Lefi's eyes burned with a fiery passion as she carefully regarded the pile of ingredients laid out before her.
"This shall be the year he eats his fill of my cooking!" The dragon pumped her fists. "He shan't stop until it is impossible for him to consume another bite!"
"Wow, Lefi! You're super duper full of energy today," said Illuna.
"It is recompense for the year prior. I failed to impress him. I failed so spectacularly that I even required his comfort. But I will make not the same mistake. This year, I shall demonstrate the superiority that comes with the difference in our age!"
"Huh? You made somethin' last year, Lefi? I coulda sworn you didn't." Lyuu tilted her head in confusion.
"T-that is… not precisely correct." The dragon averted her gaze as she began slowly turning red.
"So, what happened?" asked Nell. "I'm dying to know!"
"Me too. I'm real curious what you two did while the rest of us weren't lookin'," said Lyuu. "And with the way you're actin', it's sure to be somethin'!"
"I-It was nothing." Lefi didn't give into the pressure, even though both the other girls were grinning at her. "L-let us hurry on with the preparations. Leila is sure to buy us all the time we require, but it would be best to be quick."
The girls wished to finish their preparations for the Holy Day of Love in secrecy, so they'd decided ahead of time to have Leila distract Yuki by spending the morning questioning him about her academic interests. She'd readily agreed upon hearing of the opportunity. Leila even seemed to have anticipated that the others would make such a request of her, as she'd finished making her sweet treats the day prior. And while she certainly did seem rather keen on helping the others out, it was clear self-interest had also played a role in her decision. The bundle of curiosity that was the sheep-horned maid had no reason to refuse the opportunity to spend an extended period of time rapidfiring questions at him undisturbed.
"There is no need to rush." Imagining the sheepish, awkward smile that Yuki was sure to wear upon being subject to Leila's raw inquisitiveness led the dragon to giggle. "But we must not waste our time."
"Mhm, that's true. I'll ask you for all the juicy details later," said Nell. "For now, I'm going to focus on paying Yuki back for all the times he's knocked my socks off!"
"Right? Master's always the one catchin' us off guard. Now it's time for us to turn things 'round and be the ones surprisin' him!"
"Yeah! Let's make his jaw drop!" said Illuna.
"He'll be so surprised he'll be happy!" said Shii.
"Mhm. Will make Master happy," said Enne.
Even the wraith sisters, who were suspended in the air behind the other trio, pumped their fists to demonstrate their motivation.
"Indeed. It is time we demonstrate to him the strength of our diligence!" declared Lefi.
With a cheer, every single one of the girls in the kitchen began focusing on creating their respective treats.
***
"So…uhm…." Yuki made an expression halfway between a grimace and a smile as he looked upon the literal mountain of confectionaries piled up in front of him. "Uhh…"
"We have truly outdone ourselves." Lefi laughed triumphantly as she sat him down at the table.
"This is what you get you for always surprising us," said Nell. "It's time for you to get a taste of your own medicine."
"Looks great, don't it? We tried real hard!" said Lyuu.
"Yeah. It does look great, and I certainly am surprised… especially given how much of it there is…"
All three wives clearly shared his opinion; they immediately averted their gazes at the mention of the amount.
Though it hadn't quite seemed possible, the demon lord had ultimately managed to finish it all, and in one sitting at that. The record-setting feat came with a price of which the girls would forever remain aware—a stomach ache that forced him into an unwilling but intimate relationship with a certain bowl-shaped friend.