Chapter 163: Proclamation (1)
Chapter 163: Proclamation (1)
Ella’s eyes were filled with betrayal. Jo Minjoon, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation from the side, let out an awkward laugh as he looked at her. Ella’s face reddened as though she were about to cry, but after struggling to hold back her tears, she silently clung to Lisa instead.
Lisa smiled brightly, as though thinking, What am I supposed to do with this child?, and pinched Ella’s cheek.
“Don’t worry. That mister is a different kind of fairy. Tinker Bell is someone else.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
A mother truly was different around her own child. The expression Lisa showed Ella was completely unlike the one she had shown the others. They had thought she was stiff and difficult to approach, but as she comforted Ella, her face was gentle and warm.
The sight of the two of them eased some of the tension in the room. Rachel spoke quietly to Jack.
“Jack. At least you still have a family to keep your heart warm.”
“They’re the last treasure I have left.”
“Should we continue our conversation?”
Jack did not answer. Rachel took his silence as consent and slowly approached Lisa. Before she could say anything, Lisa spoke.
“I can already guess what you’re going to say.”
“…I imagine I’m about to say exactly what you’re thinking. But before that, I want to apologise. Would you accept my apology?”
“You don’t need to apologise to me. The person you treated cruelly was my father, not me. Of course, it would be a lie to say I don’t resent you at all. What kind of daughter could look kindly on someone who hurt her father?”
Her voice was calm and composed, but none of the emotion behind those words was hidden. Rachel lowered her gaze, unable to refute her, and ended up meeting Ella’s eyes.
Ella stared at Rachel in confusion for a moment before smiling.
That smile comforted Rachel. It even gave her a little courage—and perhaps a little shamelessness.
“Yes. I’m sure you can’t look kindly on me. In that case, I suppose it will also be difficult for you to look kindly on the proposal I’m about to make.”
“Yes. I don’t want to work in your kitchen. But that isn’t because of my personal feelings towards you, Rachel. How am I supposed to trust you? You’ve already abandoned a kitchen once. I’m a mother. I don’t want to pour my time into someone who might disappear at any moment.”
There was no way to refute a single one of Lisa’s words. Standing before Rachel, who could say nothing in response, Lisa turned towards Jo Minjoon.
“You talked about sincerity earlier. My father was sincere too. How can you be certain she won’t throw you away one day, just as she did him?”
“…I trust my teacher.”
“I’m sure you do. You haven’t been hurt by her yet. But I’m different. I find it difficult to believe in her.”
Lisa was not speaking merely out of emotion. She was talking about what had happened in the past and what she saw in the present.
That was precisely why Rachel could say nothing.
How could she, when she had already betrayed their trust once?
That was also why there had only ever been one person who could truly persuade Lisa.
Jack finally spoke.
The man who had waited ten years opened his mouth.
“Lisa. Why don’t you… give her one chance?”
“…Dad. Do you understand what you’re saying? It’s been ten years. You want to trust someone after a single day when she’s been betraying that trust for ten years?”
“I’m not saying I trust her. I’m saying we should give her a chance. A chance to wash away her regrets. For Rachel… and for me.”
For me.
Even Lisa could not remain unmoved by those words.
Jack sighed.
“Of course, if you refuse, there’s nothing I can do. This is simply a father being greedy. I’m not asking you to accomplish the dream I failed to achieve. I know you’re running this bakery perfectly well. But I want you to live more comfortably and have a fuller life. And if Rachel, this awful woman, doesn’t turn tail and run away again… then this could become a tremendous opportunity for you.”
“It would be a tremendous opportunity for all of us, Lisa. We tasted some of the bread you made outside. You’re every bit as talented as your father.”
Lisa bit her lower lip and looked down at Ella. She gently rubbed her daughter’s chin as she spoke.
“I can’t close this bakery. The customers would be disappointed, but more importantly, what I need most is a stable life.”
“…Yes. Of course. I understand.”
Rachel nodded with obvious disappointment.
Lisa hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“I bake bread at dawn. Once breakfast is over, things become easier to manage. If I only have to work lunch and dinner, I should be able to come. You’re not planning to open in the mornings, are you?”
Rachel smiled with an expression that looked close to tears.
“Of course not.”
Anderson drove Amelia back to her restaurant, leaving Rachel and Jo Minjoon at the bakery.
Rachel still seemed to have plenty to discuss, but Jo Minjoon found it difficult to leave for a much simpler reason.
“Our Ella has really taken a liking to Mr. Fairy.”
Jack smiled gently as he looked at Ella. Ella nodded enthusiastically, smiling from ear to ear.
It was a perfectly ordinary, affectionate scene between a grandfather and granddaughter.
The only unusual part was where Ella was sitting.
Not on a chair.
Not on Lisa’s lap.
Not on Jack’s.
She was sitting on Jo Minjoon’s lap.
Perhaps some part of her childish mind genuinely believed that he was a fairy, because Ella showed no intention of leaving his side. At the same time, however, she did not seem brave enough to speak to him directly. She simply sat there, playing with the large slice of lemon pound cake in her hands.
…She’s fine sitting on my lap, but talking to me is difficult?
Children’s minds could be complicated in the strangest ways.
Ella tore off a small piece of pound cake and held it in front of Jo Minjoon’s mouth. He smiled reflexively.
“Are you giving that to me?”
Ella nodded and waved the cake slightly.
Jo Minjoon accepted it directly from her hand like a baby bird being fed. Ella gave a shy laugh and turned towards Lisa.
After swallowing, Jo Minjoon asked,
“Is Ella normally this shy?”
“It’s natural for her to be shy. You’re the legendary Fairy-nim, after all.”
“Ella. Do I really look like a fairy?”
“…Yes!”
Ella twisted around before nodding vigorously. Her fluttering hair brushed against Jo Minjoon’s arm and tickled him.
That was enough to break the ice.
Ella slowly began asking questions.
“What does Peter Pan look like? Have you met Cinderella? Where’s the mirror that tells you who the prettiest person in the world is?”
Every time she asked something, Jo Minjoon had to turn himself into a fairy-tale author and invent another answer.
Rachel watched the two of them before quietly speaking to Jack.
“I envy you. You have such a wonderful family.”
“Looks like you intend to treat that young man as family too.”
At Jack’s words, Rachel calmly looked towards Jo Minjoon.
Family.
It was a word she had not spoken in a long time.
“I’m grateful to him. He’s someone who can achieve my dream—no, our dream.”
“I used to think there was no such thing as a dream someone else could achieve for you. But now it’s hard for me to say that when, in a way, Lisa is fulfilling mine.”
“Isn’t that what life becomes for old people like us? We place our hopes in the next generation.”
Jack looked displeased and opened his mouth as though he wanted to argue, but in the end, he could not come up with a rebuttal.
At some point, Ella and Jo Minjoon’s conversation had moved on to Santa Claus.
“So, Ella, are you confident Santa will bring you a present this Christmas?”
“Yes. Uh, ah… but… does Santa really not give presents to children who cry?”
“Hmm. If you throw a tantrum and cry because you’re being naughty, then maybe Santa won’t give you one. But if you cry for some other reason, I think it should be fine. Like if you got hurt.”
“Uh… last time, our neighbour Matilda was bragging that she went on a trip with her daddy. I cried because I wanted to see my daddy too. Does that make me a bad girl?”
Jo Minjoon glanced towards Lisa.
Her face had gone rigid.
He turned back to Ella and spoke gently.
“You’re not a bad girl. So don’t worry. Santa will definitely bring you a present.”
“Really?”
“Of course. But you still have to listen to your mummy and be a good girl.”
“If I do that, can Santa bring Daddy here?”
Ella blinked up at him with large, watery eyes.
Having to mix lies into his answer while looking into those innocent eyes made Jo Minjoon’s heart ache. He brushed the crumbs from Ella’s cheek.
“I’m not sure about that. But instead, this mister can be Ella’s uncle.”
“What’s an uncle?”
“Um… think of it as a mister you’re close to. The kind of mister who gives Ella things she asks for and listens when she has worries.”
“…Ella. Stop bothering the mister and come here. Mummy will warm some milk for you.”
“Okay.”
Ella climbed down and followed Lisa into the house.
Jack sighed and clenched his fist.
“I don’t know what kind of bastard her father is, but the day he ends up in my hands will be the day he dies.”
The conversation continued for a while longer before Anderson returned to pick them up.
Rachel seemed to have a great deal on her mind and remained silent. Jo Minjoon was the same.
Ella had been innocent and adorable, but perhaps precisely because she was so innocent, thinking about her left him feeling sad.
Was Kaya… like that too?
Kaya had grown up in circumstances similar to Ella’s.
No.
Realistically, hers had been worse.
Ella’s family had no financial problems, while Kaya had worked alongside her mother at the market, dealt with rough adults, and helped care for her sick younger sister.
Perhaps that was why looking at Ella had hurt him so much.
Kaya must have carried similar wounds through her childhood.
Jo Minjoon looked down at his smartphone.
The messages he had sent Kaya several days earlier were still unread.
Will Kaya ever meet her father again?
He did not know.
Maybe it had never happened.
Maybe it had happened but never made the news.
Or perhaps Jo Minjoon had simply never come across anything about it.
At least in his memory, there had been nothing about Kaya’s father.
Jo Minjoon leaned his head back against the headrest with the expression of someone trying to solve a difficult maths problem.
Anderson glanced at him.
“Hey, Tinker Bell.”
“What?”
“Why do you look so gloomy? You said everything went well.”
“It did. We got ourselves a pâtissier.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“It’s just sad. Ella’s situation. Lisa’s too. I feel bitter when I think about them. And it made me think about Kaya.”
Anderson nodded as though he understood.
Jo Minjoon turned towards the window.
By coincidence, a married couple pushing a pram came into view.
Looking at them, he murmured,
“If I had a cute daughter like Ella, I’d never leave her.”
“You really liked that kid.”
“It’s not exactly that I liked her… She just keeps staying on my mind.”
“Don’t think too deeply about other people’s circumstances. Do you know how many single-parent families there are in California? Or even just in Venice? If you worry about every one of them, you’ll only make your own life miserable.”
“They’re not strangers anymore. They’re part of our kitchen family.”
“When you put it that way, I’ve got nothing to say.”
After that, only the sound of the engine filled the car.
Rachel was the first to break the silence.
“Our family is going to keep growing. Minjoon, Anderson. As demi-chefs, you’ll need to take good care of the new people we bring in. Of course, you’ll also need to listen properly to the sous-chefs we hire.”
“We’ll remember that.”
“Soon…”
Rachel started to say something more, then closed her mouth.
The car had arrived in front of Rose Island.
Which meant they were once again visible to the crowd gathered outside.
Even through the darkly tinted windows, they could see countless expectant eyes turned towards the vehicle.
Anderson lifted a pair of thick sunglasses that looked as though they belonged to a Secret Service agent.
“Want a pair?”
“No. I suppose it’s time we gave them the scoop they’ve been waiting for.”
With that, Rachel opened the car door.
Jo Minjoon and Anderson hurriedly followed her out.
Rachel slowly walked towards the crowd.
Camera flashes immediately burst around them. Questions, cheers, applause, and excited voices spread through the air.
“Everyone.”
The noise died down the moment Rachel spoke.
Watching her, Jo Minjoon and Anderson could only admire her composure.
Perhaps she was simply accustomed to situations like this.
Even surrounded by so many people, Rachel’s voice was firm and unwavering, loud enough to reach everyone gathered there.
“I’m sure each of you has a different reason for being here. Some of you came simply to see Rose Island’s flagship restaurant with your own eyes. Some of you want to become part of my kitchen. And I’m sure some of you are here because you want an interview.”
“When will Rose Island reopen?”
“Please hire me! I’ll work hard even as a station chef!”
“Right now, I’m going to share two things that have been decided. First…”
Rachel paused for a moment and looked behind her.
At Rose Island.
The faint nostalgia in her eyes transformed into blazing determination in an instant.
Her voice rang out powerfully.
“I am reopening Rose Island’s flagship restaurant. The date has been set for November 20th, and it will not change. Second, in order to assemble the best possible kitchen, we will hold a public audition. The available positions will be demi-chef, prep cook, and apprentice. The audition will take place on August 20th, exactly three months before the opening date. This public audition will be harsher than any ordinary hiring process. And among the judges will be…”
Rachel slowly turned her head.
The moment her gaze reached Jo Minjoon, she raised her voice once more.
“My disciples, Minjoon and Anderson.”