Amanda had been a Dion Army brigadier general. Since the fall of the Dion Empire, she and her son had returned to their homeland from the detention center.
Amanda refused to join the Skywing Empire's military and instead requested to live as an ordinary civilian. The Ministry of Military Affairs approved her request.
Amanda withdrew all her savings—Dion Empire currency exchanged for Earth Sphere Credits at the prewar rate between the Skywing Empire and the Dion Empire—and used it to buy a shop house. She opened a dessert shop and lived an ordinary life with her son.
To her, this was the family happiness she had always dreamed of.
Najedah sat at an inner table in Amanda's dessert shop, eating a strawberry cake dessert as she chatted with Amanda.
Najedah and Amanda were close friends.
Najedah looked over the furnishings in the dessert shop. Aside from the reception staff and cashier, the employees were responsible for delivering meals to customers' tables. In the kitchen, Halo-controlled equipment handled the work, while pastry chefs took care of the finer details.
Najedah knew that her friend Amanda had always been deeply interested in desserts. She had even studied the craft professionally and earned an A-rank pastry chef diploma.
"How have you and your child been lately?"
"Very well. Living as ordinary civilians has been carefree. Besides, the Skywing Empire has existed for less than two years, yet our standard of living is already a little higher than it was in the Dion Empire before the war. The people's spending power is better than before too. Quite a few people have even forgotten that we were at war only a few years ago. It seems everyone has moved on from the pain," Amanda said with feeling.
Najedah nodded. "Yes. Ordinary people simply need to