The Villainess Princess Wants To Live In A Gingerbread House ​

Karnov tilted his head with his arms crossed.

In front of him, there was a large painting depicting a picturesque scene of a lavish banquet. The soft light from chandeliers illuminated various desserts on the table. A girl with pinkish hair, adorned in a luxurious dress, stood in front of the table. She looked down at the desserts with a thoughtful expression, while a handsome blond youth beside her covered his mouth with a hand, smiling.

The gazes of the nobles, as well as the hesitant gestures of the orchestra that hadn’t started playing yet, were delicately portrayed. It was evident to anyone that the two were waiting for their turn to dance.

“The title… is it <The Torment of Anastasia Kayeruth>?”

“I didn’t come up with the title.”

Asha spoke with a slightly blushing face. Several prominent figures were also invited to Alexei’s coming-of-age ceremony, including the rare genius artist Mura Aylau.

Upon giving her some cookies when they met after a long time, she was very pleased, and a month later, this painting arrived.

“Meura… Meura made it up.”

Karnov looked at the painting with his mouth covered in the same position as Alexei in the painting, then turned around with a shrug. Asha put on her coat and sighed.

“Keep it a secret from Uncle Valery.”

“Well, I wonder if there is anyone who doesn’t know. A painting of this size coming into the imperial palace from the Aylau family.”

At that point, Asha swallowed a sigh.

“Just when we thought Prasti was finally over…”

When Asha returned and had a severe cold, the next news she heard was that Valery vomited blood and collapsed.

Fortunately, Ilya, who came to visit Asha, told her that there was no major health problem, but rather, Valery was more at peace in his body and mind after that.

As soon as she heard that, Asha realized. Valery vomited out Prasti by himself! But the problem came from somewhere else.

<Damn. Where on earth did you vomit it?>

She had searched Valery’s mansion three times – under the pretext of visiting – but she still had not found the piece of Prasti that Valery would have vomited.

“It’s a spirit. Can’t you track down Prasti?”

When Karnov held Asha’s hand as she boarded the carriage and asked, Phoebe cawed loudly.

<The power of the spirit isn’t something that just does anything! Even if I track it down, we can track down the guy who ate this stupid peach’s dish, not Prasti itself. Problem is he vomited everywhere, so it could be anywhere.>

“So you’re saying you can’t.”

“Karnov, don’t tease Phoebe.”

<These… these half-open barley ears! Gathering together like this!>

“Now we’re barley ears?”

<If you catch wind of things, aren’t you guys as noisy as those barley ears that make a fuss whenever the wind blows?>

Asha held back her laughter. Karnov pursed his lips once, shrugged his shoulders, and tapped on the wall of the carriage. As the carriage departed, Karnov massaged his temples.

“What if I can’t ever find that Prasti piece?”

<It’s not possible. Even if you hide cookies in the wardrobe, eventually everyone will notice when they start to rot and smell. It’s inevitable.>

“Finding it before the cookies rot is the key… Can we find it when it’s slightly spoiled?”

<Sigh. What a hassle this is. Even if it’s vomited, Of course he had to throw up alone.>

Phoebe chirped vigorously.

“But it’s partly my fault…”

Valery, surprised to hear that Asha had fallen ill, was writing a letter while preparing a remedy for fever, but vomited in the midst of it. Perhaps the dishonest uncle, unable to suppress his emotions, had various thoughts and ended up vomiting. But Phoebe was indifferent.

<What kind of adult can’t control his emotions?>

“That’s true.”

Even Karnov chimed in. Asha lifted Phoebe from her shoulder to Karnov’s and let out a deep sigh.

The carriage carrying Karnov and Asha arrived at Maxim’s mansion. Maxim and his wife had gone for a brief recovery in the warm southern region, leaving only Dimitri at the mansion. Dimitri, who came out to greet them with brisk steps, frowned deeply when he saw Karnov getting off the carriage first.

“What’s going on? Why are you here too?”

“Dimitri~!”

And after that, Dimitri’s expression crumpled further when he saw Asha jumping down.

“You just jumped from that height?!”

“It’s… It’s a bit high up there.”

Dimitri dragged Asha a few steps away and whispered as she answered with a humming voice.

“And you can’t go anywhere alone? Must you bring someone every time?”

“I came here alone? My cousin told me to go with an escort.”

“Oh…”

Dimitri closed his mouth. Because it was himself who told her that. Dimitri wore a pained expression for a while, then sighed and returned to where Karnov was.

“Well… let’s go inside.”

Karnov only smirked at Asha and then chuckled at Dimitri, who spoke as if he were grumbling, but did not respond back. Asha came to Maxim’s mansion today to make clothes with the high-end fabric Dimitri talked about in the past.

The tailor bowed down to Asha and Karnov while looking at the various fabrics in the middle of the hall. Asha waved to Joel Alman, a tailor who had seen her face several times.

“Joel! Long time no see!”

“Your Highness, I heard you were coming and was waiting.”

Dimitri proudly displayed the fabric, and Asha and Karnov approached to take a look. Dimitri explained with even more enthusiasm.

“You’ve never seen anything like this either.”

“Wow, what is this? It’s velvet, but it has a very colorful pattern.”

As Asha opened her eyes wide and looked into the fabric, Dimitri became more energetic.

“That’s right. It’s called brocade velvet. It has an incredibly intricate pattern engraved on it, and it’s considered a rare item even in the capital.”

Asha nodded at the grand explanation, then clapped her hands.

“I’ve never seen this before. Are you the only one who has this fabric?”

“Of course! Everything that came into the capital is here.”

Dimitri said proudly. Originally, he was going to get a small amount of brocade velvet and dress Asha with it, but last fall, for his work at Lake Bishti, the emperor called him in to reward him.

When the emperor said that he would give him something special, he could see this brocade velvet lying on one side of the emperor’s office.

Dimitri asked for it ‘all’. At first, the emperor found it ridiculous, but eventually, he laughed and gave Dimitri all the brocade velvet he had. If it weren’t for that, Asha would have seen some of what the emperor had, for sure.

“Wow… Oh! What if you make clothes with the leftovers and give them to Lyuda?”

“Why her?”

“Because she’s older than you. Lyuda is interested in fabrics, isn’t she? Wouldn’t it be helpful for her to see various things?”

“Well… If there’s anything left after you’re done, give me some.”

While Dimitri was grumbling and nodding, tailor Joel looked all the way through the fabric and unfolded a dark green velvet.

“I think this green will suit Your Highness well.”

“Oh, really?”

“The light gray fabric would be perfect for making a fitted coat until early spring, and the bright red fabric would be great for making a small clutch. Not a clutch, but a small bag shaped like a purse with a buckle and lock…”

His words were fast, like racing. Asha, with a dazed expression, looked at Joel. While Dimitri continued to frown a bit, Joel, who seemed somewhat flustered, finally regained his composure and blushed deeply.

“T-that… I was looking forward to the day when I could make a dress with this fabric. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“No, no… I also like dresses made by Joel. They’re beautiful… So, should I make a dress with this fabric and wear it with Karnov to the coming-of-age ceremony?”

“What?”

“What?”

With his arms crossed, Karnov, who was looking relaxed, and Dimitri, who had a smug expression, both turned to look at Asha at the same time. Surprised, Asha took a step back.

“Why, what’s going on?”

“Well, why are you going to the coming-of-age ceremony with that guy?”

“I was planning to have a new dress made for you for the occasion, Your Highness.”

“Oh, if it’s a dress, I’d be honored to make it for you.”

Asha looked confused, only pursing her lips and glancing at the three of them before touching her forehead and speaking quickly.

“Oh, first of all, Dimitri, it’s because he’s my partner for the coming-of-age ceremony. And, Karnov, I thought the dress I’m making now would be good for the coming-of-age ceremony. Is that okay? Lastly, Joel’s clothes are always the best.”

With that, Asha hastily fled to the kitchen to slice the lime pie she made. She didn’t feel confident enough to handle all three of them at once. As soon as Asha turned away, Dimitri glared at Karnov with blazing eyes.

“Is there really no one else you can take as your partner to the ceremony?”

Karnov, with a puzzled expression, glanced at Dimitri before returning his gaze to the fabric. Dimitri, tapping his foot impatiently, continued speaking.

“Your Highness, although she is my cousin, you have many others…”

“Who else are you talking about?”

“That…”

Dimitri looked at his fingers for a moment and grumbled with irritation, frowning.

He couldn’t think of anyone Karnov was particularly close to. At best, it would be Natalya, but if he talked about this and it got back to Natalya, it wouldn’t be Grisha Vullie who’d end up with a broken bone, but himself.

“Well, uh, what about your fiancée? You’re about to be an adult, after all.”

Karnov raised one eyebrow slightly.

“Hmm. Your Highness, do you want me to get engaged as soon as possible?”

“Why are you asking me that…”

Caught off guard by Karnov’s subtle tone, Dimitri looked crestfallen for a moment before suddenly realizing something and opening his mouth in shock.

“D, don’t do it!”

“You have no respect, do you?”

“You! You! Don’t get engaged!”

“That’s not up to you, Your Highness.”

“Then who decides?”

“Who decides what?”

Just in time, Asha, who cut up the lime pie, appeared with a tray in her hand. While Dimitri was still speechless, Karnov reached out to take the tray from her.

“Ah, Princess Anastasia is here.”

“Oh, Joel! Let’s eat together. Do you like sour things? But why did Karnov suddenly sound so serious?”

Asha suggested, pulling the tailor to the table. Joel seemed embarrassed, but because he was already familiar with it, he sat opposite without much hesitation. In the meantime, Karnov sighed.

“I can’t imagine forming a harmonious relationship with His Highness for a lifetime. Our temperaments really don’t match.”

While Karnov grumbled, Dimitri, with a face redder than a tomato, continued to wave his arms as if he were about to explode. Asha frowned at Karnov for a moment, then turned to Dimitri.

“What on earth did you guys talk about? Be honest, Dimitri signed a contract with Fafnir, didn’t he? Dimitri’s going to breathe fire.”

“Whoa, whoa! The dynamics don’t match at all. When it comes to driving people crazy, their dynamics are fantastic. Go ahead! Keep going!”

“What are you trying to say?”

“No, stop it! Stop it!”

As Dimitri’s words wavered back and forth in just a few seconds, Asha turned to look behind her. Karnov, who had a indifferent expression on his face, cleared his throat and turned his head. When he looked back, Dimitri was still pounding his chest as if he were about to breathe fire.

“Joel, what did these idiots talk about?”

The two men’s eyes were immediately fixed on Joel. Joel, who was about to reach out for the fork to eat the lime pie, stopped in his tracks and looked at the three of them.

“Um… If you become a customer, according to the confidentiality clause…”

“My coat! I’ll entrust you with a new coat!”

“And my coming-of-age year uniform too.”

Dimitri and Karnov spoke quickly. Asha made a bewildered expression, but the three men didn’t say anything.