Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

Lacey snorted and said as she pushed open the door:

"Even a pastor like me gets fed by so many people when I walk on the street, and you are a real hero. If you want, with your reputation, even if you want to rob those shops, I'm afraid they will just happily give it to you."

She paused, turned around, and unceremoniously snatched the basket from Charles without even looking at him:

"As long as you go around the street, your arms will be filled with all kinds of food, so you have no shortage of food. Then why did you come to me for a meal tonight?"

Although she was asking Ciel questions, she already had the answers in her mind before Ciel answered.

——Because someone doesn’t know where to go.

Ciel had never mentioned topics like elders or hometown to his companions, but except for Ciel himself, the brave team was not stupid, and they could all infer the truth from this detail:

In this world, Charles probably no longer has any so-called family.

So, on this holiday when families reunite, Charles is alone and has nowhere to go.

He could only come to her because she was the only person he was familiar with in the entire city of Kangkel.

Lacie herself could figure out the answer, but the person involved scratched his head, his lips trembling and struggling for a long time, but he couldn't say what he wanted to say.

"Heh," Laciel couldn't help but curse in a low voice, "idiot."

Her voice was so soft that Charles could not hear clearly what she said and he just said "Ah?" in a daze.

Lacie rolled her eyes at him, picked up the heavy basket with both hands, and sighed:

"You are so stupid... follow me."

After saying that, she carried the vegetable basket and walked into the house.

Charles still didn't understand why Lacele gave up asking questions and why she ordered him to follow.

But none of this matters now. What matters is that he finally has a place to go and someone who is willing to spend the New Year with him.

So he followed Lacie happily like a silly dog, and didn't forget to close the door behind him.

"Click——"

The wooden door closed again, like a loyal guard, blocking all the coldness outside.

Lacele put the basket on the table, freed her hands, took out her wand, and lit the magic lantern in the cottage.

The bright and warm orange-yellow light instantly dispelled the darkness and turned the cold house into a cozy home.

There had been a heavy snowfall in Kangkel two days ago. Now that the snow had melted, the temperature had dropped sharply. When Lacie went out to buy groceries, she did not use magic to keep warm, so her exposed cheeks and hands were frozen red and she was almost losing consciousness.

"This damn weather is freezing me to death..."

Lacey rubbed her hands to keep them warm and couldn't help complaining in a low voice.

Charles, who was standing behind her, lowered his head subconsciously when he heard that. He looked at his own hands, which seemed big and warm in comparison, and almost blurted out "How about I warm them up for you?"

But he was too embarrassed to say it in the end. Besides, even if Lacie asked him to warm her hands, he probably wouldn't have the courage to touch her small and soft hands.

This is what a pure little virgin looks like.

All he dared to do was to quietly walk to the fireplace, pick up a few pieces of firewood that were easy to burn, find a way to light them, and when the fire was strong, add a few pieces of wood that were more durable.

Rachel's comment on his action was a slight nasal sound.

"Humph."

It was short and vague, and I couldn't tell whether it was praise or dissatisfaction.

After that, she began to take out the things in the basket one by one.

Combs, hand puppets, necklaces with strange designs, meat, onions, ginger, flour...

At this time, Charles, who had finally fixed the fireplace, came over and stood beside her.

Whenever she took out something, Charles would consciously help sort it out and put it in the appropriate place.

The flowers were placed in the vase, the comb and necklace were put into the small drawer of the dressing table, and the cute puppet was placed on the windowsill as a decoration to accompany the vase...

As for the ingredients that Lacie bought, Charles took them all to the kitchen.

It was obvious that he was quite familiar with this job, and he even acted like a dutiful butler, serious and professional enough.

But perhaps only he himself knew that the reason why he worked so hard was because he wanted to use this method to avoid the embarrassment of being alone with Rachel.

But because he worked so hard, it wasn't long before he finished the work in his hands and had to look up to find a new target.

But as soon as he raised his head, he saw Lacie putting on an apron and preparing to go into the kitchen.

At some point, she had taken off her thick cloak and tied her loose soft golden hair into a neat ponytail with a handkerchief.

From Charles's angle, he could just see Lacie's fair and clean neck, the lightly illuminated fuzz on her cheeks, her small and delicate earlobes, and her focused, serious and cute expression.

She stood in front of the fireplace, her face slightly turned, tying the belt of her apron. The firelight from the fireplace fell on her, giving her an exceptionally bright outline.

That look... is very much like that of a good wife and mother.

Charles was almost stunned, his Adam's apple rolled and he swallowed unconsciously.

At this time, Lacie noticed that he had finished his work, so she called out to him casually:

"Why can't I tie my apron properly? Come over here and help me."

Her voice was sweet and soft, almost like she was acting coquettish.

Upon hearing this, Charles immediately seemed to be possessed. He walked over to her, taking one deep step and one shallow step as if he was stepping on cotton. He came behind her and helped her tie her apron.

Surrounded by the rich scent of golden roses, he helped Lacie tie her apron in a trance, but Lacie did not thank him.

On the contrary, after turning around, Lacie put her hands on her hips and boasted to him:

"Hehe, isn't it cute in an apron, bro?"

"..."

Ciel looked away, maintaining precious silence.

Seeing this, Lacie couldn't help but take a step forward, approaching him, almost sticking to him.

"Why?" she asked maliciously, "Am I not cute?"

Finally, after Charles could no longer bear the pressure and stammered out the word "cute", Laciel was finally satisfied.

"Come with me to the kitchen..."

"Let's go make dumplings!"

[To be continued]

-

Extra-Welcome the New Year

What to eat during Chinese New Year...

It must be dumplings!

And it must be filled with pork and cabbage!

Nothing else, dumplings stuffed with pork and cabbage, just the right amount of authentic taste!

It’s a pity that whether it’s onions, ginger, garlic, or most importantly pork and cabbage... due to the influence of various factors, the food in the Pangaea cannot be said to be completely the same as that in her hometown, or at least it can be said to be very different.

After all, in her hometown, the pork and cabbage she ate were all high-quality varieties that had been cultivated and selected over a long period of time, but in the Pangaea where the level of agricultural development was relatively low, it was difficult for her to find suitable raw materials.

It is not realistic to expect to make authentic pork and cabbage dumplings, so Laciel can only settle for the next best thing and look for ingredients with similar texture and taste to replace them.

Anyway, Kangkel is the capital of adventurers, and there is never a shortage of all kinds of strange things.

So after many twists and turns, she finally bought a piece of high-quality, unknown animal meat with the right amount of fat and lean meat, and she also finally found a vegetable that looked very similar to cabbage, but not many people like to eat it.

Lacie thought that it might be because the variety of vegetables in Pangaea was much richer than in her hometown, and most people didn't like to eat the stalks of "cabbage"?

After all, she herself doesn't like to eat.

But it doesn’t matter. Even if the vegetable stems don’t taste good, as long as they are chopped up and wrapped in dumplings, she will be willing to eat them.

Not much to say, open the whole!

Lacey poured a suitable amount of flour into the basin, sprinkled some salt in it, added starch and egg white, and then slowly added cold water while starting to knead the dough.

And Charles beside her had already picked up a kitchen knife and started chopping vegetables and mincing meat.

Although Lacele often mocked Charles's poor swordsmanship and his reliance on brute force to deal with his enemies, no matter how poor Charles' swordsmanship was, it was definitely enough for cutting vegetables.

An ordinary kitchen knife was almost turned into a whirlwind in his hand, and in the blink of an eye, a large piece of animal meat was chopped into minced meat.

Lacele casually reminded Charles not to chop the meat too finely, otherwise it would not taste good, and then continued to knead the dough.

They probably really have a good understanding with each other.

Lacee kneaded the dough while Charles chopped the meat. After Charles finished chopping the vegetables, Lacee was responsible for washing them and then squeezing out as much moisture as possible. After a while, the preparations were almost done and all that was left was to prepare the dumpling filling and roll out the dumpling wrappers.

At this moment, looking at the dough that was almost done, Lacie had a bad idea.

She deliberately exclaimed in an exaggerated tone:

"Charles, look at this dough. It's so white, big and soft!"

Charles, who had just poured the minced meat and cabbage into a bowl, turned his head and subconsciously agreed:

"Yes, it's really white and big..."

But after saying the first word, he suddenly reacted.

So he fell silent.

He probably wanted to escape this disaster by pretending to be dead, but how could Lacie let him do that?

Humph, want to escape?

She deliberately raised her voice and poked the dough with her fingertips:

"Hehe, although it is indeed big, it doesn't feel as soft as my white one!"

She was tempting Ciel to look at hers.

However, Charles still didn't react.

This is a bit boring.

Rachel thought.

Although it was inexplicable, her heartbeat quickened for a while when she was seducing Charles, and a strange thought popped up in her mind: "What should I do if Charles really wants to see me?"

Even so, she still did not forget to slander in her heart:

"What a boring little virgin."

……

However, the innocent little virgin is indeed very efficient at work and is trustworthy.

There was no need for Lacie to teach him specifically; he soon learned how to roll out the dumpling wrappers and make dumplings on his own.

Lacey had already prepared the filling, and the only thing left was to make the dumplings, but this time Lacey didn't deliberately do anything to tease Charles. She honestly guided Charles to make a pot of dumplings, and the filling and skin were used up cleanly, not too much or too little.

Heat a pot and boil water.

A large pot of water quickly boiled, and Lacey put all the dumplings in. Then she used a spoon to slowly push the dumplings along the bottom of the pot.

The temperature gradually rose, and thick white hot steam slowly rose from the pot, gradually blocking Lacie's vision.

Along with it came a familiar aroma that lingered in the kitchen—meat, vegetables, and fat. The warm steam dispersed, diluted, and ripened these flavors, stimulating Lacee's taste buds and reviving certain memories in her mind that had been obliterated by time...

Eventually, they became a familiar scene that Rachel missed.

She, or to be more precise, she who is still in her hometown; her parents, who have sharp tongues but kind hearts, her mother who is frail and often sick, her father who is not good at speaking but always brings joy and happiness to the family; her sister, the little one who is always making noises and yelling.

The four of them sat in the small kitchen, happily eating the New Year's Eve dinner to the accompaniment of loud gongs, drums and firecrackers outside.

The dumplings are piping hot right out of the pot. Dipped in vinegar, sesame oil and chili oil, they are so delicious that you forget how hot they are.