"Oh?" Malleus raised a brow, "Well, this is new..."
"Hm?" Lotus looked to him in confusion.
"It's nothing." He shook his head before turning to her, "Still, I heard that you received stitches for your injury."
Lotus wore a small smile, "Yeah. While I was cleaning, I slipped on the stairs and grabbed the handrails pretty hard and stretched open the sutures."
"So, you require that much bandage?" He noted towards the large bundle of bandage.
Lotus laughed nervously, "Y-Yeah..."
Seeing that the lie wasn't working, she came up with another one on the spot in a dead panned manner, "Okay. I accidentally broke a clay pot in my room and cut my shin too..."
Malleus's eyes widen in surprise, "Oh! Then you should be more careful. What about the prefect?Was he not there to help?"
Lotus recalled seeing the prefect run after Grim that morning who was hyped up for breakfast and responded with a small smile, "Our cat student ran out the door this morning for breakfast and he had to chase after him. He wasn't there when I was cleaning the dorm so I'm guessing that student also tried to make a run for it. He really dislike studying..."
It was then that Lotus suddenly received a message on her phone to which she picked it up and raised a brow at the sight of the message, "Looks like someone needs help on their homework..."
Malleus raised a brow before looking to her, "You're leaving?"
Lotus shook her head with a sigh, "It won't be good for Ren if I leave while he brings over the nurse. I'll let my friend know that I might not make it in time. Still, he could try to wait in the ramshackle dorm for a bit. Hopefully, I make it in time..."
"I'm back with the nurse!"
"Oh, you're back!" Lotus smiled when he saw Ren return with the nurse.
.....
After the sutures, Lotus got ready to leave the infirmary before turning to Ren and Malleus, "Thanks for the help. If I have any event going on in the future, feel free to stop by and join in."
Malleus's eyes widen in bewilderment when he heard this, "Are you sure that we don't need an invitation from you?"
Lotus chuckled, "It's fine. I've always returned a favor back in kind. Since you've helped me twice, just feel free to come over to ramshackle dorm on the weekends. I occasionally try out some recipes in the dorm. The prefect and I just finished cleaning the lounge recently."
"We understand." Ren responded with a smile, "Thank you for the invitation."
She then bid her temporary farewells and left for the dorm. Since Malleus heard about the clay pot stuff she made up, he obviously brought it up to the nurse to which she ended up getting another suture. By now, she must've gained the irritated attention of the nurse after all this trouble...
.....
When she was gone, Malleus huffed with a smirk, "How unusual... He has the same aura as you..."
"What?" Ren looked to him in confusion.
Malleus smiled and shook his head in dismissal, "It's nothing..."
"I see..." Ren tilted his head in confusion before returning to the nurse's office.
.....
After helping Deuce with his math and returning to the dorm, Lotus had her treats set aside in her ring. When she heard the sound of the door opening, she left her room and came down to the lounge where she found Grim and Yuu taking a piece of the candy art she made.
"Wha..." Grim marveled as he stared at the set of melted caramel sugar, "Look! That looks like a mouse!"
"Isn't this a dragon?" Yuu noted as he pointed out the snake-like dragon.
"Seriously? That looks more like a snake than a dragon!" Grim criticized with a look of doubt.
"No. This looks like a dragon from my world..." Yuu noted as he picked up the stick, "I haven't seen a picture of it for a while now."
"Seriously?!" Grim looked to him in bewilderment.
Lotus shook her head with a smirk on her face, "Already picking up candy the moment you return. I see that running around the school wasn't enough, huh?"
Grim and Yuu turned around in surprise when they heard her voice.
"Gah!" Grim cried out in bewilderment, "Mother Lotus!"
Lotus stared at him with a slight pout, "I'm clearly a boy, but you call me mother. If it's like this, I should probably stop cooking."
"N-No!" Yuu shouted in bewilderment, "G-Grim didn't mean that in a bad way! Right, Grim?"
"Y-yeah!" Grim responded quickly, "It has nothing to do with your cooking!"
"Really?" Lotus raised a brow, "And, here I thought it's probably because I cook too much for everyone..."
"That's not the case at all, right?" Grim elbowed Yuu sneakily.
"Y-yeah!" Yuu responded quickly.
The corner of Lotus's lips curved up as she smiled, "All right... I hope you're back to study for the finals, then? Especially, since grades in magic rests on your shoulders, Grim."
"Yes, sir!" Grim responded with a quick salute before rushing out of the room.
"Ah, what about your... And, he's gone..." Lotus shook her head with a sigh before picking up the candy stick of the mouse Grim had picked up and handed it to Grim, "Here. You guys can have the mouse and dragon."
"Really?" Yuu looked to her in bewilderment, "But, Grim ran-"
"It's fine." Lotus responded with a sigh, "The finals are coming up and Grim has to do his share of the work, even the writing portion. Since he came this far from being illiterate, may as well reward him before taking on the Final. Do your best too, Prefect!"
Yuu smiled when he heard this, "Got it! Thanks, Lotus!"
"Oh!"
"Yes?" Yuu looked back just as he was about to leave.
"I'm planning to invite some people over to try out some snacks." Lotus explained, "We'll just be in the lounge, but I'll bring you two some tonight, so make sure Grim doesn't steal some before then or he won't have any tonight."
"Really?" Yuu looked to her in surprise as he never knew that she would make more friends outside of their friend group but wasn't upset about it in anyway and nodded, "All right. I'll let Grim know."
Yuu then took the two and left the room. Lotus shook her head with a small smile before returning to her business while humming a little tune. When it was only after returning to her room did she noticed a sudden change in energy. She smirked and realized that there was a visitor. Lotus sighed with a wry smile, "I guess it would be weird for me to suddenly tell him that he could come over without an invitation. Oh well, it doesn't matter. As long as I don't make the prefect and Grim chubby from trying out the confectionary..."
Lotus thought for a bit, "I'm sure it's against the law to have wine under the age of 21."
She shook her head with a sigh, "And to think there was people drinking at the age of fifteen... I guess our thinking is a bit dangerous, but it was back then. As long as I don't serve it out or have it myself, that'd be all right..."
She took a hold of the tray of Mung Bean Cakes, radish cakes and Lotus Seed Puff Pastries and left the room.
.....
When she entered the lounge, she froze in place with the tray in hand and her smile stiff on her face.
In the room was Lilia, the vice-dorm leader of Diasomnia, and Ren. Of course, she expected Lilia's presence from the aura he gave out, but he wasn't the reason why she froze at the entrance. Sitting on the sofa next to him was the silver hair guy...
Well, Silver.
She was lucky to have nipped her tongue in her mouth rather than bite it off when she nearly cursed under her breath.
Talk about a close call...
Having heard her open the door, Lilia looked up and smiled, "Ah, you're here!"
Ren looked to her with wry smile and responded apologetically, "I didn't know if today would be all right as it was a weekend..."
Lotus laughed, "I said the weekend, then it's on the weekend."
Lilia laughed, "It looks like we didn't catch you off guard, then!That's good to hear..."
Silver looked to her in bewilderment as she placed the tray on the table, "What a surprise..."
'What a surprise' what?
She wanted to grumble but bit back a sigh instead and hurriedly sat back on an arm chair instead. She wore a small smile and said, "Please have some."
Well, though she said that, Silver had already picked up the candy stick and munched on it. Lilia looked at the snacks and raised a brow curiously, "There is a variety of snacks. Hm..."
Lotus picked up a mung bean cake and explained, "I often make midnight snacks for the prefect and our other resident, but, because he's been learning a lot of stuff, the demand for more food has grown. If I'm not careful, he'd try to sneak into the cafeteria, then he'd get caught and be in trouble again. So, I'm trying to make different snacks to keep him stuck at his desk."
She bit into the snack and sighed, "But, I kind of got into cooking quite a bit since it's like that."
Ren picked up puff pastry with a raised brow, "It seem rather familiar..."
Lotus wore a small smile, "I've been trying to recreate snacks from my hometown. Maybe you've seen it at a shop somewhere?"
Ren raised a brow, "Are you from the Valley of Thorns?"
Lotus shook her head, "Nah. I'm not too sure about the place I came from. Next thing I knew I was in an orphanage in Pyroxene."
"The land of Pyroxene?" Lilia looked to her curiously having taken a mung bean cake, "So, you're from the Land of Pyroxene..."
Lotus nodded, "Yeah... Till I left."
Silver raised a brow, "So, you moved out of the Land of Pyroxene."
Feeling a little annoyed that he would try to interrogate her, Lotus wore a dry smile, "I wouldn't know about moving out. I just wander around the place till I found a temporary job."
"You work already?" Ren looked to her in amazement.
Lotus nodded, "Well, yeah. I needed to support myself, you know. Ended up taking a job at a library and home-schooled myself. Next thing I knew I found someone that wanted to hire me and a staff here that would help recommend me to this school. Didn't expect to be pulled aside for not having magic after the ceremony, though..."
"Yet, you can self-study and learn acupuncture." Lilia noted bluntly.
Lotus nodded, "Yup."
"Interesting." Lilia smiled not finding any of this weird unlike Silver.
Ren took up the radish cake and munched on it, "What is this?"
"Radish cake." Lotus responded bluntly.
"Eh?" Silver looked to her in bewilderment.
"What?" Lotus returned his glance with a frown, "Can't a vegetable be turned into a cake? Carrot cakes are made with carrots, I've heard."
"Th-That's different!" Silver responded nervously before regaining his composure, "Carrot cakes are sweet and has spices."
Exasperated, Lotus sighed as she fought back the irritation rising in her, "Are chicken pot pies not sweet despite being pies?"
"Well, that's true..." He hesitated, "Looks like I was making a big deal out of nothing. I apologize."
Lotus shrugged, "Well, I don't know what the problem was, but, while cakes are sweet, radish cakes are savory and are a celebratory dish. I was hoping to make this for the upcoming new years since it's a big holiday from what I recall. The prefect and Grim won't have anywhere to go to during the holidays, so I'm staying with them since I won't be going back home this holiday."