Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“Uwa…so it’s here!

It’s pretty, so romantic!

Having at last discovered the pastry shop, I switched between gazing at the shop and glancing at the map in my hands.

Delight

The dappled pastel-toned signboard was as pretty and elegant as its name.

But whether it’s a person or a shop, what you see is not everything.

I did it even though I was so tired. I thought I was going to die.

I hit my tired shoulders with my rolled-up map.

The city was a much bigger and more prosperous place than I’d imagined, you wouldn’t know how much I struggled to find this place.

If I hadn’t stopped periodically to ask random stray dogs for directions, I’m not sure if I would have been able to arrive here within a day.

“Hyoo.”

I should just live as a black swan.

I haven’t lived as a black swan for long, but I’m already feeling how cumbersome my human body is.

These too slender legs, this hair that disperses in the wind like silk thread, this smooth porcelain skin that has no match….

‘Wow….just now I sounded pretty arrogant

I let out an awkward laugh as I found myself unconsciously touching my face within my robe.

It’s been a while since I’ve been amongst people, and now I’m having all sorts of weird thoughts.

‘But it’s not like I said anything wrong, right?

When I’m a swan, I don’t have to be so careful about what I do or say around people.

Why spend money to swish around in a yacht? I can just peacefully float on the lake, and when I close my eyes I can imagine Ave Maria playing in the background.

Is there a separate sense derived from Instagram? I think I would like it if the world drifted on like this until the end.

It’s not just that. If I want to sleep, I sleep. If I want to roll around, I roll around. If I accidentally hit someone, I completely peck them out.

Traditionally, once I got a taste of being in an animal body, it was hard to completely get out of it.

“Hmm?

What’s this smell?

My moment of intoxication at the sweet smell drifting in front of my sensitive nose was interrupted, and I opened my eyes wide.

A sweet smell filled my nostrils, making me salivate. I swallowed.

Hurrah for humanity.

Timmediately swallowed back the words I’d just said.

No matter how wonderful life as a black swan is, I can only taste these sweet and exquisite desserts and food because of my human body.

I felt this particularly, as I desperately inhaled the scent of freshly baked bread that greeted me when I opened my eyes to this world.

“Y-yeah”

But I need to go inside anyway if I wanted to find out what was going on with Loam and find out about the whereabouts of the child-abandoning offender.

My feet moved step by step on their own accord, drawn by the flowing trail of scent.

“Excuse me!”

” Yes? Me?

I was jolted awake from my entranced walk by someone tugging on my robe.

When I looked up after feeling someone tugging on my robe, I saw the endless line that stretched before me.

A woman glared at me accusingly and sharply nodded me to the back of the line, her arms crossed.

“Can you not see there are people standing in line?”

“Oh….I’m sorry. I just wanted to ask something inside.”

“You think anyone will fall for that pathetic excuse? You know, some people started waiting from dawn. Do you not know where this is?”

Is this some pork cutlet restaurant at Jeju Island?

I innocently batted my eyelashes, but the woman just snorted at me.

“Clack clack

The sound of my falling self-confidence dropped, all the way to the tips of my shoes

“This is the most famous shop of recent times, the winner of Rohan’s Grand Prix Dessert Fair!”

“Is-is that so? I didn’t know it was that big of a deal…”

“Stop feigning innocence. If it’s that urgent, why don’t you start lining up from nighttime too?”

“No, well that……”

It’s not that I don’t want to wait, it’s that I can’t!

If I stood in line as a black swan I’d just be caught and eaten! You think would let that happen to a beautiful black swan like myself!

“What? Do you have something to say?”

“……No. I don’t

Under the woman’s glare, I turned to the back of the line, finding myself unable to cut the line by her sharp words.

Even though my blood was boiling with internal tantrums and shrieks of despair, it was true that standing in line was basic policy

My steps began quickening as I started heading to the back of the line.

I wondered for a second if using my status and rank would help at all, but after some thought I hung my head.

“Right. I have a terrible reputation here

The duke’s second daughter Rebecca would sometimes tell me of my reputation in the Northern Lands as a witch, rubbing salt on the wound. On top of that, I was seen as a cruel, ambitious woman who’d taken advantage of the dying duke by marrying him and enjoyed luxury and debauchery. Hm?

“…… Hyung-nim, it looks like it’s here”

“Why this kind of a place.”

A low-pitched voice echoed in my ears.

There were a group of men in black robes nearby looking at the pastry shop.

Though the hoods on their black robes were covering their faces, anyone could tell that they were tall men with robust physiques, catching the eyes of many.

“Uhm….”

Well, it definitely looks like this place is a famous shop.

I looked at them in curiosity and bit my lips in anticipation.

How popular was it that even these men came from so far away?

And they kind of looked just like me from a couple moments ago as they stood right at the entrance.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, we are. We’ve been confirmed by the scouts we sent. Though they did say they would look further, we are almost certain this is-“

“Excuse me!”

I called out to them in a friendly manner and waved my hand towards them.

Though I couldn’t see their faces because of the black robe covering them, I could tell that their strong gazes were now on me.

The one standing at the very front eventually spoke to me, as if perplexed.

“

Did you just, to me.

“Yes. It’s here! This is the place you’ve been looking for.”

What’s with that response.

I was just trying to help out because I didn’t want them to go through what I did a few minutes ago, but why did they seem to have begrudging attitudes

Why are you standing so far away from everyone else when we’re all here for the famous shop?

I put my hands together and spoke quietly as if spilling a big secret.

“You’re looking for the shop that won the Grand Prix Dessert Fair Award, correct?

“…Ah, uhm, we’re not exactly sure, but ye.”

“Then you’re at the right place. So then please wait in line.”

He looked like he had a good head on his shoulders, but did he not hear me the first time.

gestured behind me.

“You should wait in line here. If you just try to go in you’ll probably get cursed at when you get to the front, you know?”

“Hwoo.”

I heard someone from behind the man let out a harsh breath

I felt goosebumps creep up my spine and chills up my arms as I heard the sound, but I was too preoccupied with my thoughts to think back on what that was about

“….. Hyung-nim, please.”

“Move your hand.

*Step, step.”

He shook off the hands of the two men standing next to him, and it was like the ground trembled on his last step as he approached me.

Ugh, men!

What was bothering them so much after getting here?

As if to tell him it wasn’t such a big deal to wait in line, I gave him an encouraging nod.

“You made the right decision. You don’t want to get cursed after coming here to eat delicious food”

“…. You dare.”

“What you dare in front of a pastry shop. When it comes to food, no one in the world stands higher than anyone else.”

I put my hands together in prayer, and then indicated to the children standing nearby us.

“You see those children, right? Even the kids line up at the shop.”

Oh, what wonderful children.

I felt a sense of pride at the siblings who were waiting in line.

I stopped looking at the children with a pleasant expression and looked up at the man behind me. Intense red eyes shined under the dark robe.

“If you say something about waiting in line one more time.”

“Of course I have to say it again. Properly stay in line! Don’t fall out of line and just make sure to keep looking straight to the front like the kids from before.

Why are you like this? It’s not like it’s your first time at a hot pastry shop.

I shrugged my shoulders at the guy’s self-esteem and turned back around to the front. I could sense a stinging glare heading in my direction and felt like I heard a metal ringing sound from behind me, but I thought it was just my imagination.

……. But anyway, is this shop’s line shortening or not?

I stuck my head out and only saw a still-very-long line in front of me. It took a long time to just be able to take a few steps forward, and as the minutes passed, I grew nervous about the time I had left

The children waiting in front of me seemed just as anxious as I was to get to the front, hopping around on their feet.

“Noona, will we really be able to buy what we wanted to get? I really wanted to eat that chocolate cake.”

“Wait just a little longer, James. We’ll be able to eat it for sure today. I even checked the price.

“….But my leg hurts.”

“Do you want Noona to piggyback you? But if we get to eat the cake you’ll be sure to be full of energy afterwards. We even saved up money so we could celebrate your birthday with this.”

Erk, children, and now why are you pulling at someone else’s heartstrings.

My heart stung as I saw the young girl who seemed to be the older sister pull out some crumpled cash from her pocket

I’m weak to this kind of stuff, you know

I noticed that the two of them were shivering in their clothes.

“It’s so cold. Can’t we go in soon?”

“There are other people who are waiting too. That person there and even this other older sister, and behind her…uh, yeah”

The young girl froze as she looked at the people behind me.