With Valentine's Day coming up tomorrow, the entire city was in a somewhat buoyant mood, and the Duke Albert's house was no exception.
　At any rate, the head of the house, Lilia, is quite buoyant to begin with, and the entire house has become such a...............................pink air.

　Illness, who was walking down the corridor of that Duke Albert's house with an unchanged appearance, stopped at the voice that was heard.

''.........Lili, why.......you should be smart, right?　You're supposed to have a great memory, right?　Why do you forget everything you taught last year...
I'm sorry.

　As the voice led me to the kitchen, I looked into the kitchen and saw Lilia, the head of the mansion, slumping her shoulders in front of a cutting board that had been cut in half, while Sieglinde was holding her head a little further away.
　Illness was an excellent maid, and she had a long history with Lilia and Sieglinde. Based on the situation in the kitchen and the words she had just heard, she quickly assessed the situation and went into the kitchen.

'The two of you - are you making chocolate?
...Illness?
Mr. Illness?

　Lilia and Sieglinde's gaze is directed at Illness as she enters the kitchen.

''But~ It doesn't seem to be going too well, does it?
Ugh.

　At those words, which were told in the usual tone, Lilia made a bruised expression. Seeing that, Illness lightly chuckled, then opened her mouth again.

''If you don't mind~ I, too, would you like me to help you?　Sieglinde will have to make her own chocolate, too.
'Well, that would be very helpful to me, but are you all right, Miss Illness?　I'm not doubting Illness-sama's leadership skills, but Lili is quite a formidable foe.
That's okay.

　Sieglinde guessed from Illness's words that she meant to change her chocolate making instruction to Lilia, and she gave him an apologetic look.
　Sieglinde had taught Lilia to make chocolate last year as well, but it took a great deal of time to teach Lilia, whose cooking was devastating.

　And this year, compared to last year, Sieglinde's work was packed and she couldn't take up much time, hence Ilnes's offer was really appreciated, but she didn't feel comfortable imposing it on Ilnes, considering last year's difficulties.
　However, Illness replied that she was fine as usual and turned her head towards Lilia.

''Young lady too~ Is that alright?
Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you.
Okay. Okay~ Let's get started.

　After confirming that Lilia agreed, Illness moved to the sink, washed her hands and quickly cleaned up the cutting board that was being cut in half before she began to instruct Lilia.

''Then~ Miss, first of all~ let's imagine what kind of chocolate we're going to make, let's see what kind of chocolate we're going to make!
Images, sir?
Yes, Miss, what kind of chocolate would you like to make?

I see... It's the chocolate you like, Kite. Well, for example, Kite seems to prefer fruit sweetness to dairy sweetness, such as whipped cream.
Fruit..........

　Hearing Illness' words, Lilia begins to think with a serious expression. Lilia is not stupid by any means, rather she is a genius.
　When she's in a temper tantrum, she doesn't make use of her intelligence at all, but if she knows what to think about, it's a different story.

''Adding the fruit to the chocolate as it is would be a big deal, and if that's the case, I'll make it into a sauce form and put it inside.......the kind of fruit.......Kite-san likes ripple, but ripple is the taste is not very strong, and will it lose to the chocolate?
Yeah, it's all right if you get the hang of it, but it's a little difficult, isn't it?
'Then it would be difficult for me as an amateur. Then there's something else........oh, yes. Illness, what about the crackberries you used for the cake you baked the other day?
That's a great idea. A berry sauce with a sour taste - perfect for accenting chocolate.

　The finished chocolate that Lilia arrived at is a bite-sized chocolate with a berry sauce inside. Although it was simple in construction, the balance of flavors was well-balanced, and it was one of the easiest to make, even for Lilia.
　Sieglinde, who was watching the exchange, took out a small note and made a note on it, "I'll just give you a direction and let Lili think about it.


I'll... I'll take care of it.
Thank you.

　One of the factors that Sieglinde had to worry about was the messed up ingredients like meat and fish, but since Lilia herself could visualize the finished product, she was able to determine what was necessary and what was not.

''Then~next time, let's crush the chocolate...''
'Yes!　Oh, but, you know, I'm not... not very good at it.
I suppose the lady can - I suppose you can break the ground with your sword, but when you slay a demon - do you break the ground every time?
No, no, I won't crush it.

"Okay, okay the Grey Woolrabbit the Grey Woolrabbit....

　Hearing Illness's advice, Lilia grabbed the knife like a sword.......and swung it with terrifying speed.
　That's how fast it seemed to cut through the kitchen floor, let alone the cutting board.......but it didn't damage the cutting board, only the chocolate was cut cleanly into pieces.
　And Sieglinde, who was watching, gently drew in a note, "When I let Lili use the knife, I'll make her think it's a sword.









'Thank you, Illness!　Thanks to you, it's all done.
Truly, indeed, Illness-sama I have learned a lot too.
No, no, no. I'm glad I could help you.

　With Illness' guidance, Lilia was able to successfully complete the chocolate. Compared to last year, it was much faster than last year........
　That's probably because Illness, who knows Lilia's character well and understands how to guide her to get things done, guided her, and that's what made this possible.
　Lilia, who understands that, bows her head deeply and thanks him, and Sieglinde also has a look of admiration on his face.

''Well then~ I'll leave you with this.
'Oh, yes ... what?　Come to think of it, does Illness not make chocolate?
I'm not cooking.

　To Lilia's question about whether she didn't make chocolate, Illness replied that she didn't make it with Assari and left the kitchen.






'Oh?'　What's wrong with you?　Eta - Theta?
"'I, Illness-sama........well, actually........

　After finishing the instruction to Lilia, Illness is walking down the corridor again, and this time she finds Eta and Sita with a troubled expression on their faces and calls out to them.

I see~ I couldn't coordinate my work well~ Oh, for Kaito-sama, you don't have time to make chocolate?
...yes.
Well, I'll be the one to do your work today. You two, please go make some chocolate.
'What?　No, no, but....
That would be a problem for Mr. Illness...

　Eta and Sita look puzzled as Ilunes tells them that he and Assari will be changing their jobs. However, Illness continued to speak in his usual tone of voice.

''There's no problem, oh.
"...and...
You are serious about your normal work, and you don't want to skip it either, do you?　Since this is an annual event, please prioritize it this time.
''........Mr. Illness......Thank you!　You'll thank me for this!
Thank you so, so, so much for...
No, no.

　Eta and Theta bowed deeply to Illness and were about to head to the kitchen to prepare the chocolates... just before they stopped.

''Are you sure you don't want to make the chocolates, Ilnes-sama?''
I'm not going to cook.






　And not only that.....

''So~Anima, what's bothering you?
'No, as a matter of fact, I have received letters from many noblemen wanting to send their master some chocolates and I don't think he would want them, but I don't know how I could refuse them.
Okay, I'll give you some standard refusals.
Well, I'm grateful for that, but is Lady Illness's business in good standing?
I don't have a lot of work to do.

　He gave some advice to Anima, who was having trouble responding to a letter to the pleasant man, and.......





What can I do to stop my mother's outburst?
It's not good enough to just deny it out of hand. To some extent, let's come up with a compromise, right? For example~

　She was consulting with Lunamaria, who was struggling with her mother, Noah's outbursts, giving her some advice and various other things.

''........I see, thank you. Speaking of which, changing the subject, will Illness-sama give Kite-sama some chocolate?''
We don't give gifts.
''Oh, no, I'm sorry. I was just wondering....

　But consistently, when asked if he would give Kaito chocolate, he replied that he wouldn't give it or make it.







　The date had changed, and at a time that could be called midnight, Illness was walking down the corridor of the mansion, looking the same as she did in the daytime. However, considering that it was nighttime, she didn't make any footsteps at all.......but other than that, she looked exactly the same as in the daytime, or even as usual.
　But in the middle of it all.......Illness stopped in front of one door and bowed deeply to the door.
　Then, without knocking, he opened the door with the key he took out of his pocket and quietly entered the room.

　A dark room with faint moonlight shining through. In the bed in it, Kaito was sleeping while making a quiet sleep.
　After smiling a little at that, Illness approaches the bed and drapes the slightly disheveled blanket back over Kaito.

''........''

　

''.........I adore you. Always~From now on, too.

　Murmuring in a small voice, with great thoughts, Illness smiled a happy smile.
　Then, after a few moments of gazing tenderly at the peaceful, sleeping face of Kaito, he placed the neatly wrapped package on the table in his room and then left the room.








　In the morning, I woke up to find one of the neatly wrapped packages on the small table near my bed.
　Rubbing my eyes, which were still a little sleepy, I picked up that package.

'....Light?　And it's not even addressed to ... what's in it?

　Although it's somehow a strange event, if it's something dangerous, there's no way Alice won't say something, so I don't pay attention to it deeply and open the package.
　And inside........there was a beautifully woven scarf and a message card.

Happy Valentine's Day. May you always have a smile on your face.

　Heart-warming, concise, yet very kind words... The back of the message card read 'Illness' in modest letters.