"Hello..."

Luo Wei held the raven in her hand, a flash of embarrassment in her eyes. She had forgotten the young man's name, only vaguely remembering it ended with something like "el". He had chased a raven here over a month ago.

Western names were too long and too similar; it really wasn't her fault.

At least she remembered the key words in her mind: raven, young man, and gemstone.

"Senior, here's your raven back."

Luo Wei handed the small bird over. She didn't know why, but the raven had become docile in her hands, completely unlike the mischievous creature the senior had described.

The chestnut-haired young man took back his summoned beast, smiling as he said, "It seems Toby really likes you. Look at him, such a tiny thing already knows how to love a beauty."

The words sounded odd, and Luo Wei insincerely praised, "So its name is Toby. What an adorable little bird."

The chestnut-haired young man gazed at her affectionately: "Meeting you here twice in a row must be fate bestowed by heaven. Junior, why don't I treat you to a meal today?"

"And the young lady beside you, please join us," he quickly added before Luo Wei could refuse. "If you don't accept my invitation, I'll truly be heartbroken."

Jane's face had long since taken on a gossipy expression. Her gaze now darted back and forth between the two, winking and nudging at Luo Wei: "Darling, quick, accept! Accept the senior's invitation!"

"Senior Kael is the unattainable flower of the advanced department. He's been standing here for quite a while to apologize and make amends to us. How can you bear to let him be sad?"

Kael straightened his back, brushed his hair with his hand, and curled his lips into a charming smile: "I believe my junior won't refuse me, right?"

Passing students frequently cast glances in their direction, making Luo Wei so embarrassed her toes curled inside her shoes.

She finally realized what was off about this senior's words – they were oddly oily.

He wasn't like this when they met by chance last time. It hadn't even been two months, how had he absorbed so much oil?

"Really, there's no need, senior. We—"

"How about I treat you to desserts at Escari?" Kael interrupted her. "I heard you girls all like to eat cake there. Today it's my treat, you can eat as much as you want!"

He lifted his outer cloak, revealing a belt studded with gemstones, then detached the money pouch hanging from the belt and weighed it in his hand.

"Don't worry about making me go broke," he sighed. "There's nowhere to spend money in the academy anyway. The gold coins just take up space lying around."

Luo Wei's words of refusal had reached the tip of her tongue, but hearing this, she swallowed them back.

Her dessert shop was mostly frequented by girls, with few male students from the academy visiting. Recently, she had nearly exhausted the spending power of her female classmates, and the number of customers buying cakes was decreasing day by day. It was time to attract a new wave of clients.

This senior was so wealthy; surely he could easily sign up for a VIP monthly membership at the dessert house, right?

"Alright," Luo Wei revealed a sweet smile. "Then I'll gratefully accept your kind offer, senior."

Jane also expressed her thanks: "Thank you, Senior Kael!"

"No need to thank me, it's just an apology gift for you," Kael said with a crooked smile, lightly raising his brown eyebrows, exuding his charm to the fullest.

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In his heart, he sneered. These were indeed two inexperienced little girls. As soon as they heard he was treating them to cake, they eagerly agreed, without any of the reserve expected of noble young ladies. They probably weren't from any significant families.

But this was even better. Daughters of minor nobles were easy to manipulate, and he wouldn't need to consider giving them a proper title. Being a mistress would be enough.

A series of calculations flashed through Kael's eyes, and the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened.

The three arrived at the academy street. Before they even reached the dessert shop, a rich aroma was carried over by the wind.

The intense smell of milk and freshly baked whole wheat bread wafted into their noses, the sweet scent making their mouths water.

Luo Wei and Jane were used to it as they ate there every day, but Kael, smelling this fragrance for the first time, almost forgot how to walk.

"What is that? How can it smell so good!" he asked in shock.

"It's just the desserts from Escari. There's freshly baked hot bread at noon .

. Haven't you eaten it before, senior?" Jane asked curiously.

"No." Kael swallowed and involuntarily followed the scent.

Kael rarely left the academy because the buildings in Siria City were dilapidated, the streets were full of dirty feces and smelly commoners, and the food outside was barely edible. Almost nothing met his standards.

Therefore, although he often heard people around him mention that a delicious new dessert shop had opened on Academy Street, he remained indifferent and had never come out.

How good could something sold on a commoner's street taste? No matter how delicious, could it be better than the food in the royal palace?

He had eaten so-called cream cakes before – they were fishy and hard, not even as soft as white bread. When he heard others say they were delicious, he scoffed, thinking those people had never tasted anything good.

But now, Kael wasn't so sure.

He quickened his pace and entered the legendary Escari Dessert House. His eyes immediately fell on the golden-brown bread that the shop assistant had just placed on the counter, still steaming. The sweet aroma was simply criminal!

"Sir, what would you like to buy?" A maid quickly approached.

"This," Kael pointed at the sliced toast in the basket. "I'll have one of these."

"Would you like anything else? We have freshly baked fruit jam cakes."

"No, I just want this." Kael said impatiently. What was so good about cake? It couldn't be as fragrant as the square slice of bread in front of him.

A hint of surprise flashed across the maid's face. This was the cheapest and most basic bread in the shop. Seeing how luxuriously dressed this noble young master was, she thought he would at least order a few pieces of decorated cake.

However, she had received "smile service" training before starting her job. No matter what requests customers made, she would maintain her smile.

"Certainly, sir. Would you like to eat in the shop or take it away?"

Hearing this question, Kael suddenly remembered that he was here to treat others to a meal.

"We'll eat here," he said, then quickly turned to look at Luo Wei, and Jane. "I'm sorry, I lost my composure just now. What would you like to eat?"

Jane covered her mouth and giggled coquettishly: "It's alright, senior. We were the same way when we first came. I'd like a piece of taro-filled cream cake and a glass of grape boba fruit tea."

Luo Wei: "Then I'll have a fig bread and a cup of honey grapefruit tea."

She paused after ordering, then looked at Kael: "Senior, are you sure you don't want to try the small cakes here? And the fruit teas upstairs are really good too."

Kael had no interest in cake at all, but seeing Luo Wei's enthusiastic recommendation, he quickly understood the reason. She probably wanted to eat it herself but was too shy to say so!

Women were so troublesome in this regard, always beating around the bush when they wanted something, making men guess. How affected.

He shook his head, turned around and placed his elbow on the counter, supporting his chin with his hand. In a very generous manner, he said: "I'll have one of each of your cakes and fruit teas. And whatever else is good, bring it all out."

The maid's perfect smile cracked a little, and she asked in disbelief: "Do you really want one of everything? It might be too much to finish."

Kael smirked charmingly: "If we can't finish it, we'll throw it away. Any problem with that?"

The maid trembled in fear: "No, no problem. Please wait a moment while I calculate the total."

Kael grabbed a handful of gold coins from his money pouch and tossed them onto the counter: "Take it all, no need for change."

"No, no, no, we must calculate it. It's the shop's policy." The maid quickly finished her calculations, her hands shaking. "Sir, the total is thirteen gold coins and forty-five silver coins."

"How much?" Kael's eyes widened suddenly.

"Thirteen gold coins and forty-five silver coins," the maid glanced at the gold coins he had put down and said cautiously, "Sir, you only have eight gold coins here."

To be continued