Bianca took the towel Rita handed her and gently wiped the thin layer of sweat off her forehead, then draped it over her slender, delicate neck.
Her gaze fell on Fu Lin, who was watching her. She smiled softly and said, "Good morning, Fu Lin."
Fu Lin looked away, picked up another dumpling, and stuffed it into Bianca's mouth, his expression soft as he said,
"…Good morning, Bianca. These are freshly made. Try one."
(Kiana, "Fu Lin! You've never been this thoughtful with me!!!")
Rita, "Master Bianca, I made those!!!"
---------------------------
Bianca softly murmured, picked up the dumpling, bit through the wrapper with her delicate lips, and sucked out the broth inside. Her eyes instantly lit up as she carefully placed the dumpling into her mouth.
"As expected, it's delicious."
After swallowing the dumpling, Bianca parted her lips slightly, looked at Fu Lin, who was resting his chin on one hand with a smile at the corner of his mouth, and asked softly, "Are you planning to leave today?"
"Mm, I'll be leaving in a little while."
Fu Lin paused with a dumpling halfway to his mouth, his mind filled with the image of Mei's sad expression. Seeing the reluctance in Bianca's eyes, he stuffed the dumpling into her mouth and said,
"You're welcome to visit anytime. Mei's cooking is actually quite good too, not inferior to Rita's."
Bianca swallowed the dumpling that had been stuffed into her mouth and nodded. "Sure."
"Hehe~ Mr. Fu Lin, so whose cooking do you think is better—mine or Miss Mei's?"
At some point, Rita had approached Fu Lin, covering her mouth with a smile. Her words and gestures subtly radiated a mischievous aura, causing a few drops of cold sweat to appear on Fu Lin's forehead.
"Both are equally good, equally good."
Fu Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked at the smiling Rita. He had a feeling that no matter how he answered, Rita could pull a scythe out from under her skirt and place it at his neck at any moment.
"Is that so? I really look forward to meeting Miss Mei and learning a thing or two about her cooking. Maybe I can pick up some new skills."
Rita withdrew her gaze, pulled out a chair, and sat down beside Fu Lin. With a sweet smile, she held a dumpling to Bianca's lips, as if the dark aura from earlier had been nothing but Fu Lin's imagination.
"Mm~" Listening to their conversation, Bianca couldn't find a place to jump in, so she could only silently accept Rita's feeding.
Before long, the three of them had finished off several baskets of dumplings. Fu Lin and Bianca had eaten the most, while Rita only had a few bites before getting up and returning to the kitchen to prepare something else.
"Well then, I'll be off now. Feel free to visit me anytime~" Fu Lin wiped his lips, stood up, put on his hat, and walked to the entrance. Seeing Bianca following him, he leaned down and patted her head.
"Ahem."
Rita walked out of the kitchen carrying a beautifully wrapped bag. Seeing Fu Lin taking advantage of Bianca, she cleared her throat and interrupted,
"Mr. Fu Lin, I've made some cookies. Would you like to take some with you?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to trouble you."
Although he said that, Fu Lin very honestly accepted the cookies. He sniffed the enticing aroma wafting through the air and sighed,
"They smell amazing. As expected of Rita. Have you considered quitting Schicksal and becoming my personal chef instead?"
Yae Sakura, ???
Mei, ???
Otto, Stealing from under my nose?!
"Of course, but I wonder how the salary and benefits would compare to Schicksal?"
Rita clasped her hands over her abdomen and smiled at Fu Lin, while Bianca, sitting nearby, suddenly stood up and placed herself in front of Rita, puffing up her cheeks as she glared at Fu Lin.
"Salary and benefits… cough, never mind. I wouldn't dream of stealing from someone else."
Fu Lin's mouth twitched as he sighed at the unfairness of capitalist advantages. He turned toward the bright blue sky and let a single tear slip down his cheek before disappearing through the door—completely unaware that he had just missed an opportunity for a real treat.
After Fu Lin left, Bianca's puffed-up cheeks quickly deflated. Just as she started to relax, a chill suddenly crept over her heart.
Bianca's face turned slightly red as she lifted her foot to step out the door, but Rita's hand landed on her shoulder.
A sly glint flashed in Rita's eyes. "Lady Bianca, where are you off to?"
Bianca looked at Rita's serious expression, laughed awkwardly, and scratched her head as she made up an excuse, "Haha… I haven't finished my training this morning, so I'm going to…"
"Lady Bianca, you haven't even tried the outfit I prepared for you~" Rita's right eye, with its signature mole at the corner, shimmered with a faint redness. Her brows knit together slightly as her face showed a look of disappointment and sadness.
Seeing Rita's heartbroken expression, Bianca's heart softened.
Rita had her wrapped around her finger.
Under Rita's gentle but firm push, Bianca unwillingly returned to the room, biting her lip as she endured her fate.
Bianca carefully examined the strange outfit she was now wearing. Her flushed face betrayed her embarrassment as she asked, "Rita, what's with this cosplay-like outfit?"
"Lady Bianca, there's no need to doubt. This is cosplay." Rita crossed her arms, touched her chin, and nodded with satisfaction. Then, she pulled another outfit from the closet with a cheerful smile and said,
"Lady Bianca, I have more options here, such as the fairytale series, the legend series, the Far East series… and the Shenzhou series. I'm sure there's one you'll like."
"Rita, don't you have anything more… normal?" Bianca's face grew even redder as she looked at the messy pile of outfits on the bed.
"Of course, let me see… Oh, found it! How about this pink magical girl outfit?" Rita held up the outfit with anticipation in her eyes.
Bianca, seeing Rita approaching with the outfit, slowly backed away, shaking her head furiously and rejecting her outright, "No! I'm not wearing that!"
"Alright… since Lady Bianca insists, I'll have to give this outfit to Lady Theresa. Luckily, you and Lady Theresa are about the same size now, so I won't need to make any adjustments."
(Bianca is about a year younger than Mei—so she hasn't started growing yet…)
(Theresa, What do you mean by that?!)
Rita set down the magical girl outfit, her eyes flashing with brief disappointment. But she quickly perked up again as the image of Theresa wearing the outfit surfaced in her mind.
Bianca tilted her head and looked at the pile of outfits on the bed, silently praying for Principal Theresa in her heart.