Melina looked in surprise at Alistair's little sister, who was staring at Sienna. She then glanced at Alistair, hoping to find a solution from him. But he looked utterly helpless—apparently, he hadn't expected her to just bring Sienna out in the open like that.

"Is that a real monster?" The girl repeated, looking at Sienna wide-eyed. "It is so cute!"

Melina blinked in surprise as the girl ran up to her, peering up at Sienna. "Miss Baker, what is this creature?"

"Oh… Well, she's an ember wyrm," Melina replied awkwardly, not sure how to react.

"An ember wyrm? So she's like a little dragon? That's cool! Does she have a name?"

"Yes, she's named Sienna," Melina relaxed and took Sienna in her palms to show it to the girl more clearly.

"Sienna? You're so cute, Sienna. How much can I buy her for?"

"Charlotte! You can't buy Sienna!" Alistair instantly protested as Melina pulled the wyrm back, holding her close.

"No?"

"She's very important to me. I wouldn't be able to make my pastries without her," Melina explained.

"Melina, I'm really sorry about that," Alistair apologized in a hurry.

"Brother, do you know Miss Baker?" Charlotte peered curiously at Alistair.

"Yes, I do. She's a close friend. I always go to her bakery to get the best pastries," Alistair explained with a warm smile. The fact that he was looking at Melina while doing that made her flush.

Charlotte looked at her brother then at Melina suspiciously. "Really? Are her pastries that amazing?"

"Would you like to try one?" Melina offered and took one of the shimmertartlets, presenting it to Charlotte.

She looked reluctant to take it. "Father won't be happy if I eat commoner food. But… I've never seen a tartlet shimmer like that."

"It's very tasty—I promise," Alistair said.

"Did Sienna help you make this?" Charlotte asked.

"Of course," Melina nodded, and Sienna chirped in approval.

The girl took the tartlet gingerly and peered at it from all sides. Strangely enough, Melina felt quite nervous. She wanted to leave a good impression on Alistair's sister. She seemed like a lovely young girl, if a bit snobbish. But it was to be expected from a noble lady. Most wouldn't even consider attending a commoners' festival.

Not finding anything suspicious, Charlotte finally took a careful bite of the shimmertartlet. Melina could see her pupils dilate, and she devoured the rest of the tartlet in no time at all.

"How can it be so delicious?! Even our chef at home can't make pastries this good!" Charlotte gushed. "Now I understand why you visit her bakery every day! I would, too if I lived here."

"Told you," Alistair said.

"What is your name, Miss Baker?" Charlotte asked, then gave her a polite curtsy. "My name is Charlotte Sinclair. I am Alistair's little sister."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Charlotte. I am Melina Dufour," Melina said and curtsied in response. The gesture came naturally—The Church had drilled proper manners into her.

"Oh! Father said that commoners didn't know proper manners, but you know them quite well," Charlotte said. "Did you have a teacher?"

Melina chuckled awkwardly. How could she even explain this?

"It's a secret," Alistair winked at his sister mischievously. It was interesting to see this more relaxed side of him.

"What? Why?!" Charlotte demanded.

"I'll tell you when the time is right," Alistair said, and Melina exhaled in relief. Hopefully, the girl will just let it go and not mention the topic again.

"Miss Melina, we have our first customer," Leon suddenly called out helplessly from the stall. Few people were curiously peering at the pastries.

"Oh, yes! Right away!" Melina said then inclined her head in apology towards Charlotte. "I have to work now, but if you want we can talk more in the evening, Lady Sinclair."

"Just call me Charlotte," the girl said.

"Charlotte, then. You likewise can call me Melina."

"Wonderful. Then I hope to see you later, Melina."

Charlotte went ahead, looking at the other stall eagerly. Meanwhile, Alistair leaned in close to Melina and whispered. "Why is Leon with you at the stall?"

"He's helping me cool the pastries," Melina explained.

"Oh…" Alistair looked a bit ashamed. "I wish you luck then. May you sell all your pastries."

"Oh, wait," Melina said and hurriedly put a few pastries in a box. "Enjoy these together with Charlotte."

"Miss Melina!" Leon whined as a small crowd was now gathered in front of the stall.

"Coming!" Melina gave Alistair an apologetic look and hurried back to the stall. He smiled at her and then hurried after Charlotte.

The stall was a huge success. The shimmertartlets effects clearly had a hand in this, because from all nearby stalls, Melina's was the one people came to first. Sienna, who would occasionally emerge to sit on her shoulders only attracted more people.

The tourist looked rather skeptical of her, but nine times out of ten, their curiosity won and they came to take a look. Many asked questions about her, like where Melina had gotten her. She had a story ready for this occasion.

"I found her injured in the forest and decided to nurse her back to health. She stayed with me ever since," Melina told anyone who asked. It was a very believable story.

If any Sunglower happened to be at the stall at the same time, they would back up her story.

"We were all worried at first, but seeing Sienna get attached to Melina, we decided that it was alright for her to stay," said Missis Veilcroft as she hung around the stall for a while. She loved the attention and was eager to repeat the story multiple times.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Melina was just happy that she hadn't spun it into some crazy tale. Then it would quickly grow out of control, resulting in many confusing versions. Although it was likely that there were already several versions of this story floating around the festival.

Another person who hung around the stall was Remi. Or it was probably best described as hovering. The elf would explore the promenade for a bit, getting herself something to eat, and return to Melina's stall with a group of people trailing behind her.

As it turned out, she was advertising her pastries, bringing fresh customers to her. As thanks for her effort, Melina would give her a free pastry each time she brought a new group. Remi accepted it eagerly each time.

"I love this festival, and it has barely even begun! All the fun will be in the evening," Remi noted in one of those rare occasions when there were no customers to serve.

"What's happening in the evening?" Melina asked.

"This evening is mostly focusing on stalls and a few contests. I hear there will be a fishing contest, swimming contest and also a cooking contest."

"Cooking contest?" Melina's eyes lit up.

"It's happening after 4 pm. You think you might make it by then?" Remi asked.

"At this pace I'll be sold out in a few hours," Melina said excitedly.

"I'd love to try my hand at the fishing competition," Leon hummed.

"You like fishing?" Remi asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I find it relaxing. Meditative almost. It also helps me understand water magic a bit better," the mage nodded.

"All the more reason to sell out these pastries! I'll go get you some more customers," Remi said and hurried along the promenade, chatting people up.

"I'm surprised that the tourists aren't having a strong reaction to Remi. And Sienna, too," Melina said to Leon conversationally.

"It's the festival. People are more accepting of the unusual. I certainly never thought you'd just bring Sienna out in the open with so many strangers around," Leon noted.

"I'm tired of hiding," she admitted.

"And there's no reason to do so. Sunglow will always be on your side. If anyone says any bad word about you, I'll freeze them over," Leon boasted.

"You still have a lot to learn before you can properly freeze anyone over," Melina noted.

"I'm sure you will remedy that soon," he said hopefully.

"That depends entirely on you," Melina noted.

The atmosphere was pleasant throughout the day. Despite the summer sun shining down and heating everything, she felt comfortable in the booth. Leon made sure to cool the pastries from time to time, and the canopy provided a much-needed shade.

Everything was going great. They made a huge profit, and soon after lunch, it looked like all the pastries would be sold out.

"Shimmertartlets, Wyrm Eclairs, Fruit Delights, and Cloud Muffins. Now that is an array of pastries I have never seen before," a familiar male voice said.

Melina froze up as she turned away from the customers she had been serving. There stood Auden Speziale, the same man who had hosted the cooking competition in Pertia. A System user. He had a cloud muffin in hand, a big bite taken out of it.

"This is the most unusual and delightful muffin I've ever eaten. Miss Melina, I taste that you've grown quite considerably since the last time we met," he smiled at her and put a gold coin on the counter.

Leon hurriedly retrieved a box, "What would you like, sir?"

"One of each, please. Keep the change for yourself!"

Melina stared at the scene in horror. It was only thanks to <Mask of Deceit> that she was able to keep a calm appearance.

"Leon, do you mind watching the stall for a moment? I'd like to talk to Lord Speziale," Melina said.

"I… Sure. I don't mind," Leon said, not noticing her distress. It was better that way anyway.

"How generous of you to offer your time at such a busy moment. I won't bother you for long," Lord Speziale said and offered his elbow to Melina. "Shall we?"

Reluctantly Melina took his elbow and followed after him.

"I see you have gained a wyrm familiar. Most fascinating. He must be very helpful in the kitchen," he noted, peering at Sienna. The wyrm let out a small hiss and buried herself in Melina's apron pocket.

"She. And I don't know anything about familiars," Melina said sternly. Perhaps a bit too much so.

"There's no reason to hide it from me. I knew you were a System user since that competition in Pertia. You have a habit of pausing slightly to read System messages," he noted.

Melina glared and nervously looked around to see whether anybody had been listening in on their conversation.

"Don't worry everyone is too caught up in festivities to pay any attention to us," Lord Speziale chuckled. "I'll just get to the point since you don't seem to be enjoying my company. Join the cooking competition I'm hosting today."

I should have known that he was the one hosting it.

"Why should I?" Melina narrowed her eyes at him.

"I want to witness you cooking. How do you use your wyrm in your cooking? How did you temper those ingredients for Monster Realm? I've tried once cooking with feyfruit you know. The result wasn't great. But here you are with your beautiful creations," he praised.

"I don't really want to attract the wrong attention."

"Ah! A valid concern. What if I promised you my protection?" He smiled at her.

"Protection? Why would you do that?" Melina narrowed her eyes.

"Because you're the kind of person I've been searching for. One eager to seek creative use for the System, not just to beat up monsters. An artistic soul to change this world for the better. Imagine the possibilities if more System users did seemingly mundane jobs. Tailors and cooks, even innkeepers and servants. Don't you think the world would be a better place?"

Melina thought about it for a moment. It would certainly be interesting to see all these professions guided by the System. The Church always pushed youth to pursue a combat class with very few rare exceptions. But if anyone could choose their own route just like Melina had...

Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled away from Lord Speziale by a strong pair of hands. Before she realized what was going on, Alistair had a firm hand wrapped around her. He was glaring daggers at the other nobleman.

"Lord Speziale, do you have any business with Melina? She looked quite uncomfortable next to you," Alistair snarled.

At some point, Charlotte had attached herself to Melina's other arm, also glaring at Lord Speziale.

"My, my, Young Lord Sinclair and Young Lady Sinclair, what a pleasure to meet you here. I'm sorry if my actions seemed rude, but I assure you that I only have Miss Melina's best interests at heart," Lord Speziale said. "Nonetheless, a gentleman must understand when he has overstayed his welcome. Miss Melina, please think carefully about my offer. I'll be eagerly awaiting your participation in the cooking competition this evening."

With a graceful bow, Lord Speziale excused himself and disappeared into the crowd.

"What a rude person!" Charlotte huffed. "I saw how even the little Sienna ran away from him!"

"What did he want?" Alistair asked, still glaring daggers at the place where Lord Speziale had disappeared.

"C-Could you let me go please?" Melina asked nervously. Alistair's hand was still tightly wrapped around her waist.

"Oh, my bad!" He hurriedly let go, his cheeks flushing red for a moment. He cleared his throat. "Did he threaten you? Because if he did—"

"No, it wasn't like that. He actually offered me protection," Melina said.

"Protection?" Alistair asked curiously.

"Yes. He wants me to cook in this evening's cooking competition. Without holding back," Melina gave him a significant look. Alistair's expression tensed—he had caught the secret meaning of her words.

"How does he even know?"

"Know what?" Charlotte asked curiously.

"Oh, well…" Melina stammered awkwardly, not sure how to best reply.

"Melina has a special power that lets her make super delicious pastries. But it's a secret!" Alistair explained, and Melina nodded.

At this rate, pretty much everyone will know that I'm a System user. But if Auden Speziale offered me his protection for real… Perhaps, I wouldn't have to worry about the Church at all.

After all, he's managed to avoid their influence all on his own. He certainly has the power to do that. It would be quite beneficial to get him on my side. Maybe I should participate after all.

"Melina, you aren't thinking of actually participating, are you?" Alistair questioned.

"It could be quite beneficial. The more allies I have, the better," she noted thoughtfully.

"I don't like that guy," Charlotte noted, pulling on Melina's arm. "You shouldn't trust him, okay?"

"Oh, I never trusted him," Melina said. "But I can see why he'd want me as his ally. After all, he is… similar to me."

Alistair and Charlotte both frowned, but Melina smiled at them. "Don't worry, if I'll participate in the cooking competition, then it's because I want to. Not because he told me to do it."

Melina decided that she would enter after all. She would show everyone what she could do. Without any System or any tricks, just her own two hands.

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