Special cookies (1)

Since there wasn't anything for them in the store, they could only give up on buying something to replace the little girl's cloak.

Guang Liang apologized profusely since he knew that this was his fault, but the girl quickly forgave him.

After all, seeing the person that she liked acting this way was not something that she was interested in seeing. So she quickly forgave him and went along her way, but of course she also couldn't help taking one last look back at Guang Liang that had a trace of unwillingness to it.

Then in front of their eyes, she suddenly disappeared.

When Maria finally accepted their parting, she felt that she was finally able to use her ability again. So she used it to disappear in front of them like the Assassin King that she was.

Maria of course wasn't sad since there was still the promise that she had made with the little girl before they parted.

She was looking forward to tomorrow.

After a long period of silence where Maria had a strange smile on her face, she suddenly turned and asked, "Ah Guang, what are you doing tomorrow morning?"

Guang Liang couldn't help flinching when he saw her smile, as if he could tell the ill intent behind it. However, since this was his beloved big sister asking this, he had no choice but to answer, "I don't have anything planned. What is it, big sister?"

Maria said with the same strange smile, "I have a new recipe that I'm testing out tomorrow, so I wanted to see if you were free to help me taste test it."

Guang Liang's eyes lit up when he heard this.

After all, it had been a long time since his big sister had invited him to something like this.

The last time that he had been allowed to taste test her new dishes was before he had become a S Ranker, before he had started his guild. It was back when they had lived together in that small apartment supporting each other.

It was through this taste testing that had awakened his S Rank powers in the first place.

But of course, he didn't care about that.

All he cared about was spending time with his big sister since she was the most important thing in his world.

So after being in a bit of a daze from being caught off guard by this, he immediately nodded and said, "I'm free, I'm free. Even if I wasn't free, I would still be free."

Maria couldn't help revealing a bitter smile as she asked, "Are you really free or are you just telling me that you are?"

After all, she knew from the past that he would hide certain things from her…Even when he was busy with things like raids, he would blow them off to come and help her if she asked.

But she didn't want to be that kind of big sister.

She knew that the things that Guang Liang did were important. He cleared dungeons that threatened the peace of this world and she was proud of him for doing that, so she didn't want to get in his way.

Seeing that look on her face, Guang Liang quickly called his vice guild master and handed the phone over to him.

"Hello? Guild master, do you need something?"

Maria recognized who this person was since she had spoken to him a few times before. He had been the one that had helped her set up the cafe and he had been the one chasing after Guang Liang whenever something special happened.

Guang Liang had handed the phone right over to her to show that he didn't threaten him or instruct him to say anything.

Maria took it and asked, "Hello. I just wanted to ask if Guang Liang is free tomorrow."

When the vice guild master heard this voice, he immediately gave a tremble.

Of course he recognized this voice because it was a voice that was deeply imprinted in his memories…as one of his biggest traumas.

He immediately stood up even though he was on the phone and seriously reported, "Yes, the guild master is free tomorrow."

Hearing his stiff voice, Maria couldn't help feeling that this seemed strange, so she asked, "Is he making you say this?"

When the vice guild master heard this, he couldn't help revealing a bitter smile before explaining, "The guild master already took the day off because he heard about what had happened in your store. He wanted to take the day to comfort you just in case anything happened."

Maria's expression froze when she heard this.

In the end, it was still related to her…but at least he had taken the day off properly, so she could accept this.

So after giving a nod, she said, "Un, thank you. I'll send some cookies over sometime to make up for all the trouble."

The vice guild master quickly said, "No, no, please don't trouble yourself. It was no trouble at all."

Maria couldn't help finding this strange, but before she could say anything else, the vice guild master said, "If there's nothing else, I'll hang up first. I have some other business to take care of."

Maria knew that she was taking time out of his busy schedule with this, so she didn't keep insisting and said, "Un, thank you for every…" But before she could finish, the call had ended.

The vice guild master couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief after the call ended.

In his mind, Maria was an endless source of trouble for him.

It wasn't because of Maria herself, he had found her quite pleasant the few times that he met her.

It was more because of Guang Liang and how he would react whenever he seemed like he was getting closer to his sister.

As a serious siscon, Guang Liang was overprotective when it came to his big sister. He wouldn't let anyone approach her at all and he would fight it out with anyone that tried.

The only people that he couldn't stop were the other S Rankers that went to the cafe, so he had no choice but to let them go as customers.

But it was a different story for the vice guild master.

If it seemed like he was getting even the slightest bit closer to Maria, Guang Liang would immediately swoop in and suppress the vice guild master with force.

The vice guild master had suffered many times under his hands because of this and it had developed into a trauma…

So while he wasn't afraid of Maria herself, he was afraid of getting close to her…or even talking to her.

He wanted to have as little to do with her as possible.

After being hung up on, Maria couldn't help revealing a bitter smile as she could guess what was wrong. After all, it wasn't the first time that Guang Liang had acted this way and caused people to avoid her.

But since Guang Liang had properly taken the day off, there was nothing for her to complain about.

He worked hard, so if he took a proper day off, that was fine since he deserved to rest from time to time.

Even if it had been because of her in the first place…

Still, this helped her with her plan since she needed Guang Liang to come to the cafe tomorrow morning.

So Maria said, "Alright, since you're free, then can you come tomorrow morning?"

Guang Liang gave a strong nod as if he was making a promise.

Of course, he wasn't a fool and he could tell that there was something strange about Maria's smile. But for her to invite him like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.

So even if he had to fight the whole world, he would be there tomorrow.

But Seul Ah on the side also felt that something was strange.

It was her woman's intuition, but she could tell that something was off and it involved Guang Liang.

So she said with a smile, "Maria, can I come too?"

Maria revealed a surprised look when she heard this since she clearly didn't expect Seul Ah to suddenly butt in like this, but she said, "Eh, I was planning to spend some private time with Ah Guang, so I hope you don't mind."

Seul Ah still had a smile on her face, but she could clearly feel that something was off. The Maria that she knew wouldn't normally say things like this, so she must be up to something.

But the words that Maria had said had been the perfect trigger for Guang Liang.

Private time…it had been so long since he had some private time with his big sister with all those different S Rankers getting between them.

Guang Liang was filled with excitement at the prospect of this, so he quickly said to Seul Ah, "You heard what big sister said. It's our siblings' private time, so you don't need to come."

Seul Ah was shocked when she heard this, but after being in a daze for a few seconds, tears suddenly came to her eyes.

Being told that she couldn't come to her face like this by the man that she loved, it naturally stung her heart. In a sense, it was even worse than being rejected after confessing since at least there were no expectations when confessing…

Seul Ah raised her hand and punched Guang Liang in the stomach before running off in tears. As she ran away, she shouted, "Su Guang Liang, you idiot!"

Maria watched all of this with a guilty look in her eyes.

After all, she had caused this fight because of her own plans.

But she wasn't worried at all since she knew that this was normal for the two of them. They fought over things like this all the time because they were too shy to admit their true feelings, so it always created misunderstandings.

She knew this because she was always the one that mediated between the two of them.

So she knew that she would be able to mediate this time as well.

Of course, she wouldn't do it until after her plan was over since she still needed Guang Liang tomorrow.

She could only apologize in her mind to Seul Ah and promise to make it up to her next time.

Seul Ah hadn't held back with her punch, so Guang Liang had been on four limbs for a long time. Only after a long while did he finally catch his breath and look up to give her a thumbs up as he said, "It's all good, big sister!"

Seeing him like this, Maria really couldn't help shaking her head.

He was good at everything else, why wasn't he good at understanding how others felt?