CH 52

“What should I do, is the cake spoiled? No, it wasn’t that… Do you have an upset stomach? I guess you have an upset stomach. What should I do? It’s not good? First… Let’s lie down first.”

Asha quickly dragged Ivan to bed. Lise seemed to want to dissuade Asha, but she couldn’t bear to speak, and silently looked at the complexion of Ivan who Asha had laid down.

“What should I do? Is it because I fed you two plates? But it was a really small piece… Is it because you suddenly ate something sweet? Like a sugar high?”

“Peep peep!”

<Take it easy! He’s not sick, you idiot, Asha.>

‘Oh? He’s not?’

Asha opened her eyes wide. Phoebe waddled away and landed next to Ivan.

Ivan didn’t look back even when the bird flew in. He was just lying on his back and looking at the ceiling.

<Finally, a piece is broken. You did it.>

“Me…? What did I do?”

<This guy’s trapped emotions have finally awakened! After eating the carrot cake you made!>

Asha opened her eyes wide. The snacks that had been fed to Ivan passed by her eyes. She had been worried that it might not work! Finally! Phoebe, who was flying around excitedly, stood on Asha’s shoulder and breathed heavily.

<Oops, after eating, I jumped around too much and now my side hurts…>

‘No, what is this bird saying now?’

<Anyway, that half breed ate your snack and managed to control his powers a bit. It took longer than expected, but…>

Phoebe looked down at Ivan’s face and glanced at Asha.

<Your strength was especially good in this cake, but… Are you sure this guy ate all the past snacks?>

“What? Of course, I…”

Asha blinked her eyes. She gave the snack to Ivan, but she didn’t see him eat it in person.

It was a belated realization when Asha’s mouth dropped open. Knocking sounds were heard from outside. Lise rose from his bed with a curious look on his face and headed toward it.

“Karnov? What brings you here?”

“Alexei… I’m on my way back after finishing work with His Highness, the crown prince. I came to say hello, but…”

The reason Karnov dared to visit the girl now was because Alexei insisted. Alexei hoped that Karnov, who still did not speak highly of his cousin, would become acquainted with her sooner. The reason why he didn’t reject Alexei’s proposal and came to say hello to the girl was because of his friendship with Alexei.

The other half…

Karnov stopped thinking there and knocked on the door. However, the girl’s expression was a little different from usual. An expression that seemed to be worried about something or that there was something to worry about.

He quickly realized what the problem was. Because the girl was surprised to notice the slave who followed her.

“Ivan! Are you up? Lie down. Are you feeling better inside?”

“…It’s all right.”

Karnov noticed as soon as he saw him. It was the same slave boy he had saved in the North.

“How can you…”

The girl and the slave seemed friendly. No, at least that’s what the girl seemed to think. He knew when he saw the girl run her hand over the slave’s forehead without a moment’s hesitation and take his temperature.

“I don’t think you have a fever…”

The girl, in a worried voice, asked the maid for the digestive medicine for the slave, and naturally led Karnov inside, chattering.

“I fed Ivan a cake… I guess he’s bloated because I made him eat too much.”

“…How did he come to you?”

“Huh? His Majesty… No, more than that, do you know Karnov, Ivan? Oh, since Ivan is from the North, have you seen his face?”

The girl clapped her hands, and Karnov, who was ready to answer her words, hurriedly shut his mouth. He might talk about the war when he talks about things in the North. For some reason he didn’t want to talk about that to the girl.

“…”

“Ah… it’s not? Uh, well. Anyway. Karnov, since you’ve come this far, could you please take the cake with you?”

“I think you need to be careful about being too close to slaves.”

“I think we’ve been talking about different things since earlier.”

The girl said as she packed the cake herself. Karnov shut up for a moment. He had the awareness that he, too, was not in the position to have a proper conversation. It was the first time in his life that such a thing was pointed out.

“I’ll get you a cake. Do you want to eat it at home?”

“…If you insist.”

“What do you mean, don’t stay close?”

Karnov could not readily answer that part. It wasn’t that he had nothing to say to the girl. If the royal family was so close to the slaves, it could lead to gossip, and of course, it’s better to be careful, he could say that…

But the words didn’t come out of his mouth. He felt like he was only thinking of excuses from before. Why he didn’t want to talk about the war in the north, why he wanted to tell her to get away from the slave boy.

Karnov was silent and decided to change the subject.

“Alexei is… His Highness, the crown prince seemed to like this cake.”

“You really only say what you want. Well then, I will too. Karnov, you can call me by my name as well. You can talk comfortably.”

“Yes?”

Without looking back at Karnov, the girl put her small hands in a box and organized the cake.

“Karnov keeps saying only what he has to say, so I’ve only said what I have to say.”

“…”

“Karnov calls Alyosha by his name, right? You can do that to me, too.”

“…”

“You can call me Asha.”

“…”

“…But only if you want to.”

The girl suddenly held out the box. Her lips pouted out. As he stared at her face, his busy mind somehow calmed down, and two conflicting thoughts came to his mind at the same time.

He wanted to say he didn’t like it once, make her sulk, and then he wanted to soothe her with all his strength, and he wanted to nod his head all at once.

“…Then let’s do what you ordered in private.”

“No, why do you say that like you’re forcing yourself to do something you don’t like?”

“It’s not something to be particularly pleased with.”

“Oh my god! I told you to do it right away!”

“It can’t be helped because it’s what Your Highness told me to do.”

The girl looked at him and thumped her chest in frustration.

“You love it! You liar!”

“Who said that?”

“Karnov’s face!”

Karnov, who had been quarreling with the girl stomping her feet for a long time, raised his hand to cover his mouth. Somehow he didn’t want to show his expression, so she turned her head away. When there was a short pause between the two, the girl suddenly spoke.

“…But also. You didn’t eat it either, Karnov?”

With a face that seemed to say she wouldn’t engage in proper conversation with him, she now appeared sincere in her intentions to do as she pleased. He couldn’t quite understand what the girl was saying.

“What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you eat what I gave you? The snacks.”

“…I ate it…”

“You didn’t eat it.”

Even though the girl was glaring at him, there was no bitterness, just a new expression. Karnov was rather more perplexed. He didn’t know how to react. But more perplexing things happened one after another. The girl’s shoulders drooped.

“It didn’t taste bad when I ate it… Oh, right. Karnov said you didn’t like sweets…”

He repeatedly said he had no interest in sweet things, but now, when there’s finally a perfect opportunity to tease, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

“…No, that’s not it. I feel a little better now. Because I ate the sweets you gave me.”

“Liar.”

“Is that a habit? You always say I’m a liar.”

“Since Karnov keeps telling lies, it’s only natural to call him a liar. Karnov lying must be a habit!”

The girl exclaimed with frustration. However, it was harder to believe her words when her own face showed her expressions.

“Oh, really. The snacks with lemon cream that you gave me last time, I personally shoved them into my mouth. I couldn’t resist eating them. I ate them all.”

“I know. I forced you to eat it.”

“At least you have some self-awareness.”

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“If you’re going to throw away the cake, give it to me.”

“I’m going to eat it all, so don’t try to give it to me and take it away.”

Karnov lifted the cake box high with one hand. The girl struggled to raise herself, but there was no way her hands could reach it.

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

The royal chef, Fjord Buicker, frowned as he looked down at the empty cake plate in front of him. The cake on the plate had already disappeared.

‘You said you didn’t want to make pastries! You said you disliked it! What on earth is going on?!’

The imposing and stern-looking chef stood, gazing blankly at the empty plate. It was clear that Fjord knew well that the chef wouldn’t say anything particular about the cake.

Last night, the emperor called the crown prince to the palace and had a meal together. It went without saying that Fjord focused on cooking. Plus, he even got compliments on how great the food was. In other words, Fjord was called to the place where the emperor and the crown prince were.

It was the second time he had met the emperor face-to-face since he became the head chef. The first time was when he was appointed as the head chef. On the way from the kitchen to the emperor, a brilliant dream of a life that would change from now passed quickly in Fjord’s mind.

…It passed by too quickly.

– You’re busy preparing dinner for the Noctis Elves.

As soon as he heard what the crown prince said, his spine felt chilly. Could the crown prince know about him and Valery? What if he was thought to be his pawn?

I heard you left the dessert to my chef this time. When I tasted it first, it was very nice.

When he heard those words from the crown prince, for a very brief moment, anger welled up first. Could it be that Pavel confessed his plans for the dessert to the prince without saying a word to him, who was no different from his direct superior?