Chapter 35

“Hae-un, it’s not like that. Uncle was doing all this for you…”

The Spirit Master uncle seemed extremely flustered as he tried to placate me with words similar to what he’d said before, but…

No matter how hard Uncle tried, my shocked expression wouldn’t fade.

I just stood there, mouth agape, when Uncle awkwardly smiled and patted my Lair.

“Sorry about that… But unlike last time, your Lair didn’t break at all! Look how sturdy it is!”

Then the Spirit Master uncle proceeded to demonstrate by tapping his knuckles against my Lair.

“See? Super solid, right? There’s no way it’d break even if I hit it. So don’t worry…”

But his reassurance proved hollow when, before he could finish speaking, a ‘crackling’ sound rang out and a small fissure appeared in my Lair.

In total shock, my mouth opened even wider as Uncle hastily began rubbing my Lair.

“L-Lair’s a bit frail…”

Though I was genuinely surprised, I wasn’t really mad at the Spirit Master uncle who always helped me. Still…

Maybe because this had happened twice in a row, or perhaps because he called my crystal-made Lair “frail,” I inexplicably started to feel a little angry!

‘I want to handle this maturely…’

Trying to show adult composure, I attempted to say “it’s fine,” but…

My words caught in my throat as I instinctively crossed my arms, my tail thumping against the floor in irritation.

Seeing my completely unhidden emotions, I tried to pretend everything was okay despite feeling increasingly sulky.

“…”

I just couldn’t hide how upset I was. Not wanting to be angry, I stared sullenly at my Lair when suddenly…

Uncle’s eyes darted around nervously before he quickly held up an ice cream and exclaimed,

“Hey, let’s eat some ice cream first?”

At the mention of ice cream, my lips twitched slightly.

While I’m not usually one for sweets, ice cream is an exception!

Still, I didn’t want to seem like someone who easily gives in to food, so I tried to maintain my dignified pose while resisting the urge to look at the ice cream.

Then Uncle added, trying to gauge my reaction,

“I… got strawberry flavor.”

Strawberry… so sweet and tangy, with those crunchy bits of dried strawberry – one of my favorite flavors!

As I noticed my tail changing from thumping angrily to swaying happily, I shot a glare at it, silently demanding it behave itself.

But my tail ignored me completely, wagging away merrily.

Giving up on my traitorous tail, I tried to calm myself down when Uncle pulled out the ice cream from the bag and spoke.

“And… I got HaagenDazs.”

Is there really HaagenDazs in this world…?

Never having been able to afford it, hearing the legendary name made me jump involuntarily.

As my gaze was naturally drawn to the side, Uncle shook the ice cream while talking to me.

“Want some?”

“…Yes please!”

Ah…

I automatically blurted it out without thinking.

Hurriedly lowering my hand that had instinctively shot up, I inwardly protested my unfair fate.

‘This isn’t my will! It’s subconscious…!’

Despite shouting internally to justify myself,

no one else could hear my inner cries, only increasing my frustration.

Still, receiving the ice cream made me happy, and as my body swayed along with my wagging tail, Uncle smiled warmly at me.

“If you need more, just say so. I bought plenty.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Go ahead and enjoy.”

Staring at the ice cream in my hand,

I sat next to Chae-a, who was curiously peeking over, and suggested,

“Chae-a, let’s eat together!”

“Wow!”

“Seorin too!”

“Really? Can I have some?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Since it was expensive, I thought it would be better to share, so we gathered closely together.

The Spirit Master uncle, looking somewhat embarrassed, distributed ice creams to Seorin and Chae-a while saying,

“I brought several, so instead of sharing, each take one.”

“Really?”

Did he seriously buy multiple super expensive ice creams?

As I looked skeptically, sure enough, the black bag was filled with numerous HaagenDazs ice creams.

Realizing just how amazing the Spirit Master uncle truly was, I silently marveled at his generosity.

Holding my wagging tail, I gazed longingly at the black bag when suddenly,

next to me, Chae-a closed her eyes like a baby bird and made an ‘Ah’ sound.

Apparently she wanted me to feed her,

so feeling proud as the elder, I picked up the ice cream with satisfaction.

‘It’s my duty as an adult to take care of her.’

Thinking it natural to feed her this way, I scooped up a large bite of ice cream and fed it to Chae-a.

After Chae-a stuffed her mouth full of ice cream, she trembled and flailed her hands around due to the cold.

‘Did I give her too much at once?’

Watching her struggle with the cold, I felt apologetic and wondered what to do when suddenly,

Chae-a swallowed the ice cream and smiled brightly at me.

“It’s delicious!”

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm! Hae-un should eat too!”

With that, just like I did earlier, Chae-a scooped up a big bite of ice cream to feed me.

Thinking how considerate she was, I opened my mouth wide when beside me,

Seorin giggled and started taking pictures on her phone while commenting,

“Since Chae-a’s the older sister, she’s really taking good care of her younger sibling.”

“Yeah! Hae-un’s still a baby, so I have to take good care of her!”

“?!”

Though my head filled with questions,

the delicious strawberry ice cream melting in my mouth made me quickly forget such trivial matters.

Thinking how wonderfully happy this food made me,

when I remembered I should also take care of the Spirit Master uncle and Seorin.

“At least let’s keep minimum etiquette.”

Getting up to feed them the ice cream,

“Sister Hae-un might die of happiness.”

“I’ve never received this kind of treatment from my own children. Amazing to get it from Hae-un.”

Various reactions reached my ears.

Looking at the chat window gradually filling with ‘A’s,

I grinned and spoke into the phone.

“I’ll serve you when you come here!”

With that, the chat messages started scrolling rapidly.

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