CH 53

But the next moment, relief flooded in. If the crown prince hadn’t hinted at it like this, he would have found fault with everything and rejected Pavel’s dish.

But when Pavel brought the cake to him saying it was ready, Fjord had no choice but to eat the whole plate with the words, ‘It’s hard to give a definitive answer with just one bite.’

He just couldn’t stop.

“What do you think?”

“…Hmm.”

The subtle sweetness and brown sugar from the carrots combined to make the flavor even stronger, and the cinnamon tickled the tip of the nose wonderfully.

A savory cream made of nuts, and apricot jam at the end added a rich taste. Then you want to start eating again.

It was the first time he felt so satisfied while eating dessert. Fjord had no choice but to finish the cake silently. Because if he opened his mouth, he would start with admiration.

“What about… now?”

Pavel asked again as he left an empty plate. Fjord clenched his fist. He felt like he might applaud if he made a wrong move.

When he found out that Pavel was on the prince’s chef line, he decided not to say anything bad, but he didn’t mean to say anything good either…

“Very… excellent. I was worried that it would be too clunky. I didn’t know you were so well versed in desserts… Really… Really… Not at all… at all… I didn’t know…”

The next emperor was Crown Prince Alexei no matter what anyone said. It would have been unknown if Prince Ilya, the son of Prince Valery, had signed with the King Spirit, but now there was no hope of turning the tables.

And if Alexei already had someone who was settled in his heart, then he should make him his own person.* Pavel seemed embarrassed by the sudden change of attitude of his boss, who had been cold, but Fjord shamelessly pretended not to know.

[*TN: Fjord wants to make Pavel a comrade to get into Alexei’s good graces.]

“All right, I’ll have this for the dinner dessert. Did you decide on the name of the cake? If you haven’t decided yet, after you…”

“Uh, ah, I have something to tell you about that.”

Pavel raised his arm to stop Fjord from speaking.

“This cake is actually… It was made according to the recipe devised by the Her Imperial Highness Anastasia, not me.”

“Puhaha. What do you mean, that?”

Fjord chuckled.

A girl who was now ten years old made this cake for the first time? It was difficult for Fjord to readily acknowledge Pavel’s words. After all, he was a seasoned chef, skilled enough to become the head chef of the palace. At least in the empire, he was the best.

“No matter how much you insist…”

“Really. She wanted to help me with dessert for the dinner this time. I couldn’t think of anything at all, but she made me something so cool.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. I’m really glad it passed.”

There was no lie on Pavel’s face. Fjord’s back softened when Pavel, who looked as tough as a bandit, said, “It’s a relief.”

‘What? Did Princess Anastasia herself get involved too?’

What if he had gone ahead with the plan without knowing anything? He would have been completely out of favor with the imperial family.

“Well, no, if that’s the case… You should have said that it was made by Her Highness from the beginning…”

Did Princess Anastasia really make this?

Fjord was still skeptical about him. Pavel was still skeptical about that. While the girl might have spread some apricot jam between the layers of the cake, most of it was surely made by Pavel himself.

However, Pavel’s insistence on Princess Anastasia might be a way for him to show off his favor with the imperial family or to align himself with them.

‘Huh? No, no, no. It was Prince Alexei who pushed for this cake.’

Fjord suddenly stopped moving. Now he felt like he could see the big picture.

Alexei would be happy to take care of Pavel, who has been in charge of his meals all this time. But isn’t it the dignity of the royal family to express such a meaning openly?

‘Yes, that’s why he brought up Princess Anastasia here!’

Then Pavel could claim that Princess Anastasia assisted him, while Alexei could simply say that he admired his cousin’s work. As a bonus, it would also serve the purpose of pushing aside his potential rival, his cousin, in the culinary field!

Fjord stroked his neck for a moment. He thought that he might have lost it by a momentary mistake, so it felt more precious for no reason.

“Oh, no. Whatever. Good, good. Let’s have this dessert for the dinner.”

At that, Pavel looked at him with a bright expression. Fjord thought of Valery, who would make a fuss about it, but quickly shook it off.

“What’s the name of the cake?”

“Oh, she didn’t say that…”

“You must have a name! Something very nice.”

Pavel seemed to be trying to say something like ‘Shall I ask her?’, but then he shook his head.

“Yes?”

“I think it would be better if the head chef decides. For the royal family, naming…”

The latter words were hard to hear because Pavel murmured out of proportion.

‘Are you saying you’re not interested in naming it?’

Feeling embarrassed to ask about the royal family again, Fjord decided to pretend he understood.

“Can I decide on my own?”

“The head chef commands the dinner. Isn’t that the right thing to do?”

“Yes… yes! Yeah. I’ll try to figure out what suits it.”

Somehow Pavel’s words gave him a sense of relief. It felt like he had become closer to Pavel, whom he had always been distant from. And thus, the day when the Noctis Elves’ diplomatic delegation would arrive drew nearer and nearer.

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

At the same time as the news arrived that the Noctis Elves had finally crossed the border of the empire, the leader of the knights of Tingnes finally returned after nearly a decade.

“I’m not going.”

“Yes?”

Lise, who had taken out about three dresses and couldn’t hide her excited face, looked back at her in bewilderment. Asha said firmly, again.

“I’m not going.”

“Uh… Where?”

Although Lise couldn’t let go of the last lingering doubts and asked again, Asha firmly shook her head with a resolute expression.

“I’m not going to see the knights.”

“Oh, my. You’re not going to see the knights. It’s just taking a leisurely walk…”

“Going around the west side of the palace?”

There was the training ground of the knights in the western side of the palace.

“…B-but, Your Highness, the commander of the knights has returned to Tingnes this time, and I heard that he is truly exceptional. Wouldn’t it be nice to meet him and at least greet him?”

“He’s my maternal grandfather.”

“…!”

Lise’s face was stained with embarrassment. Lise seemed to think she didn’t know.

“Oh… Did you know?”

“Yes, I heard.”

“Then why…”

Asha could sense the longing in Lise’s eyes. She wished there was someone who could bring comfort to the isolated girl. Even if it was through a chance encounter disguised as a coincidence.

“My maternal grandfather didn’t seem to have missed me for ten years, but if he suddenly missed me after ten years. He’ll come to see me in person, right?”

Asha deliberately said a little bit of a tantrum. It was obvious that if she mentioned the issue of succession to the throne here for no reason, she would be misunderstood. For example, ‘You are already brilliant enough to consider such things, so you must be a successor to His Majesty the emperor!’

“In all likelihood, the commander would have wanted to see you as well. But until now, the circumstances haven’t been favorable…”

“Yeah, so if he suddenly feels like seeing me, he’ll come to see me first.”

With that firm statement, Asha believed she had resolved all the related issues.

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

“Today, there was a ceremony to appoint the captain of the Tingnes Order. I heard you didn’t go.”

Asha, sitting on a garden bench, reading a book about the Noctis Elves, did not even raise her head, but responded to the words that came from behind her.

“Looking at you saying that, you didn’t go either, did you?”

“Because if I go, people may faint.”

At the same time, there was a shadow over the book she was reading.

Only then did Asha raise her head upward. Today, Karnov, who had a strangely twisted expression, was looking down at her.

His face, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, bore deep lines that made it difficult to discern his thoughts at a glance.

“I didn’t go because I was afraid people would faint.”

“No way, after seeing a pea?”

She immediately closed the book and punched Karnov, but her left and right hands were blocked one after another.

Karnov said, letting go of Asha’s hand only when she tried to hit him with her forehead.

“Alexei was disappointed.”

“Huh? What?”

“Because he didn’t see you.”

“Can’t I meet with Alexei later tonight?”

“Don’t peas have to sleep at that time?”

Once again, left hand, right hand, and forehead hitting continued. Of course, again this time, none were a real attack.

Karnov, who let go of Asha’s hand, asked again.

“Seriously, why didn’t you go to the knight commander’s appointing ceremony?”

Asha put aside her defiance and opened her book as she retorted.

“I’m afraid Karnov will kill me if I go.”

She was joking, but she was half-serious. Half of it was really a joke. However, there was no answer from Karnov after a long time. Asha raised her head, feeling somehow self-conscious.

“…Karnov?”

“Is it because of the Spirit of Death that I signed the contract with?”

Asha clapped her lips. Come to think of it, there was a problem.

‘Should I tell you that it’s actually the Spirit of Time?’

There were difficulties in openly expressing her thoughts, not only because of how she knew it, but also due to other reasons.

Is it okay to tell someone who suffers from a special birth or ability – even if he really didn’t care that much – that everything that had been bothering him was really just a misunderstanding?

The special ability made him alone, but at the same time, didn’t that strength serve as a cornerstone in his life? The power that allowed him to become the second-in-command of the imperial army at the age of fifteen, and the power that allowed him to be recognized as the undeniable next duke was the power of the Spirit of Death.

If she revealed the truth, would she break the weight that had been holding him down or the stone that had been holding him up?