The next day.
In the classroom.
Luke propped his cheek with his left hand, head tilted as he stared out the window at a thriving willow tree. Its branches swayed back and forth in the wind.
Lux walked in through the door looking aggrieved.
Once she sat down beside him, Luke knew she'd just come back from the teachers' office, so he asked curiously, "Well? What'd they say?"
"What do you think they said?" Lux sighed with a troubled face. She slapped yesterday's essay onto the desk—its score didn't even reach a passing grade. "Teacher Mors said my essay felt like a dessert stuffed with savory soybean paste."
Luke almost lost it and laughed out loud.
Teacher Mors really lived up to being a language teacher—he knew how to phrase things.
And honestly, it wasn't easy to put it that politely.
Looking at Lux's dejected expression, Luke didn't even know where to start comforting her.
But he didn't need to. Before long, her mood bounced back on its own, and she'd already forgotten all about it.
Especially once she remembered that tomorrow was the weekend—her mood got even better.
When the class bell rang, Luke slipped into focus.
He realized that without noticing, he'd already adapted to this rhythm of life. From being annoyed at the start to actually being pretty satisfied with it now.
People really do need to keep themselves busy.
After one class ended, Lux flopped on her desk and said listlessly, "I'm so bored…"
Lately, the weather was so hot that even in the morning people felt drained.
Luke agreed. After thinking a moment, he said, "I've got a way to cure boredom. Want to hear it?"
Lux turned her head. "What is it?"
"If you're bored, you can lend me fifty gold coins," Luke said with a grin. "Then you can rack your brain trying to chase me down for repayment. It'll keep you busy, and you won't be bored anymore."
"I'm not doing that." Lux immediately turned her head away and refused to look at him.
What a loud little算盘 he was clicking.
With fifty gold, she could spend it however she wanted and never be bored.
But if she lent it to this guy, she'd probably never see it again for the rest of her life.
Half a day passed.
After school, Luke got his first piece of good news.
He was about to be rich again—and seriously rich.
He'd sold the ice cream recipe. A flat buyout for 3,500 gold coins, no taxes required.
That was Luke's real confidence.
With an entire world behind him, was he really going to be stumped by something as trivial as money?
Staring at the pile of glittering gold coins on the floor, Lux felt like her eyes were going blurry. To her, this was a fortune.
If it were all hers… how many cakes could she buy?
Miss Crownguard couldn't help drifting into fantasy.
And after getting rich, the first thing Luke did was spend money.
He went to the capital's commercial street and bought all kinds of odds and ends—seasonings, lumber, iron hammers, chairs, ingredients…
In the end, he hired four carriages just to haul everything back to his estate.
Seeing so much stuff, Luke suddenly felt an odd sense of fulfillment.
Lux just stared blankly and asked in confusion, "Why did you buy all this?"
"To use it, obviously."
Luke set up the rocking chair he'd spent a fair bit of money on, then lay back to test it. It was extremely comfortable.
As for the rest… he had plans for later.
At the same time.
Tianna, working at the royal palace, also heard the news.
"Ice cream, huh…"
Tianna wasn't surprised at all.
Back when she'd said she was going to restrict his living allowance, that boy had acted like he didn't care in the slightest.
And within days, Lux had brought ice cream home for her and Augatha to share.
The moment she heard Luke had made it, she already knew this little problem wouldn't stop him.
One deal for 3,500 gold coins… that was enough to make the boy smug for a long time.
"Since that's the case, I won't keep trying to make things harder for you."
Muttering to herself, Tianna went back to her work.
If she kept throwing obstacles in his way, it would just become irritating. The boy had already proven himself.
He had that unfathomably mysterious Wind-Riding Swordsmanship, and he could casually earn thousands of gold coins in a single swing.
Just from that alone, Tianna understood that Luke no longer needed her interference.
All that was left was to watch quietly.
The next day, before dawn.
Luke's estate was already filled with two busy figures.
It wasn't that Luke woke up early—he simply hadn't slept at all.
These days were getting hotter and hotter. A few days ago, it was only stuffy before bed. Last night, it was so hot he couldn't fall asleep at all.
He tossed and turned in bed several times, and when he still couldn't sleep, Luke finally got up to solve the problem.
And if he wasn't sleeping, Yurna wasn't sleeping either.
So the two of them worked the entire night.
After daybreak, Miss Crownguard arrived.
She'd gotten up pretty early too.
The Crownguard residence was only a ten-minute ride from here, which meant she could come whenever she felt like it.
Just as easily, the Swordmistress arrived as well.
Not long after Lux showed up, Fiora came too.
In the past few days, both Luke and Lux had grown closer to Fiora.
Fiora's purpose for coming was, of course, to push Luke to practice swordsmanship. That original intention hadn't changed.
Because after observing him for the past few days, she'd realized Luke simply wouldn't pick up a sword on his own initiative.
To her, that was a waste of talent.
But the moment the two of them stepped into Luke's estate, they saw him rushing from the yard to upstairs and back again, busy as could be.
Yurna followed close behind, helping him with whatever he needed.
Looking out at the yard, they saw a narrow trench dug through it, and a tube-like object ran from the yard straight through a window into Luke's bedroom.
Curious, Lux hurried upstairs to take a look.
Fiora followed behind her.
Inside Luke's room, there was a fan half as tall as a person.
The yard had one of the same style as well.
Since Luke was working with intense focus, neither girl interrupted him. They just watched and waited patiently.
It wasn't hard to guess what he was trying to do.
From the looks of it, he'd already planned this yesterday while shopping.
An hour passed, and it was nearly noon.
Luke came back into the bedroom again, sweating heavily. But looking at the result, he felt thoroughly satisfied.
"Turn on the water!" he shouted from the window down to the yard.
Not long after, water began to surge through the pipe. It flowed around the villa in a full loop, then slowly reached the recessed trough behind the fan on the second floor.
As clear water continuously poured in, the fan—driven by pressure—began to turn, slowly at first, then steadily. A cool breeze blew out with it.
Luke stood in front of it for a moment to test it. Seeing no problems, he lifted the lever he'd set beside it.
The water flow gradually stopped, and soon the fan stopped turning as well.
After working an entire night, a simple water-powered fan was finally complete.
With this, he wouldn't have to worry about being so hot he couldn't sleep in summer anymore.
And Luke had set it up as a circulation system—the water would loop around the estate once, and as it evaporated, it would carry away a portion of the heat.
There was also a fan prepared in the yard, so they could use it when they were forced to sit out in the sun.
The moment Lux saw it running properly, she'd already dashed back outside and switched on the yard fan. She spread her arms wide and basked in the wind washing over her.
It felt amazing.
Fiora finally pulled her gaze away from the fan and looked at Luke. "You stayed up all night just to make this?"
She could tell he hadn't slept—there was a trace of weariness in his face.
In response, Luke showed off a little. "Not bad, right?"
Seeing how smug he looked, Fiora's lips curved into a faint smile, and she humored him. "It's pretty good. If you put that same effort into practicing the sword, you'd be a master before long."
This guy really knew how to enjoy himself. He had talent that high, yet he'd rather lie around all day and not move.
But the moment the heat became unbearable, he was willing to spend an entire night—and all morning—building a fan.
Luke didn't want to follow that line of conversation. He was starting to feel like the Swordmistress had her eyes on him.
Every chance she got, she wanted him to practice swordsmanship.
And he truly didn't want to.
"It's almost mealtime," Luke said, changing the subject. "Want to stay and eat? I'm cooking personally today. What do you feel like having?"
Lately, he'd been cooking for himself often, because he'd realized his food was damn good—better than the chefs at those high-end restaurants by a wide margin.
Once you've had a truly good meal, you can't stand the rest anymore.
Recently, Luke had taken Yurna as a direct apprentice, teaching her his cooking skills. Once he'd taught her enough of his recipes, he wouldn't have to cook personally anymore.
Fiora, as expected, let herself be distracted by the words "cooking personally." She thought for a second and said, "Something spicy?"
Compared to sweets, she actually preferred chili.
Luke's ice cream was impressive—but she didn't know what his cooking was like.
Luke couldn't help asking, "How spicy?"
Fiora didn't care. "Whatever. Anything is fine."
Seeing how calm she was, Luke felt like he needed to bring out the real thing.
"How about Spicy Chicken?"
"Sounds pretty good."
"Then it's decided."
Luke looked up at the blazing sun outside the window. "You'd better think this through. In weather this hot, eating that…"
Even he was starting to feel nervous.
"Mm." Fiora smiled faintly, full of confidence. She didn't believe it could be that spicy.
They headed downstairs and ran into Lux coming over.
Lux asked innocently, "I think I just heard someone say food. What are we having for lunch?"
"Spicy Chicken."
"Sounds like it'll be really good."
"It is good," Luke said. "And it's really spicy."
"Hah! I'm the spicy queen. That's not just talk." Lux lifted her chin with confidence. "Could it possibly make me cry?"
From the looks of it, Miss Crownguard was planning to mooch a meal too.
Luke only hoped she wouldn't regret the decision.
He patted her shoulder solemnly. "Remember: you're the ones who chose this."
Seeing him make such a big deal out of it, the two girls both felt like laughing.
But Luke was already carrying the honor of a chef on his back. Today, he was going to crank the heat all the way up!
Half an hour later.
Lux and Fiora sat in the living room, listening to the rapid, practiced clatter of Luke tossing the wok, and watching bursts of flame flare from the kitchen from time to time.
They fell into silence.
It was just stir-fry—did he really have to go this hard?
Before long, the entire living room filled with a fragrant, spicy aroma. Just smelling it made them hungry.
That only made Fiora—who loved spicy food most—look forward to it even more.
Meanwhile, Lux felt her nose tingling and going numb, so sharp she almost wanted to sneeze.
A few more minutes passed.
The cooking finally stopped. Luke came out with a sweatband tied around his head, carrying a huge basin of Spicy Chicken.
With his solemn, serious expression, Lux and Fiora were pulled into the same "serious atmosphere" without realizing it.
When the basin was set on the dining table, a wave of heat hit their faces—along with a strangely irresistible aroma.
Looking inside, they could see bright red chilies mixed with neatly cut chunks of chicken. It was a feast for the eyes and the senses.
Just looking at it made their mouths water.
Once the staple food was served, the three of them sat down, ready to eat.
Lux and Fiora both stared at the five cups of ice water sitting in front of Luke, all with ice cubes floating inside, and fell speechless.
"Seriously?" Lux shot Luke a disdainful glance. "Who are you trying to scare with this little bit of chili?"
Fiora smiled faintly too. With this much chili, she could finish the whole dish with her eyes closed.
Even though they looked down on him, Luke didn't care.
Because only he knew just how spicy this basin of Spicy Chicken really was.
Never underestimate a serious chef!
With a smile, he said, "Go ahead. Taste it first—see how it is."
Lux was the greediest, so she picked up her knife and fork, speared a piece of chicken, and tossed it into her mouth without hesitation.
The next second, her eyes lit up.
"It's so good!"
She gave it an extremely high rating.
Fiora also put a piece into her mouth—she even included a slice of chili. Her deep blue eyes shone with a strange, impressed sparkle as well.
The chicken's gamey taste had been removed completely, and the flavor blended perfectly with the chili. With a light chew, juices burst across her mouth—fragrant and incredibly tasty.
She'd never tried anything like this before, but it really was delicious.
She lifted her eyes and glanced at Luke, surprised that his cooking seemed genuinely impressive too.
Noticing her gaze, Luke asked, "Good?"
"Very good."
Fiora gave Spicy Chicken the same kind of high praise.
"It's delicious, but it's not spicy at all." Lux even tried a piece of chili. The rich, fragrant taste came through, but she barely tasted any heat. She glanced at Luke again. "All that fussing for this? That's it?"
Fiora smiled and kept eating quietly. She liked the dish a lot, but it really didn't feel that spicy.
Watching the two girls eat happily, Luke quietly drank his ice water, padding his stomach.
Only he knew—this kind of chili had a delayed reaction.
He just hoped they'd still be able to laugh in a little while.
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