The 13th Day of the Tree month. In her residence in the great forest of the Demon Realm, Lillywood had a very troubled look on her face.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and she was no exception, wanting to give chocolates to her beloved.
This time, Lillywood helped Alice, the Phantasmal King, to create the world's greatest cacao. In exchange, she asked her to share chocolates made from that cacao, and so, she now has the chocolate made with the best ingredients and best techniques.
Making use of these chocolates, she is now reading various cookbooks, trying to make chocolate to give to Kaito, but Lillywood remembered something very important and was currently struggling because of it.
"...How troubling... As expected... "I still don't know what it's supposed to taste like"..."
Yes, Lillywood is the spirit of the World Tree and her disposition is similar to a tree.
All she needs is a small amount of water and light, making it so that Lillywood herself has almost never eaten anything until now. It's not that she can't eat, but she has lived for tens of thousands of years without eating, because there was no point in going out of her way to eat food.
Therefore, when she tasted the finished chocolate... She had no idea whether the taste was good or bad.
Whether this chocolate really tastes good or not, that is not something Lillywood can decide.
"M- Mumuuuu... Sweet... Is this the sweet taste that they're referring to? I'm sure the recipe can't be mistaken, but I'm still worried."
Unsure of her own senses, Lillywood crossed her arms and thought about it.
Thinking about what to do for a while, it seems like she suddenly came up with something. Lillywood took her finished chocolates and some other ingredients, and invoked a Teleportation Magic Circle.
[...You don't know... the taste?]
"Yes, so I'm having a hard time determining if the chocolate tastes decent. I'd like to ask your help if it's possible..."
[...Unnn... Leave it to me... I will... help you.]
"Thank you, Isis."
After much deliberation, Lillywood decided to rely on her good friend, Isis, and went to visit her castle.
When Isis welcomed her, Isis was wearing a pretty apron with lots of frills and looked like she was also making chocolate like Lillywood.
Feeling glad to be relied upon by Lillywood, Isis agrees with Lillywood's request with a pleasant smile and leads her to the kitchen.
But before they reached that place... In the hall leading to the kitchen, Lillywood found something strange.
"...Isis. What's that big metallic object over there?"
[...Hmm? ...That's a... chocolate mold, you know?]
"...If my eyes weren't failing me, I think that thing is bigger than Megiddo..."
[...Unnn.]
A chocolate mold larger than Megiddo, who has a physique of over ten meters... Lillywood curiously asks, but Isis nods as if it was just something ordinary.
"...Why have you prepared a mold that big?"
[...Here...]
"A book? Let me see... "The size of chocolate shows the size of your love, let's make a big heart for your boyfriend"..."
The book that Isis handed to her is a magazine published in the Human Realm that seems to have a special feature on Valentine's Day, and it contains instructions on how to make a large heart-shaped chocolate.
However, the one written on the magazine may be large, but it's still of a sensible size... There's no such thing written here that the chocolate should be bigger than a regular house.
[...My love... for Kaito... can't be compared... to a heart... of that size. ...However... if I make it... larger than this... It won't fit my castle... so I compromised.]
"No, stop right there... There's no way he can eat a monstrous-sized chocolate like this."
[...Eh? ... However... when I made some trial chocolates... Shalltear... happily... ate them all though?]
"No, please don't think of Shalltear and Kaito-san in the same ranks. Kaito-san is a normal person after all."
Apparently, Isis made a trial chocolate beforehand and gave it to Alice as a sample but... the one she gave the sample to was Alice, who can eat as much as she wants and can instantly convert what she ate into magical power, so she doesn't have any problem eating it all.
However, Kaito's stomach is that of an ordinary human... There's no way that he can eat a chocolate that is many times his size.
[...H- However... If I make it smaller... It feels like... my love is lacking.]
"Kaito-san is a kind person, so when Isis gives this to him... He will probably try to eat it even if it's painful. Is it okay for you to see Kaito-san in pain, Isis?"
[There's no way I want that!]
"T- That's a really fast response... Yes, then let's make it to a sensible size. You can also express your love through the taste of chocolate, right...?"
[...Unnn... Alright.]
Thanks to Lillywood, Isis' plan to give a really big chocolate to Kaito has been successfully thwarted, and once again, Isis and Lillywood began to make their chocolates.
As for Lillywood, she already has a chocolate prepared, but since this chocolate is something Alice made, she wanted to make various arrangements to the chocolate before giving it to Kaito.
"...What should I do to make this chocolate feel more like me?"
[...I think you could... make it into a dried fruit chocolate... It would... feel like Lillywood.]
"I see, I could use that as a reference. Even so, Isis. You're quite skillful in this."
[...I wanted... Kaito to eat... my delicious chocolate after all... That's why I've been practicing... for the past half-year.]
"That's amazing... Embarrassing it may be, I have very little experience in cooking, so it would be great if you could instruct me."]
[...Unnn... Leave it to me.]
The diligent Isis seems to have been practicing chocolate making in anticipation for Valentine's Day, and she is very skillful in her work, which impressed Lillywood as well.
And thus, under Isis' guidance, Lillywood also proceeds to make chocolate.
"Thank you so much for your help. Thanks to Isis, I've successfully made my chocolate."
[...Unnn.]
Having successfully finished making her chocolate, Lillywood thanked Isis with a gentle smile.
After nodding happily at her words, Isis used Spatial Magic and took out a neatly wrapped bottle.
[...Lillywood... Here.]
"...What's this?"
[...This is... a day earlier... but for Valentine's Day... I also wanted... to give something... to my beloved friend... Lillywood.]
"...Isis. Thank you."
[...Unnn... Lillywood... doesn't eat... So I made... sweetened water.]
Lillywood looks at the bottle she received from Isis with a happy smile.
"...What a relief. It seems like I wasn't the only one who had prepared something."
[...Eh?]
"Well then, this is from me."
[...Ahh... Chocolate...]
"Forgive me for my shoddy work, but I think of you as my friend too."
[...Thank you... I'm glad.]
As she accepts that Lillywood gave her in return, Isis gives off a smile that looks like a blooming flower.
As they relished the happiness of knowing that their feelings for each other were the same, they chuckled and chatted for a while.
The fact that they describe each other as "friends" rather than "family"... may be proof that they both think of each other as special.