The next morning, as the two of them went down for breakfast, all the ladies were shocked at the change in Elaina and even more so at both of them holding hands as they went down the stairs.
For the first time since she came to the mansion, she was smiling happily, which made her look even more beautiful than usual.
Truth be told, Elaina herself was surprised at the changes in her after this one night.
Her self-doubt evaporated, her crumbling confidence was rebuilt, and most importantly, she felt truly happy for the first time in a long while.
In addition to all that, her cultivation skyrocketed, and she had no idea why, since she hadn't cultivated Paul's Yang Qi yet.
Paul's cultivation also went up by quite a few levels, and if this trend kept up, he would be breaking through to the seventh stage soon.
After the meal, the ladies took Elaina to the garden, and Paul did not doubt that she would be getting interrogated about their first night.
Not wanting to spoil their fun, he decided to start preparing the special surprise for the guests that would arrive in a few days.
-What are you making?
Rina asked, entering the kitchen an hour after he started.
-I want to make condensed milk, but it's a lot harder than it looks.
He said, a bit frustrated, since it was already his third attempt, and the results were far from what he expected.
-This is the first time I heard about something like this.
The cook said, with curiosity plastered all over her face.
-The idea is to lower the water content of the milk while adding sugar to make it sweet.
If done correctly, it should turn into a thick, sweet milk.
But this is already my third attempt, and the sugar is caramelizing again, while the milk is boiling, and it's burnt again.
Paul sighed.
He knew the principle, but the process was something he needed to figure out himself.
-Why do you try to boil it?
Rina asked.
She was starting to understand what he wanted to achieve after his explanation, and she was trying to figure it out.
-To remove the water from the milk.
Paul answered.
-If that's the case, then why don't you use magic to do so?
-I tried already, but it's impossible.
The milk goes bad when I use magic.
Besides, it needs to be warm to dissolve the sugar.
Rina thought about it for a while.
-Can I try?
She asked.
-Sure, there is a lot of milk and sugar.
Paul agreed, hoping that she might have figured it out.
Rina took a big pot and then placed a smaller one inside, before filling the space between them with water.
Then she set them on the furnace and added milk and sugar, while stirring.
Seeing her work, Paul paused, his next attempt, curious to see if her method worked.
In the end, she had years of culinary experience.
Not even an hour later, the milk contents were reduced by over one-third, and it started to resemble the condensed milk Paul had seen in the cans on Earth.
-How did you do that?
Paul asked, shocked that she succeeded on her first try, when he failed three times in a row and still had no idea what he was doing wrong.
-From what you told me, I deduced that the problem was temperature.
Rina smiled.
-This way of cooking allows for better control over the heat, and I wanted to see if it worked.
She added, happy that she could help to figure this out for him.
-You're a genius.
Paul hugged her, making her jump in surprise.
The next tried to replicate her method, and it worked like a charm.
-What do you wish to use this for?
Rina asked after tasting the ready condensed milk, which was way too sweet for her taste, and it would at most serve as a good dressing for some desserts or ice cream.
-The idea is to boil the condensed milk until it turns into caramelized condensed milk and add some vodka.
The result is a sweet beverage that's light, and in my world, most ladies loved it.
Paul explained.
He didn't stop to heat the condensed milk he had just made.
Within two hours, it turned into caramel milk, and it tasted similar to toffee.
Additionally, it has become semisolid.
At this point, he took it out of the big pot and placed it on the table to cool off.
Rina did the same thing with her condensed milk, wanting to learn this new recipe.
-What now?
She asked.
-Now we wait; it has to cool down before we can continue.
Paul smiled, seeing how eager she was to continue.
Soon, the pot cooled down enough for him to use magic to cool everything down faster.
Then he brought some vodka he had bought earlier.
Scooped up the caramelized milk into a large jar until it was three-quarters full, before filling it up with vodka, and closing the lid, which was modified into a hand mixer powered by magic.
It took only a few moments to mix everything into a thick cream.
-Is it done?
Rina asked, seeing him pouring a little of his creation into a cup.
-Yes, it's ready, and you get to try it first.
Paul smiled, handing her the cup and filling another one for himself.
Before they drank, he used magic to chill the beverage and added a few ice cubes to the cups.
-This is delicious.
Rina's ears perked up when she took a careful sip of their creation.
She was worried that it might be too strong, since she had tasted clean vodka once Paul bought it, and she didn't like it.
-I think I added a bit too much alcohol to it.
Paul commented after taking a sip.
The cream was sweet, but you could taste a strong note of alcohol in it.
It was delicious all the same, but he was worried that it might be too strong for the ladies' tastes.
-I'd say it's perfect.
Rina disagreed.
-Additionally, when the ice melts, it should water it down a bit more.
She added, surprising Paul since he didn't think about that.
-If you say so.
Paul smiled, seeing the rabbit woman sipping the new beverage happily.
-Should we make more of it?
Rina asked while relaxing with a drink in hand.
-Yup, this is not even close to being enough for all the ladies and guests.
But before that, could you take these and let the ladies try them?
I need to know if it's not too strong.
He said, pouring more cups and placing them on a tray.
-Of course, I'll be right back.
She said happily and left with the tray in her hands.
While she was gone, Paul started preparing another batch of condensed milk, since it was a very time-consuming process and he could not make it go faster with magic.