A Bug In Fate

While Alden was having the time of his life...

Elsewhere in the city, a very different conversation was taking place.

Inside a lavish room, a young man sat on an expensive sofa while several cloaked figures knelt before him with their heads lowered. The man at the front was a Metamorphosis Realm cultivator, yet even he remained respectfully on one knee.

"Young Master."

"We’ve gathered everything we could about him."

Silence lingered in the room for a moment.

"Speak."

Although the young man’s voice was calm, everyone present knew he was suppressing his anger. Ever since returning from the library, he had smashed nearly everything in the room.

The kneeling man lowered his head even further.

"His name is Alden. He arrived in Ravenhold only recently and became a Silver Rank adventurer within a single week."

"We’ve also confirmed that he’ll be representing the Ashcroft Family in the upcoming tournament."

The young man’s brows furrowed.

"...The Ashcroft Family?"

A trace of surprise flashed across his face.

"Yes, Young Master. It was Young Master Lucian Ashcroft and Lady Aisha who personally invited him."

For a brief moment, the room fell silent.

"My... Aisha invited him?"

Crack!

The armrest beneath his hand exploded into splinters. Fine cracks spread across the expensive sofa as veins bulged on the back of his hand.

The kneeling guards instinctively lowered their heads even further.

Everyone within the Blackthorn Family knew about their young master’s obsession with Lady Aisha. Of course, no one would ever dare speak of it outside this room. Doing so wouldn’t just offend Lady Aisha—it would offend the entire Silvercrest Family.

The young man slowly rose to his feet, his face twisting with rage.

"First that bastard humiliates me in front of everyone..." he muttered through clenched teeth. "And now he’s standing beside Aisha?"

His breathing became heavier.

"What right does a nobody like him have?"

He snatched the wine glass beside him and hurled it across the room.

Crash!

Glass shattered against the wall, scattering fragments across the floor.

"I’ll kill him," he growled. "I’ll make him regret ever stepping into Ravenfall."

The Metamorphosis Realm cultivator waited until the room fell quiet again before speaking cautiously.

"Young Master... if we move against him and the Ashcroft Family discovers our involvement, the Family Head may face unnecessary trouble."

"I don’t care!"

The young man glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Do you think I care about the consequences after that bastard humiliated me in front of the entire library? By now the entire city is probably laughing behind my back."

His fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

"I don’t care what method you use, and I don’t care who has to die in the process."

He looked directly at the kneeling cultivator.

"I only want one thing."

"That bastard dies."

The room became eerily quiet.

After a brief hesitation, the cloaked man spoke again.

"...Young Master, he is representing the Ashcroft Family. If he dies inside the city, suspicion will immediately fall upon us."

"I said I don’t care!"

Bang!

With a furious kick, the young man overturned the heavy wooden table. Fruits, wine bottles, and expensive ornaments rolled across the floor.

"Find him when he’s alone and kill him," he ordered, his voice filled with hatred. "Throw his corpse to the monsters. I don’t even want to see his face again."

The Metamorphosis Realm cultivator lowered his head.

"As you command, Young Master."

The atmosphere remained unbearably heavy.

Not because the young man’s cultivation was strong enough to pressure everyone present.

He was only at the Peak Rupture Realm.

If his strength alone were enough, Alden would never have walked out of the library alive.

The fear in everyone’s hearts came from something far greater.

The Blackthorn Family standing behind him.

No one in the room wanted to become the next target of the young master’s rage.

"We’ll begin making preparations immediately."

"Good."

The young man slowly sat back down, his chest still rising and falling with anger.

Only after seeing that his rage had subsided did the guards secretly let out a breath of relief.

The room returned to silence, broken only by the servants quietly cleaning the shattered glass scattered across the floor.

---

Unknown to Alden, a plan to take his life had already been set in motion.

Completely unaware of the danger looming over him, he remained fully immersed in making chocolate.

Whether he would have continued so enthusiastically had he known about the assassination...

No one could say.

Almost an hour had passed since he had separated the shells from the roasted beans.

Now only the dark cacao nibs remained.

"This is actually fun."

Alden smiled to himself as he moved on to the next step.

Grinding.

He poured the nibs into a sturdy stone mortar and began crushing them with a heavy pestle.

At first, they crumbled into coarse fragments.

Then...

Slowly but surely...

The fragments released their natural oils, gradually turning into a thick, glossy paste.

Just then, footsteps echoed behind him.

"Hey."

"What exactly are you making?"

Mary leaned against the doorway before walking over, unable to suppress her curiosity any longer.

She had watched Alden run back and forth between the kitchen and the courtyard for over an hour.

First drying mysterious beans.

Then roasting them.

Now he was crushing them into a strange brown paste.

Nothing about it made sense.

Alden looked up and flashed a mischievous grin.

"Hehe... all I’ll say is this."

"Prepare yourself to taste something delicious."

Mary raised an eyebrow.

"Haha... don’t get my hopes up only to crush them later."

"Oh?"

Alden smirked.

"If you don’t end up biting your fingers after tasting it..."

He paused dramatically.

"...I’ll change your name."

"...Something is definitely wrong with that statement."

Mary stared at him for a few seconds before sighing while Alden simply laughed and continued grinding the paste.

Standing beside him, Mary watched every movement with genuine curiosity.

She couldn’t understand what he was trying to make.

Then again...

It wasn’t as though anyone had tasted every dish the world had to offer.

Throughout history, countless recipes had been created, while countless others had disappeared without leaving a trace.

Whether a dish survived the passage of time depended on only two things.

Its taste...

And the benefits it offered to cultivation.

"Can you pass me some honey and milk?"

Alden turned toward Mary.

Without asking any questions, she walked over to one of the shelves and returned with two glass bottles.

Of course, they weren’t ordinary honey and milk.

In this world, both came in countless varieties depending on the region. Some honey was gathered from mana beasts, while others came from spirit flowers. Even milk had many alternatives, produced by different magical creatures, each carrying its own unique flavor and properties.

Alden accepted the bottles with a nod before pouring the thick cacao paste into a clean pot.

"Now..."

"The final step."

He added a generous amount of honey to balance the bitterness, followed by a splash of milk to give it a smoother texture and richer flavor.

Then his hands began moving.

He stirred the mixture vigorously, making sure every ingredient blended together evenly.

Gradually...

The rough paste became smoother.

Thicker.

Glossier.

Within moments, a rich, dark mixture slowly formed inside the pot, carrying an aroma unlike anything Mary had ever smelled before.

"...Wow."

Mary’s eyes widened in surprise.

She had watched the entire process from beginning to end, yet she still couldn’t understand how those bitter beans had transformed into something that looked so... appetizing.

She hadn’t even tasted it yet.

But watching Alden work with such confidence made her strangely convinced.

Whatever this mysterious dish was...

It would, at the very least, be edible.

He picked up the pot and placed it over a gentle flame.

Holding a wooden spatula, he stirred the mixture slowly and steadily, making sure the honey, milk, and Cacora paste blended into a smooth consistency.

"Almost..."

Just then, a thought flashed through his mind.

*Wait...*

His eyes lit up.

*...What if I use mana?*

Without hesitating, Alden coated the spatula with a thin layer of mana. Instead of forcing it into the chocolate, he carefully let the mana flow through the utensil, allowing it to seep gently into the mixture.

The moment the mana entered,

Whoosh.

The chocolate began to shimmer faintly.

A rich aroma burst from the pot, several times stronger than before, instantly filling every corner of the kitchen.

The fragrance was deep and sweet, carrying a faint earthy note that somehow made it impossible to ignore.

"W-What the hell...?"

Mary blurted out, her eyes widening in shock.

She had been watching quietly until now, but the sudden change left her completely stunned.

Even Alden was surprised.

*It actually worked...?*

He didn’t dare interrupt the process.

Instead, he continued stirring at the same steady pace, afraid that stopping now might ruin whatever was happening.

A grin slowly spread across his face.

*...I’m a genius.*

He shamelessly praised himself without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

*Or maybe chocolate is just too overpowered.*

A few minutes later, Alden stopped stirring and turned toward Mary, who had been watching everything with obvious curiosity.

"Want to taste it?"

Her eyes lit up.

"Can I?"

"Go ahead."

Mary walked over and dipped a finger into the thick, dark paste.

Instead of tasting it immediately, she glanced at Alden, who looked strangely nervous.

"Well..."

A teasing smile appeared on her face.

"Let’s see if you can back up everything you’ve been bragging about."

She placed the paste into her mouth.

The moment it touched her tongue...

Her eyes widened.

She froze.

"H-How is it?"

Alden asked anxiously.

Mary slowly swallowed before looking back at him. There was a playful smile on her face, but the surprise in her eyes hadn’t completely faded.

"...It’s strange."