CH 99

Tea Party and Lorschel (13)

< I don’t really know the details either. However, His Majesty had ordered us to keep it as a secret, saying that he wanted to bake snacks by himself and give them to the Empress as a gift…… >

So, she couldn’t say anything at all. Lucy eventually added with an apologetic look.

Roelin slowly moved to the kitchen while reflecting on what Lucy had just said. No one followed her since she had already ordered everyone to remain outside.

Only her footsteps had echoed through the quiet hallway. And eventually, Roelin’s steps stopped at the kitchen door.

It had been said that he was right beyond this door.

At this very late hour.

Moreover, it was a man who didn’t seem to fit in with the kitchen at all.

That was why he couldn’t eat with her because he had something to do. That was the reason why he didn’t come over into the bedroom until late at night.

It was to bake snacks by himself and give them to her as gifts.

So, it had also been said that he was learning how to make snacks while holding onto the Chief Chef of the Imperial Palace these days.

He must have been terribly busy because he had devoted all his off-work time to it. She didn’t know that and misunderstood for no apparent reason. On top of that, she also had the wrong idea……

Roelin clasped her hands tightly as she began to feel that her heart was growing numb. Then, she carefully turned the doorknob.

The door opened and a figure of the man came into Roelin’s eyes. She didn’t even have to check who it had been since she already heard that Kergel was there.

Nevertheless, as she saw him directly with her own eyes, an emotion that could not be explained simply eventually filled her heart.

She just didn’t know how to express this.

What should she say about this feeling, which made her feel like she was about to cry, but on the other hand, she felt like she was about to laugh too as her heart pounded wildly.

Roelin stepped inside while clutching onto her shawl.

But Kergel didn’t seem to notice her presence, so he just kept doing whatever he was doing. Normally, he wouldn’t even have missed her small steps.

It only meant that he was concentrating that much. It wasn’t like this even when he was working in the office……

Roelin’s gaze shifted from Kergel to the table in front of him. What had lain on the table was flour dough.

He was constantly hitting it. Roelin took a step closer to Kergel when she saw that he had flour all over his cheek.

Who could have imagined the Empire’s most powerful man being covered in flour while insisting that he would make snacks all alone this late at night?

And how about the fact of making such cute cookies like that with those big hands which would look ultimately better with a sword instead?

“Now, cover it with the cotton cloth and let it ripen for a while…… But where did I put that cotton cloth?”

Kergel took off the large spread of flour dough to a certain size, then carefully folded the edges to make the snacks while fumbling on the table with one hand.

His other hand was still busy shaping the shape of the snack as if he could not just throw away even a moment in vain. Roelin stared at the figure before she picked up the cotton cloth at the end of the table. Then, she handed it over to him as she opened her mouth.

“Here you go.”

“Oh, thank you… Oh! Ro, Roelin? How are you here……”

Kergel inadvertently took the cotton cloth and raised his head in amazement as he looked at Roelin.

Roelin smiled as soon as she was faced with his round golden eyes. Then, he hurriedly covered the table with himself and returned his smile awkwardly.

“Ah…… you know, I mean, that’s just it.”

“You have flour on your nose, too. I thought it was only on your cheeks.”

If she knew that this could happen, she would have brought along a handkerchief. Roelin approached Kergel while thinking to herself like that. Then, she stood in front of him, tiptoed and wiped the flour off Kergel’s face with her sleeve.

“Roelin, I, no, your clothes will get dirty.”

The bewildered Kergel stuttered as he became unable to speak properly and belatedly took a step back, fearing that her clothes would get dirty. Roelin soon stopped wiping Kergel’s face and stared at him.

“……”

Kergel sneaked away from her gaze. She looked at him, who was already unable to look her in the eye while he kept on rolling his eyes from side to side, before she asked questions like a snap.

“Is this why it’s very hard to see your face these days?”

“Huh? Uh… I’m sorry, Roelin. I should have still made some time in any case.”

Kergel apologized in a hurry to answer the question which Roelin gave him. But despite his words, Roelin just stared at him and said something else instead.

“You said you were going to give me a present.”

“Oh, that’s……”

Kergel’s face turned red in an instant. He tried to sweep his red face down with both hands, but when he saw that his hand was all covered in flour, he put it down as it was and smiled before opening his mouth.

“Lucy must have told you everything. I already asked her to keep it a secret.”

“Don’t say anything to Lucy later, Kergel. Lucy had no choice but to tell me because I was quite depressed.”

Roelin hurriedly made an excuse on her behalf in case Lucy would be in trouble because of her later. Then, Kergel narrowed his brows and brought up another word unexpectedly.

“You were depressed? Why?”

“It’s just…”

She blurted out the end of her speech as she tried to answer his question. As she was facing Kergel, who looked suspicious as if he couldn’t understand anything at all, she wondered what he had been thinking about so far.

Was she overly sensitive?

Or was this man just overly obtuse.