[Music Recommendation: "A Sweet Smile" by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Callan's reaction was satisfying. He looked so perplexed and confused with my request. But he caught on after a few minutes. He was probably wondering where in the world did I get such a bizarre idea. Well, I wasn't asking for the impossible though. Cheese flavoured ice cream was a thing in our country. In fact, many people liked it.

"Fine. I'll make one."

"Oh? You can make ice cream?"

"I'm not as good as Kai but I can cook."

"Have you ever made ice cream before?"

"… No."

"Heh. I'll wait for it then. Make sure it's edible and that YOU made it. Otherwise your apology is not accepted. Sincerity is a must in apologies."

"Urk! I know, I know! I will do it. I'll even come tomorrow and do it in the kitchen in front of you."

I chuckled. "Good. And you'll keep making it until I'm satisfied with the flavour."

"What?!"

I squinted my eyes at him.

"Fine! I'll do it. Ugh."

The next day, which was a Saturday—no classes, Callan did as he promised. He visited the Ma Residence, knocked on my room's door, and bothered me so early in the morning, so I could observe him making the ice cream.

"Wut? You said you'd watch me make the ice cream," he said, shrugging. He carried a bag of groceries on both of his hands.

I sighed and raised my eyebrows at him.

"At 6 am? Seriously?"

Yes. It was six in the morning, on a weekend, and I was disturbed from my long awaited time to hibernate. He could have come in the afternoon, or before lunch time, but oh no, he really chose to come when the sun was just rising. Truly, he knew very well how to get on my nerves. I love the morning but it's a Saturday for goodness' sake. I wanted to sleep a bit more.

There was nothing I could do about it though. And since every nerve in my body had fully awakened because of him, I followed him to the kitchen. I was still in my pajamas though. He was rushing me so much so I was only able to brush my teeth and wash my face.

Once in the kitchen—which was insanely huge—the chefs and assistant chefs kindly lent us a space for us to do our cooking. I sat on a chair in front of the kitchen counter, making my coffee and toasting some bread, while Callan started his "Cheese Ice Cream" project.

What a good way to start my morning, punishing the brat before me. How very satisfying. I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched him struggle on reading through a recipe book, and following what it said. He looked handsome though, with that apron on. Yes, he looked quite okay if he would just shut his mouth all the time. Once he speaks, chaos would definitely happen.

"Want some bread?" I asked for the sake of courtesy. He came so early so I wasn't sure if he even ate. It's not that I'm feeling merciful or worried for him—nope, definitely not.

"Huh? You worried about me?"

"No. Do you want some or not?"

He chuckled smugly. Why was it that all his actions looked so smug? Where did he get all that confidence?

"Nah. I'm good. I ate at home."

"What time did you wake up?"

"Five? I don't know."

Noticing there were so many bowls in front of him, with milky liquid things inside—I didn't know what they were since I'm not blessed with cooking capabilities—I jolted up from my seat.

"Hey! How much ice cream are you making? Are you trying to feed everyone in this household including the maids? That looks like a lot."

"Wut? I'm making different kinds and experimenting with proportions of ingredients. You said you had to like the taste. I don't know how you want it to be. And it takes time to freeze 'em. You think I'd make one batch, freeze it, then if you're not satisfied, make another batch and wait for it to freeze?"

He said all that in a single breath while raising his eyebrows at me.

"Oh. I see. I thought you could make it in one go."

His face turned sour. He's probably summoning all his wits to calm himself and not be angry at me since this was his way of apologizing to me. He-he-he. How amusing.

And so, he continued making the ice cream while I kept on pestering him every now and then. Once done, he left it in the fridge and I went back to my room, planning to get some writing done. To my surprise, he followed me to my room!

"What the—why are you following me in my room?"

"I have nowhere to go. I can't go to Kai's room. He's still asleep and he'll get angry if I disturb him."

"Then go somewhere else! To the living room, or library, or I don't know. Wherever but not my room. You already entered uninvited earlier."

"Why not? And lend me your desktop. I want to play while waiting. There's no desktop in the library anymore since Kai uses it and when I play I get noisy so he removed it there."

"First, I'm a girl and you're a boy in case you're forgetting. Second, I'm planning to write. Do you think I can write in a noisy environment?"

"What's wrong with that? I could go to Crystal's room just fine. But she's still asleep right now."

"Then third, we're not that close for me to grant you entry in my room."

"Tsk! Stingy."

"Did you just click your tongue on me?"

'Ahh… there it is. He's losing his patience. If he's an animal, he's definitely a hot-blooded one.'

He stayed silent and turned around instead, finally leaving me alone. Phew! Having to deal with a brat was so hard. Anyway, it was time to get some writing done. Thanks to him, I just got inspired into writing a very hateful character!

'Right! I have been wondering for days how I should plan out the personality of the Guardian of Darkness! Now I have the perfect reference! A jerk through and through! I'm gonna name him Caligo which means dark in Latin. How perfectly befitting of him!'