The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

[A/N: This is my limit for today... I think i’m burnt out so I’ll rest for now and do 6 tomorrow. In fact, since I didn’t keep my promise, I’ll try my best to write 6 per day everyday for 7 more days. Love you guys though... I can’t believe that my work is getting this much love and I’m annoyed at myself for not giving back the same love with more Chapters. I guess I need a bit more perseverance until I get used to such an upload schedule]

Adrian woke up in the morning and stretched before letting out a long yawn before he finally pushed himself up from the mattress to check the room.

Aria was already out of bed.

She sat on the floor with her legs crossed and her eyes shut. So he could easily tell she was grinding out her daily mana breathing practice.

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at this. She just made him proud of her with almost everything she did.

’I should just keep my mouth shut and let her meditate.’ he thought.

But his empty stomach let out a loud, aggressive growl right at that exact second.

’Bruh... talk about great timing.’ he thought.

He considered sneaking downstairs to grab some food. But he knew his daughter well. Aria wasn’t the type of child to go down to a crowded tavern and eat alone. In fact, most kids wouldn’t do that.

Adrian knew that she was starving herself just waiting for him to wake up so that she could go out and eat.

’And she also skipped lunch and dinner yesterday... fuck my life man...’

So he cleared his throat.

"Aria," Adrian called out softly. "Wanna go get some breakfast together?"

She opened her eyes and immediately gave him a firm little nod.

"Yes, Papa." she said.

But she instantly frowned, puffed out her cheeks and glared at the floor like it killed someone.

"I don’t want to eat downstairs." Aria whined. "I do not want to eat the food this inn makes... I want to eat Papa’s food."

Adrian just chuckled. He completely understood where she was coming from.

Because back in Oresfall, he had spent quite a bit of his free time personally training the local chefs. He taught them modern recipes, proper seasoning ratios, and all that stuff. So the food back home was basically on the exact same level as his own cooking.

Compared to that premium quality, the standard tavern food in this fancy city just didn’t go up to that level in her eyes. It was way below her expectations.

She was totally acting like a spoiled brat right now.

And Adrian didn’t care at all. He looked at that pouting face and completely caved. Say no to her? Impossible. He was an absolute pushover when it came to her and on top of that, the guilt of ignoring her yesterday stabbed him pretty hard.

"Okay, fine." Adrian chuckled. "Papa will cook for you, okay? But only if you give me a kiss!"

Aria stood up and ran up to him before grabbing his chin. She pulled his face to her lips and kissed him hard on his cheeks.

Adrian kissed her back and pinched her cheeks before he hugged her tight.

"Papa loves you a lot, you know?"

"Aria loves papa too! Aria loves papa more!!" she squealed as she looped her arms around his neck.

Adrian forced himself to pull away from her using all of his willpower before he got to work.

He used Dungeon Link and pulled out a heavy cast iron pan. Aria actually made this exact pan for him months ago. He dropped it onto the small wooden table in the corner of the room.

A tiny push of his mana hit the metal. The pan got blazing hot in seconds.

He dragged fresh ingredients straight out of his spatial storage. Three eggs went into a bowl. He whisked them with some salt and tossed a chunk of butter onto the iron.

It hissed loudly. He dumped the eggs in and scrambled them up soft. Then he slid the fluffy pile onto a plate.

Time for the real food.

Because he was totally making steak for breakfast.

A thick cut of beef hit the pan. He let it sear for a minute before flipping it over to lock in that dark brown crust. Then he grabbed a glass jar from his storage. Honey lemon glaze.

He poured the sticky sauce straight over the hot meat. Aria was basically addicted to this stuff. She wanted it on fried chicken, on fries, on literally everything he cooked.

He put the steak next to the eggs and passed her the plate.

Aria’s eyes lit up. She snatched her fork and started devouring the beef.

Adrian just wiped the pan down and kept going. He pulled a ball of dough from his dungeon and flattened it out. He threw the raw dough onto the dry pan. It bubbled up fast and got nice charred spots all over it.

Just a basic wheat flatbread. Earth called it a roti.

He threw the bread onto a new plate. Then he grabbed a tub of pre-made butter chicken from his storage. He dumped the orange curry into the hot pan to warm it up.

A minute later he poured it into a bowl and dropped it next to her bread.

Aria had already cleared her entire first plate. She didn’t even pause to breathe. She just ripped a piece of bread off and dunked it deep into the thick curry.

Adrian finally grabbed a chair to eat his own breakfast.

His steak was cold. Cooking two courses took too much time.

But he didn’t care. He linked his mind to the dungeon and sent his plate inside. He used the magic environment to blast it with heat and pulled it right back out.

It totally ruined the medium rare center. But the meat was still juicy and the flavor hit the spot.

He chewed his food. Aria hummed happily right next to him.

But his brain refused to shut off. Thoughts about the clothing store crashed into his head. He thought about the massive dress order he made yesterday.

He was a pessimist at heart. If something mattered this much, he was going to overthink every single possible thing that could go wrong.

’What if someone sabotages the tailor?’ Adrian thought, staring at his half empty plate. ’What if one of the nobles find out and pays some thugs to burn the shop down just to mess with me? Aria’s birthday is screwed if that happens...’

He took another bite and kept planning.

’Even if nobody attacks them, there is a much bigger risk.’ Adrian thought to himself. ’They only have twelve days left to make an incredibly complex, high budget dress. What if they just run out of time? What if they mess up the stitching because they are rushing?’