14. A New Trend, Titania Oberon
“I don’t know when they will wake up. We need to prepare quickly.”
“Right, how are the cakes coming along?”
“The last one with lots of orange filling is already in the oven! We are baking a total of five!”
“Tell them to bake it faster. Imagine how happy they’ll be to see everything fully prepared as soon as they wake up?”
The Terran Empire. At the Archduke of Schweiden. This place, which had been desolate after its masters left for the desert, was extremely busy today.
At the center of the commotion is a cute girl with brown hair tied into two pigtails. The girl, who was given the lovely name ‘Juliet’ by her creator, was busier than anyone else as she prepared to welcome her master.
Ding, ding, ding! Just then, a bell rang in the kitchen. It was a notification that the giant turkey was ready to be roasted.
“Now, quickly, quickly! There is no time to waste!”
Normally, it was the job of an older maid to monitor the kitchen situation and deal with the maids. However, for some reason, there was no head maid at the Schweiden Mansion, so Juliet naturally took on that role.
“Whipped cream, with lots of cherries on top! The apple pie sprinkled with cinnamon should be crispy and golden brown. Everything must be tailored to our madam’s tastes!”
“Absolutely! Eclairs covered in white chocolate were also topped with small chocolate decorations. It will look good and taste good too!”
Waiting for their two masters, who were expected to return soon, was excruciating. Juliet quickly decorated the table, accompanied by the maids who were created the same way as her. She went through all the cookbooks she could find just for this day and learned how to decorate the table. It was difficult for her to serve meals at first, but she learned diligently.
Juliet and all the maids changed into clean clothes without a speck of dust and gathered in the central hall. Led by the butler, the other servants took their places on the opposite side. Everyone had excited expressions.
It was a morning at the Archduke Schweden’s residence, which was finally back to ‘normal’.
* * *
“Mmm.”
It always feels good to wake up after a good and deep sleep. Even more so when a handsome man is looking at you with his face buried in his pillow and smiling with his eyes.
“Good morning.”
Lacius greeted in a lower voice than usual. His voice is overly sweet, and my heart jumps into a pleasant beat. I smiled back at him, returning the greeting.
“Mmm, good morning. You woke up early.”
“About an hour ago.”
“You were up earlier than I thought, weren’t you bored?”
“What could be boring about watching you sleep?”
At this point, I think he’s going to say he likes it when I snore. I sat up slowly, embarrassed.
It’s not that I was treated badly in the desert, but being home is still the best. When I came back, the clothing store madame had created a bunch of new collections and filled the dressing room. The light pink silk slip I’m wearing right now was also new.
Madame and I seem to have a great connection, as I think I could attach a small accessory if I made a gown to go with this slip. Then it could be sold as well.
“Ah, it smells delicious.”
As I stood in front of the mirror and stretched, I sniffed the air. Lacius came back from the dressing room with indoor clothes and hugged my waist from behind.
“Everyone seemed happy because they had something to do after a long time. The sound of excited footsteps echoed since early morning.”
“Well, we’ve been away a while, haven’t we?”
“Quite a while. Juliet seemed eager to serve breakfast, but I told her not to come in.”
“Good job.”
It’s a little embarrassing to be seen like this. When we left, it was natural for us to sleep separately, but when we came back, it was natural for us to sleep together.
Lacius gently lowered the shoulder strap of the slip I was wearing and kissed me. As if I had been branded, the spot where his lips passed felt so hot that my body flinched, and instead of stopping, he even bit it lightly with his teeth.
As a short moan escaped me, his strong arms tightened. To make matters worse, I could feel his solid form against my hips. It was proof of his health and his love for me.
His hand slid up my shoulder, but before he could reach my chest, a rumbling sound echoed from my stomach.
“I’m hungry. Hmm.”
“Ah, my bad.”
As I scolded him out of embarrassment, Lacius took his hands off of me and smiled slightly.
“Let’s go down. If they worked that hard to prepare, they must be waiting for us already.”
“Okay.”
Lacius licked his lips with regret.
But for me,I wanted to meet the people I hadn’t greeted properly yesterday. Since we arrived late, I fell asleep immediately after briefly greeting Juliet. Knowing that devoted child was probably waiting for me, my hands naturally became faster. Brushing my teeth, washing my face, applying rose water, and even taking off my slip in a smooth and quick manner.
“I’m all done!”
“You should tie your hair too.”
“I’ll just brush it.”
“I’ll do it for you.”
My red hair cascaded down to my waist, feeling longer than before.
The smell of delicious food made my stomach churn, but I was no longer a child, and I had to maintain my dignity as a noble. I sat quietly and suppressed the urge to stomp my feet.
In the meantime, Lacius brought a silver comb and ran it through my hair. I don’t know when, but at some point Lacius just started combing my hair for me. I didn’t stop him because I thought it was his pastime. Also, his delicate touch felt pleasant.
“It’s done.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them, I saw that the hair on the side of my cheek had been braided. The knot at the end was decorated with a white flower, so fresh it looked like it had just been picked.
“Flower? Where did you get it?”
You can now sponsor a chapter by buying me a Kofi! 1 Kofi = 1 extra chapter
