Episode 61
“I’ve never seen a child like that in my life.”
The Duchess of Aykroyd gulped down her drink, her chest tight with frustration.
The Duchess of Berg patted her hand.
“She said she would pay the amount I offered, just to take Leopold!”
“Oh my. Goodness. To think she believes she can buy the Duke of Baltrahein with a few coins…”
“What are we to do? If you carelessly provoke a bold girl like that, she could ruin an entire household.”
“Exactly. She probably knows that if she marries the Duke of Baltrahein, that money would be nothing in comparison.”
As the Duchess of Berg subtly cursed, the Duchess of Aykroyd shook her head.
“It’s true her family has money. But we should’ve tried to win her over with something other than that.”
“What did the Duke of Baltrahein say?”
“Don’t even mention it. We fought so much, he told me never to do something like that again!”
“My goodness… with that calm personality of his…”
“He’s completely taken. She absolutely can’t become a Trovanchan, but what are we supposed to do now?”
“How about pressuring Regina Berchio again? You said the Duke of Baltrahein doesn’t seem to know about it yet.”
“If we act clumsily, we’ll only end up provoking them.”
“In that case, I have a good idea.”
The Duchess of Berg tried hard not to smile widely, keeping her lips tight.
Then she ordered a maid to bring out a sealed box.
“What’s this?”
“Take a look.”
The Duchess of Aykroyd opened the box and examined the documents inside.
It was Liliana Berchio’s birth certificate.
“Her place of birth is listed as the Trovantine Security Patrol ship. And the Empress was working in the Security Patrol during that time.”
“No way…”
“We can’t let her marry into the family of a con artist’s sibling, can we? I’m gathering signatures from ladies we know.”
Viscount Gressley had fled to the countryside, and Count Ruman had been ignoring the Duke of Berg for months.
Other nobles who had followed him also began to fall apart.
So the Duchess of Berg was determined to strike against the Empress herself.
Even if the ladies acted thoughtlessly and things went wrong, they’d just be sneered at, and if it worked, she’d gain power proudly.
“I’ll help you. Let’s do it together.”
The Duchess of Akroyd didn’t reject the comforting hand that tightly grasped hers.
***
[I decided to make a cake with Edgar.
I want to give it to my brother too, but I can’t, so I’m sad.
It can’t be anyone but Lilliana. Got it?
I really miss you, brother.
I love you!
From Lilliana, who loves her brother.]
I carefully folded the letter I would send to my brother and placed it in an envelope.
I was planning to send it with my older sisters this week.
“Did you finish your letter?”
“Yeah. All done.”
Regina sister took the envelope from me and put it away.
She smelled faintly sweet.
“Regina sister. Did you make cake today?”
“No. I didn’t.”
“That’s strange. But you smelled so sweet.”
Parents’ Day was in two days.
I was planning to make a big cake so my eldest sister, Regina sister, and Emilia sister could all eat it.
But if Regina sister made one too…
‘Is Regina sister also making a cake for big sister?’
Hmm. Regina sister wouldn’t have a reason to celebrate Parents’ Day with big sister. unless it’s for my brother.
At that moment, I heard Edgar sigh next to me.
“Leo brother. I don’t think I have talent for drawing.”
Edgar complained as he looked at the picture he drew.
He tried to draw the cat Helen raises, but it definitely didn’t look like a cat.
“…Did you draw an ant?”
“It’s a cat!”
“Sorry…”
Leopold, who had picked up a crayon to help color the cat I was working on, didn’t do much better.
“Brother, Is this a ladybug?”
“…It’s a flower.”
“Sorry.”
But the drawing wasn’t what mattered, so I didn’t care.
When Regina sister chuckled, Leopold’s face turned red.
The two had gotten close again and now spent almost every day together.
Sometimes when they went out on dates, they’d even take Edgar and me to see fun things.
‘Seeing the parrot at the arboretum last time was the best.’
That day, Leopold quietly asked me,
Does your sister usually wear square rings, or round ones?
Looks like he’s planning to make couple rings.
“Ahem. I’m just glad Miss Regina is smiling.”
Today, Leopold kept glancing at Regina sister.
Earlier, while playing with Edgar in a corner of the room, he even apologized.
“I’m truly sorry about what happened with your grandaunt. I’ve explained things properly, so that won’t happen again.”
He clearly didn’t know what to do.
But whatever it was, Regina sister forgave Leopold quickly.
“I wasn’t exactly in the right either. I was just really angry that day…”
They mentioned Marius and big sister here and there, but I didn’t know the details.
‘Still, I’m glad they didn’t break up.’
I don’t want to see Regina sister sad again.
I hope she’s always happy.
“Edgar. Let’s go play and make a cake with sand at the cabin.”
“Okay. Let’s go!”
When I signaled, Edgar put down the crayons and stood up.
It was time to start making the cake for Parents’ Day.
As we headed to the kitchen, the maids greeted us.
“Miss Lilliana. Master Edgar, you’re here?”
The kitchen was full of sweet smells.
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like Regina sister had used the kitchen.
“Did Regina sister come by earlier?”
“Miss Regina hasn’t been here.”
Ah. So I was mistaken.
“What are you thinking about? Let’s hurry and make the cake first.”
Edgar pulled me to the table.
For today, we had already looked up a recipe and written down how to make the cake sheet.
“Let’s start by separating the egg yolks and whites.”
“Okay.”
We cracked the eggs the maids gave us.
“Ugh!”
I must’ve used too much force. The egg burst and splattered all over my clothes.
On the other hand, Edgar used too little force, and the shell only cracked slightly.
“The recipe said three eggs are enough, so we should use ten, right? Since Miss Alice, mrs Regina, and the brothers—four people—are eating.”
“You forgot Emilia sister!”
“Then twelve.”
“Okay!”
I cracked eggs one by one.
The shell fell in, and once it dropped to the floor and couldn’t be salvaged.
I sighed without realizing it.
After we finished cracking, our hands were slippery.
“We’ll help you.”
“We want to do it ourselves, so you can go.”
The maids looked uneasy and watched us nervously.
Then Edgar chased them out.
When we opened the recipe with our egg-covered hands, the ink smudged.
“Ah… What do we do? I can’t see the next step.”
“After separating the yolks and whites… we were supposed to mix something.”
“Maybe flour?”
“Probably? But why do we separate eggs anyway? They’re the same eggs.”
“Hmm. This is hard. Let’s just mix everything for now!”
We poured flour over the eggs.
Guessing the rest of the recipe, we made the batter and asked the maids to bake it in the oven.
Then we sat in a corner of the kitchen looking for snacks.
We were starving after all that work.
“Hmm. I don’t see anything to eat. Just ingredients. I’m hungry.”
“Same here. Huh?”
“What? What is it?”
I rushed over to where Edgar was and saw a perfectly baked cake sheet.
“Wowww!”
It was a huge cake. Big enough that I had to stretch both arms to reach across it.
“Who made it?”
“Maybe one of the maids made it for Parents’ Day like we did?”
“That makes sense. But don’t you want something too? I mean, adults usually have what they need, but you don’t. Like toys or something…”
“I do! There’s something I really want!”
“What is it?”
His green eyes sparkled under his flour-covered face.
“The legendary wizard’s wand that grants wishes!”
“What? That doesn’t exist.”
“You said to say what I want.”
“Hmm…”
Before Edgar could reply, the oven dinged to signal our cake was done.
We rushed over to the oven.
The maids, who had just taken out a sheet, flinched.
“Um… Miss Liliana. Master Edgar.”
“Did something go wrong with the sheet?”
Below the maids’ awkward smiles was a cake sheet as hard as a rock.
“Whoa.”
“Oh no…”
As both of us stood frozen with our mouths open, one of the maids quickly stepped up.
“I-it’s okay! There’s still one cake sheet left!”
“Huh?”
“Earlier, Miss Re—um, we made a few extra sheets and one is left. We’ll give you that one. Just come tomorrow and add whipped cream!”
“R-really? You’re giving us something that amazing?”
I clasped my hands together like I was praying.
“Of course. The one who made it… I mean, we would be really happy if you two used it.”
“I’ll… I’ll do my best!”
“Calm down…”
Edgar, flustered by my excitement, poked my side and took charge of the situation.
“Then we’ll use that one tomorrow, so prepare whipped cream and fruit.”
“Also chocolate cream!”
Just when we were excitedly planning to decorate the cake with candy—
“Edgar. Why are you doing the cooking? That’s something you should leave to the maids!”
A stern voice, like a military instructor, rang out from behind us.
Startled, we turned around and saw a grandmother glaring at us with sharp eyes.
Without realizing it, I grabbed Edgar’s hand tightly.
Edgar’s face was just as shocked and blank.
“Grand aunt?”
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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