Finally, the first purification work was completed, and Helix returned with the hatchlings.

“Helix!”

“Leah!”

Watching the two embrace each other passionately as though they had been separated for a century, Chirpy and the other hatchlings rolled their eyes.

“Chirp.”

“Chirp.”

‘Didn’t that silver human rush back to see Leah overnight as soon as the camp was established?’

‘He picked flowers every time he went. I saw him.’

The two lovers savored their reunion, oblivious to the hatchlings gossiping behind them.

“Leah, I had to return in a hurry, so I could only prepare this much.”

Helix presented a lush bouquet of wildflowers. Leah smiled as brightly as the blooming flowers that filled her arms.

“They’re beautiful.”

The tiny purple flowers and lily-of-the-valley radiated vitality and fragrance. They must have been picked at dawn, as dewdrops still clung to them and they emitted a fresh, green scent.

Her heart swelled at the thought of him picking each flower one by one in the dim dawn light, just for her. Leah buried her face in the flowers, feeling butterflies in her stomach.

Helix embraced her tightly, bouquet and all.

He whispered, “As I always say, you’re even more beautiful.”

‘We’ll be going now.’

With their well-practiced sense of timing, the hatchlings gradually retreated. It seemed better to leave the reunited couple alone and join the other mages back at the Magic Tower.

Leah and Helix held hands tightly as they went up to the penthouse together for the first time in a while.

The greenery in the outdoor garden had grown much denser during their separation, and beside the pool filled with cool water stood spacious sun beds and a table.

Looking at the food prepared on the table, he asked with concern, “Leah, has it been very hot lately? All the food is cold.”

Everything was chilled—cold pasta with shrimp and fusilli mixed with basil pesto, cold pressed meat with pistachios and cranberries, and an array of cheese, olives, ham, beer, and fruit sherbet.

Leah smiled sheepishly. “I haven’t been using my fire mana lately, so I keep feeling overheated.”

“Let me see.”

Helix placed his large hand on her forehead. After checking her cheeks, behind her ears, and her neck, he sighed with relief.

“Thankfully, it doesn’t seem serious.”

“Yeah. I’m just a bit hot, that’s all.”

It couldn’t be helped since she couldn’t constantly use fire magic.

“It’s already midsummer. I’ll be fine once I cool off in the pool—summer will pass before we know it.”

“Up north, it’s much cooler. The sun might be strong, but step into the shade and you feel refreshed instantly.”

“Wow, that sounds nice. I’d love to visit.”

“Once more of the contamination is removed, we’ll go together.”

Helix spoke tenderly while stroking her cheek. Somehow, his hand felt cooler than before.

“And Leah, you need to take advantage of me more.”

“Hmm?”

She had been leaning her face against his hand but now looked up with wide eyes.

“Your lover who can manipulate mana has returned, so why rely only on the pool?”

Helix picked up a glass bowl and took a large bite of fruit sherbet. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and suddenly his face was very close to hers.

“Ah.”

“Ah…?”

His cold lips parted hers and drew away her heat.

Neither the fruit flavor spreading in her mouth nor the sudden rush of coolness had been expected. Startled by his cold lips and breath, Leah instinctively tried to pull back, but he was faster.

The firm hand that had been holding the sherbet bowl caught her. Goosebumps rose on her skin as she felt the ice-cold sensation from both his mouth and hands.

After a slow kiss that thoroughly explored her mouth, Helix pulled his lips away.

“Is that enough?”

Her mouth felt frozen and numb, making it impossible to gather her thoughts.

Looking down at her as she inhaled sharply and blinked, he took another bite of fruit sherbet. His even cooler breath enveloped Leah.

The subtle voice asked again, “How about now?”

She unconsciously grabbed his arm. The thin fabric of his clothing crumpled beneath her fingertips.

“More…”

Helix chuckled deeply at her pleading voice. He tilted the glass bowl containing sherbet directly toward his mouth.

“Ah, it’s cold…”

A piece of sherbet dripped from the glass bowl and fell onto Leah’s chest. Helix looked regretful as he parted his lips to consume the piece. Goosebumps rose again as his cold lips touched her skin and pulled away.

He parted her trembling lips and pressed his own down once more.

It was a strange kiss.

Her lips froze, her tongue stiffened, her palate became numb… then suddenly warmth returned, sensations awakened, hot breaths intertwined, and cold mana transferred again.

Leah’s body, which had been suffering from a low fever, clung to Helix without her realizing it. With a flushed face, she murmured, “Helix, your tongue is like ice cream…”

“Ice cream?”

The voice questioning her sounded nothing like ice cream. It was parched and hot.

“Ice cream is, well… Ah!”

Indicating he would hear the explanation later, he silenced her lips. Leah focused on him and closed her eyes.

After all, she had her own cold, softly melting ice cream right in front of her.

***

Though he occasionally postponed listening to things, Helix never took Leah’s words lightly.

When she woke up, he asked about ice cream.

“It’s similar to sherbet, frozen liquid, but it’s soft?”

“Yes. Sherbet is frozen fruit juice, right? Ice cream is made by freezing milk and sugar…”

Leah paused, adding with an uncertain expression, “But I think if you just freeze milk, it’s not soft but hard. What was it that makes it soft again?”

With an intensely serious expression, she struggled to remember before saying, “Still, we’ve built freezers in the tower, so it should work. I want to try making ice cream.”

“Is it that delicious?”

“Yes. Incredibly so.”

Leah answered with absolute conviction.

“The difference between summer with ice cream and summer without is like heaven and earth. Maybe comparable to the difference between me having met you and not having met you.”

Such a statement could only make him curious. Helix rolled up his sleeves.

“I’ll help too.”

“Really? What if you get too enthusiastic and make a hundred at once?”

She chattered excitedly.

“Will you need to stop me from going overboard?”

How could that be possible when she was this adorable?

While he was internally shaking his head, Leah continued to babble.

“Should we try freezing milk with honey? No, ice cream is all about the milk fat. How about heavy cream?”

Helix gazed at her excitement with loving eyes.

“Helix, to prevent failure, using the most reliable ingredients is best, right? What’s the magical item that ensures success in baking and ice cream making? Sugar? Fruit?”

“Helix! The kitchen made strawberry jam for the ice cream! Oh my goodness! It’s so delicious! What if we fail and waste it?”

“We need to make whipped cream, but should I build a whipping machine? Oh, right! I could just use my whirlwind magic to spin it!”

This time, he couldn’t just listen.

“That’s dangerous. Leave it to me.”

While stirring the cream, Helix glanced at Leah, who was absorbed in making ice cream. With cream and strawberry jam smudged on her nose, cheeks, and hair as she concentrated, she looked too sweet just to watch.

“……”

Helix’s hands slowed as his gaze intensified.

The desire to draw her attention back to him and the wish to observe this sight longer kept surging up, each taking turns suppressing the other.

‘I really want to put her in my mouth, chew her up, and s*ck her dry.’

His hands tightened.

He wanted to shower her with kisses until she lost her senses, then devour her from head to toe.

‘She would taste sweet.’

What would ice cream taste like?

Would it be sweet and tangy with a lingering zing, like the fragrance that sometimes emanated from Leah?

Or would it melt immediately upon entering the mouth, like the pudding Leah enjoyed?

‘Either way, it must be delicious.’

With her enjoying it so much, how could it not be?

After several days of Leah’s passion, Helix’s patience, and arm muscles continuously burning…

“This is it!”

She held the finally completed strawberry ice cream with deep emotion.

It was a masterpiece—they had made whipped cream, mixed it with milk and strawberry jam, then frozen it, scraping and stirring it with a fork every hour and repeating the process for seven hours.

‘When we first scraped it with the fork, I thought we’d ruin everything…’

If Helix hadn’t taken over the mixing when Leah struggled, they might have failed again. Happily, she scooped up a spoonful of their first successful batch and held it out.

“Helix, say ah.”

Helix accepted the ice cream Leah offered.

The rich milk flavor and sweet strawberry jam blended chewy and soft, melting in his mouth. He slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“…What is this magical creation?”

“Right? Isn’t it amazing?”

***

Soon after, an ice cream party was held at the Magic Tower.

It was thanks to Leah’s instructions and recipe for mass production, as she couldn’t bear to keep such a delicious treat to themselves.

The research division mages, who had been pulled away from making magical tools to build ice cream machines, were rewarded with the first taste of ice cream. They collapsed on the floor in ecstasy.

“So this is why humans were given tongues and stomachs…!”

“I just… had a sweet dream. What is this taste? Why did it disappear?”

Once they started producing ice bars too, the Magic Tower took on a festive atmosphere.

The magic school children especially kept asking for ice cream and ice bars, to the point where consumption had to be limited to three per day to prevent stomach aches.

The hatchlings also fell deeply for this fascinating new creation.

“Chirp…”

“Chirp…”

Chirpy couldn’t resist chocolate ice cream. He begged to return to the tower for ice cream in summer, insisting that the next contaminated land purification should absolutely take place in a different season.

“Chirpy, you still don’t know,” Leah said with a chuckle. “Eating ice cream in a warm room during winter is another special experience altogether.”

“Chirp!”

The Magic Tower residents weren’t the only ones enchanted by ice cream.

The head of the Piert trading company, who had stopped by because of new cosmetic products, trembled after tasting the ice cream.

“Tower Master, this, this must be sold! It absolutely must be sold!”

“That won’t work,” Leah calmed him down. “This requires freezing equipment, so it would be difficult to commercialize.”

“Open an ice cream shop in the capital! You can place the manufacturing machines and freezing equipment there!”

She fell silent for a moment.

‘Why didn’t I think of opening a shop?’

Leah had become too accustomed to her roles as Magic School Director, Magic Tower Head, and Dragonlord.

She had started thinking of everything on the scale of a trading company.

‘I only thought about selling finished products like medicines or cosmetics. Wow, I’ve finally…’

Developed the mindset of someone born with a silver spoon!

She felt strangely proud yet peculiar about this realization.