Under The Veil of Night

Laura’s Sweet Company

"Sis is taking a long time for her trip this time," Laura complained as she arranged the paper on her desk. This was the sweet company they owned under Kanae’s name. As the one in charge, she spent most of her time here.

Kanae told her that she was going on a trip with her friends. Laura was not sure what kind of trip Kanae had, but the later didn’t allow her to come along. She had to stay behind and took care of the business matter.

In front of her, Jason laughed lightly. "Kanae is usually very busy."

"You’re busy too," Laura pointed to Jason. "But you still spare some time to come here."

Jason smiled in response. He only came here because of Kanae’s request to accompany Laura and helped them expand the business. As this business has only started out, there were still a lot of things they needed to take care of. Both Laura and Kanae were rather inexperienced, so he stepped in to help out.

Kanae might have some experience because of her work, but the one who did the vital point was still Kevin and the others. If Kanae had to manage everything by herself, Jason knew that this company might head straight to a pitfall. That girl was already extremely busy to train and others.

As for the matter of his own family, he had handled them rather well. There was nothing big happening right now, so he didn’t have to spare a lot of time to take care of them.

"Don’t you like my presence here?"

"No, I don’t like it," Laura answered bluntly. "Having you here makes me feel like I’m truly bad in handling business."

Putting it that way, it was as if she said that she was not good at managing the company yet. Jason laughed a bit. "You will surpass me soon enough. You just have to be patient."

Laura nodded her head before pulling the box on the side closer. "I create a different recipe again. Help me assess them again."

Jason’s face darkened when he heard Laura’s request. Whenever he came here, Laura always has a box filled with new types of sweets she developed herself. It was fine if he only had to taste them occasionally, but eating a lot of them at the same time made his mouth felt dry.

They were too sweets!

It was not like he didn’t like sweet, but the amount that he had to taste every time he came was simply insane. For someone who preferred bitter sweets, it was simply a torture.

"Don’t you have anyone else you can ask about their taste?"

"No. Sis always says that they’re good because she’s a glutton, so I can only ask for your opinion," Laura replied immediately.

Considering Kanae’s personality, there was no doubt that the girl would answer that they were good. For her, as long as they tasted good, she would just answer that they were good without elaborating the reason.

Even barely edible food might be good in Kanae’s opinion.

Without any choice, Jason picked one of the candies in front of him and put it in his mouth. The candy melted on his tongue, giving him the fresh and sweet sensation at the same time.

"How is it?" Laura asked with sparkling eyes.

"It tastes very refreshing, do you mix the mint with something else?" Jason asked with curiosity.

Laura grinned. "Since you seem to like it very much, then I’ll ask them to start making this candy."

"Why are you deciding based on my reaction?"

Laura stuck out her tongue. "Your judgment is usually very accurate. Now, have a taste to the next one."

Jason looked towards the pile of candies and chocolate in front of him. He sighed to himself as he started to taste them one by one and gave his opinion to the girl in front of her. Of course, he didn’t dare to eat all of them and only lightly bite a bit since it would only make his mouth feel bad.

After hours of working and a few times rinsing his mouth, Jason finally finished helping Laura with her work.

"You should have some rest, Laura. A girl shouldn’t work so much," Jason said with a smile.

Laura nodded her head. "I’ll rest today. I just hope my sis can go home today."

"You already miss her?"

"I always miss her."

"She’ll surely return back soon. You have spent a long time without her by your side, right?"

"I know," Laura placed her head on top of her desk. Because of her decision to study overseas, she spent a long time without Kanae by her side. Even though it was hard at first, she had gotten used to tending to her needs by herself.

Still, the feeling of having her sister near her was completely different. It was warm and comforting.

Jason watched Laura’s expression as a wry smile appeared on his handsome face. The longing on Laura’s face was very apparent. It was the same expression he had seen countless times in Kanae, especially whenever that girl mentioned Laura.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Jason clapped both of his hand. He took out a box from his bag. "This is a present for you, Happy Birthday, Laura."

Laura beamed as she took the present. "Thank you, Brother Jason."

"Now, I’m going back first. Don’t be so sad, I’m sure that Kanae will make time for your birthday."

"I believe so, too," Laura smiled.

Jason nodded his head and took his bag before leaving.

Laura played with the box for a few seconds. After Jason could no longer be seen, she opened the box and saw that it was filled with sweets. Her lips curled up. Many of them were of the high-class brands, so their taste was guaranteed.

There was a note at the side. She opened it.

’Happy Birthday Laura, I hope you can make better sweets like the one I send to you.

- Jason’

"Hmph, my sweets are better!" Laura snorted, but she still put one of the candies into her mouth. Feeling the fragrance sweet, her lips curled up. They truly tasted good. She would surely be able to make a better one in the future.

She cleaned up her table before going out of the room. The building they bought was not that good, but it was enough for them to use as their small company. When the company became bigger, they could search for a better one.

There were only a few employees around. They were all people that Kanae searched herself. Although some of them looked rather scary in Laura’s opinion, their work was rather good, so she didn’t scrutinize her sister’s decision.

At this time, many of them were still busy. They greeted her as Laura passed by.

"Good evening, Miss."

"Thank you for the work today, Miss."

Laura waved her hand as she smiled brightly. "Good job everyone. I’ll be going back first."

"Take care, Miss."

After a series of warm greetings, Laura got out of the building. She glanced at the red sky, which clearly told her that it would be sunset soon.

Suddenly, a hand covered her eyes.

"Guess who is it?"

"Sis!" Laura nearly shouted. She quickly turned her body around as Kanae retracted her hand. Seeing her sister standing cheerfully with a small bag on her hand, Laura felt relieved.

She threw her arm around Kanae and hugged the other party tightly.

"Hey, hey, I’m just going for a short trip and you already miss me so much?" Kanae joked.

"That’s your fault for going so often," Laura snorted. "I rarely have the chance to see you at home."

"I’m sorry, Big Sister is just a bit busy lately," Kanae put the bag on Laura’s hand. "Happy birthday, Laura. This is your birthday present."

Laura accepted the bag as she used her other hand to pulled Kanae’s arm. Leaning her head on Kanae’s shoulder, she closed her eyes. It was warm by Kanae’s side, and she liked the warmth very much.

"Rather than the material present, having you here is already a good thing, Sis."

"Let’s go home. I’ll cook something for you."

"No way! You can’t cook at all, Sis. If you want to poison someone, don’t include me in that list."

"That’s very rude. I already practice my skill very well lately."

"I don’t believe it."

"You little," Kanae pinched Laura’s cheek and pulled it slightly. This caused the girl to pout in annoyance.

Laura quickly moved away the moment Kanae released her cheek. She rubbed her cheek while rolling her eyes. "Violence towards children is not allowed, Sis."

"What are you talking about? I’m just giving a short reminder to my beloved sister."

"What reminder? You’re exploiting your status as my older sister! I’m going to file a report about you."

"Oh yeah, what are you going to say?"

"That my beloved older sister bullied me during my birthday."

"Let see if I can bully you."

The two sisters bantered with each other as they made their way towards their house. Having each other by their side made them felt comfortable.