CH 197

“The more I look at her, the more appealing she seems.”

Ruin wasn’t fond of the people of this continent. Unlike the people of the Hyun continent, who primarily had black hair and eyes, the inhabitants here were too colorful in his eyes. Looking at them only strengthened his sense of foreignness, which is why he never imagined he’d come to like someone from this place.

Nonetheless, he had to admit after watching Cecile that there was beauty that could transcend preferences. He never could’ve envisioned that platinum blonde hair and dark green eyes would match so well. At first, the prince had trailed them from their mansion out of curiosity, intent on observing Estian, but soon his eyes were unable to move away from Cecile.

‘She’ll be the first foreign crown princess in Hyun history.’ Thinking about it, he didn’t recall any laws that would prohibit the crown princess from being a foreigner. If he were to be honest, it no longer mattered to him whether the empress was the Ender or not. He watched Cecile, who was talking as she walked beside Estian.

“It’d be great for the children to resemble their mother as much as possible,” he muttered. Suddenly going as far as to making detailed family plans all by himself, Ruin got up from his spot, wishing to steal that woman away as soon as possible.

* * *

Maggie shot a suspicious look at the two who were returned, as she interrogated, “You didn’t just buy any random apples now, did you? Don’t think you can fool my nose and mouth!”

“I’m telling you we didn’t.”

“But it doesn’t make sense! I thought it’d take at least a few days, yet you come back in less than a few hours!”

“That’s how competent he is! My hus— colleague!” Cecile hurriedly corrected herself, almost slipping up. Opening the sack of apples, she declared, “Have a look. These are really the apples from that orchard.”

“Let’s have a look then. These are… really apples from that place?” Maggie’s eyes widened in amazement when she saw the apples in the sack were indeed the ones she always used. Moreover, it was apparent that only the well-ripened ones were picked, as the sack was filled with the delicious scent of fresh apples.

“This amount should suffice to have pies delivered every day to the villa, right?” Estian asked.

Maggie nodded vigorously and answered, “It’s enough! Oh, but wasn’t this urgent? Considering how much pressure the emperor was exerting, I feel like it’d be best for the pies to be delivered as soon as possible. If it’s alright with the two of you, I could make some right now.”

“Really?” Cecile was excited at the prospect, but she snuck a glance at Estian to gauge his reaction. It was already quite late, and Estian had been especially sensitive to her sleeping habits as of late. Unsurprisingly, his face had stiffened.

“I’ll be back in a jiffy after putting these away,” Maggie replied, taking the sack of apples and exiting the room.

Cecile swiftly grabbed her husband by the shoulder and planted a kiss on his cheek. She pleaded, “I really want to eat apple pies. Right now.”

Estian opened his mouth as if to say something, but soon a defeated expression crept onto his face and he sighed. “It can’t be helped, but we’ll be returning as soon as they’re done.”

“Of course!” Cecile chirped happily.

Maggie returned a moment later and quickly set about cleaning the workbench that had sat unused until now. Was she excited to be able to return to baking after so long? Her movements were cheerful as she worked with the flour and butter.

‘So, this is what they call… a master of their art!’ Cecile was impressed by the piemaker’s fluid actions at the workbench. It was said that when a person reached a certain level of mastery, there wouldn’t be the slightest waste in their movements, and Maggie seemed to embody that in this moment.

Seeing Cecile starting intently with admiration, Maggie asked, “Want to have a go?”

“Sorry?”

“I said, do you want to try making one? Your neck’s going to stretch at that rate.”

It was only then that Cecile realized that she had leaned forward to the point that she was almost touching the workbench. Sheepishly, she said, “I was just amazed to see an apple pie being made for the first time. I’m sorry if I’ve bothered you.”