, pit-a-pat.
"There's someone I like—no, no! Someone I'm not sure if I like or not! When I'm with him, I feel at ease; talking to him is just fun; and when I look at him, I want to tease him for no reason... Gasp, I think I really do like him!"
What do I do?!
The fairy covered her mouth, which was covered in cookie crumbs, in surprise.
―That's great! Do you want to make that person yours?
Do I?
"Monopoly is essential in love, right?!"
I can't share him with Mom!
―That's great!
The fairy clapped her hands. She had a very delighted expression.
―Like I said before, fairies are beings created by extracting the soul power possessed by the Great Fairy! Since the complete power was split, we each have our own areas of expertise! Your wishes up until now were often outside my expertise, so it was burdensome, but this time it perfectly fits my aptitude!
"Wow! Really?"
Oh yeah!
I'm a counseling genius, Pastel!
―Yeah! Love is my specialty!
Wow.
A total fairy!
―I'll grant your wish! Look forward to it this time! It's a domain I pretended not to know about until the end even when the Church subjected me to interrogation, but since you're the landlord, I'm granting it specially for you!
"Huh? It wasn't a wish, it was counsel—"
The Fairy reverently clasped her hands together.
―God, please let this girl's love come true.
The black aura surrounding the Fairy fluctuated. The Guest Room's magic lights flickered, and a Black Spark erupted in mid-air.
Oh my.
Oh my goodness.
I feel like I did Meonggameongga wrong...!
Pastel didn't really know, but the atmosphere looked evil, so she just trembled, Padeulpadeul.
The Black Spark gathered and clumped together bizarrely. Upon its reaching a critical point, smoke burst with a *pop* alongside a flash of light. From within it, a single piece of paper fluttered down.
It was an amulet.
The fairy held up the amulet.
―A love amulet~!
Its design, bursting with hearts, caught the eye.
Wow, a love amulet.
"Phew!"
Pastel wiped away her cold sweat.
It was nothing much after all~!
The Fairy explained triumphantly.
―If you attach this to the other person, they will fall in love with you!
Oing.
That's total mental manipulation.
Uwaaah!
It *was* much after all...!