Ch#96
The pressure was so immense it felt like her hand might snap, nearly drawing a scream from Shallone as she hastily yanked it free.
Bunny giggled hee-hee, her body bouncing with delight over whatever had her so thrilled.
‘Does this kid know who I am…? Or is she slyly paying me back exactly like I did, crafty as a fox?’
‘Bunny, a handshake is the first time…’
Bunny rubbed under her nose, puffing out her chest proudly as she gazed at Shallone.
“I thought you were dumb, but you know how to shake hands, kiddo.”
“You’re really good at it too? I never even taught you how.”
Watching Calvad and Allen shower her with praise over something as simple as a handshake, Shallone rubbed her stinging hand.
Hmph.
“Bunny’s a genius.”
“Yeah, our Bunny’s a genius.”
Allen stroked Bunny’s head, nodding vigorously in agreement.
‘No, what is this family! That wicked demon brat…!’
Seeing Bunny shrug with a face full of smug pride as she looked her way, Shallone swallowed her surging frustration and whipped her head aside.
‘I’ll expose your true identity.’
‘Maybe Bunny got a little closer to Homungi.’
They were on completely different wavelengths.
* * *
Shallone.
She was a homunculus, an artificial human born from a mad witch.
A single created lifeform, brought to life in a tiny cabin by her touch, shaped as she willed it.
A doll animated by a small stone crammed with all sorts of things, serving as its heart.
There was only one reason for Shallone’s birth: to pave the way for the witch’s lavish and peaceful rise in the world.
To achieve that, the first thing Shallone had to do was become this household’s one and only precious daughter and granddaughter, the forbidden treasure of the family.
It should have been simple.
“It’ll be easy, Shallone. Just do as I say, and you’ll become the happiest child in the world. You’ll live like a princess, the Yudia Ducal Family’s one and only lady, with everything you need, everything you want, love, affection—all of it—at your fingertips.”
“Hm? Me? You mean me? Ahahaha! Yes, yes, you should be curious like that. It’s so human of you. My goal is to live peacefully by your side forever as the mother who made you, without a worry about money.”
“Now, just obey me. That girl in the Yudia Ducal Family? She’s a demon.”
Shallone recalled the story she’d heard countless times and slowly lifted her head. She blinked, staring straight ahead.
“Being a demon, she’s extremely, extremely shady and…”
Shady…?
“Eeeeng, why won’t it open?”
Right before the child’s eyes, as she grumbled in frustration and nearly tore the flour bag apart, the flour exploded—poof!—coating the kitchen in a total mess.
“Gasp, don’t touch it!!”
Thud.
The child, covered head to toe in white flour, collapsed to the floor with a look of utter despair.
“Having lived in isolated solitude, she grew up knowing nothing of love, utterly clueless about human emotions…”
Amid the hazy flour smoke, Shallone blinked again at the scene.
“Oh dear, I told you I’d open it for you.”
“Bunny’s eight now. I thought you could do it on your own, not still a baby…”
Bunny, her lips pursed in a sulk, fidgeted with her fingers before quietly parting her mouth.
“Sorry.”
Sluuuurp.
Luca, the cook—once an apprentice but now a full-fledged chef in the ducal household—gazed at Bunny’s drooping shoulders, then jumped back and shook his head vigorously.
Oh no, my mouth ran away with me. What’s the big deal about cleaning this up!
“It’s fine, I’ll take care of it~! Here, I opened a fresh one for you, so shall we make some Choco cookies with this?”
A man appeared in her view, waving around something like a pestle—not a rattle—right in front of the sulking Bunny.
“She only knows how to glare at people, speak coldly to push them away. That’s all she’s capable of. She’s a devil who doesn’t know how to give.”
The witch’s voice, recited with her usual smiling confidence, now slowly overlapped with that scene in reality.
“No. Today, eight-year-old Bunny challenges a new dish.”
“Ooh, not the twirly potatoes, sweet potato honey pickles, potato butter pop-pops, or bread veggie-meat bites?”
“Yeah. Today it’s Pitja.”
Bunny declared it with utmost solemnity.
Luca’s eyes widened at Bunny’s words, and he immediately clapped his hands—clap clap clap.
“The name’s pretty straightforward today.”
“Stra… Bunny has no wallet…”
“No, straightforward… I mean, the name tells you exactly what it is. Like, twirly potatoes are cut twirly and fried, potato butter pop-pops have whole potatoes and butter stir-fried, bread veggie-meat bites have veggies and meat stuffed into bread for one-bite eating.”
“Yeah, this is Pitja.”
Bunny snorted dismissively, brushing off Luca’s long explanation.
In her memories, Luriel was extremely good at cooking. She always turned gross veggies into delicious food, but this was a rare treat Bunny could actually eat.
It even had fancy ingredients—cheese, which Bunny loved!
‘It’s definitely not because I want cheese.’
Bunny’s wicked plan: gift Homungi some precious food and make her owe me.
“Wait, Homun… I mean, Shalalong. Bunny’ll make you something yummy.”
Not Shalalong, so she won’t eat it, huh.
“What can I help with first?”
“Um… hands!”
Bunny rolled up her sleeves and raised both hands high. Luca chuckled softly, then scooped her up and carried her over to the sink.
“She’s a pitiful child who craves love but doesn’t know how to love or receive it. That’s the girl.”
Shallone blinked once, then nodded with a smiling face as she thought.
‘Not a single thing matches.’
How was that pitiful child who craved love but didn’t know how to give or receive it?
Far from shady, love poured out of her so obviously it was overflowing onto the floor.
‘Is that really the horrific demon?’
A demon who wielded creepy, scary, filthy dark magic.
Yes—the child of that horrific demon who killed her biological father… is that it?
‘Is that really the future Demon King?’
The future Demon King, dangling in human arms, getting her hands scrubbed until they squeaked, then climbing onto a cute little step stool to knead flour with tiny hands.
Really? That one?
No, she wasn’t even kneading properly.
The human standing beside her was doing the kneading, while Bunny merely toyed with a tiny bit of flour.
“Uuuuum… pat pat, pat pat.”
As Bunny squinted because hers wouldn’t clump, Luca poked his head in from the side.
“Just water and flour? Miss.”
“No, salt and… um, the slippery stuff!”
“Oh, oil? This?”
“Yeah. A little.”
“Yes.”
Luca smoothly shaped perfect dough balls beside her, but Bunny’s kept falling apart, too crumbly to even soften properly.
Bunny grabbed more flour in both hands and started squishing again.
‘This is weird. Bunny’s recipe is perfect, but no roundies.’
Shallone shuddered.
‘Add more water and knead it hard, what’s she even doing?’
Her grip was super strong during the handshake, but now she just clenched and released the flour repeatedly.
As if that would clump.
‘If I were in her place…’
She could make it perfectly.
Whatever this ‘Pitja’ thing was, anyway.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Hngg…”
Unable to bear the frustration any longer as she stomped her feet repeatedly, Shallone finally approached Bunny with a bright, beaming smile.
“Wow, Bunny, this looks fun. Can I help?”
“Hm? Uuuum… It’s hard for little kids who are still babies.”
Shallone froze at Bunny’s innocent, earnest words. She couldn’t believe who was calling whom a kid right now.
“Aren’t I older than you, Bunny? I’ll help.”
“…Sharorong help Bunny?”
“…Yeah.”
Whether Bunny didn’t notice Shallone’s awkwardness or pretended not to, her eyes sparkled.
‘Homungi helping Bunny—is that knightly?’
Bunny already making the protagonist swoon?
Hehe.
Bunny wiped under her nose with her flour-covered hand, smearing flour on her upper lip, then grinned and hopped down from the step stool.
“Ahem. If Bunny likes it that much, you can help.”
Shallone’s insides boiled at the surge of emotion, but she plastered on her flawless smile—nearly cracking—and beamed wordlessly.
‘Bunny, you’re such a wicked genius, it’s troubling.’
Having become a grand eight-year-old adult, Bunny—with her ever-growing charm—had turned invincible, capable of toppling even protagonists.
