Wait . . . Ren paused.
He could sell them and auction the recipes; they would surely fetch a high price among restaurants and chefs.
And . . . Ren stared intently at Elena.
"W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?" Elena asked, unsure. "Did you fell in love with me now?"
Ren ignored her. He could have her cook the very rare recipes in here and auction them.
"Elena, you have cooking tools and max cooking proficiency, right?"
Elena blinked before she cleared her throat and said, "Well . . . not to brag, but . . . I usually cook in the kitchen all the time."
"Wasn't it your sister?" Ren deadpanned. "But anyway, can you cook all the very rare recipes in here?"
Ren handed Elena the recipes, and she looked over the lists.
"Only the rare ones?" Elena asked.
Ren nodded. "Yes. Can you do it?"
"I have the tools and some of the ingredients, but . . ."
"But?" Ren didn't like the sound of that.
Elena peeked at Ren and smiled mischievously. "But . . . what can you offer me in return if I cook all of these?"
Ren didn't know what to say or do at this moment. He wanted to ignore Elena because of Evie, but he needed those rare foods for Evie.
Ah . . . what to do?
After a moment, Elena burst into laughter. "I was only joking. You should have seen your face. Geez, don't stare at me like you're going to eat me alive."
She then casually touched Ren's chin and slurred, "Wait until midnight, mm-kay?" She winked.
Ren really wanted to roll his fists against the side of her head, but he worried about what Evie would think and found that she was calm about it.
"Hey, Evie," Elena called and went to her. "How's your cooking proficiency?"
"It's only in the Master level. Why?" Evie answered without any hint of annoyance or jealousy in her voice.
"That would be good enough. Want to help me cook these recipes? It'll quickly max out your cooking proficiency too. I will also give you some tools."
Evie was surprised. "Really? You'll do that?"
Elena shrugged. "Why not? Didn't we agree to share Ren? That also pertains to taking care of him. The both of us should know how to cook for him."
"Hoi, stop putting weird thoughts in her head," said Ren.
But Evie was all worked up and agreed, "Alright. When will we start?"
"Hey, Evie." Ren didn't know what to feel at the moment, and he leaned near and whispered in Evie's ears. "Are you really alright with it?"
"What do you mean?" Evie questioned, confused.
Ren didn't know what to add to his sentence. "I mean . . . are you really alright to work with Elena?"
Evie nodded and smiled. "You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm fine now. Elena is a good girl, and I'm glad that she's my rival. Rather, it's nice to talk with girls stuff with her."
She then went to Elena, leaving Ren grappling for words.
Before, he wished that Evie wouldn't be jealous and trust him more, but now that she was getting along with Elena, why did it feel like he was the odd man out?
He couldn't help but feel left behind. He kind of missed the jealous Evie.
"You're the man, Ren," Azazel said at the side with an approving thumbs up. "Having two beauties as your brides that know how to cook, you're truly one lucky guy."
He then looked over and thought out loud, "Now that I think about it, I don't even have a fiancée."
Vivi tugged Azazel's clothes. "Lord Azazel. Lord Azazel, you have me."
Azazel smiled and affectionately patted Vivi's head. "Ah. That's right. I have my cute little eater Vivi, and . . ." he then glanced at Lorelai meaningfully with droopy eyes, and snickered while his nostrils enlarged.
Lorelai gritted her teeth. "Why do I suddenly feel like hitting you?"
"Anyway, there's still that question as to what we're going to do about these lands?" Ren said, changing the topic.
"You're right," Lorelai agreed. "There's still that question of what we're going to do about the hunger and depleting resources here."
"You don't have to worry about that," Azazel said and hugged Vivi from the back, head resting on top of her enormous hat while grinning. "Vivi here has it covered."
"What exactly is she going to cover?" Lorelai asked with a raised brow. "Isn't she the cause of all that's happening around these lands?"
Vivi pouted and tried her best not to cry. "I know that it's my fault, but I could still fix it."
"How?" Ren was curious.
The land outside was barren, and all oases they came upon were dried by sand. There was no rain and no food. It would take at least years for these territories to recover.
"I'll show you. Come with me," Vivi said and hopped towards the door outside.
Ren and the others were curious and thus followed her towards the castle battlement.
By this time, the air around the area changed, and it was no longer suffocating and foreboding. The constant rain that fell above the castle also disappeared, and the light from the surface could finally pass through to the castle, giving life to it.
"So what are we doing here exactly?" Lorelai asked, the air ruffling her golden hair.
"Just wait and see," Azazel said, confident at Vivi.
Vivi stood on the edge of the battlement, took a deep breath, and when she opened her mouth, it was so wide that it was the size of her.
What was more shocking was the stuff that came out from her mouth. They were rainbow-colored gooey substances that she poured into the lands.
Ren and the others hadn't recovered yet, and what happened next was too much to process.
The gooey rainbow stuff that Vivi puked turned into trees. Then thunder rumbled over those trees, and water poured from the clouds that condensed above it. Slowly but surely, the trees spread, the grass thrived, and finally, it became an oasis.
