Chapter 35
Children’s Social Gathering (5)
“A candy house?”
The unfamiliar term made Bonita blink in confusion.
But as they moved closer, it became clear that “candy house” was indeed a very literal name.
The fence surrounding the house was made of enormous crackers. Bonita touched the white cream sandwiched between the crackers, and her fingers came away coated in sweet, fluffy whipped cream.
Excited now, Allen urged her, “Go on, try it!”
Is it really okay to eat this?
Bonita hesitated. But the creamy sweetness clinging to her fingers, wafting a milky, sugary scent, was too tempting to resist.
She stuck out her little red tongue and gave her finger a cautious lick. Her eyes widened in amazement.
It’s real whipped cream!
It was perfectly creamy and smooth, like it had been freshly whipped from milk and sugar.
In no time, Bonita licked all the cream off her fingers. Meanwhile, Allen, far less hesitant, broke off a piece of cracker and began munching. The satisfying crunch of the biscuit echoed every time he bit down.
Having devoured an entire cracker piece, Allen gestured toward the house.
“You can eat that too. It’s pretty quiet right now, so—”
Before he could finish, the sound of children yelling reached them.
“Lalalala! Catch me if you can!”
“Hey! Give me back my rock!”
“Make me! Try catching me first!”
“Big bro, can I eat this?”
“Tsk. No, don’t eat that!”
The laughter and shouting came from inside the candy house, suggesting the children absolutely adored it.
Bonita stared at the house, her mouth agape.
The house’s pillars were solid biscuits, held together by “chocolate cement” that gave off a rich, sweet aroma. The foundation was lined with brightly colored candies—red, blue, yellow—some of which had already been nibbled by tiny teeth.
The garden was a marvel too, dotted with multicolored “rocks.”
Noticing Bonita’s dreamy expression, Cassius gave a casual suggestion, “Why don’t you try it?”
He pointed toward one of the candy rocks.
Still in awe, Bonita cautiously poked a green rock with her finger.
It jiggled slightly. At last, she realized what it was:
“Wow!”
It was jelly, dusted with sugar. On the other side, she saw bite marks where someone had already sampled it.
Bonita carefully nibbled a clean spot on the rock. A burst of tangy, sweet green apple flavor filled her mouth.
Her eyes sparkled with delight.
The ducal estate had been like a whole new world to her, but this—this was like stepping straight into a fairy tale.
As she continued nibbling the jelly rock, Bonita glanced at Cassius. Seeing him standing idly by, she gathered her courage and walked purposefully toward the candy house entrance.
The biscuit door was firmly shut, dusted generously with powdered sugar that made the house look like it was sparkling under freshly fallen snow.
Bonita pressed her ear against the door, hearing the children’s chatter and laughter more clearly.
She cautiously grabbed the doorknob but froze. The knob was broken in half.
Looking down, she saw that the doorknob had been made of dark chocolate, and someone had taken a bite out of it. Surprisingly, the chocolate remained solid and dry, even in the warm spring weather—clearly the result of some special craftsmanship.
Just as Bonita reached for the knob again, a voice startled her.
“Hey, who are you?”
Bonita looked up to see a boy with brown hair, clearly older than her, peering down with a curious expression.
The boy then spotted Cassius and Allen standing behind her and exclaimed, “Ah! Allen! Cassius! Do you have any idea how long you’ve been gone?”
“What’s the big deal?” Allen grumbled.
Cassius, ever composed, replied, “Allen tried sneaking out through the hole in the fence again. Not my fault.”
“The hole in the fence? Oh, that thing.”
Derrick, the eldest Hyacinth sibling, recalled the “escape route” fondly and clicked his tongue in disappointment. Sneaking out was just as fun as the candy house. But this wasn’t the time for that.
“So, what about the young lady? Weren’t you supposed to pick her up?” Derrick asked.
“She’s right here,” Cassius said calmly, putting a hand on Bonita’s shoulder.
Derrick blinked in confusion and looked around.
“What are you talking about? I don’t see—”
His voice trailed off as he finally registered Bonita.
He had been expecting a haughty, sharp-eyed girl with dark hair and an intimidating presence. Instead, he saw a tiny, harmless-looking child with pink hair and round, gentle eyes, reminiscent of a rabbit or a hamster.
“Wait, what?!” Derrick exclaimed after a pause, stepping back to take a closer look at her.
No matter how much he scrutinized her—
“She doesn’t look anything like the Duke!”
“Well, you don’t look like Father either,” Cassius pointed out. “You take after Mother.”
“Hmm, I guess that’s true…” Derrick conceded reluctantly.
Derrick stroked his chin, mumbling to himself.
It’s common to resemble just one parent. After all, both he and Allen had inherited their looks from their mother’s side, while Cassius alone had taken after their father’s sharp features.
The issue was that the Duke of Lysianthus had such an overwhelming presence that it was hard to reconcile the image of his fearsome persona with the small, cute girl standing before Derrick.
Of course, Derrick didn’t remember the late Duchess, so he had no reference to compare.
Fidgeting with his fingers, he finally introduced himself.
“Uh, I’m Derrick. Derrick Hyacinth. I’m their older brother and the eldest.”
“I’m Bonita Lysianthus,” she replied politely.
“Wow, so you’re really a Lysianthus! That scary Duke is your father?”
At the mention of “scary Duke,” Bonita immediately nodded, her head bobbing up and down.
If Luke had been present to witness her reaction, he would have been very hurt.
“Alright, come on in, all of you. Watching these kids is exhausting,” Derrick said, gesturing them inside.
While Derrick was playful with Cassius, most of the children here ranged from three to seven years old.
Seven-year-olds were manageable, but the three- and four-year-old were completely uncontrollable, leaving the ten-year-old Derrick utterly drained.
It was no wonder Allen had been ready to ditch the candy house altogether.
As soon as the group stepped inside, a three-year-old with a bib attached himself to Derrick’s leg.
“Brother Derrick! Cass took the thing I was saving to eat!”
“What? That was my candy from the start!”
“No, it wasn’t!”
Derrick squeezed his eyes shut, visibly worn out. His youthful face looked as though it had aged a decade.
With a drained voice, he muttered, “Ugh… I hate social gatherings…”
Watching Derrick’s predicament, Allen scrunched his face and whispered to Bonita.
“See? There are way too many kids here. The little ones are so immature it’s impossible to play with them. I should’ve just run off earlier.”
Though Allen was only eight himself, three-year-old understandably felt like a hassle to him.
Cassius, meanwhile, shook his head and retreated to a quiet corner of the candy house. He picked up a thick book from a chocolate bookshelf and began flipping through the pages while nibbling on the edge of a nearby lamp made of sugar.
Naturally, this didn’t last long.
“Brother Cassius! Play blocks with me!”
“Hey! You said you’d play blocks with me first! Brother Cassius always says no, so he’s boring!”
The two boys who had approached Cassius were soon squabbling with each other—right in front of him.
Bonita giggled softly as Cassius, though clearly annoyed, reluctantly sat down to play blocks with the four-year-old.
With the chatter as her background, Bonita started exploring the candy house.
Despite the occasional sticky spots from drooling toddlers and smudged handprints on the walls, the candy house still maintained its impressive form due to its enormous size.
She looked up at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and marveled.
What’s that made of?
Unfortunately, the chandelier was far too high for any child to inspect up close.
Giving up on the chandelier, Bonita turned her attention to the walls.
Like the exterior, the walls were decorated with various treats meant to delight children.
She plucked a white chocolate bird from the wall and popped it into her mouth. As she chewed, she couldn’t help but wonder how much candy, chocolate, and biscuits had been used to create this house.
Tapping the biscuit wall lightly with her hand, she mused:
How did they bake biscuits this big? And how is the chocolate this firm?
The chocolate mortar holding the biscuits together seemed far sturdier than any chocolate Bonita had encountered. Maybe they’d mixed in some kind of edible glue…
As Bonita was lost in thought, a loud shout broke her concentration.
“You, you, you idiot! This is all your fault!”
Allen’s voice reverberated through the candy house, drawing everyone’s attention.
