Asha moved stealthily, slipping away from the hall. As the number of friends increased, the ball became more entertaining, but it always got boring around the middle or later.
Karnov went to appease the military officers who were half drunk and shouting, “Deputy Commander!” and Prince Alexei had his hands full dealing with various people.
Lyudmila, claiming to feel unwell, had gone to rest, and Natalya was held captive by Marchioness Tataricha. Therefore, Asha’s choice, as it always had been, was to escape to the kitchen. When Asha suggested slipping away, the emperor agreed under the condition of going with Shamal.
Seeing that the midsection of the ball was beginning, the court jester had already given up with a resigned expression. As they stepped outside the ballroom, the chilly night air greeted them. Asha crossed the deserted road and tilted her head.
“Is that a ripe apple?”
“Where are the ripe apples?”
The faint scent of apples permeated from the trees within the palace grounds. As Asha tilted her head, the wind blew lightly.
<There, two beautifully ripe ones at the top.>
<They’re a sour apple!>
A chick chirped from Asha’s shoulder. Asha’s eyes twinkled.
“Let’s pick those and make apple crumble. Come, Shamal!”
Asha lifted the hem of her dress, revealing a bit of her leg. With one arm embracing the dress, the other gripped a slightly higher tree branch.
Despite engaging in strength exercises akin to stretching, the idea of climbing a tree with one arm was impractical. Of course, the one supporting her from behind was Shamal.
<Hahaha! Even the wind has become a spectator. Just support my kid!>
<You can’t even lift your peach.>
It was rare for Phoebe to muzzle herself against other spirits, so Asha couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and she had to spend quite some time soothing Phoebe, who was reluctant to climb trees.
The sour, ripe apples were on the top of the tree, and Asha was almost half carried by Shamal. If a stranger had seen them, it might have looked like she was just floating above the ground, with only tree leaves beneath her. The small apples hanging from the top of the tree were a mix of yellow and red, beautifully ripened.
Asha smartly plucked two apples and held one in each hand. However, just as she was about to descend…
“L, l, l, little chestnut–!”
Asha widened her eyes. Pavel, who had been standing at a distance holding a basket, was now sprinting toward them, shouting nonsense. Asha, with Shamal’s help, smoothly descended, almost as if floating.
From a distance, Pavel rushed toward them and stared at Asha, who was descending from the tree, with a shocked expression. As soon as she landed, he hastily patted her down in various places.
He checked her arms, ran through her hair, and finally opened her hand. After a careful examination, he muttered something foolish.
“This is… an apple.”
“Oh, yeah. The apple tree planted in the street were ripe…”
“You stupid little chestnut! While you can have thousands of apples if you ask for them, who’s the idiot climbing a tree to pick apples!”
“I wanted to taste freshly picked ones. I’m planning to make apple crumble with these.”
“Is apple crumble the issue now? How tall is that tree! No matter how high you can come down to the ground like an angel, a stupid little chestnut… Even if you can… little chestnut… little chestnut…”
How surprised Pavel, who had been shouting as loudly as when we first met a few years ago, slowly began to come to his senses.
And looking at Pavel like that, the palace head chef Fjord Buicker, who arrived late while following Pavel, was left with a pale face, speechless, gazing at the two.
“Oh, Fjord is here too? Where were you two going together?”
“Oh…”
Fjord absently looked down at what he held in his hand. It turned out that, in a hurry to catch up with Pavel, he managed to salvage what Pavel had dropped. Inside the basket were crushed and burst blueberries.
“Good blueberries came in… I thought I might make something with them, and as I came out, I happened to meet the head chef…”
Pavel explained hesitantly. Seeing this, Asha couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt.
“Well, then, shall we make it together? A blueberry crumble bar should be delicious.”
Fjord’s face, contemplating the fact that a noble and the kitchen didn’t mix, showed signs of hesitation, but in Asha’s presence, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything, and Pavel, looking slightly dazed, showed a welcoming expression.
“Should we?”
“Sure! Let’s go to my kitchen!”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The kitchen of Princess Anastasia was splendid. At first glance, it seemed like a play kitchen made for children, pretty and whimsical, but upon closer inspection, it was equipped with everything needed in a sophisticated manner.
“I’ve heard that Anastasia isn’t just playing in the kitchen…”
“I haven’t heard ‘little chestnut’ in a long time. I’ve grown a lot though.”
“I was so surprised that I said something disrespectful, but… I think it’s true in terms of size.”
Fjord had lost a lot of weight over the past few years. Valery, who used to be his only restraint, suddenly attained some spiritual enlightenment and withdrew from worldly affairs, naturally leaving Fjord in the deep end.
The new realization that the days were better when there was an ambiguous string bothered him.
Now, facing an uncertain future, Fjord wondered what he should do.
His culinary skills were proficient enough, but not overwhelmingly so, and even if they were, it wouldn’t matter much since neither the emperor nor the crown prince had any interest in the dishes coming out of the kitchen.
What they enjoyed the most was a snack made by Princess Anastasia. Fjord was a person willing to change his course for survival, so he truly wanted to decide on a different path.
A few years ago, when Valery launched a bread crumb brand named after Fjord, he had not yet repaid the loan for the mansion he purchased. If he continued like this and the crown prince ascended to the throne, and Pavel became the head chef, what would happen to him if they decided to cut him off!
Logic and emotions both said that he should be aligned with Pavel. It didn’t matter if the other person thought he was his subordinate. Fjord could easily adapt to such a situation.
However, his love couldn’t allow that. So, for a long time, Fjord had kept a distance from Pavel, always contemplating that Pavel might be doing this to look good in front of his younger sister.
But now…
“Really? Am I that small? I thought I was at least average.”
“Not that small, just a bit?”
Pavel teasingly measured Anastasia’s size by joining and separating his index and thumb. Fjord felt like he was going to choke at Pavel’s impolite gesture toward the princess, but he kept silent. He knew he was not good at speaking, having realized it well enough.
“Fjord?”
At that time, the princess, who was bickering with Pavel, suddenly spoke to him.
“Yes, yes? Yes!”
“I heard that you made the lemon jelly at the banquet today?”
Fjord gulped dry saliva. It was because it was impossible to tell what the princess wanted to say.
“It was really good. How did you make it? Can you tell me the recipe next time? It’s okay if it’s a secret!”
“Oh, no! I can share it! Anytime!”
“Really?”
Princess Anastasia grinned, and Fjord breathed a sigh of relief, but Pavel interjected.
“Princess, if you say that, who would say, ‘No, it’s a secret, I can’t tell you.’?”
Fjord glared at Pavel as if he wanted to murder him.
“Oh! That’s true. Then cancel the request for the recipe. I’ll leave the lemon jelly to Fjord.”
Fjord stared at Pavel with a murderous expression, but eventually lowered his head.
“But it’s the first time I’ve seen the two of you together.”
As Princess Anastasia washed apples with a crisp sound, she looked at the two of them. Pavel, who was teasing Fjord, interjected with a sly smile.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Pavel used to say he had no friends.”
“…”
Fjord found himself in a dilemma, unsure whether to express that there was a difference in rank between Pavel and himself, making them unable to be friends, or to claim that they had become close friends again since yesterday. Could he ride on the princess’s influence rather than Pavel’s?
“Uh… about that?”
“That ‘that’?”
As Princess Anastasia enthusiastically washed apples, Pavel skillfully peeled them with a knife. Anastasia clapped in admiration at the neatly carved peel and continued talking.
“So Anne and Fjord? So Fjord… Wow!”
The apple Pavel was peeling was cut in two at once. Pavel, who had been polite to Fjord until now, looked back at him with a flash of eyes. At the same time, Fjord’s complexion turned blue.
“No! It’s not like that! It’s really not like that!”
“Oh, it’s not?”
Princess Anastasia raised her hand and covered her mouth with a bewildered face.
“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I was wondering if Fjord confessed to Anne. Fjord seemed to be looking at Pavel more favorably all of a sudden…”
“A confession? To Anne Marka? That crazy, strong guy… no, to my younger sister, the head chef?”
“Oh…”
The kitchen became chaotic amid the confusion. Fjord couldn’t figure out if he wanted to die or cry.
“Head Chef! Is that really true? But she… she’s the one who, if anyone makes a mistake with her, starts by breaking their arms?”
Pavel was verbally badmouthing Anne, but his eyes twinkled mischievously. Fjord glared at Pavel as if he wanted to murder him.
‘How the hell did the princess know that?’
Although he secretly provided snacks and drinks to the knights, making sure it didn’t seem related to Anne but rather to the entire knights, no one had noticed until now!
No one’s noticed it so far!
“First of all, no! Nothing happened! Nothing, nothing! Your Highness, I think you have misunderstood something…”
“Her Highness did not misunderstand anything.”
Pavel said decisively, holding a knife in one hand while making a fist with the other. His demeanor was ominous. Fjord wanted to oppose that fanatical conviction, but the atmosphere wasn’t right for such a conversation.
“Oh, I see. Yeah, that’s right! That’s right! I do admire Anne Marka! But, oh, nothing happened! I didn’t confess…! It was just a thought I had on my own!”
“Really?”
“I’m telling you! I swear!”
