The Female Lead Takes Care of Everything - Chapter 96

“But…”

Just as Aref was about to run out, Nivellia spoke up.

“I have Aref with me…”

I like Aref more than chocolate cookies.

Hearing her honest and steady feelings, Aref slowly sat back down.

The children glanced at Aref, who was smiling quietly, then turned their eyes back to Nivellia.

“Thank you for loving me, but I’ll just accept the cake. Please don’t love me. We’re not supposed to.”

Even though she had confessed her feelings first, Nivellia now took them back.

The head chef had just been rejected by a child young enough to be her own daughter.

But she was an adult, and she accepted the rejection with grace.

Even though, technically, she had never confessed anything at all.

“That’s right. You go around kissing Master Aref like that. If someone tells a married woman they love her, that’s a big problem.”

“What? You’re married?”

“Yes. I have two kids.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were married?”

“I got married before you were born, young lady.”

“Oh, I see. I love Aref so much that when we get married, we’re going to have ten babies.”

“That many will hurt your body…”

The head chef spoke with serious concern, giving advice from her own experience.

“Aref, you don’t have to take Nini’s words so seriously,” said Soles gently.

“But you’re not really planning to have ten kids, right? Nini is still small and too young to have babies. And I think one is more than enough.”

“I… I’ll have the other nine myself…!”

Aref made a bold public declaration.

“Neither of you needs to take this seriously.”

Caleo stepped in immediately.

But his heart had already hit the floor once.

I’m going to have to start sex education early.

He realized he would have to clearly teach Nivellia, Aref, and even Soles how painful and difficult pregnancy and childbirth really are.

Anyway, the chocolate cookie-shaped cake that tasted just like a real cookie became the center of attention for all the children.

“I’m going to cut it! I am!”

Nivellia was practically shaking with excitement, her eyes sparkling wildly.

Like a starving kitten pouncing on food, she rushed toward the cake.

“Let’s light the candles first!”

While Caleo held back his wild daughter, Muniel and Ardores quickly placed five small candles on the cake and lit them.

Celletina stepped in to explain.

“After you make a wish, blow them all out in one go.”

“I want to make lots of money!”

“You’re supposed to wish quietly, in your heart.”

“I want to make lots and lots of money…”

Nivellia mumbled quietly, then glanced anxiously at her parents as if to say, “Is that okay now?”

Caleo and Celletina smiled, knowing they couldn’t stop her.

With their silent permission, Nivellia took a deep breath.

“Whoo! Whoo!”

But unfortunately, only four out of the five candles went out.

No matter how hard she blew, the last flame clung stubbornly to the wick like it had a will of its own.

“You little…!”

Frustrated, Nivellia punched the candle.

The candle snapped in half, and the flame was snuffed out as it fell into the chocolate cream.

Caleo realized then that character education was just as urgent as everything else.

The guests ate the messy but delicious cake that Nivellia had cut, along with the other food that had been prepared.

Of course, the part where the candle had fallen was carefully cleaned of cream before serving.

After the meal, the tables were cleared, and everyone gathered to watch Nivellia open her birthday presents.

A pile of neatly stacked gifts was placed in front of her.

“I’m opening Aref’s first!”

The first one she picked was a small box wrapped in white paper with little blue dots. It was Aref’s gift.

Aref watched nervously as Nivellia opened it.

“Wow…!”

Nivellia gasped and turned to look at Aref.

Their eyes met, and Aref gave her a shy smile.

“I made it myself.”

Aref’s gift was a round wallet shaped like a chocolate cookie.

He had sewn it himself, one stitch at a time.

With Muniel’s help, he drew the pattern. Then he chose the fabric and stitched it together with Ardores.

“So that’s why your fingers were always bandaged!”

Soles finally understood why Aref had constantly worn bandages on his hands. He had thought it was from sword training.

“I heard that giving someone a wallet means they’ll earn a lot of money…”

That’s why Aref chose to give Nivellia a wallet.

At eight years old, and without ever having sewn anything before, Aref’s handmade wallet wasn’t perfectly round.

But that made it look even more like a real cookie.

Nivellia sat with her mouth slightly open, gently touching the wallet over and over.

It was a round brown fabric wallet with small patches of dark cloth that looked like chocolate chips. At the top, there was a snap-button closure.

“Open it for me.”

Not knowing how to open it, Nivellia handed the wallet to Aref. He showed her how to unfasten it.

Nivellia stared into the empty wallet.

When she stayed silent, Aref began to worry.

“Um, do you not like it…?”

Suddenly, Nivellia grabbed Aref’s face and kissed him with a loud smooch.

She even tilted her head.

Surprised, Aref quickly closed his eyes.

“Kyaa!”

Leticia’s excited scream filled the frozen banquet hall.

“That was a kiss of true love! It was amazing!”

The young couple finally pulled apart.

Nivellia let out a big puff of breath she had been holding in, looked Aref straight in the eye, and declared,

“You’re mine!”

Aref blushed and nodded.

“You’re not allowed to make this for anyone else, okay?”

“Okay…!”

“This is mine! And you’re mine too!”

“Okay!”

Nivellia loved the wallet so much that she leaned in to kiss Aref again.

“We promised kisses only three times a day, remember?”

But Caleo quickly stepped between them and stopped her.

While he distracted Nivellia, Celletina checked to make sure Aref’s lips hadn’t been injured.

My goodness…

My daughter already tilted her head during a kiss.

She tried her best to hold back the laughter building up inside her.

“Did everyone see that? Nini just made a kiss promise of eternal love! Oh no, I love it so much! I want to live in Deiamor forever just so I can watch Nini and Aref kiss every day!”

Leticia, always full of passion when it came to love, was so excited her face turned bright red.

“I need to tell the Grand Witch about this as soon as possible…”

Azel swore she would report today’s events to the witches without fail.

“Wow, Nini’s no joke…”

Rubens was still stunned by the intensity of Nivellia’s kiss.

“Oh my…”

Even Al was having a hard time recovering from the shock.

Rubens glanced at his frozen older brother and giggled.

“Aref’s practically married now. Nini’s got him wrapped around her finger.”

“But I don’t think he minds. Look at them. They’re holding each other so tightly.”

No one was quite sure what had happened in that brief moment, but the little couple had thrown their arms around each other and were hugging tightly.

“Oh, you little rascals… You’re both under ten years old and can’t even take care of yourselves…”

Between the tightly clinging young lovers, only Caleo stood there, muttering in despair.

“Caleo, sir…”

Al and Rubens couldn’t hide the sympathy in their eyes.

Rubens spoke up.

“Actually, Aref once asked me to help him make a big snowman for Nini.”

“Sounds like he’s really in deep.”

Al giggled, then suddenly turned his head.

“Rima.”

He called out to the girl who had been quiet the whole time.

Rima flinched, her shoulders tensing, then slowly turned to face Al, her eyes still locked on the young couple.

The banquet hall maintained the perfect environment for children’s health. The temperature and humidity were just right.

Even so, Rima’s eyes were bloodshot, as if they were dry and irritated.

Al warned her in a firm voice.

“You can’t do that. Understand?”

“…”

“If you act like that, we’ll be really, really sad.”

“That’s right! Rima, you can’t do that!”

Rubens joined in.

“Ha ha…”

Rima gave a stiff and awkward laugh.

But in the end, she didn’t say she wouldn’t.

Al and Rubens didn’t try to force her to respond either.

The gift opening continued.

The cookie-shaped wallet had small loops on either side for attaching a strap.

Detter quickly added a strap and hung it around Nivellia’s neck. With the wallet hanging around her neck, Nivellia went on checking the rest of her gifts.

“This one’s from my brother!”

Soles had recently given his little sister a gift to match her new self-defense lessons: a pair of wrist guards.

The next gift was from Leticia. It was a storybook full of love stories.

“Thank you!”

Just as she promised, Nivellia was truly happy with Leticia’s gift.

Leticia hugged her tightly.

“Nini, you’re way more experienced in love than I am. I’m older, but you understand it better…”

She admitted honestly that she had been worried about what gift to give.

But Nivellia shook her head and hugged the storybook close to her chest.

“You’re my big sister, Leti, so you know a lot of things I don’t. I have to study a lot, so I’ll work hard and learn from this.”

“Okay!”

Next were the gifts from Al and Rubens.

Al had prepared a wide-brimmed hat. It was decorated with a flower crocheted from fine thread, perfect for the sunny days of spring and summer.

Rubens had chosen a pair of sturdy leather shoes. He hoped that Nivellia, who loved playing ball, could run around more safely and joyfully.

The final gift was from Rima.

“Um, are you sure about this?”

Celletina gently approached Rima and asked.

Rima’s gift seemed too simple, especially compared to the others that had already been opened.

Even calling it “simple” felt unfair. It was that modest.

Celletina worried that opening the gift in front of everyone might embarrass Rima.

But to her surprise, Rima said she was fine with it.

“It’s not as good as the others, but I-it’s okay.”

“…”

Celletina tilted her head slightly, then gave a soft nod.

So Nivellia opened Rima’s gift right there.

Rima’s present was a drawing.

It was a picture of herself.

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