Asha poured melted beeswax inside a small, tall mold shaped like a wrinkled chrysanthemum to coat the mold. When she had finished the twentieth coat and gathered the remaining beeswax in one place, Lise, who had been fidgeting beside her, spoke up.
“Your Highness, are you really going to go all the way to the Sedvoyer estate?”
“Yes.”
Asha continued, removing her thick gloves.
“The sweets I’m going to make are long-baked with a little rum in the center, so it’s normally baked when traveling.”
Lise glanced at Ivan. She wanted him to say something, to tell her that the snack wasn’t important right now, but he remained silent as Asha prepared to bake the canelé.
“But Your Highness, I heard that there were rampant beasts there until recently…”
“That’s why we’re going now. They say it’s been caught.”
“What if there’s another beast then?”
“There isn’t, there isn’t. There’s only one.”
Lise stomped her foot at Asha’s convincing tone.
“Oh… What about the opera? It’s just starting production…”
“I’m just the one who listens to what’s been created and claps, right? It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Asha said so, holding with both hands a measuring cup of canelé batter that had been resting outside the refrigerator for an hour.
It was a batter that flowed with a lot of sugar and milk in the egg yolk. You could see the seeds of vanilla floating in the pale yellow dough.
As Asha carefully poured the batter into each mold, Lise only bit her lips firmly with a nervous expression. Then, it wasn’t until Asha filled the last brass frame with dough and stretched her back that her mouth opened again.
“Then I’ll cancel my vacation…”
“No! Just do it and I won’t talk to Lise for a month.”
“Your Highness, please…”
Asha shook her head with a stern look.
“This is your first vacation in seven years, and you’re canceling it?”
“Then I’ll go after this trip to Sedvoyer.”
“If you go up north, Lise will have another reason not to leave. Some stranger comes to visit, or I get a sudden fever.”
“You’re going to go and get sick?!”
“Of course not! But just in case. Lise is on vacation, and I… I’m taking a little break too. They say puberty requires a little time away from your guardians.”
“Puberty…? You…?”
Asha felt embarrassed when she saw Lise’s expression of extreme disbelief.
“Hey, put this in the oven first.”
Asha, who set the temperature, wiped away the sweat that had formed slightly, and held onto both hands of Lise.
“Lise, there’s Karnov there. Ivan is coming too.”
“Do you really need to go, now that the beast has been captured, and Lord Karnov will be back in the capital soon?”
“Yes. I have a reason to go.”
Asha’s tone was serious as she said so. Lise could no longer dissuade her.
“In retrospect, I realize that you always had an idea, but still… you should always be careful.”
“Of course. If I get hurt anywhere, I’ll be in trouble…”
As she was saying that, Asha suddenly thought, ‘If that happened, wouldn’t Alexei be able to talk to Fafnir?’ but she quickly stopped herself because she really thought that somewhere in the world might burn down and disappear.
“Of course I’m going to be careful, otherwise I’m going to get in trouble. I’m cautious, so we’ll only go after all the magic is caught. Grandfather said he’d let us go because it’s a safe place.”
“What are you talking about? I heard you had a big argument with the emperor about that.”
“It was nothing.”
“Everyone said his office was a mess…”
Asha frowned slightly. Rumors were flying around because of it. It was a story that the emperor cared so much about the princess that if he messed up the office despite her wishes, she would eventually listen to all of the emperor’s words.
“Shamal is a bit of a special case, that’s why. Alexei said he’s fine too. Lise should just enjoy the vacation without worrying about such things. It’s been a long time since you’ve been in a warm place, right?”
A faint smile barely crossed Lise’s lips.
“But I don’t know how the other young ladies will fare, if you go.”
“Lise! Don’t say anything scary.”
Asha threw up her hands as if she’d heard a bad joke.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“No, no, no, no, Natasha! Stop! Lyuda! I said no.”
Asha pressed down a hand on her throbbing head.
“Lise was right.”
Natalya, who rose from her seat, sat down again with a cheeky expression. But Lyudmila did not lift an eyebrow.
“Your Highness, North Linium Yushita is close to the Sedvoyer estate, and I’ve been meaning to visit our estate for a while.”
“Lyuda, if you ridicule the princess, it’ll be a big problem. You’ll get a spanking.”
Lyudmila shook her shoulders slightly. She managed to hold it in while trying to point at the bottom of the chair without realizing it.
“Y,Your Highness! How could you say such a cruel thing? Just say you’ll punish me.”
“But that’s a bit harsh.”
“Hitting someone’s bottom is even harsher!”
“You’d get hit on the butt because you lied.”
“…”
Eventually, Lyudmila’s face turned red. Asha continued packing the canelé she had baked yesterday into a box while Lyudmila was fanning her bright face.
“You said you were going to negotiate with the Kingdom of Kirelete, right? So the meeting was clearly scheduled for this week, but suddenly you want to stop by Linum Yushita?”
“I… I’m a bit capricious.”
“…Well, that’s a bit…”
Next to her, Natalya shook her head to mean that it was too much. Lyudmila’s face turned red again.
“Natasha, too! I heard the publishing house is having a party this weekend to celebrate the reprint, and it doesn’t make sense without you.”
“I’m not going to show my face anyway. I was going to wear a mask even if I attended.”
It was Natalya, who used a pseudonym when publishing the book because she didn’t want to make a fuss by revealing that she was a big noble for no reason.
“Yes, you should wear a mask.”
“So even if it’s not me…”
Natalya started to protest, but Asha held up her hand firmly.
“No, no, no. Still no. One, Lyuda will attend the meeting. And two, Natasha, you’re going to the publisher’s party.”
“But it may be dangerous…”
The presence of beasts in the north was now an open secret in the capital. That was why Lise was so worried and Natayla and Lyudmila came running.
“They’ve already captured the beast, Karnov is there, and Ivan is coming with me. It’s okay, don’t worry.”
Asha emphasized and hugged the girls tightly. Side by side, the girls rested their heads on Asha’s shoulders.
“I’ll get you a present when I come back. They’re famous for their wooden knives. I still use the one I got when I was a kid.”
“If anything happens, I’ll come running.”
Lyudmila chimed in at Natalya’s words.
“I’m sure the crown prince will take care of it.”
“So you’re not going?”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going.”
“Girls…”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The road to the north was not as tricky as she thought. It was chilly as autumn entered, but the train’s violet room was warmed up, fortunately.
“Maybe I was thinking too simply.”
Asha slumped exhaustedly into her seat, and Ivan, sitting across from her, familiarly pulled a blanket from the drawer under his seat and draped it over her.
“I just thought I’d be able to leave right away if I got a letter from Karnov.”
Asha was so exhausted that she couldn’t say anything for a while when the emperor said no. Of course, she didn’t think he’d oppose it, so she didn’t prepare anything to persuade him.
Alexei was willing to allow her to deliver the letter in a report, but he strongly objected to her sudden decision to go to Sedvoyer. The news of the beast’s capture meant the danger was still present, and everyone understood it as a sign of apprehension.
“Everyone is worried…”
“So the room next door is full of knights.”
“What a relief.”
Asha looked at Ivan as if she’d been mocked, then pouted her lips.
She hadn’t told either the emperor or Alexei, fearing it would only cause them more worry, but she knew it was time to tackle the assignment she’d been putting off.
Talking about the World Tree, Prasti, the Sealed Darkness, and the past was longer and more arduous than she had expected. The emperor and Alexei were incredulous at first. It wasn’t that they doubted Asha’s words. It was the kind of disbelief anyone would have when first hearing such a story.
However, there was no lie in the presence of the three spirits and the three victims, and they had to accept it after a long conversation. The wind continued to blow throughout the conversation. It came from the emperor’s heart, a wind that circled Asha but was violent to everyone else.
If Shamal hadn’t tried to calm it, it would have blown off a section of the palace’s roof. The emperor then rubbed his forehead and lamented.
– Why did you wait until now to tell me…?
He sounded as if he thought his granddaughter had been carrying the burden all along. Asha smiled a little. He heard all this, and that’s the part that bothers him. Asha squeezed the emperor’s hand firmly.
– As you can imagine, for me it was more like a fun game of baking sweets.
If you find someone with Prasti, you can feed them a lot of food one by one to solve it. There is nothing dangerous and difficult. Since this time it was a beast that ate it, they must have been waiting until it was caught. Despite Asha’s repeated persuasion, the emperor only clenched and unclenched his fist. Alexei reached out and grasped the emperor’s shoulder.
– It’s almost done. All I have to do is go to Sedvoyer and feed the beast.
Asha held them tightly together, saying so.
– Grandpa and Alyosha are protecting the empire, so I’ll leave you in peace.
Then she playfully exclaimed, “Since Grandpa and Alyosha are protecting the empire, I’m protecting the world! And by baking sweets,” she added. The emperor barely smiled.
When the emperor came to his senses after such a conversation, the office was devastated because of the wind that blew so hard whenever his mind wandered.
Then, in a voice that could have been the tip of a needle, he ordered ten knights to accompany her. These were the men who were now riding the train with her.
Asha lay sprawled across an entire row of seats, tapping her toes as she spoke.
“Ivan can go play with friends. Really.”
“I want to be here. …Do you feel uncomfortable with me?”
“Now Ivan is being grumpy with me, too. You’re grown up.”
“I’m not being grumpy, I’m just asking.”
“So you thought I’d say, ‘Yeah, you’re bothering me, so go play over there.’ Is that it?”
“…”
“You keep asking when you already know the answer was grumpy.”
Ivan smiled faintly.
“I’m glad Dimitri and Ilya are busy. I’d be dead by now if I had to deal with those two too.”
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the two of them had recently been getting along so well that they secluded themselves to hold reading meetings.
“When we were young, Dimitri used to be mean to Ilya.”
Asha murmured in such a small voice that she eventually succumbed to sleep, lulled by the rhythmic noise and sway of the train. A small chick nestled in Asha’s pink hair, also dozing off. Ivan tucked Asha’s disheveled blanket back over her.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Early in the morning, Karnov opened his eyes naturally. It was still dawn outside the window.
“Kairos?”
When he got up, Kairos, sitting by the window, flew lightly and settled on his shoulder.
<Something good will happen today.>
“Something good?”
Kairos said so, and began to doze off again, perhaps because he had not been able to overcome his early morning sleep. Karnov turned his head and looked up at the sky.
It was still dark, but he could see the clouds that had kept the sky cloudy for the last few days were clearing.
A short smile crossed Karnov’s lips. There was only one good thing for him. Even on the day he caught the beast, Kairos did not say that good things would happen. Today, it looked like he would have to pick her up at the train station.
