More time passed. Things in Sunglow were incredibly busy. Farmers like Leliana were in the harvest season, so they spent whole days doing nothing but collecting the hard-earned fruits of their labor. For the red-haired girl, this was doubly true because she had actually managed to grow a decent amount of Monster Realm ingredients.

Since Lord Eidranis visited the Human Realm, Sunglow had become intricately linked to the Monster Realm. The time it took to get through the Sunglow passageway was exactly 33 seconds. Melina feared that if this distance kept shortening, the two realms would begin to merge, but that wasn't the case.

The distance remained stable for the time being and didn't decrease any further. However, it did provide Sunglow with an abundance of mana, which allowed Monster Realm fruits to prosper and grow. Leliana managed to harvest a decent amount of scorchvine peppers, a few weeping sapmelon and about a dozen zephyr roots. Feyfruit bushes had also grown admirably, although the harvest would only be available next year.

Many farmers were interested in Leliana's findings, and she wasn't shy about sharing what she had learned. Melina had expected the girl to be more secretive, but it turned out that she was far more generous than she initially appeared.

The business in the bakery was booming. A bit too well, almost. It was safe to say that Melina couldn't really keep up with the demand. The priority was given to Sunglowers, obviously, but more and more people from other places wanted to get their hands on her pastries.

As such, Melina had announced her apprenticeship programme to the Bakers Guild by sending a message to Roxie's father in Pertia. He posted a notice that Melina would be accepting a new apprentice every three months, during which time she would teach them her recipes in exchange for helping out in the bakery.

Obviously, the buzz around the subject was huge, but the first spot was already saved for the Sinclair family chef. Any subsequent apprentices will be decided by the Bakers Guild. It was without a doubt that they would send some of their own to learn Melina's recipe and spread them even further.

But that was her plan exactly. The more quickly her recipes spread through Alemahria, the more people will be interested in the Monster Realm ingredients, and the more accepting they'll become of the Monster Realm in general.

Today was the day when Michael, the chef from the Sinclair family, arrived at the bakery to learn Melina's techniques. It was also a somber day, because just yesterday, Ygdril returned to the Monster Realm. He had finally mastered the recipe for macarons and was eager to share it among his brethren.

Melina would honestly miss the drow. He was a big help in the kitchen and quite open-minded too. She would have expected more trouble working with a drow, but it turned out to be no trouble at all.

What she hadn't expected was that Michael would cause so many problems on his first day. In fact, the trouble started the moment the young man stepped into the kitchen.

"What?! You work in this environment? This is atrocious!" Michael commented, his face scrunching up in disgust when he walked into the kitchen.

"Excuse me?" Melina narrowed her eyes at him.

The blond man shook his head and took a deep breath. "My apologies. I was told that you worked in a rather humble kitchen, but… I wasn't expecting this."

Melina looked around. Sure, the furniture was dated, and there wasn't any decor in the kitchen. Their new magitech refrigerator that Milo had made stood out like a sore thumb, but did it even matter? The kitchen was clean, Melina and Roxie made sure of that every day, and it had everything they needed to work properly.

"If something is missing, do let me know. We haven't felt the need for a change," Melina said.

"I see," Michael replied, clearly not impressed. "It will be rather difficult to work with an old oven. Controlling temperature must be an absolute nightmare."

"Don't worry. Sienna takes care of the temperature control," Melina said, and the wyvern peeked her head out from her usual hiding spot beneath the table.

Michael screamed and jumped back in shock. "Is that a monster?!"

Melina raised her eyebrow. Did none of the Sinclair servants tell him anything?

"Yes. It's not really a secret that Sienna helps me out in the kitchen. Did the Sinclair servants or guards not tell you?" Melina asked.

Michael scrunched up his nose. "I don't speak to servants. I come from a noble family, you see, albeit a minor one, and I consider it important to adhere to my noble ways."

She was surprised to hear that. Nobles usually didn't partake in menial labor. Those of minor nobles' houses would take jobs of knights or ladies-in-waiting for more prominent noble houses. But she hasn't heard of anyone being a cook. His family's financial situation must have been quite dire to resort to such a job.

"I see.. Well, in either case, my familiars assist me with kitchen tasks. Sienna cooks all pastries while Mango cools them down," Melina said, pointing to Mango, who was sleepily huddled up in the corner of the kitchen, where her little bed was placed.

Michael gasped in shock again. "You allow a furry creature into the kitchen?"

"Yes?"

"What if its fur ends up inside food?" He exclaimed in shock.

"She doesn't really shed. I've never had it happen before," Melina explained.

"That is just irresponsible. This is not a proper work environment," the man announced.

Melina and Roxie shared a look. The girl didn't look pleased by the new apprentice, and neither was Melina. If it wasn't for the Duchess's request, Melina likely would have thrown him out by now. But the Duchess had done so much for her. She would have to endure this man's presence. He would leave as soon as he learned her recipes.

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"Mango is a crucial part of our team. I will not cook without her," Melina announced.

Michael let out a derisive snort. "If I'm finding a single piece of hair in any food, I'm going to call for the Bakers Guild inspection team."

Melina suppressed a groan. She did not want to deal with the inspection team. They had rather strict and high standards, and it was questionable whether they would deem that two monsters in the kitchen would be appropriate, even if they were helping.

An agreement could likely be reached with them, but who knows what kind of legal hoops Melina would have to jump through and what kind of accommodations she would have to make to please their nitpicky team. It was far better that they didn't come until it was time for a routine inspection.

"Okay, please, put on an apron, Michael, and we'll begin," Melina said, offering her one of the spare aprons from the cupboard.

Michael looked at it as if it were a slug. "No, thank you. I have brought my own."

He then pulled his own immaculate apron from the bag he had brought with him. It was embroidered with gold lines at the edges. After that, he put on some delicate cooking gloves and put a hair net over his head.

For a second, Melina considered whether she should say anything about it, but decided against it. The argument that would likely follow wasn't worth it. Instead, Melina decided to focus on the pastries.

For today, she decided to start with their signature healing cream puffs. Melina had planned to show the process of refining the weeping sapmelon sap over the stove with Sienna's help. She wanted to teach Roxie how to do it, so the girl would be able to help Melina with ingredient preparation.

However, the moment Melina retrieved sapmelon ooze, which she had been collecting in the storage room from one of the melons Leliana had grown, Michael shrieked again.

"What in the System's name is that?" He pressed his nose shut and pointed at the ooze.

"It's the healing ooze of the sapmelon. It is a crucial ingredient for healing cream puffs. I want to show how to properly refine it so it wouldn't be toxic anymore," she replied calmly.

"Toxic? You mean to say that this thing is toxic? How dare you put something like that into food?" He shrieked.

"I don't. I refine it into a caramel which is completely safe to eat," she said.

"How do you know it's safe to eat?"

"The System descriptions clearly say so. Or do you believe the System to be lying?" Melina challenged.

This did make Michael calm down. No noble would ever doubt the legitimacy of the System.

"You use the System to aid you with cooking?" He asked with a narrowed gaze.

"I do. I have a class called [Archpatissier] and many skills to aid me with cooking and even teaching me how to cook magical pastries," she explained in hopes that Michael would calm down.

He actually did. "Very well. I shall observe the process."

Melina demonstrated how, with Sienna's help, she was able to turn the toxic ooze into a crystallized form, which later was refined into a sweet herby caramel. Roxie was eager to try doing it herself, not shying away from working together with Sienna.

Michael, however, remained silent, not getting involved with the process. Melina was alright with that. It was his choice on how much he got involved with ingredient refining.

With caramel ready, it was time to prepare the choux pastry. Here, Melina could leave Roxie to her own devices and let her get ahead with the work they needed done. Instead, she focused on showing the recipe, step by step, to Michael.

"You're doing it wrong," Michael said as Melina showed her how to stir eggs into the mixture.

"What?" Melina asked in surprise. She had deliberately decided to show him the process on the stove rather than using magic for heat.

"You're doing it wrong! You're supposed to stir clockwise when adding the first egg, then alternate the direction when you add the second," the man said smugly.

While she was no stranger to finicky manoeuvres and precise stirring, which was paramount when brewing a potion, she didn't otherwise know how stirring one or another direction influenced the choux pastry in any way.

"Does it change the texture of the dough?" Melina asked, wondering if the chef from the Sinclair family knew some secret technique, and this was his way of sharing it. Even if it was rude.

"No, that is just the right way to do it. One must always remain refined during the cooking process instead of throwing the spoon around like a monkey."

It took every ounce of strength for Melina not to roll her eyes. She understood the importance of noble etiquette while going out to social events. It was cumbersome—yes, but for the most part, noble etiquette was put in place to make social events more pleasant.

Granted, there were so many rules by now that it was easy for misunderstandings to form unless you knew them all by heart. But at least they had some sort of resemblance to sense.

This, however, made no sense. They were in a work setting, in a kitchen where nobody else would see them. What did it matter how they looked while they cooked?

"You may stir your choux the way you prefer then," Melina said, continuing the demonstration.

Needless to say, the rest of the morning went much in the same fashion. Whatever Melina showed to Michael, he seemed entirely certain that she was doing it wrong. The way she dipped eclairs into glaze was wrong. Her way of slicing the cake was wrong. Even her way of arranging fruit on the tart was wrong.

Michael was more than eager to show her the correct way while holding his nose up high in the air. She could basically read his thoughts on his face—I am showing this petty peasant the correct way of cooking.

At one point, she even heard him mutter, "What did the young Lord see in this woman?", but decided to ignore it. Her only task was to teach him recipes. At the rate things were going, it was clear that he would get bored with her "peasant ways" rather soon and leave. Melina just had to put up with him for a while longer.

But then he crossed the line.

"I have no understanding why you would ever hire this girl? I've never met anyone more tactless and clumsy in my life!" He said after Roxie accidentally dropped a blueberry to the ground. Mango was quick to eat the delicious berry, so there wasn't any harm done, and it wasn't like a single blueberry would make them any losses.

Roxie looked horrified at the remark, her cheeks flushing bright red.

"You take that back, you bastard!" Adrien jumped to her defense, lightning sparkling at his fingertips.

"And this boy can't even control this magic! I swear, even someone with such low standards as yourself should choose their employees more carefully."

This was the last straw. Melina walked up to Michael and stared up at him with an unwavering glare. With her body, she deliberately allowed some of Sienna's heat to pass through and watched how the man quickly grew sweaty from the heat.

"My employees are the best in all of Alemahria. Unlike you, they listen to my instructions and have achieved leaps and bounds in their lessons. If you think that you are superior to them simply because you were born to some minor noble house nobody cares about, then let me tell you—you are not."

"If it weren't for Duchess Sinclair's request, I never would have tolerated you for longer than a minute, but surely once I explain the situation to her, she will find somebody more appropriate to send here to learn."

"Wh-What?" He squawked in disbelief, his face going pale.

"Get out of my bakery!"

Melina had been spoiled by Roxie, Adrien, and Ygdril, all people eager to learn. Michael made her realize that it wouldn't always be the case.