Chapter 57
From items that were instantly recognizable to ones that made you wonder what on earth they were used for—Mitzu’s arms were filled with all sorts of things.
If there was one thing they had in common, it was that they all sparkled as if they were gilded with gold.
When Erina didn’t respond to his words, Mitzu dumped everything he was carrying onto the table.
“These are all handpicked pretties! Look, isn’t the ribbon nice? And this necklace, and even this fountain pen—cool, right?”
“Yeah, they’re nice, but… why?”
“What do you mean why?! They’re for you! Snack money!”
Mitzu plopped the coiled ribbon onto Erina’s head, wrapped the necklace with the large pendant around her arm, and even slid the gold-feathered fountain pen onto her fingers.
Erina ended up looking like a statue made of gold. The kids squealed in delight, saying Erina looked so pretty, and Mitzu grinned, pleased with herself. The only one bewildered by the whole situation was Erina.
“You really don’t need to give me all this.”
“No way! Humans always need compensation to produce proper results, right? This much is only fair if you’re going to keep making delicious snacks every day! What’s that look—do you not like my collection, human?!”
“N-no! It’s not that, it’s just… the ingredients in the mansion are more than enough to make snacks, so…”
“So you’re saying you don’t want what I’m giving you?!”
Mitzu, offended by what he perceived as rejection, threw a fit like never before. In truth, this was the first time he’d ever tried giving anything to a human, so his outrage was entirely unfounded.
In the end, Erina hurriedly gathered all of Mitzu’s gifts into a basket, even removing the ones adorning her body to place them inside.
The basket, just looking at it, felt overwhelmingly burdensome. She quickly brought it to her room and came back downstairs.
“Mitzu, um… you must really like shiny things. I think I even saw a f-fork in there. Your collecting range is pretty wide.”
“Huh? Of course. If it’s pretty, that’s all that matters.”
“Ah, I see.”
“But compared to what Lord Dylan has collected, mine’s just a drop in the bucket. His nest has all kinds of stuff.” Mitzu grinned slyly.
“Nest?”
Erina was curious about the unfamiliar term, but quickly shook her head. Something told her it wasn’t something she wanted to know more about.
“Anyway, thank you very much. I’ll make good use of it.
Even if she had no clue how she’d actually use any of it, Erina gave a polite thank-you.
“That’s right! I’m the only one who’d give you stuff like this. You all get snacks every day but never give anything in return, right? Hmph! Poor little brats!”
Mitzu puffed up with pride as he teased the triplets.
“H-hey!!”
“Mitzu’s mean!”
“Waaaah…”
Just as Mitzu said, the triplets didn’t have anything they could give Erina. The realization brought down the corners of their mouths.
Big-eyed Poi, the softest of the three, had tears welling up already.
‘What to do with this childish adult dragon?’
Erina cast Mitzu a sideways glance and looked around to lift the heavy mood.
Just then, she noticed the strawberry pudding she’d left to set was just about ready. The pudding had turned a lovely shade of pink. She quickly brought it over to the kids.
The pudding wobbled with each step Erina took, and the children’s eyes followed its motion from side to side. Their gloom vanished in an instant, completely enchanted by the pudding.
Erina found their simplicity adorable and chuckled inwardly before raising her voice.
“Ta-da! The pudding’s ready! Now let’s wrap it up all pretty!”
“Yay!”
The triplets cheered and gathered around the pudding. Mitzu slipped into the group, lifting his arm along with them.
Erina handed out small pink boxes and ribbons that matched the color of the pudding. The children squabbled playfully over who got which ribbon, then eagerly followed Erina’s lead to start wrapping.
“Ahh! My pudding collapsed!”
“Erina! This string’s super short!”
“Mama! My box fell apart!”
Within less than a minute, the kitchen descended into chaos.
Erina had to replace Resen’s half-crushed pudding, untangle Lia’s ribbon that had knotted itself, and refold Poi’s dropped and ruined box. Time passed in a flash.
“Wow! This strawberry pudding is super tasty!”
Meanwhile, Mitzu was happily scooping up a squished pudding with his bare hands.
“Mitzu! You can’t just eat with your hands like that!”
“So what? My hands are clean!”
Mitzu looked at her with wide eyes, as if genuinely confused about the problem. He even licked the last bits of pudding off his lips.
It was so annoyingly smug that Erina couldn’t help but shake her head.
“Not fair, Mitzu! Erina, Lia wants pudding too!”
“Resen wants some!”
“P-Poi wants to try it too!”
The kids clung to Erina’s apron, chanting ‘pudding, pudding.’
In the end, only four boxed puddings were left, and the other twenty-something were happily devoured by the dragons.
***
Princess Anna’s palace was bustling today, busy preparing for the guests who were scheduled to visit. Thanks to the princess’s unique atmosphere, the usually gloomy palace was lively for the first time in a while.
“Your Highness, for today’s refreshments, we’ve prepared dacquoise and madeleines made with seasonal fruits. What do you think?”
“Mm… th-that’s fine. Make sure to prepare… fruit juice for the ch-children, too…”
“Yes, of course. The weather is warm today, but the sunlight isn’t too strong. Would you like to spend some time in the courtyard for a change?”
The head maid cautiously watched the princess’s expression as she spoke.
Princess Anna usually needed a parasol even for a short walk—her skin flushed easily in the sun—so daytime outings had naturally become rare. After a moment of hesitation, the princess gave a small nod.
“Y-yes… l-let’s do that. I’m sure… the children will p-prefer being outdoors. Cough.”
Anna let out a dry cough. Even speaking for a bit too long left her breathless, and it felt as if her throat might tear.
As her brows furrowed in pain, the head maid quickly brought her some lukewarm water. Only after drinking two sips was she able to stop coughing.
“This morning, the apothecary sent over an antidote. They say it was made from flowers and roots.”
“Is that so…”
The cup the maid handed her was filled with a deep red liquid, like black tea. The princess stared into it. Her reflection in the antidote looked utterly pitiful.
What did it matter that she was the emperor’s daughter? She couldn’t even move freely and lived under constant threats to her life. Her self-esteem plummeted.
Anna let out a faint sigh and pushed the antidote away.
The head maid looked visibly flustered by her refusal—no one knew how strong the poison in the perfume truly was, and the antidote needed to be taken as soon as possible.
“Your Highness, why won’t you drink it?!”
“I-I’ll take it l-later… when M-Miss Erina arrives this afternoon.”
“But Miss Erina said you needed to take the antidote as soon as possible as well—!”
Crash!
The princess dropped the cup to the floor, shattering it. The sudden gesture left everyone in the room frozen.
“If… if this isn’t even a proper antidote…! H-how am I supposed to trust it?! I—I can’t trust… anyone!”
“Your Highness…!”
“Until M-Miss Erina arrives… no one… no one is to come in! I want to be alone!”
Anna turned and walked toward her bedroom at the fastest pace she could manage. It was the first time anyone had heard the normally quiet princess raise her voice like that, and everyone stood stunned.
The head maid had a sinking feeling… the fear and distrust the princess had felt from yesterday’s incident wouldn’t be easily dispelled.
At least within the palace, she had lost all faith in those around her. Including the head maid, who had served her for twenty years… and even her own father, the emperor.
Now, Princess Anna couldn’t trust anyone anymore.
