Swish Swish, I swung my broom back in the Grim Palace. A lot of leaves had gathered on the ground and made our beautiful house a little dirty, so cleaning was in full swing. The gardener Golem was with me, carrying around a cart which it filled with all the leaves to burn later.

I could hear another swing happening not so far away. With all the swords we had bought for Treska, John and Jake were ensuring we got the money’s worth.

Money... there was a need to figure out a constant way to make money.

Another slight, but very good change, was that Delka had been picking up on his responsibilities splendidly. The little beastkin was helping me with cooking prep and a lot of cleaning responsibilities too.

It had been a while since anyone invaded the Grim Palace too. The last time the Duchy’s Sentry only managed thanks to it being the Night of Valse, a night when all the fairies gathered together to celebrate Queen Titania and King Oberon’s marriage and left the forbidden forest unguarded too.

Outside of that night, there was really no threat at the Grim Palace. Protected from all sides like a fortress! That was our home! So naturally, despite making a big mess in the city, we weren’t really worried.

Life at Grim Palace was business as usual.

"I’ll leave these to you then!" I said to the Gardener Golem who nodded. "Can you also give some water to my marijuana after you’re done with this? It’s important to keep it very timely hydrated. And make sure to spray, okay?"

The Golem saluted this time. Yup! Different things needed different levels of seriousness. I appreciated that very much.

Leaving this behind me, I entered back into the Palace. That was when a voice entered my ears.

"Butler! Butler!"

Like a spoilt brat calling upon her father’s servant, Weiss’ voice reached my ears.

I walked up to her room, but strangely enough, she wasn’t there.

"Where are you? There’s a problem—"

Definitely headed to the kitchen. That was where Delka already was. I slid down the railings of the staircase and came back to the ground floor. Her voice was louder. My eyes narrowed as I noticed a strange white powder on the ground.

The white powder was increasing in amount.

"Flour...?"

As I went further closer to the kitchen, a bad feeling washed over me.

No way... it couldn’t be. Where the hell was Delka? It wouldn’t have happened in his presence!

I ran ahead, and stopped in front of the kitchen.

"Butler..." Sitting on the ground with her purple eyes slightly turned away was Weiss. White flour was all around the ground. Worse, though, was the flour on her clothes.

If it had ended there, things would have been easier. She had clearly slipped down, and creamy chocolate was all over her skin, on her neck, some bits covering and sticking to her white hair. Even her face had a small dab of chocolate.

"M-miss Witch? Were you trying to cook?"

A sigh left me as I approached her. What a mess this was! "Where in the world is Delka... it’s great you’ve only spilled a little."

"Ah..."

My head hovered above hers and I bent down, at that exact moment, something covered my vision.

—SPLUCK

"Mrraw!"

The cat ran away from near Weiss as a large bowl full of the chocolatey batter fell on my head, drenching me in the chocolate.

"I sent the kid away... why was he making food anyway, I made him study..." She turned her eyes to one side. "This is your job."

Moving the bowl off my head, I took a deep breath. My eyes, fuck. After wiping the chocolate off from there too, I could finally see the witch, and the mess she was in.

"Haah... Were you in that much of a rush?"

"Yeah... I followed everything that the recipe said, so I don’t know why this mess. You must rewrite it and make the instructions better."

I gave her my hand.

"What recipe?"

"Right there, on the counter."

When I walked over, a very familiar book was kept on the kitchen counter.

[How to make cake in 10 simple steps]

[Add flour]

[Add eggs]

[Add chocolate]

[Toss it in the air to whisk!]

The words started rearranging themselves in real time.

[Teehee]

I picked up a knife from the counter and hovered it over the book. "Is this recipe or is this cake?"

"What...?" Weiss asked, but what needed to get the message got it precisely as the words rearranged themselves once more.

[Use this chance. There is a lot of power...]

"What a mess, Butler. Clean all this up... Damn it, the cake liquid has gone everywhere," Weiss craned her neck to see her back, her behind sticking out just slightly. There was chocolate over her pants there too.

"It’s in my clothes..."

[Bathe with her]

"You are a mess as well," she said. "Hurry up."

"Say, Miss Witch."

You know what? If the grimoire was going to set up such an opportunity for me, then why not? Why shouldn’t I take it?

A bro got a bro. A man got a man. A thief got this book.

"It will be really difficult to clean up properly,"

"And for you," said she, waving her hand to fan her face. Since she had made this mess, she was being a little meek. I see your game, girl. I see it.

"I’ll help you clean up," I said. "Then we’ll make cake together."

"Clean up?"

"Yeah. Let’s get into the bath."