# Chapter 95
Chapter 95
Sharlone quickly pulled her hand back, feeling like it was going to break from the immense pressure.
She almost let out a scream.
Bernie giggled, bouncing excitedly as if something was amusing.
‘Does this kid know who I am…?
Or is she just cunningly returning what I did to her?’
‘Bernie, this is your first handshake…’
Bernie rubbed under her nose and proudly puffed out her chest as she looked at Sharlone.
"I thought you were dumb, but you know how to shake hands, kid."
"She did it well!
No one even taught her how."
Watching Kalbad and Allen praise her as if shaking hands was some amazing achievement, Sharlone rubbed her still-tingling hand.
"Hmph."
"Bernie is a genius."
"That’s right, our Bernie is a genius."
Allen patted Bernie's head, nodding repeatedly.
‘What is with this family?!
That wicked demon…!’
Sharlone turned her head sharply, suppressing the sudden surge of emotions, as Bernie looked at her with a proud face.
‘I’ll expose the truth completely.’
‘Bernie might have gotten a little closer to Homung.’
They had completely different thoughts.
***
Sharlone.
She was a homunculus, an artificial human created by a crazy witch.
A lifeform born from the witch’s hands in a small hut.
A doll that moved using a small stone, crammed with all sorts of things, as its heart.
There was only one reason Sharlone was created.
For the witch’s luxurious and peaceful rise to power.
To do that, Sharlone needed to become the only daughter and granddaughter of this prestigious family.
It should have been simple.
"It’s an easy job, Sharlone.
If you do exactly as I say, you’ll become the happiest child in the world.
As the only lady of that arrogant Duke’s family, you’ll have everything—what you need, what you want, love, affection—living your life in luxury."
"Hm?
Me?
You mean me?
Ahahaha!
Yes, yes.
You should be curious like this.
It’s very human of you.
My goal is to live a peaceful, worry-free life by your side, as your mother who created you."
"Now, just listen to me.
The girl in the Eudia Dukedom is a demon."
Recalling the words she had heard countless times, Sharlone slowly lifted her head, blinking as she stared straight ahead.
"Because she’s a demon, she must be extremely gloomy and…"
Gloomy…?
"Ehh, why won’t it work?"
Muttering in frustration, the child was nearly tearing apart a bag of flour.
With a poof!, the flour exploded, turning the entire kitchen into a mess.
"Ahh, no!!"
Thud.
Completely covered in white flour, the child sat on the floor with a devastated expression.
"Since she grew up all alone, she doesn’t know love and has no understanding of human emotions…"
Through the cloud of flour, Sharlone blinked again at the scene before her.
"Oh dear, I told you I’d open it for you."
"Bernie is 8 years old now.
Not a baby.
Thought I could do it alone…"
With a sullen face, Bernie pouted, wiggling her fingers before murmuring softly.
"Sorry."
Pat, pat.
Watching Bernie’s shoulders droop, Luca, a chef who used to be just an apprentice but had now become a full-fledged cook for the Duke’s family, quickly shook his head.
Oh no, what am I saying?
Cleaning this up isn’t a big deal!
"It’s fine!
I’ll clean it up~!
Here, I already opened a new one for you.
Let’s bake some chocolate cookies with this, okay?"
In front of the downcast Bernie, Luca waved a pestle-like tool back and forth, trying to cheer her up.
"She probably only knows how to glare at people, speak coldly, and push them away.
She wouldn’t know how to give anything to others—just an emotionless demon."
The witch’s voice, always filled with smug amusement, overlapped with the scene in front of her.
"No.
Today, 8-year-old Bernie will try a new dish."
"Ohh, not curly potatoes, honey-glazed sweet potatoes, stir-fried butter potatoes, or bite-sized stuffed bread?"
"Yeah.
Today, it’s pizza."
Bernie declared with a serious face.
Hearing this, Luca’s eyes widened before he clapped his hands.
"Today’s name isn’t as straightforward as usual."
"Straight…?
Bernie has no wallet…"
"No, I meant straightforward—like, the names before were more descriptive.
See, curly potatoes were cut in curls and fried, butter potatoes were stir-fried with butter, and stuffed bread had veggies and meat inside to take a bite easily."
"Yeah.
But this one is pizza."
Bernie, ignoring Luca's long explanation, let out a sharp exhale.
In her memory, Ruriel was an excellent cook.
She always made delicious dishes with tasteless vegetables, and this was a food Bernie rarely got to eat.
It had high-quality ingredients, and most importantly, it contained cheese, which Bernie loved!
‘I’m not doing this just because I want to eat cheese.’
Bernie had an evil plan to make Homung indebted by giving her this precious food.
“Wait a minute, Homung… I mean, Sharlone.
Bernie will make something tasty for you.”
She wouldn’t eat it unless I called her Sharlone.
"What can I help with?"
“Hm… hands!”
Rolling up her sleeves, Bernie raised both hands high.
Luca chuckled softly and then picked Bernie up, carrying her to the sink.
“A poor child who wants love but doesn’t know how to give it or receive it.
That’s what that child is.”
Sharlone blinked once, then nodded with a smile as she thought,
‘None of that is true.’
Where exactly is the part about wanting love but not knowing how to give or receive it?
Rather than gloomy, she looked like she was drenched in love from head to toe, with it spilling out onto the floor.
‘Is this really that awful demon?’
The disgusting, scary, and filthy demon who uses black magic.
Is this the child of that terrible demon who killed her biological father?
‘Is this really the future Demon King?’
The future Demon King, who carefully washes her hands until they make a squeaky sound, and then climbs up a tiny children’s step to knead flour with her small hands?
Is this her?
No, she wasn’t even kneading it properly.
The one kneading the dough was the human standing next to her, while Bernie was only playing with a tiny amount of flour.
“Mmm… Pss, pss.”
Noticing it wasn’t coming together, Bernie squinted her eyes, and Luca suddenly leaned in beside her.
“Do you just need water and flour, young lady?”
“No, salt and, um, slippery stuff!”
“Ah, oil, you mean?”
“Yeah.
A little.”
“Okay.”
Luca made the dough quickly beside her, but Bernie’s didn’t come together or become soft at all.
Bernie grabbed more flour in both hands and started squishing it again.
‘This is strange.
Bernie’s recipe is perfect, but it’s not forming into a ball.’
Sharlone shuddered.
‘I need to add more water and knead it harder.
What is she doing?’
When we shook hands, her hand strength was incredible, but here she is just clenching her fist and releasing the flour.
There’s no way it will come together like that.
‘If I were in her place…’
I would have made it perfectly by now.
Although I have no idea what this “pizza” thing is.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Ughhh…”
Frustrated, Sharlone kept rolling her feet, but she couldn’t hold back anymore and walked over to Bernie with a bright smile.
"Wow, Bernie.
This looks fun.
Can I help?"
“Hm?
Um… It’s hard for little kids like you.”
Bernie’s cheerful yet serious words made Sharlone pause.
It was hard to believe that Bernie was calling anyone else a little kid.
“Aren’t I older than you?
Let me help.”
“…Sharlone, are you going to help Bernie?”
“…Uh-huh.”
Bernie didn’t seem to notice Sharlone’s hesitation, or maybe she was pretending not to, and her eyes sparkled.
‘Is Homung helping Bernie now?’
Bernie, already making the protagonist dizzy?
Hmph.
Bernie, with her flour-covered hands, swiped under her nose, smirking as she hopped off the children’s step.
"Ahem.
If Bernie likes it, I’ll help."
Sharlone, feeling something welling up inside her, forced a smile, trying to hold back the urge to cry.
‘Bernie, you're such an evil genius, this is tough.’
At just 8 years old, the mighty Bernie had grown so big that even the protagonist couldn’t resist her.