Chapter 6

“……?”

The man, who had turned away, slightly tilted his chin back to look. He seemed unwilling to waste any more energy on something with no room for negotiation.

Pyria, guessing his thoughts, quickly spoke up.

“The proposal I gave you… have you thought about it?”

“…It’s unnecessary.”

“But I feel so sorry…”

“That’s for me to handle. Please don’t worry about it anymore.”

“But I’m a mage, so maybe I could help with that problem…?”

For a moment, the man stood frozen like a statue. A sharp aura poured from him, chilling enough to make Pyria’s spine tingle. The atmosphere was so intense that people eavesdropping on their conversation were startled and fled.

Reinhardt turned and glared at Pyria with a crooked look. Under the slightly fallen edge of his hood, a cold gaze pierced down at her.

“You? Someone who only makes candy?”

“But…”

“This is a matter for the Mage Tower to handle, so please stay out of it. Instead, I hope you’ll reconsider my proposal.”

“…….”

Pyria didn’t answer and just pouted her lips. But her expression soon softened. If she looked at his face for more than three seconds, she couldn’t help but melt.

Her cheeks flushed red, and her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings. She couldn’t help but blink and steal glances at him.

Reinhardt, seemingly fed up, turned his gaze away. His voice, colder than midwinter frost, left a command-like request before he turned his back to Pyria.

“Then, please. Do. As. I. Ask.”

“Yes, I’m sorry…”

Reinhardt walked away with an expressionless face. His figure quickly disappeared into the distance.

Nearby merchants, who had been watching, quietly approached and patted Pyria’s shoulder. She could only give them a hollow smile.

“Pyria……”

“Hehe, it’s okay, Mr. Peterson. It’s not the first time.”

Although Pyria was a mage, she often faced disrespect because she made candy-like desserts. Especially after launching the adult dessert ‘Rose Sweets’, it happened even more.

That had nothing to do with whether people were close to Pyria or knew her well. It was just how most people viewed desserts and adult products, so there was no helping it.

In a way, it might be similar to those who make alcohol or tobacco. Except for a few who create high-end products, she’d heard countless times, ‘Why do you do that?’, ‘Do you really want to make a living off something like that?’

Even though Pyria’s shop, ‘Lanelli Candy Workshop’, was quite famous, it was treated similarly. That was because she didn’t only deal in expensive, master-level desserts for a select few.

Besides luxury handmade desserts, Pyria also made treats that ordinary people could afford with a little effort. Among them were things like bubble gum, marshmallows, and lollipops that children loved.

On top of that, perhaps because she was a mage, Pyria received even more of those looks. People wondered why a mage would make desserts that seemed like toys for kids.

However, Pyria paid no mind to such looks. She had no intention of giving up what she loved just because of people’s narrow-minded stereotypes. She found plenty of fulfillment in doing what she liked and bringing joy to those around her.

Of course, Pyria was human, so she sometimes got hurt. It stung a bit when people dismissed her creations as ‘just candy.’ But strangely, she didn’t sense any malice in the words of that man. Besides…

‘That gaze, it’s so electrifying.’

The way Reinhardt looked down at her was thrilling. An arrogant gaze, but not mocking or scornful—just the intense self-assurance that only someone truly proud and dignified could have!

The moment was so brief she wished it lasted longer. The icy gaze of a cold, handsome man made her stomach flutter just from meeting his eyes.

‘And that look of regret after speaking! Kyaa~!’

Pyria barely managed to resist stomping her feet. The way he paused after saying ‘just candy,’ then avoided her gaze, was the perfect ideal of an orderly character.

If this were a romance novel, he’d be the textbook male lead of a contract marriage regret story. He keeps stacking up karma points until, suddenly, it all bursts forth…!

“Kyaa~!”

This time, she couldn’t help but stomp her feet. She was almost up to the second floor of her workshop, so there was no one around to watch, and she didn’t have to care about appearances.

Enjoying her overflowing excitement, Pyria opened the workshop door—only for her mood to plummet back into the abyss.

The laboratory, wrecked by the earlier explosion, came into view at a glance. Marshmallow, jelly, popping sugar, and other sweet debris covered the floor and walls of the lab. Experimental apparatus swept up in the chaos were stuck here and there like trash washed up on a beach.

“Ugh… When am I ever going to clean this up?”

Even as she grumbled, Pyria’s fingers moved diligently. Her hands traced gentle melodies like a conductor’s baton, and the sticky debris vanished accordingly.

But there was one thing magic couldn’t clean up. It was a new product she’d decided to develop—a combination of marshmallow and jelly.

“Ugh, what’s wrong with this?”

Pyria swept her long, cotton-candy-like hair with her fingers as if combing it.

She originally wanted to create a dessert that was chewier than marshmallow, could be bitten like gum, and would melt away softly at any moment. After various experiments, she found the best reaction came from combining it with jelly.

But the problem was, the two didn’t mix well. She tried different emulsifiers to blend them, but the results were unsatisfactory.

Even when she managed to fuse them, pouring in a drumful of marshmallow only yielded a single cup of dessert. The rest melted into an inedible mess or hardened like shriveled sugar.

This made the product unmarketable. If she priced it, it would be over 10 gold per cup? Even cut into bite-sized pieces, each would cost close to 1 gold.

“Ugh, this is way too unmarketable. It’d be hard to sell to just anyone… Ah, wait. In that case…?”

Pyria opened her subspace and took out Rose Sweets and a pouch of red sugar. She measured them out little by little into a beaker that had been washed and dried, then put them back into the subspace.

“In that case, shouldn’t I just sell it to people who can afford this price?”

This time, she wanted to make a dessert for children, but there was no way around it. At such a high price, even noble children would have a hard time buying it. So, she thought, earn some money first with Rose Sweets, then improve and research it more to lower the price.

Pyria smiled brightly as she began mixing the ingredients and adjusting the spell. She lowered the explosive reaction as much as possible, increased the soft, fluffy expansion, and made the chewy texture a bit lighter for extra softness…

Ah, it’d be nice if it melted well in bodily fl*ids. If it didn’t dissolve in water but melted easily in saliva or sweat, there could be more diverse uses…?

A pink-hued fantasy spread through Pyria’s mind. Excited, she started tweaking the recipe.

Rose Sweets had more impurities mixed in than red sugar, which worried her a little. So she adjusted the spell more precisely and designed the recipe to use only a small amount.

Once she finished the recipe, she couldn’t wait to try making it. But when she was about to start, she worried about another explosion.

“Could it… explode again? There’s definitely a chance. Hmm, but he already came by once. Surely he won’t come again? It’d be nice if he did, but I don’t want him to get angry…”

Pyria paused, holding the beaker filled with pink sugar. But she couldn’t resist her urge to experiment.

“Yes, it’s afternoon. The sun has already set. I kept my promise. I can experiment in the afternoon, right? It should be fine… shouldn’t it…?”

Pyria licked her dry lips nervously. When someone else’s permission was needed, there was always a thrill in breaking a promise.

Of course, Pyria’s experiment didn’t actually require permission, and Reinhardt Baristan’s demand was somewhat unreasonable. Still, a promise was a promise once agreed upon. It was right to keep it, but the agreed time limit was already over anyway…

Pyria began mixing the ingredients carefully.