/
Erin gradually poured the white chocolate onto the tray, and the slightly melted white chocolate was dripping lightly.
She adjusted the amount drop by drop in order to create a circular spread.
She was trying to make petals out of white chocolate.
So she spread a thin layer of melted chocolate to form petals, then separated them one by one.
She then shaped them with her hands, and carefully attached them to a previously shaped leaf.
When she’s finally done, what was left was a beautiful flower made of thin-white chocolate.
Although it’s a lot of work and a lot of hassle

If she used this method, she would be able to create a much more detailed and beautiful flower than if she had simply cut it out of a mold.
“Wow, you did a good job!”
Calix admired Erin’s finished white peony flower.
Each petal was made from white chocolate.
She’d formed the thin petals by hand, then overlapped them with each other to create a gorgeous white flower.
It was an elegant floral decoration that would grace the top of the cake.
Calix, who was sitting across from Erin, frowned and muttered.
“It’s not as good as I thought It would be.”
Calix was watching Erin work, and then realized that he, too, was working on a set of petals with a thin layer of chocolate to make a flower.
A handsome man sat like a statue, with his back to the window and a serious expression on his face.
He seemed to be focused on the petals in front of him.
Aside from the flowers they were shaping, Calix seemed to be a work of art himself.
‘Well
 he was like a man who came out from a painting.’
What he was creating was less than stellar.
In the end, the white petals slowly crumpled in his hands.
“You know, you didn’t really have to help me with that.”
She thought that she’d never see him again, but since the previous attack, he seemed to be spending more time in Erin’s shop almost every day.
Sometimes following her into the kitchen to watch her make desserts, sometimes grabbing a piece of the finished product to try it.
It seemed like too much, but he had saved her life.
From Erin’s perspective, she couldn’t ask him to leave.
‘Even if I don’t let him come, I don’t think he’ll listen to it, he might even go over the wall.’
In fact, the day after the attack, he seemed to have left a basket of cake materials on her doorstep at dawn.
Erin asked him how he got in, but all he did was scoff, and said that he didn’t know, and that maybe a fairy came in.
‘Maybe that’s really the case?’
‘On May Day, the garden fairy who lives in a mushroom cave would usually come to visit. So maybe It’s a gift from the garden fairy?’
‘Hey.’
‘There was a legend in the Empire that if a mushroom pile bloomed in a garden, a fairy would live there.’
‘If you gave her milk, she would leave you a present on May day.’
( T/N : May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.)
Erin’s face turned cold.
‘May day is on the first of May, isn’t it?’
‘They must have gotten the date wrong. What kind of calendar does a fairy who lives in a mushroom have?’
After that, Erin got furious that she didn’t want to talk to him for the rest of the day, so he finally admitted that it was him.
He said that he had his men climb over the fence near the forest.
Erin decided that when she got paid for the cake she made for Lady Caterina, she’d use the money to raise the fences up right away.
Well, it wasn’t really a nuisance, though.
Despite his daily bantering, Calix seemed to worry about Erin in his own way.
Sometimes he’d even help her with her work.
Even now, he was also doing it for her. Even though he seemed to be destroying things endlessly, rather than really helping.
“How does my sister-in-law do it so well?”
He asked as he ate the ruined chocolate petals in his hands.
“Because I did it a lot when I was younger.”
Erin replied as she scooped the finished white flowers into a bowl and put them in a cool storage box.
It was still hot, and she figured the chocolate would melt into a puddle if she let it sit around idly.
It had been a while since
She’d met with Serena at Lady Caterina’s mansion.
The day of the ball that Serena had told her about was almost approaching.
So Erin was now making a large cake of white chocolate.
While the cake sheet was baking in the oven, she heated up the whipped cream to a nice and warm temperature.
Then she melted the white chocolate into the warm cream.
Once the white chocolates were evenly mixed into the whipped cream.
The result was a white ganache cream filled with the rich flavor of the white chocolate.
‘Ah The smell of Sweet chocolate.’
As the chocolate began to melt, a sweet aroma wafted through the air.
The smell was full of the flavor of white chocolate.
Now all that was left was to spread it on the cake sheet, which had just come out of the oven.
The ball was scheduled for tomorrow evening.
Erin was going to finish the cake tonight and take it to the ball tomorrow.
She didn’t have time to make the cake during the day, so she started to prepare it as soon as she closed the shop.
She already had the ingredients ready anyways.
Just then, there was a knock on the door and Melly opened it and walked in.
“Ms. Erin, the cake model is now complete.”
“Oh, it’s already done, thanks.”
Erin had sent Serena a note yesterday.
Dear Serena,
ı m sending you a  decorative cake before hand so you can put it on display on the food table. It would be nice for guests to see the cake before they can eat it.
That’s what Erin’s note said.
Serena replied with a polite thank you.
Calix was eating a ruined white petal at one end of the table, when he saw Erin’s note.
He was quietly listening to their conversation.
Then, as Melly closed the door behind her, he turned to Erin and asked,
“Sister-in-law, Are you going to attend the ball?”
“Yep. I received an order, so I had to go.”
Erin replied casually as she melted the chocolate in front of her.
As Erin whipped the white ganache cream again, Calix was just staring intently at her.
He then suddenly asked.
“Do you want me to be your partner?”
“What?”
She looked at him, wondering what he was talking about, and he shrugged, while holding up another petal.
“If you’re going to the ball, you need a partner, right?”
‘Well, yeah, I guess.’
Considering what Serena had told her when she’d ordered the cake and added in a sweet tone,
‘I ordered the cake as a guest, but I’m still the ball’s organizer and I’d like to personally invite Erin to attend it. I hope Erin will enjoy the ball as much as I enjoyed organizing it.’
Whatever she does, she can’t just have Erin deliver the cake there then have her leave, or she’ll embarrass herself.
So Serena would want Erin to stay for the ball, but that was just that.
Erin was fine with it. She didn’t really plan to just drop off the cake and go home.
She wanted to stay at the ball, to make sure things were in order.
“Calix, didn’t you tell me before that you find balls boring.”
“Yes, ordinary balls are boring.”
Calix smiled picturesquely, while his delicate eyes were crinkling slightly.
“But from what I’ve heard from my sister-in-law, it sounds like fun.”
“People are going to look at me strangely.”
He may be an adopted brother, but Calix was still Raymond’s brother anyway.
If she went to the ball with her ex-husband’s brother, there would be people gossiping about it.
“Who cares what they say?”
He casually said, while looking straight at Erin.
Erin was momentarily speechless.
“They can talk all they want, but all they do is gossip behind my back. I don’t care what they say, I’m going to do what I want.”
“
..”
Easy for a 24-year-old archduke to say.
He’s the head of the Archduke’s family, and was second in rank only to the Emperor, so he might not mind the gossip around him.
But hearing those words before made the young Erin feel at ease immediately.
‘It doesn’t matter what they say or don’t say. You do what you want to do, no matter what they say.’
Erin looked at Calix for a moment, she seemed to be thinking whether to accept his offer.
“Alright, then.”
Erin finally accepted, and Calix smiled innocently.
His smile is that signature Calix smile when he was a child. Where he was beaming from ear to ear.
“Then I have a favor to ask of you too.”
Serena walked slowly into the room, stepping casually on the carpeted floor.
The bright midday sun was shining through the luxuriously draped windows.
“Your Highness.”
Serena bowed in a polite manner and approached Raymond.
Raymond, who was reading some papers, didn’t even glance at her.
“What’s the matter?”