Lise couldn’t say anything for a moment in front of the gift.
“…Did you really make it yourself?”
“Yes. I only tied Lise’s with a ribbon. Isn’t it pretty?”
“…It’s so pretty. Thank you very much, Your Highness.”
“Is it a secret from others?”
“Yes… But, Your Highness isn’t feeling well, and if you go around like that…”
“No, I’m fine. I’m almost healed! But! I’ll be in my room until Lise confirms that I’m all better. I promise!”
“…Are you sure?”
“Really!”
“Of all the things you have given me today, I am most pleased with that, Your Highness. Really… Really…”
Lise’s eyes trembled as she was so worried. At this point, Asha felt sorry too, and she didn’t know what to do, so she only spread and closed her hands here and there. As soon as there was an unspeakably awkward air between the two, Asha noticed Ivan standing quietly in her corner.
“Ah, Ivan! You look good in your clothes. And this! It’s a ‘Welcome Cookie’ for Ivan.”
“…Thank you.”
After putting on decent clothes and tidying up the grey hair, the boy looked good too. Although he was embarrassingly skinny due to the arduous journey he had been through.
‘Did Lise feel like this when she saw me?’
Asha, who clapped her hands when she saw Ivan dressed neatly, secretly tilted her head, saying it looked good on him.
‘But even, I think it’s a little different from just not seeing the sun.’
Upon first sight, Asha had mistakenly attributed the boy’s pale complexion to her own confusion, influenced by his shabby attire. However, upon closer inspection, she realized that his face not only lacked color, but it possessed a different kind of pallor. It had a peculiarly subtle bluish tint, reminiscent of a crescent moon peeking through.
‘But, Ivan, he feels a bit different from just not having seen sunlight.’
However, Asha’s thoughts did not last long. Alexei, who she thought would be busy with his work as usual, came again.
“Alyosha?”
Carrying today’s cookies that Asha had asked Cyril to be delivered to him.
“Since there’s a snack you baked for me, I was thinking of having a cup of tea with you.”
At Alexei’s command, a beautiful wooden bed table was set up over the bed on which Asha was leaning. A cup of warm steaming tea, cold milk, and apple jam cookies baked by Asha just now were placed side by side on a plate with white, thin threaded lace.
Finally, after Ivan placed a vase with some flowers that he had picked following Asha’s words, Alexei dismissed all the servants around him.
“The flowers are pretty.”
“Right? Ivan got them for me.”
“Ivan?”
“Oh… His Majesty sent me…”
Asha couldn’t say “gift” or “slavery,” so she blurred the end of her speech, but Alexei seemed to have noticed. An unknown expression passed over his face.
“…If anything happens…you have to tell me right away, whatever it is.”
“What happens?”
“Anything.”
Asha chuckled lightly at Alexei’s brotherly concern and then shifted the conversation to a different topic.
“Yes, but aren’t you very busy today, Alyosha?”
Until now, Alexei, whose schedule had been set by the minute, seemed very relaxed today. He suddenly came to the kitchen and returned, and in time for her to finish baking the cookies, he wanted to share her refreshments…
“Actually, today is my last day off this month.”
Alexei continued, looking into the cookies he picked up.
“By the time spring comes, the envoy of the Noctis Elf comes, and I have to prepare to greet them. There’s more than one or two things to take care of.”
Asha recalled what had been forgotten. The war was over, and all the soldiers of the battlefield returned. Now, there was only one step left for both sides to acknowledge that the war was completely over.
“So I won’t be able to play with you in the evening for a while.”
Asha deliberately put on a calm expression.
“But it’s me who plays with Alyosha.”
“So I got someone to play with you instead of me.”
“…Alyosha? Are you listening to me?”
“Starting tomorrow, Karnov will come in the evening.”
As Asha was amazed and opened her mouth, Alexei smiled softly and bit the cookie that Asha had baked.
Thanks to the butter, the soft cookies that crumbled finely along the grain were filled with sour apple jam. The outside of the apple pulp had a chewy taste and the inside was moist, making it perfect for cookies that melted lightly like feathers. The warm scent of cinnamon, which permeated very lightly in the cookie, evened out the sweet and sour scent of the apple with exquisite balance.
“…Now I know what kind of cookies you baked.”
“Huh? What kind of… What do you think?”
Asha looked at Alexei with a rather strained look. It was always nerve-wracking to hear how he felt about her snacks.
‘The chef set off an orange firecracker behind his back as soon as he took a bite…’
However, he acted as if he had tasted everything that she made was a miracle, so there was a slight lack of credibility. Alexei, who saw Asha nervous, closed his eyes again and laughed.
“It’s very delicious.”
A simple word made Asha a little sullen.
“…Really?”
“Really. I can’t believe this little pea made it.”
“…Did Alyosha decide to call me a pea?”
“What else would be good?”
“I like ‘Asha’.”
“How about kidney bean?”
“I hate you, Alyosha…”
“Then baby peach?”
“I don’t like Alyosha…”
“I can’t do anything you don’t like. I’m in trouble.”
Asha looked at Alexei with an expression of wanting to tear her hair out. As Alexei laughed, something resembling cherry blossom petals scattered around him. When she saw things like that, she couldn’t say anything. Asha slid all the way out of her seat.
“It’s true that it’s delicious. It’s the best snack I’ve ever had.”
What he said with a gentle smile sounded like a kind greeting, but Asha ended up burying her face between her elbows with her cheeks red. It was because of his proclamation that all the currents crashing around him were genuine.
“So, does that mean you’re retracting your statement of disliking me?”
“I don’t know.”
Asha murmured, still turning her head.
“Well, I don’t know what kind of gift I should give to relieve my sister’s feelings.”
“If I’m a pea, Alyosha is a chick.”
“…What a surprise. Anastasia, my sister. You won.”
“Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
“…I really lost, Asha.”
“All right. I’ll forgive Fafnir for burning all the cookies today, Alyosha.”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
[To my lovely princess, Asha.
Asha, I can’t imagine what life is like in the palace. Your mother and I are missing you every day.
But I don’t think I’ll be able to go to the palace for a while. So, I am sending the things you wrote to Maxim. Please understand.
I heard that a peace delegation from the north will be arriving soon, and while I’m pleased about the empire’s progress, I’m worried that you might be exhausted from the busy affairs in the palace.
Do you happen to remember Sir Arten Juvanne? The harpist who stopped by our house the other day.
I heard that he will perform at this peace mission’s welcome ball. I wanted to let you know that if you meet someone you know even a little bit, they might alleviate the loneliness you feel in palace life.
If there is something you want to say or send a reply, please write a letter and ask Brother Maxim.
And I want you to do your best to be out of the eyes of His Majesty.
My one and only princess, who is very loved, your father Yuriev and mother Irina.]
[Dear mom and dad.
Everyone in the palace is nice to me, and I made a lot of new friends. I miss my mom and dad so much, but I’ll hold it in.
I got a chick this time, and His Royal Highness Alyo* Alexei gave me a cage as a gift.
[*TN: Asha messes up here, almost revealing how close she is getting to Alexei in her letter and corrects herself]
I’m a little upset that the chick is stupid and doesn’t listen to me.
One of my friends – I’ll call him stylish mustache – likes to cook, so we often bake snacks together. But I’m concerned because the stylish mustache seems to have a lot of worries these days. I hope it’s not a bad thing.
The other one, I’ll say is violet cape.
The violet cape always has a grumpy look on his face, but he uses a whisk very well.
I’ve decided to play with him this month, and I’m planning to make soufflé soon.
I’m sending the things I got from the Imperial Palace together because Uncle Maxim is helping me. Please don’t get sick and stay healthy until we meet again.
Asha, the one and only daughter who loves her mother and father so much.
P.S. I will take note of what you said at the end. I love you!]
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha sealed the letter and read the letter from her parents again. The last line of the letter had the title ‘His Majesty’ written in a different handwriting. It seemed like Irina, her mother, hastily added it, probably concerned it might be an issue later on.
‘Though it probably won’t make much difference since the content wasn’t altered.’
Only after finishing the written reply and letter could Asha turn to the box.
A small, rugged box that Maxim delivered to her through Alexei. They had packed her belongings and clothes from when she was with her parents.
“My nightgown!”
Yuriev had to sell blue paint made of ground lapis lazuli in order to get linen fabric to wrap the body and frills and lace to decorate the end.
Asha held her nightgown in her arms and rubbed it against her cheeks. Inside, there were some fairy tales that Yuriev had drawn for Asha, leather boots that Irina had made for her, and…!
‘It’s here! It’s here!’
Asha quickly took out some old notes and opened them. During the time when she believed that the family’s financial situation would return one day – around the age of six, to be precise – this record was diligently written to ensure that she wouldn’t forget the recipes she remembered. The fact that she reached this point without any issues was because her parents had the virtue of not impulsively opening their daughter’s diary.
