Asha stepped off the train, rubbing her eyes, which were slightly puffy from sleeping on the train. The distinctly crisp air brushed past her cheeks, waking her from her slumber. It was a clear day with barely a cloud in sight, which made the wind feel even colder.
“Phew, the knights went through unnecessary trouble again. We could have just left. Still, I’m glad it’s over quickly.”
It took a while for Asha to get off the train as they checked the station for anything dangerous after the train pulled up. Ivan gave her a faint smile as she grumbled while she walked down the stairs, holding his hand.
“I was going to surprise Karnov, you know? Without even contacting him beforehand.”
“Mhm…”
“He’ll be startled, won’t he? Maybe he’ll even fall back when he sees me? Hehe.”
“Um…”
Ivan let out a somber voice. Asha paused for a moment and quickly noticed.
“…Is he here?”
“I’m here.”
“Karnov!”
Asha spun around, startled by the voice behind her. There stood Karnov, clad in a shirt of black silk, accompanied by several servants.
Asha opened her arms toward him absentmindedly, but then realized the strangers around her and pulled her hands back in a panic. At the same time, she swallowed hard and coughed dryly. She almost slipped up, and then realized it, and all the emotion she’d been feeling at the reunion was gone.
“Ka… Duke… Sedvoyer, how did you know to come here?”
“How could I not know that Your Highness the Princess was coming?”
“You didn’t have to come out to greet me.”
“I came out because I wanted to, so don’t mind me.”
At Karnov’s gesture, the servants hurried to divide the luggage, while Karnov handed Ivan the thin woolen cape he had been holding. Ivan carefully draped it over Asha’s shoulders.
At the same time, a black chick popped out of the pocket of the cape and perched on Asha’s shoulder alongside Phoebe. It was a moment like any other in the capital. Asha relaxed a little, petted them both adorably, and took a step closer to Karnov’s side.
“Karnov, why didn’t you write?”
Karnov scratched the nape of his neck at Asha’s inaudible question.
“I did. I wrote that we caught the rogue beast.”
“You said you’d write before that. You didn’t even say, ‘Please come, Your Highness.'”
Asha’s tone was casual, but underlying it was concern and worry. Was everything all right? Was there some trouble? Or was he just busy?
Karnov’s voice softened.
“I’m sorry. The post office building here was in tatters and the mail was paused for a while because of the renovation, and I don’t think it’s fair to slip a personal letter in the middle of an official letter and get into a false rumor.”
This was certainly true because Asha once got caught up in gossip and a magazine closed as a result. Asha glanced up at Karnov with a sour expression, then changed the subject.
“…Why are you so skinny now? Did they not feed you properly?”
“No way. Maybe it’s because I ran around a bit. Why are you so skinny? I thought you were a kidney bean, but now you look like half of a pea. Alexei will cry.”
“Well, someone didn’t reply so I spent all night worrying.”
Asha pretended to poke Karnov’s temple with her finger. Karnov smiled.
“Forgive me, Your Highness, I did my best to catch the beast for you.”
“Well, I could have gone with you from the start.”
“Can’t do that. How could I put Your Highness in danger?”
Outside the train station, a luxurious carriage was waiting. It was a black and large carriage decorated with gold on the edges and details. Asha opened her eyes wide at it.
“I… I thought Karnov would be traveling on horseback.”
“It’s the first time I’ve brought the Princess to the estate, so I can’t do that.”
“I didn’t know Karnov had a carriage like this…”
“…”
“…”
“No, you’ve always come to pick me up on horseback, so…”
“…”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The landscape in the north was new. The top of the mountain, visible in the distance, was covered in white snow, and the trees were all tall and pointed.
Asha admired the view from the carriage, and only at Karnov’s beckoning did she stick her head inside. Asha’s cheeks and the tips of her ears were red from the cold wind.
Asha smiled brightly and pulled out a small wrapped canelé from the pocket of her dress while Karnov rolled and unrolled his hands, trying to figure out what to do with her ears and cheeks.
“I brought this for you.”
“…What is it?”
Karnov asked, pulling his hand away from Asha’s ear. Asha tugged on the ribbon string and untied it.
“It’s called a canelé. It’s a sweet that’s baked in a beeswax-coated mold that keeps for a long time. Perfect for traveling, right?”
Asha regretted that she didn’t have a plate, so she spread the unwrapped wrapper over her hands, placing the canelé on top and holding it out to Karnov.
It was a trivial gift, unrelated to the beast or the events at the Sedvoyer estate or the capital. Karnov looked at it for a long time. Asha offered it again, Karnov eventually smiled and picked up the canelé with a look of defeat, broke it in half, and placed one piece in Asha’s mouth and the other in his own.
It had been baked for a long time with plenty of butter and eggs, giving it a dark, crunchy exterior and a thick, pudding-like center with a hint of rum and vanilla flavor.
Asha ate the canelé half carefully, then quickly closed her eyes and buried herself between the cushions of the carriage.
“Asha, are you sleepy?”
“Oh, no, it’s because it’s blinding.”
Karnov meticulously drew the small curtain on the carriage window. Asha considered whether to tell him it wasn’t because of the sunlight but decided against it.
A few moments passed, until the only sounds between them were their low, even breathing and the rolling of the carriage wheels, and then Karnov spoke softly.
“…I’m sorry to have worried you.”
Buried in the cushions, Asha slowly opened her eyes. Across from her, Karnov’s color rippled toward her, a mixture of mauve, pale cream, and the lightest shade of mauve visible from the innermost part of the petals.
Asha studied his face once more, and then smiled wryly, a little sleepily. And then Karnov’s expression returned to his usual one. Somewhat melted, soft, and warm. Inevitably, with such a usual expression, with a small worry that was always underlying and a little playfulness.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Upon her arrival, Asha wasted no time in exploring Duke Sedvoyer’s castle before walking to see the beast. Karnov had captured him with difficulty and kept him in a cage.
<It was no ordinary hardship for my boy to keep him locked up.>
The black chick glanced at Karnov and chimed.
“Is it big?”
“Mmm. About the size of two lions.”
“Then it’s huge, right? I told my grandfather that I would give him dog food.”
Karnov, who had no expression at Asha’s words, laughed quietly. However, with the two chatting with each other, it became quiet when they reached the cage.
<Roooowr!>
In the backyard of the mansion, barbed wire bars were installed in a tent that seemed to have been hastily built. A beast the size of a house was banging and crying. Asha pursed her lips as she felt Karnov’s hand slowly fall away from her ear.
The beast was really big. Really big.
“H, How did you catch that?”
“By working hard.”
<My child really worked hard.>
<So my kid came to clean it up.>
<No, he really tried…>
Kairos hummed and flew to Karnov’s shoulder. Asha blinked slowly and stared at the beast. Its white, dark brown, and black fur was spotty, and it had bright lime-colored eyes.
Many times, the beast violently ran into the bars, and Karnov hid Asha behind his back and prevented her from coming forward. Asha peeped her head out from behind Karnov and scanned the beast.
“This… this is what I’m supposed to cook for and feed to cleanse, is it?”
<Yes. My boy worked hard to catch it, and now it’s your turn. Peach.>
<Oh, stop bragging! My child came all the way here by train!>
<Well, but…>
As Kairos whimpered, Asha looked back at them.
“You said I was going to feed a dog, but you really lied. We’re supposed to have cat food, right? You said there was something cats aren’t supposed to eat. What was it?”
“…Cat?”
Karnov asked in a rather bewildered voice. Asha nodded.
“Yes. That’s… a cat. A tricolor cat. I’m surprised it’s this big, but it’s got floppy ears, don’t you think, Phoebe?”
Karnov glanced at the top of the beast, barely visible through the fur.
<Yes. I think the mother cat swallowed Prasti and gave birth to him.>
“But there was something wrong with her, so Prasti…”
<It’s a male tricolored cat.>
“Aha.”
“…”
Karnov pursed his lips. Asha filled in the blanks.
“Karnov might not realize it. Normally, only girls are born to tricolored cats. It’s very, very rare for a boy to be born. This time, Prasti must have gotten into her, and a boy was born.”
“…”
“What was that thing cats aren’t supposed to eat? Phoebe, do you know?”
<Onions, garlic, alcohol, milk, chocolate. But he’ll chew beef, too.>
“But you can’t give just anything to an animal.”
Asha said in a stern voice, crossing her arms.
“Karnov, where’s the kitchen?”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The people of the Sedvoyer Duchy truly respected and wholeheartedly followed Karnov, as opposed to the fear of the people in the capital.
It would be a lie to say that they had no fear at all, but they had never been betrayed in their belief that he would use the power he had gained from his pact with the Spirit of Death to protect the estate.
When Karnov finally succeeded to duke, it was the men who guarded the duchy who rejoiced most; and when the young duke succeeded in slaying the fiends that had suddenly appeared in the duchy himself, their joy and trust were almost akin to faith.
Then the duke suddenly sent word to the people of the manor that the princess would be visiting from the capital. When the usually cold and stern-faced young duke showed a hint of warmth for the first time, everyone’s attention was piqued.
There was something different. Something sweet, perhaps something that would bring warmth to this cold, harsh, northern, wind-filled duchy!
The people, who had barely managed to capture the beast and struggled to catch their breath, gladly cleaned and adorned the duchy to welcome the princess.
Though time was short – perhaps due to the duke only mentioning it at dawn on the day of her arrival! – they meticulously prepared the most beautiful room for her, polished the stained glass at every end of the corridor until it gleamed, brought in exquisite delicacies, and even hitched new horses to the carriage…
“Wow, this apron is pretty! The pattern is unique.”
The duke’s chef looked pale and didn’t know what to do. The princess smiled brightly and spoke to him wearing an apron made of dozens of pieces of fabric.
“That… that… My wife made it for me, but she didn’t intentionally make that pattern…”
“Oh, then it must be precious. I didn’t know it was; then I’ll get another apron…”
“No! No! No! I really don’t think so! You look great in it and please wear it… No… It’s not this…”
The chef, who couldn’t or didn’t want to tell the princess not to wear an apron, looked at the butler with eager eyes, but the butler was also at a loss. Then their master appeared and chimed in.
“You should tie the strings properly, Your Highness. You always put on the apron carelessly.”
Karnov Neustadter tied the strings of the apron behind the princess.
‘What about the Aurora Room? We agreed that it would be the princess’s room! Why are you bringing her here? What is she doing here?’
‘It’s just how things ended up. The princess has some work to do in the kitchen. What can we do? Please take care of her.’
‘I only know how to stir and cook in the kitchen. I don’t know anything about etiquette. What if I make a mistake?’
‘You can do it. Keep your heart strong…’
‘Just try asking me for a midnight snack in the future. I’ll split your head open with a cork opener.’
‘…I don’t have much hair left anyway…’
While the butler carefully smoothed the top of his head and whispered with the chef, the princess straightened her waist after equipping herself with the apron. Then she searched for another apron.
“Do you have another apron?”
“What… What? What… What are you going to use it for?”
The butler tried to calm down his anxiety and asked. In the meantime, the chef quickly brought another apron. The chef decided to do what the princess told him to do without questions. With a gentle smile, the princess raised her hand with the apron.
“Hmm? The duke is joining us, so the duke also needs to wear one.”
“Eep.”
The chef, who had brought an apron, made a strange sound and inhaled. It was because the princess’s decision, made just a few seconds ago, made his prior thoughts collapse in an instant.
However, facing the princess’s green eyes, they couldn’t refuse to hand over the apron. The chef and butler had to look at their duke, wearing an apron and rolling up his sleeves in a familiar motion.
