"Yesterday's dumplings were a dream, but these burgers? Incredible," a girl shouted over the noise.

"Burgers are just bread and meat!" a boy shot back, clutching a plate of dumplings. "You don't know real flavor until you've had the soup in these!"

Quinton clutched his copper coins, his knuckles turning white. He spotted Madame Doris by the kitchen door. "Madame... is there any oatmeal left?"

Doris offered a soft, pitying smile. "Of course, dear. But nobody's looking at the oats today. Not with Lillia Bird's recipes on the line."

Quinton swallowed hard. "I can't... I don't have—"

"Go to the lake corner," Doris interrupted, patting his shoulder. "Lillia's out there. Plenty of kids like you are already helping her out."

The far corner of Star Lake was a mess of mud and weeds. Usually, the professors only used it for basic Earth-magic drills. Now, it was a war zone of construction.

"Lillia! Seeds are soaked! We're keeping the sinkers!" a boy shouted.

"Roses moved to the main garden, Boss!" another called out.

"The charcoal? We... borrowed it from the Potions lab! The pot is here!"

Quinton watched as Earth mages manipulated the soil, sifting out weeds with a flick of their wrists. Water mages pulled moisture from the lake, breaking it into a fine, pressurized mist that packed the lower soil and fluffed the surface.

Then, Yulia stepped into the dirt. Her silk skirts were hiked up, her sleeves rolled to her elbows. She didn't look like a princess; she looked like a general.

She raised her hands. A pulse of pale gold radiance flooded the field. The power was stable, heavy, and far beyond anything a girl her age should possess.

Stems erupted from the mud. Leaves unfurled in a blur of motion. Within minutes, the field was a sea of yellow rapeseed flowers, taller than a man.

"Much easier with a crew," Yulia said, brushing dirt from her palms.

Jill Kent stared at the flowers, his brow furrowed. "You said we were growing food. Can we even eat these?"

"Not directly," Yulia said, jumping over a furrow. "We're making oil."

"Oil?" Jill asked. "Butter comes from milk. What kind of oil comes from a flower?"

"The kind that's going to change your life," Yulia replied. She looked around, her sapphire eyes scanning the crowd for more labor.

Quinton stepped forward, his boots sinking into the wet earth. "Are you Miss Lillia Bird?"

Yulia turned, a sharp, calculating smile lighting up her face. "Need a hand? What's your specialty?"

"Wind... I'm a Wind mage."

Yulia's eyes widened. The smile turned radiant. Quinton felt his face heat up; he'd never seen a girl this beautiful this close.

"Perfect. We're short on wind," Yulia said, leading him toward the stalks. She pulled a piece of milk candy from her pocket and pressed it into his hand [Dialogue History]. "Madame Doris told you the deal? Work for the garden, and I feed you myself. No cafeteria sludge."

Quinton nodded, his fingers closing over the candy. "What do I do?"

"See the black seeds on the stalks? Use the wind to shake them loose. Catch them in the bins. No dirt, no leaves. Just seeds."

Quinton didn't hesitate. He raised his hands, summoning a precise, swirling gale. The seeds rained down like black hail, piling into a dark mountain on the canvas sheets.

"Done," he said, wiping his brow.

Yulia looked at the pile, then at the sky. It was lunchtime. Her own stomach let out a demand for something more than candy.

"Time for the real show," she announced.

She produced iron skewers she'd brought from the Temple of Abyss. Marinated meat hit the glowing charcoal. The fat sizzled, sending a thick, spiced aroma drifting across the water.

The wind carried the scent of the barbecue toward the lovers on the lake.

"What is that?" a girl asked, her head snapping toward the garden.

"Smells... divine," her partner whispered. "Is that another Lillia dish?"

Jill stood by the edge of the field, holding back a growing crowd of hungry mages. One student shouted from the path: "Miss Lillia! Is that the new menu?"

Yulia didn't look up from the grill. She just flipped a skewer, the sapphire in her eyes gleaming with the fire.

"Miss Lillia? Who the hell is Lillia? Why does everyone know her name?"

"I know! She's the girl who snubbed Lord Loren Eir!"

"No, she's the one selling those dumplings and burgers in the hall!"

"Miss Lillia! When does the barbecue hit the menu? My master is offering fifty gold coins!"

The commoner mages working for Yulia stood frozen, their eyes wide at the mention of such wealth.

Yulia sharpened her metaphorical blade, eyeing the noble "leeks" in the crowd. "Fifty is a bit much. Let's start the bidding at ten."

She flashed a radiant, commercial smile. "But it's a limited run. First come, first served."

The students who hadn't tasted her cooking exchanged looks of pure hesitation. Yulia handed them the skewers of roasted meat. They held the sticks like they were made of solid gold.

"Eat up," Yulia told the scholarship mages. "Fifty for the nobles. Free for you."

The crowd stared at her as if a saint had just descended from the Silver Divine Realm. Yulia just smiled, wondering why fleecing the rich was this easy. Robin Hood, but with better seasoning.

"Where have you been all day?"

A hand caught Yulia's shoulder as she left the hall, dragging her into the shadows of the grove.

Caerus stood nearly a foot taller, a dark mountain of a man looming over her small, 160cm frame. He tucked her into his chest with a single, fluid motion.

He sounded angry. The arm hooked around her neck was heavy, but the pressure was precise—never enough to bruise.

"Preparing the good stuff," Yulia chirped, waving a jar of rapeseed oil under his nose. "A pot isn't enough. You need the oil for the real flavor."

"Not interested."

Yulia rolled her eyes. He says that, then cleans the plate faster than anyone.

"You left too early this morning," Caerus rasped, his voice vibrating against her back. "The noise out there is driving me insane."

The grove was dim. Yulia couldn't see his face, but she felt the exhaustion radiating from him in waves. Without her "noise-canceling" presence, the prayers of a million idiots were back in his ears.

Lord of Radiance... Dark God... help me... grant me...

"They should just do it themselves," Yulia agreed. "I spent all morning making my own dreams come true."

Caerus went silent for a heartbeat. "I wasn't talking about you."

Yulia's voice softened. "Want me to go back and fry something now?"

"Tomorrow," Caerus yawned. The coldness in his grey-blue eyes shifted, replaced by a hazy, lunar mist. He looked almost ethereal in the moonlight, like a faerie from Star Lake.

"That's a first," Yulia joked. "Usually, you'd kill someone if you missed your nap."

"I did."

Yulia's smile faltered.

"A few were cursing me. I took care of it," Caerus said, his tone as flat as a grave marker.

"And the new Lord of the Black Crow district. Jojo wanted a trade route. The man was difficult. So I killed him."

Yulia stood rigid.

Right. I'm only alive because I'm an exception.

"Understood, Boss," she said, straightening her posture. "I'll remember that."

Caerus patted her head, his fingers lingering on her sand-gold hair. "Good."

"One thing, Boss... next time you can't sleep... maybe don't waste the divine power?"

He tilted his head. "?"