Asha had never expected to feel such an awkward atmosphere since attending the tea party of the Marchioness Tataricha at the age of ten when she first came to the palace.
Lyudmila greeted her politely, then only sipped the teacup, and was speaking to her with a smile. Raki Ceilistria arrived a little late, tried to strike up a conversation with Lyudmila, but was taken aback by her chilly response.
And Dimitri, a regular guest of Marchioness Tataricha, was making fun of Ilya, who had come with him, without caring about the tense atmosphere.
“Do you know why Lyudmila is here?”
“I don’t know either. I heard she suddenly asked Mother for a favor and came here.”
Asha whispered with Natalya. At that moment, the marchioness’s servants brought plates and filled them with the cream puffs that Asha had brought.
“This is a confection made by Her Highness Anastasia for today’s tea party.”
As the maid placed the plate on the table and introduced them, Raki was about to applaud with amazement, wanting to express his admiration, but Lyudmila couldn’t hold back and revealed her true feelings.
“Are you saying that Her Highness is in and out of the kitchen?”
And before Asha could say anything to Lyudmila’s remark, Natalya grabbed the cream puff with her bare hand.
“Oh, Natasha! It’s full of cream…!”
– Splat!
Cream explosively burst out as Natalya took a bite, splashing her nose and lips.
“I was going to say that since it’s filled, you have to eat it gently!”
Asha chuckled as she grabbed a napkin and wiped the cream off Natalya’s nose.
Wide-eyed and startled, Natalya left Asha to move the napkin over her face, while she skillfully used her tongue to lick away the cream that had smudged beside her lips, bursting into laughter.
“It’s delicious, really. I was surprised, though.”
“I was surprised too, Lady Natalya.”
Dimitri shot a disapproving look at Natalya. Even though she had turned fourteen, Dimitri still tried to act as if she were a young girl by calling her “Lady Natalya.”
In the meantime, Ilya smiled calmly and divided a choux pastry in half with a dessert knife and placed it on Dimitri’s plate. Dimitri took it proudly and looked at Asha.
“And Your Highness Anastasia, why do you always make something like this for tea parties?”
Dimitri made an unexpected comment, not fitting in with the conversation. Asha barely held back a smile. In the meantime, Natalya cheekily grabbed the portion meant for Dimitri’s plate. And before Dimitri could say anything, she put the half-split cream puff into her mouth.
Dimitri’s jaw dropped in shock, but Natalya paid him no attention, closing her eyes and savoring the taste.
The crispy and fluffy choux pastry combined with the smooth custard cream created a delightfully light texture in her mouth.
The taste of the cream, like clouds of heavenly sweetness, vanished in an instant, tempting her to try another puff.
“Lady Natalya!”
Dimitri stared at Natalya, shouting her name, and snatched the choux pastry Ilya was about to eat.
“Yes, yes.”
Dimitri, without showing any concern for Ilya’s flustered state, forcefully shoved the
halved cream puff into his mouth, wearing a displeased expression. Ilya sighed and brought another fresh cream puff, cutting it in half again.
Lyudmila, completely excluded from the whole process, struggled to hide her bewildered expression.
‘These days, is it a trend not to follow any rules or etiquette? Everyone’s out of their minds.’
It was truly shocking to hear that the princess, whom the emperor favored, was in and out of the kitchen. Even when Lyudmila’s health was at its worst, she had never set foot in the kitchen. It was because, to the nobles, there was noble work to be done, and interfering with the workers by playing pranks in the kitchen was not noble work.
On top of that, Natalya Bagration, looked unbelievably casually dressed. She had cut her brown hair short, exposing her neck and ears, and wore pants. And she even ate the pastries that the princess had brought, with her bare hands!
‘Oh my!’
Lyudmila quickly averted her gaze when she saw Natalya sucking the cream off her finger and wiping it off haphazardly with a napkin.
“Are you not going to eat?”
But when Natalya suddenly talked to her, Lyudmila couldn’t bring herself to refuse it.
With an awkward smile from Raki beside her – clearly witnessing such a sight for the first time – he nodded, and the marchioness’s servants placed a cream puff on his and Lyudmila’s plates as well.
‘If it tastes weird after eating it, then you have no choice but to expose it, Lyudmila Shchedrin!’
The intended target, Karnov Neustadter, had yet to appear, so Lyudmila couldn’t reveal her true intentions and overturn the situation. However, just saying “Yes, yes,” and smiling like an angel was demeaning to her pride.
‘But why hasn’t Karnov Neustadter come?’
The reason for her descent to the capital and forcibly inserting herself into this tea party was all because of Karnov Neustadter.
As Lyudmila’s body became surprisingly healthy after going up north, her parents had attempted to find a fiancé for their daughter as soon as possible. And during their search, they came across the Neustadter family, who ruled the Sedvoyer domain not too far away.
“These days, children may not readily agree to an arranged marriage arranged by their parents, but if it’s Lady Lyudmila, she would definitely suit our son well.” The words of the duke couple had brought great joy to Lyudmila’s parents.
Thanks to the flax fabric, which came from Linum Yushita, their finances had been in good shape. But by the time she left for the north, she had to sell even Mura Aylau’s painting.
So, after Lyudmila’s cough and anemia were cleanly healed, Marquis Oleg came down to the capital with his daughter.
The duke and his wife made only a verbal promise to welcome Karnov and Lyudmila’s marriage, so if they wanted her to marry him, Lyudmila had to meet Karnov in person and talk to him. Karnov himself was the only one in the empire who could control the marriage of Deputy Commander Karnov Neustadter.
‘Just meet and talk, that’s all it takes.’
There were no noble families with assets and honor that surpassed her own family. Nevertheless, it was clear that Karnov Neustadter still has no fiancé because everyone was afraid of the Spirit of Death he possessed.
But Lyudmila thought she was different. She no longer found the shadow of death that terrifying, having seen it frequently even when she was bedridden with illness.
Karnov would likely have never met someone like her before, and politically, her family and the Neustadter family stood on opposite sides. But rather, if this marriage were to happen, it could become a bridge of reconciliation.
As far as she could see, Karnov had no other suitable match. Lyudmila was confident. As long as she met him. Although they hadn’t met at all so far.
“Is Grisha feeling better?”
“Oh, of course. He said he couldn’t come because he’s embarrassed. I feel guilty that my younger brother caused such a surprise for Lady Natalya.”
Lyudmila looked sideways at Raki and Natalya having a conversation.
Upon arriving at the capital, she had tried to meet Karnov several times, but she couldn’t even see the hem of his clothes. All requests for direct meetings were met with rejection, and Karnov hadn’t even hosted any parties or events.
When she heard that the only place where Karnov would attend was the tea party held by Natalya, she couldn’t help but intervene, regardless of her pride.
‘Karnov Neustadter and someone like her? No, that’s not possible.’
At first, she wondered if there was some kind of connection between Natalya Bagration and Karnov Neustadter. However, the Natalya she saw in person didn’t give off the impression of someone who would engage in romantic endeavors, even if she played sports with men. Wasn’t Natalya the one that broke the Viscount Ceilistria’s second son’s arm?
Then was Karnov involved with Princess Anastasia? Lyudmila thought it couldn’t be that either. Princess Anastasia might superficially resemble an angel from a famous advertisement poster, but hadn’t she herself said that, as a princess, she occasionally frequented the kitchen without any thoughts? Such a childish girl didn’t match well with Karnov Neustadter.
Lyudmila, once again, firmly grasped her determination and bit into the cream puff, thinking that all she needed was to meet Karnov.
“Oh?”
And Asha, who was watching Lyudmila with a more tense expression than ever before, saw a spark of light burst behind Lyudmila’s back. Like plucking something orange with her bare hands.
“How does it taste, Lady Lyudmila?”
When Asha asked, Lyudmila swallowed a bite of the choux pastry and coughed awkwardly. She had put plenty of cream inside, so it ended up smearing on her hands too. Lyudmila alternately looked at the cream and Asha and managed to open her mouth.
“Uh… Ugh, it was made by Your Highness the Princess. Of course it’s delicious.”
Lyudmila tried to make her expression read as, “I’m forced to say it’s delicious because I can’t talk bad about what the princess made,” but she couldn’t hide the bright fireworks behind her back.
Asha smiled happily, relieved. She urged Lyudmila to have another treat. If they continued to feed Lyudmila snacks and eliminate the Prasti, everything would be resolved.
“Fortunately, Lady Lyudmila. Then, let’s try another one…”
“If it doesn’t suit your taste, is there really a need to force it?”
But just as Asha was about to transfer another cream puff to the plate, Dimitri frowned and snatched the plate away. His expression clearly conveyed his disapproval.
He didn’t like Lyudmila’s somewhat disrespectful attitude toward Asha. Asha bit her lip and gave a smile as she turned to the side.
“…Dimitri.”
“Why are you trying to force someone who doesn’t want it?”
Dimitri, who said so, was rather looking at Asha with a look of frustration and anger. It was like an older brother’s face seeing his innocent sister recommending snacks without realizing someone hates her.
Asha turned her head, ensuring that Lyudmila couldn’t see, and forced a smile once again, attempting diplomacy.
“Lyudmila said it… tastes… good.”
“It’s because you act naive at times like this. It’s because you’re a princess and made it, so she can’t help but say it’s good.”
Phoebe was too busy laughing, and Asha tightly closed her eyes before finally opening them.
“But she really finds it delicious.”
“How would you know, huh?”
Dimitri, who said so, was pretending to be as mature as he could be, with a facial expression that contained concern, worry, and a hint of anger. Asha wanted to tap on his forehead. If only she could.
“It’s because it’s the same expression as when you put brownies in your mouth!”
