Roland, pretending to stroll casually, dragged Miya all over the estate. Whenever she saw someone, she would boast about how excellent her taste was and how beautiful Miya looked in the new dress, even forgetting about the promised desserts.
Although there weren’t many people she could show off to, it still made her quite happy. After dealing with the mine business, she had felt a bit gloomy, but now she could even joke with people.
However, this behavior soon drew Miya’s dissatisfaction. She pounded Roland’s arm and pointed at her open mouth, indicating she wanted dessert.
“Alright, alright, I get it. Only three more people and the card is full.” Roland understood her meaning, but eating could wait—face was a lifelong matter.
After much effort, she finally found Nasha and Cheryl. The two were trimming weeds in the estate. Due to a lack of hands, many chores beyond their normal duties had fallen to them.
Roland called out their names, “Nasha, Cheryl.”
Nasha looked up first, with Cheryl right behind.
“Miss Roland, do you need something?” Nasha asked.
“How did you know I really needed you? Come, take a look at the new dress I bought for Miya. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Roland pushed Miya in front of them, but Nasha immediately noticed the unwillingness written all over Miya’s face.
“It’s pretty, it really is…” Nasha seemed to have more to say, but didn’t continue.
“Cheryl, what do you think?”
Cheryl answered truthfully, “Her temperament stands out, but the dress fabric is rather ordinary, and overall it looks a bit simple and youthful.”
“As expected of you—you know more than I do. Next time, come pick out clothes with me.”
“……”
Cheryl felt she had spoken too soon. Being too honest just meant more work for herself.
“Miss, I think the estate needs to hire more servants. Because we’re short-staffed, everyone’s workload is heavy, and we don’t get enough rest.”
Hearing Cheryl’s report, Roland realized she was right.
“No problem. I’ll have Sebas hire more people when the time comes. He already has so much to do, I really don’t want to give him any more to worry about.”
“I believe the difficulties will pass. You must hang in there, too.”
“Thank you, Cheryl.”
Nasha interjected at the wrong moment, “Um… Miss Roland, Miya seems to be crying.”
Roland spun around with a snap, and sure enough, saw Miya lowering her head, quietly wiping away tears, her mouth puffed up like a pouting pufferfish.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry! Mama will take you for dessert right away. Nasha, Cheryl, goodbye!”
Waving goodbye to the two maids, Roland grabbed Miya’s hand and dashed into the castle.
It took some effort to get back to the parlor. On the table, the dessert tray was lined with sweets that Roland had bought from the town—costing a fifth of a crystal pound.
For workers whose monthly salary was only one or two crystal pounds, spending over six days’ worth of food money for a few small desserts seemed outrageous. But compared to the magical artifacts Roland had spent over a thousand crystal pounds on, this was nothing.
“Miya, don’t be mad. Mama was wrong. Will you forgive me?”
Miya was still in angry pufferfish mode. No matter how Roland tried to make peace, nothing worked. If she didn’t think of a good plan, there was no hope of completing the daily task and earning Motherly Love Points for the next few days.
But with how well Roland knew Miya by now—maybe not down to every detail, but at least she knew how many times Miya turned in her sleep at night.
Normally, Miya could be persuaded with both gentleness and firmness. But when she was emotional, only gentleness worked; pressure was useless. Right now, a soft approach would definitely be better.
After a few buzzing turns in her mind, inspiration struck Roland.
She forced herself to put on a sorrowful face, heaved a long sigh, and spoke with the exhaustion of a traveler who had braved wind, frost, and snow, her tone like a mother who stayed up nights weaving clothes for her child: “Miya, Mama just wanted others to see your wonderful side…”
Her words were startling. Miya was immediately drawn in, her imagination running wild.
Roland continued, pausing intentionally after every sentence to let the words sink in: “Mama knows you’re lonely, so I keep thinking about how to help you make new friends. I thought, if I could show off your beautiful side, lots of people would like you. But now it seems I was too naive. It’s fine if you don’t forgive me, just remember to eat well and take care of yourself.”
As she finished, Roland shed tears. Her words were so sincere, her feelings so abundant, that any listener would be moved to tears.
The simple Miya had never seen this kind of trick before. Her pout immediately deflated, and all her emotions turned into guilt toward Roland.
So that’s how it was…
Mama was only thinking of me…
Seeing her finally wavering, Roland felt her tears weren’t wasted. Even if they were crocodile tears and the speech borrowed from her previous life’s corporate manager’s PUA tactics, they worked, didn’t they?
Miya even wanted to comfort Roland in return, but Roland couldn’t let her succeed so easily.
“It’s alright. Mama is strong. Even though I’m hungry, it doesn’t matter. You can have all these desserts.”
Mentioning the desserts made Miya feel she shouldn’t hurt Mama over something so small. Good things should go to those in need.
She picked up a gingerbread man and offered it to Roland, but Roland didn’t take it.
“You eat it yourself. Mama is happy just watching you eat.”
Miya shook her head hard and pressed the gingerbread man to Roland’s lips, but she still wouldn’t accept it.
Miya grew more anxious. After she’d been strung along for a while, Roland finally relented, pretending to give in: “Alright, I’ll eat a little, but you have to feed Mama yourself.”
Why pass up a good thing? It would go against Roland’s frugal dining principles. If she could have her daughter feed her, why bother herself?
Not only did Miya not object, she even breathed a sigh of relief. Clumsily, she put the gingerbread man into Roland’s open mouth.
Roland bit off the gingerbread man’s head with an exaggerated crunch.
“Such delicious cookies! You try one now. Here, Mama will feed you.”
Roland didn’t care whether Miya agreed or not. She picked up an egg tart and pushed it to Miya’s lips.
As long as Miya was feeling guilty, she’d never refuse any request. This was Roland’s hard-earned experience—her ‘Miya Parenting Code’. No one else could possibly understand this kind of fun. Teasing her daughter was the best thing in the world.
“How is it? Tasty?”
Miya chewed the egg tart little by little, as if savoring a hard-won treat. After finally swallowing, she gazed longingly at the remaining desserts—but still glanced at Roland before eating.
“Go ahead, Mama’s already full. You have to finish the rest by yourself. If not, tonight I’ll tell you a story about a devil with a chainsaw growing out of its head.”
A devil with a chainsaw on its head?
She didn’t know what a chainsaw was, but it sounded terrifying—especially since it was a devil. All the devils in the storybooks Roland had given her were scary.
To avoid nightmares, Miya could only take on the responsibility of finishing all the desserts.
Roland propped her head on her hands, looking at Miya with doting eyes as she ate slowly.
Just watching her was pure happiness.
She’d already made up her mind—once she inherited her title and territory, she would use the knowledge from her previous life to open a dessert shop and recreate all the sweets from her memories.
Then she’d build a merchant group, bringing these desserts to every corner of the continent, so that every noble and even every royal banquet would have these treats.
By then, wherever Miya went, she’d be able to eat them. She’d never feel lonely again.