Irene stood at her workstation on the ground floor of the Three Roses, mixing cake batter. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she worked.

Amelia, who usually worked alongside her on the most complex products they made, was currently talking to a party from the Adventurers’ Guild at the front. They had been refused by Happy Bakery and had come here to request some cakes—apparently, some high-level adventurers were coming back to town, and they wanted to welcome them with some sugary treats.

They might not have had a Flaminia, but she and Amelia would be more than capable of fulfilling such an order.

Irene was a [Baker] at level 26, a respectable level for someone her age. But as she worked, a nagging thought persisted in the back of her mind.

Is this going to be enough now that Joey is in the mix?

If Happy and the Three Roses merged, that would completely change the hierarchies. At level 26, she was only behind Amelia and Camilla in the entire bakery. But just the other day, she celebrated the second [Baker] to break through level 20.

How long would it be before someone overtook her?

She had been stagnating for ten months now.

Looking at the batter, she sighed and cleaned her hands on her apron before starting to walk toward the door that opened to the front.

She did not know what would be of her future. From her work life to her ‘love’ life, everything frustrated her endlessly.

…

"Caramel-flavored, you say?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's quite an unusual request."

The adventurer nodded. "We've heard that it is the freshest fruit in town. We asked Happy, but they said they aren’t making any at the moment, not even on request. Your bakery is the best, right?”

Amelia glanced over at Irene, who had just come out of the kitchen. "We'll do our best to make it unforgettable," she smiled at the adventurer.

The man, clearly some Bronze Ranker with very green ears, blushed profusely. Amelia’s beauty was so overwhelming that Camilla had suggested a few times that she man the counter to raise the sales by luring in the rich adventurers.

Amelia had thrown a chair at her young sister in reply.

After the adventurer gave Amelia the specifics and left, the older of the Saturnia sister couldn't help but make a snarky remark. "Who knew those adventurers had such refined taste?"

Irene rolled her eyes. "Happy will make a killing on that whenever they come down from whatever tree they climbed.”

“You don’t happen to know what exactly is it that they are doing, right?” Amelia looked despondently at her with her piercing, icy eyes.

“I haven’t asked. I didn’t even know they weren’t making cakes anymore. But Joey did mention something about Flaminia learning from him now. Maybe she’s gotten lazy. I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“While Camilla obsesses over the stupid roses, you could have tried digging up something more about them. Didn’t you go out with him yesterday?”

“What am I, Amelia, a [Spy]?”

Amelia sighed and put a hand up while she massaged the bridge of her nose with the other.

"Fine, fine," she groaned. "We'll just focus on our own work for now. Let's get those caramel-flavored cakes started. They need them by tomorrow, apparently. We'll show those idiots where they should have been shopping all along."

Irene nodded and headed back into the kitchen.

As Irene began preparing the ingredients for the caramel cakes, she couldn't help but feel a pang of envy toward Amelia and her sisters.

Currently, Amelia was using her most powerful skill. At level 20, she had gotten a great capstone skill.

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The oldest Saturnia sister took a handful of flour and threw it up in the air. But instead of it coming down haphazardly, it slowly coalesced into a short cylindrical shape, taking more and more detail as Amelia gently modeled it with her slender fingers.

[Flour Design]

It allowed her to form a ghost model of a cake to see how it would turn out. At the Three Roses, Amelia was the one who specialized in decorations. She had the most artistic sense out of the three sisters.

While Camilla's baking skills were more focused on intuition and creativity, Amelia’s were more about the artistic side of things. Instead, Irene's skill set was centered around fixing and improving existing recipes. She felt that her skills were somewhat lackluster in comparison to all of them. Even Flavia’s accounting and managing skills were comparatively more useful.

The three sisters could put things together from thin air.

My name won’t ever be part of the bakery…

She got [Sugarcare] at level 20. All it allowed her to do was fix mistakes made by herself and others. Sure, it was useful, and she could use it multiple times in a day; it allowed for even product quality. But at the same time, it felt boring.

I can’t keep thinking about Joey when I have bigger problems.

…

Amelia snuck a few glances at the sulky woman at her side.

Irene had come back in a terrible mood after the date. But there was no talk of breaking up nor of her ceasing to date the Human. So, Amelia wasn’t really sure what was going on, and truth be told, her employee had never been forthcoming with the particulars of her private life.

However, they had worked together long enough to know that Irene did not like the skills her class had given her. While they were all useful, Irene felt like they were more of a supporting class than a proper [Chef]. And the fact that she still had the basic [Baker] class at such a high level spoke volumes. It meant that Irene was a truly hard worker but that, simply put, she had not yet found her way of doing things.

"You know what?” Amelia said. “Why don't you take the lead on the caramel decorations? I heard that Flaminia was working the caramel into pretty shapes. Do you think you can make some interesting patterns with it?”

Irene looked up from her work, surprised by Amelia's suggestion. For a moment, she hesitated, but then a determined gleam appeared in her eyes. "I can try," she replied, her voice steady and confident.

…

Irene was walking home after practicing with the caramel for several hours. She had made a checkered pattern over the cake and filled it with some glazed fruit juice to contrast the ultra-sugary taste of the cake.

She reached the door of the house and twisted the key in the lock.

“Irene?”

She found Anatholia, her sister, working on some vases in the living room, with paint all over her hands and clothes.

“Have you eaten?” Irene asked. She brought home some savory pastries, mostly filled with meat and vegetables.

“No, but do you have any more of that chocolate you brought the other day?” Anatholia replied, trying to wipe the paint off her hands and onto her clothes.

"No," Irene replied with some regret.

“Anyway, Fidatus was having trouble sleeping. I called the [Healer], and he had to get some more ointment for his skin. The red patches are back, and he scratched a few until they bled.”

“Rotten roots,” Irene sighed. “We should consult another [Healer]. This one has been taking our money, but Fidatus hasn’t improved one bit. Anyway, eat a couple of these,” she took out a few pastries and placed them on the kitchen table.

“I’ll bring the rest to Fidatus.”

Irene walked to her older brother’s room and cracked it open, checking if he was sleeping. But the familiar clicking sound of a jigsaw being shuffled around told her all she needed to know.

“Hey,” Irene gently pushed open the door and smiled at Fidatus. “I brought some food.”

Fidatus looked up from his jigsaw puzzle, his face pale and drawn, but he managed a weak smile. Irene knew very well that she did not elicit the same enthusiasm Plinius managed to get out of him.

But it was fine.

She was here to take care of him, not to be his idol.

Irene walked over to his bed and handed him a plate she had fetched from the kitchen with a couple of pastries. "Here, I brought you these. I thought you might be hungry."

She sat beside him on the bed. These days, it was really hard to get Fidatus up from there, and she didn’t have it in her to try today.

As she sat there watching Fidatus eat, Irene's thoughts drifted back to Joey.

How would he react to Fidatus?

Joey was spending so much time helping the homeless people in Amorium, so she just couldn’t picture him having a negative reaction to her brother. If anything, thinking that Joey would probably be better than her at interacting with her sick brother almost made her angry.

She glanced around Fidatus' room, noticing how he had arranged his jigsaws and other belongings with meticulous care. He only moved around when no one was watching, as if he felt it was wrong of him to do so.

She shook her head and sighed, turning to her brother and gently raising the sleeve of his tunic. She saw several patches crawling up to his shoulder, a few of them clearly scratched and now scabbing.

Irene frowned, concern etched all over her face. "We're going to find another [Healer], ok?”

Fidatus barely registered what she had just said, simply continuing to eat and staring directly at the food.

Irene had started thinking of which [Healers] they had yet to visit when she heard a woman sing. She glanced out of the half-draped window, not able to see anyone.

Gather up your dirty clothes

Put them in a pile, don't suppose

That they'll wash themselves, you know

It's time to give them a good go~

“Rotten roots, what’s that now?” She frowned. But then, she noticed Fidatus tapping his foot to a rhythm.

“You enjoy that?” Irene asked, surprised.

Fidatus gave her the slightest nod.

That’s new, she thought to herself, exhausted.