The bathtub was filled with only lukewarm water, but Asha didn’t hesitate to push Dimitri into the bathtub. Dimitri, who was in the bathtub, swept away his wet hair and shouted.
“My clothes are all wet!”
“Well, then, take them off and get in?”
“Uh.”
Asha, without hesitation, took a caramel from her pocket, opened it, and placed it directly into Dimitri’s mouth. Then, she knelt outside the bathtub, firmly holding Dimitri’s hand. Dimitri flinched as if to shake off the hand, but only sniffed, saying the water had gone into his nose.
“I think I’ve got water in my ears, too.”
“Dimitri.”
“Can I really do this?”
“You can do it.”
“How do you know that?”
Asha stared at Dimitri’s blue eyes. Dimitri, who rarely looked people directly in the eyes unless he was joking, stared back at Asha without avoiding her gaze.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Your chances are quite high, based on the family history.”
“…What?”
“Grandfather can use his spirit, Alyosha can, Uncle Maxim can too. Our dads can, and I can use mine. So, of course, you can!”
“But Uncle Valery can’t use his.”
“No, these days he can.”
“W,What spirit?”
“Uncle’s spirit. Grandfather has become really lenient with him these days.”
“Don’t play with me! And what kind of magic do you use?”
“Me? Didn’t you think I was really good at making snacks?”
“Well…”
Dimitri was about to say yes, but he bit his tongue and stopped himself.
“Everyone else has done it, too. Of course you can.”
“But Father thought I…”
Thought I couldn’t do it.
Dimitri murmured softly. Asha shook her head strongly.
“What are you talking about? When you said you contracted with the rain spirit, Uncle said that. ‘Now, our empire doesn’t worry about drought as much.’”
“What?”
Dimitri looked at Asha with an incredulous expression. Asha looked at him with a puzzled face.
“Don’t you remember? You didn’t know what my spirit was, so Uncle Maxim came and said something like that when he saw you.”
“I was ten years old. How can I remember that?”
“Aren’t you really stupid bread dough?”
Asha teased him, but Dimitri didn’t answer back. He was just staring at the lukewarm water in the bathtub that was cooling silently.
Phoebe quietly brought the top of her head to the back of Asha’s neck as she watched the airflow that sank heavily around him.
<The last step must be taken alone.>
‘…Yeah.’
Asha slowly let go of Dimitri’s hand and stood up. Because she had rushed to fill the bathtub, water overflowed onto the floor, soaking the knees of her clothes.
“Dimitri.”
“…What?”
“You can do it. I’m telling you. But if it doesn’t rain, it’s because it’s autumn now. Originally, it doesn’t rain much in autumn.”
“…”
Dimitri didn’t say anything. Asha left a handful of caramels on the shelf next to the bathtub and left the bathroom.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha did not follow Irina, but stood in the kitchen with Lise, who was left in the mansion.
“We have to cook.”
Lise also nodded with a nervous expression. Wearing aprons side by side, the two of them scanned the refrigerator first.
To feed all the people who would constantly come in, simply adding ingredients should be enough to fill the portion, and it should be a dish that people who have been through hard times can eat comfortably and used to fill their stomachs with confidence.
Various kinds of meat and food were contained in the warehouse in large quantities. Half were prepared by Irina and Yuriev to greet Asha this time, and half were brought from the capital by Asha.
Asha took out everything inside. Onions, carrots, potatoes, and various vegetables were carried to the kitchen in a basket. She also brought all the milk and cream they had. After looking through the ingredients, Asha decided.
“Okay! Let’s make meat cream stew. Hot and generous and savory.”
In fact, Asha had rarely cooked anything other than baking snacks, But a small yellow bird sitting on Asha’s shoulder flapped its tiny wings helpfully.
To ensure that tired people could eat comfortably, Asha chopped the meat into small pieces, coated them with flour, and crisped them in oil. The processed vegetables were sautéed in a large pan.
The big pan’s size was exaggerated a little for Asha’s body so Lise handled the vegetable sautéing.
“I can do it…”
“You’re still small, Your Highness. I’ll do it.”
“…”
Eventually, Asha decided to quietly give out a wooden spatula to Lise and make a roux*. Once the flour was added to the butter in equal parts and toasted until dark, the roux for the stew was complete. As the onions sizzled and gradually turned transparent, the distinct aroma of vegetables began to rise.
[*EN: A roux is a flour and fat combination used as a thickener in stews and sauces.]
Once all the firm vegetables were cooked, they were transferred to a large pot, and milk and cream were generously added. Asha attempted to stir the stew, but again, Lise took over. Asha clenched and unclenched her slightly trembling hands.
“I need to work out more with my grandfather. If I want to make a lot of snacks later.”
“Don’t overdo it, Your Highness.”
Asha smiled and shook her head. Then, from the outside of the mansion, she heard the sound of horse hooves.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
When Asha stepped outside the mansion, the flames had grown so large that they were now visible directly from the estate. Asha arrived first and hurried up to Karnov, who jumped off the horse.
“Karnov!”
“I’ve informed the capital, and soon the injured peasants will arrive in carriages. But… why is your attire like that?”
“Attire? Ah…”
Asha’s knee-length dress was completely soaked.
“I was preoccupied, dealing with various things in the kitchen. I’ve prepared stew, so people can eat when they arrive. Karnov, you should eat too. Your hands are cold.”
“Exposing yourself to the night breeze with wet clothes is the bigger issue. Change your clothes first.”
However, their conversation came to an abrupt halt. The carriage was about to arrive. Even before Ilya led the people inside, Asha hurriedly approached Ivan.
“Ivan, are you okay?”
Ivan’s complexion seemed darker than usual, perhaps due to being close to the fire. As Asha met his eyes, he lowered his head.
“I’m fine. Did anything happen to you?”
“Are you okay, Ivan?”
Asha attempted to get more information, but Ivan averted his gaze when she looked into his eyes.
“I’m all right. Did anything happen to you, Princess Asha?”
Ivan’s face had been etched in Asha’s mind because of their frequent encounters in the infirmary, and his clothes were stained with soot and spattered by sparks. Karnov sighed and nudged Ivan with his chin.
‘Asha is worried, so go inside quietly.’
‘Still…’
‘Just do as she says.’
Ivan, who talked to Karnov with his gaze, finally nodded. Asha looked dissatisfied with Ivan’s acceptance of Karnov’s eyes faster than her words, but ended her dissatisfaction by tapping Karnov’s waist.
While the on-site healer attended to the injured, one person, after having his forearm bandaged, abruptly stood up.
“I need to… I need to go back down. I have to see how the barley field is doing, and Yuriev and Irina are at the scene…”
The healer, who had wrinkled his brow at the man’s insistence, pushed him back into his seat.
“What will an injured person do down there? You’ll only bother them! Stay still.”
“How can I stay still! If the barley burns this time, even if we survive now, we’ll starve to death anyway!”
“Then starve to death on your own in a few weeks! Don’t try to die already. If you have so much energy, drive the carriage yourself. Bring more injured people.”
“Oh, can we bring more of them as we please?”
“Yuriev told you to do that.”
The healer released the man’s arm, which he had been holding, and started attending to others. The man, now free, hesitated and looked around as if checking for any observers. Asha quickly guided him away.
“The carriages will be coming back soon so help me carry the stew. Everybody’s got to eat something and cheer up.”
“Ye… yes?”
Karnov sighed and looked around the mansion while the man was being led by Asha at first glance. The mansion turned into a shelter for a moment.
Those who lost their homes tonight, those who lost their barley fields, and those who were injured flooded into the mansion. It was Lyudmila and Ilya who showed surprisingly strong performances.
Lyudmila went to each person hesitating to taste the stew due to worries and encouraged them to eat. If someone seemed to be enduring pain, she quickly noticed and took measures to help.
Ilya didn’t mind getting ashes on his cheek while tirelessly keeping the fireplace in the hall burning. He even comforted a crying child in his arms.
In the meantime, Asha made stew inside, went somewhere, and then again appeared with her sleeves soaked.
“Ivan, eat this and get some sleep.”
Asha, continuously serving and boiling ingredients, handed a somewhat diluted stew bowl to Ivan. The slightly stiff Ivan hesitated and nodded his head.
“Please eat first, Your Highness.”
“Just call me Asha.”
“I… How can I?”
The people here treated Asha as if she were some unknown noble enjoying a humble life with Yuriev and Irina. If her aristocratic status were revealed here, it would undoubtedly surprise and confuse them.
“My name is Asha, and you can call me Asha because of that. What’s the problem?”
“Still, it might not be appropriate… You should eat first…”
“I’ve been eating while cooking. Come on, quickly, okay?”
Asha smiled quietly and insisted. Ivan, who hesitated, eventually accepted the bowl. It was the middle of the night, but the light was endlessly wavering thanks to the distant flames.
The fire, which had almost burned the barley field, was now engulfing the forest. Depression and fatigue engulfed the people of the mansion. Only a small whimper, a low cough, and a groan of pain filled the hall.
Asha gently wiped the wet strands of Ivan’s hair and cheek with her hand after finishing the stew. She covered his shoulders with a blanket and got up.
“Karnov.”
Without looking, Asha knew who the owner of the hand on her shoulder was. Karnov responded with silence to Asha’s quiet call.
“What about my mom and dad?”
“Some people insisted they wouldn’t move from where the barley fields burned… So they only brought those people back.”
“What did Karnov eat? You’ve been going back and forth; it must have been hard.”
Asha, without waiting for an answer, took something out of her pocket. It was a small package of caramel.
“Hehe. I saved one for you.”
When Karnov only stared at the caramel in her hand, Asha finally removed the wrapping and pushed it into his mouth.
“Still, eating something sweet gives you energy…”
Karnov eventually sighed and took out something from his pocket. It looked exactly like what Asha had just given him.
“The caramel I gave you! You didn’t eat it again.”
“Just in case.”
This time, Karnov removed the wrapper and put it in Asha’s mouth. Asha smiled faintly, but the expression was weaker than usual. Sensing Karnov’s gaze, Asha avoided it and slowly surveyed the hall.
Anger, sadness, regret, resentment, pain, and fatigue had filled the hall. When she breathed in, the deep blue sadness that occupied the empty hearts of the people who lost everything seemed to fill the lungs.
“These people… and Dimitri…”
Asha couldn’t finish talking and blurred the end. It was then. Suddenly, the soft sound of the stringed instrument rang out somewhere.
“Huh? Arten…”
A low and quiet harp sound filled the empty space. People slowly turned their gaze. In a dim and secluded corner of the hall, Arten was slowly moving his fingers, plucking the strings.
The Arten who had been panicking and rushing all night was nowhere to be found. The slow and low tones seeped into the floor of the hall, covering the autumn night’s chill, and seemed to be caressing the shoulders of the tired people.
“A…”
Asha’s eyes widened. As if immersed in a dream, the harp’s soft sound continued, slowly and steadily filling the hall. The deep blue particles of sorrow, which had occupied the entire space, slowly spread into different colors with each pluck of the strings.
If the bright light of hope were to spread like dots on the sea, it would look like this. The sea was vast and wide, and the light quickly faded when it touched the abyss, but every time the strings were plucked, small particles of light bloomed again.
Arten continued to play.
Until the moon set, until dawn broke, and until his hands became numb, he kept playing.
