My older sister is a villainous rich girl.

Today is a cloudy, overcast day.

If you are indoors, it will inevitably be a bit dim if you don't turn on the lights, but even if you turn on the lights, it still doesn't feel bright enough.

In short, it was a rather gloomy and somewhat muggy day.

A week had passed since their last meeting, and Tasia finally brought over the cookies she had prepared.

Wayne, Chris, and Tasia sat together at the wooden table and chairs in the courtyard, sharing their food.

"Tasia, you're amazing!"

Chris stared at the small box in Tasia's hand with delight and anticipation.

"Sorry... I may have kept everyone waiting a little longer."

Tasia opened the box, inside which were neatly arranged small cookies of various shapes.

Stars, moon, bears, rabbits... and many more.

"Wow—it's so cute!" Chris asked excitedly, "Can I eat it?"

"Please make yourselves at home."

Tasia gestured for them to take it.

Wayne also picked up a star-shaped cookie and took a small bite.

The biscuit has a slightly crisp texture when you first bite into it, but it quickly melts in your mouth as you chew, and the sweet flavor fills every corner of your mouth, giving you a unique feeling of happiness.

"Mmm! So delicious!"

Chris exclaimed in surprise.

Wayne nodded repeatedly in affirmation.

Tasia smiled faintly: "I'd be so glad you two like it. I was worried that such ordinary food might not be to your liking..."

"That's not true!" Chris denied categorically. "It's really delicious, even better than what I've had at dessert shops."

As she spoke, she asked curiously, "Can you tell me what special ingredients are added inside? I can't taste anything different, but the texture is definitely different from other cookies."

"Oh, it's okay if you don't want to say if it's inconvenient to say!" Chris added.

Tasia thought for a moment and said, "Actually, there's nothing inconvenient about it. I used the most common ingredients... It's probably related to the ingredient ratios, baking time, and temperature!"

"And then there's the feeling of happiness I experienced while making it."

Wayne was completely confused.

A feeling of happiness? ...Such mysterious cooking knowledge.

Chris looked down at the cookies in her hand and said sadly, "It seems the reason I can't make food delicious enough is because I don't put enough happiness into it!"

"No, sometimes you can produce pretty good results," Wayne tried to save face for her. "Like hot pot, isn't it quite good?"

"Huh? Hot pot?" Tasia asked in surprise. "Does Miss Chris know how to make this too?"

When Wayne heard the word come from Tasia's mouth, his heart clenched instantly.

Could it be... that someone else in this world claims to have invented hot pot?!

Beside her, Chris's expression also froze for a moment.

Tasia, unaware of the intense thoughts swirling within the two, continued speaking thoughtfully.

"Recently, many restaurants in the capital have launched hot pot dishes. I heard it was invented by a noble lady who loves food..."

At this point, she looked at Chris with a surprised expression.

"Could it be Miss Chris's work?"

Wayne breathed a sigh of relief. So someone had leaked it to the restaurants outside... Wait, this doesn't seem right either!

"Ah, hahaha..." Chris laughed dryly. "I did find the original recipe in a personal travelogue and tried to improve it, but I don't know if the hot pot you're talking about is the same as the one I make."

"If there's a chance next time, please invite Miss Tasia to have hot pot with us!" Wayne invited.

"Eh?"

For some reason, Tasia didn't seem particularly happy, and instead hesitated, saying, "Can... I?"

"Of course!" Chris cheered, pumping her fist. "Next time, let's try making some new desserts together!"

She probably thought that if she invited her classmates over to play, her mother would feel embarrassed to force her out of the kitchen.

Chris has come up with a new way to evade punishment.

After enjoying their cookies during break, Wayne and Chris said goodbye to Tasia.

After Chris's persistent pleading, Tasia finally revealed her home address.

A very ordinary street-front bakery in a working-class neighborhood.

"We'll pick you up from your house on Saturday morning!"

Chris turned back as she walked away and waved goodbye to her.

Tasia stood still, stretched out her hand, and waved to them.

Gradually, her figure was hidden by the bushes on both sides and disappeared from sight.

We walked for a while.

"I feel like Tasia doesn't seem very happy," Wayne suddenly said.

"Really...?" Chris's steps slowly came to a stop. "Now that you mention it, I feel like I might be a little bit."

The two exchanged a glance and both noticed that the other's expression was somewhat serious.

Just then, a few girls came over from around the corner, laughing and joking with each other.

They were dressed smartly and acted arrogantly.

The topic of their conversation was not concealed at all, and it reached the ears of Wayne and Chris.

"That commoner!"

One of them said in a very amused tone, "She really overestimates herself, daring to seduce the prince like that. A good show is about to begin~"

Another person said, "Yeah, yeah, someone already warned her last time, but she still ignored it. Looks like she hasn't learned her lesson yet..."

Chris frowned and stood in front of them.

"you!"

When the girls saw Chris, their expressions immediately changed. They put away their malicious smiles and adopted a timid and harmless tone.

"Lady Chris!" they called out timidly.

Wayne stood behind Chris and witnessed the girls' amazing face-changing skills, and his heart sank.

"Who was the person you were talking about?" Chris asked.

They looked at each other and whispered, "It's Tasia Louis."

Upon hearing Tasia's name, one of the girls suddenly seemed to regain her courage, and her voice gradually grew louder.

"That commoner dared to approach Prince Richard without permission! This shows a complete lack of self-awareness! Lady Chris must also find such a shameless woman despicable!"

"ha?"

Chris looked completely bewildered.

"How did she get close to Richard?" Wayne asked.

The girl glanced at Wayne and said, "Someone...someone saw her talking to His Highness the Prince."

"What's wrong with speaking? Is that a sin?!"

Wayne was a little angry.

In the story, Tasia was indeed bullied by some nobles, but due to the lighthearted and fun presentation of the animation, she only found it funny at the time.

Before any disgust could even arise for those minor characters who didn't even appear on screen, the problem was already solved.

However, for Tasia now, this must be a very painful experience.