Dinamo, the chef of the Duke of Sedvoyer, had always lived in the duchy of the north and never left the area, so the chances of seeing royalty were slim to none.
‘I’ve only seen one so far…’
There was a prince named Valery or Valerie, who led his troops to the north due to conflicts with the Noctis Elves. He had only glimpsed him from a distance, but he vaguely remembered the young man acting as if he had the world at his feet.
“Dinamo, can you blanch and grate those vegetables for me?”
But it was hard to catch a glimpse of such a shadowy figure from the girl who minced chicken.
“Oh! Yes! I got it!”
On the countertop was a large amount of poultry meat, eggs, and a few vegetables, all of which the princess had asked him to bring.
Dinamo glanced over at her as he blanched the vegetables in hot water and went to the millstone. The princess was trimming the meat with sweat on her forehead. The duke standing next to her also wiped the sweat off the princess’s forehead…
Dinamo stared at them in fascination, almost putting his hand on the millstone, before he came to his senses.
“U… Uh… I wonder what all this is for…”
The princess took a basin full of trimmed meat, blanched and ground vegetables, egg yolks, and water and mixed them together with a wooden spatula. With determination, she grasped the spoon with both hands and exerted force to mix it thoroughly.
From the moment the two entered the kitchen, the butler was adamant that this work be kept secret, and indeed, the entrance to the kitchen was guarded by knights. At first, he thought it would be because others would whisper if they knew that the princess was playing in the kitchen.
“Cat food.”
“…What? All this stuff…”
“Uh, yeah, he’s a big cat. Finally, it’s, all… it’s…!”
The duke caught the princess’s arm as she let go of the spatula.
“Don’t overdo it.”
“It’s okay, I put too much pressure on my arm…”
The conversation between the two sounded very friendly. Dinamo concealed his surprise with great effort, biting his lips and raising his eyebrows to the top of his head.
This way, it would seem as if it was because of the weight of the heavy mortar he had been carrying just a moment ago. As soon as they left the kitchen and went out through the back door, Dinamo ran straight to the butler, to share what he had seen with his own eyes.
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When they tossed the fist-sized chunks of oven-roasted meat into the cage, the beast growled at first, then soon began to sniff.
“It should be enjoyed deliciously…”
The key was to make it as gentle as possible – so that Asha’s power could be infused – so she went through the laborious process of rounding and baking it.
At first, the beast, who was wary of them, sniffed a few more times before it ate the food in one bite. The grumbling sound echoed quietly. Ivan and Karnov, who were watching, tossed it another dollop, which it gobbled up quickly.
“You’ll eat well… I hope your strength doesn’t increase.”
<If it’s purified properly, it’ll throw up Prasti and go back to its original size.>
“Oh, its going to be a little cat again?”
Phoebe and Kairos nodded.
“Give me one too.”
“Asha, wait a minute.”
“Your Highness, please wait.”
Asha, who had been watching the men around her toss in the meat, grabbed a large bowl of meat and walked over to the cage, only to be grabbed by Karnov and Ivan, who were shouting at her from both sides…
“Uh, this, what’s this?”
The bowl and the meat rolled into the cage, and the beast ate the bowl and the meat cleanly. Phoebe flapped her wings a few times and gave Asha the answer.
<I think it’s okay to feed it anything until it throws up Prasti. It’s very strong.>
“I didn’t realize it could chew through a bowl. How is it not chewing on the cage?”
<It doesn’t taste good.>
“Is the bowl good?”
<That’s because the bowl is filled with the food you made. It’s like heavenly food to him… it’s his first time eating it.>
“Hah…”
While Asha sighed, Karnov and Ivan sent Asha back again, pouring out a full load of feed behind the bars.
<But the grumpy beast must be half-purified of Prasti since it had already vomited once, so it should be soon.>
“Really?”
Phoebe nodded. Asha barely breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing her slightly trembling arm. The beast cleaned up the portion of Asha’s feed bowl, scratched the floor a little, and fell flat.
“What? What’s wrong with him?”
<It fell asleep?>
“…”
“…”
<It must be sleepy because it’s full.>
Kairos added. True to his words, the beast’s body slowly rose and fell, and soon, its breathing became regular.
Karnov placed one hand on her waist and took a small breath.
“Asha, you need to go back inside and get some rest. You’ve been working since you arrived in Sedvoyer.”
“Oh…”
“The servants have been hard at work getting your room ready, and they’re disappointed that you haven’t even looked at it.”
“What? Really?”
Asha stared at Karnov in surprise. Karnov nodded as he smoothed down Asha’s slightly disheveled hair.
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The butler could finally be proud: the room he’d named the Aurora Chamber was arguably the most ornate in the duchy.
After Karnov succeeded the duke, it was left unattended because no one had used it, but everywhere was shiny, swept and wiped as best as they could for a half day.
All the right angles of the walls were glass windows that let in the light from outside. In the middle of winter, you could sometimes see the aurora borealis from there.
Curtain made of high-quality embroidered fabric hung on both sides to create a beautiful shadow. The wallpaper was a noble purple. It was patterned with beautiful designs, and the lower part of the wall was molded with dark, bronze-colored wood.
Porcelain figurines glittered on the console table, and the ceiling chandelier shone brightly.
“I’ve never seen an aurora before.”
“You can only see it in winter, so you won’t be able to see it now.”
The girl’s light green eyes were shining and looking around. Karnov, a few steps away from the girl, replied.
The butler tore his eyes away from the girl’s face and glanced at Karnov. Karnov was looking at the princess with a faint smile on his face.
And when the girl, who had been glued to the window looking out, turned around and smiled, the butler felt a tingle in his heart and had to squeeze his eyes shut.
The girl’s smiling face bore an expression that naturally assumed Karnov would be watching her. The look on the face of a person who thought he was a sweet person.
The girl beckoned quietly. Karnov approached and stood side-by-side beside the girl, looking out the window. The girl put her hands together and whispered something, and Karnov leaned in to listen.
Looking at him like this, Lord Karnov looked like a normal young man. Just a somewhat playful nobleman. Not yet a duke, not yet a deputy commander, not yet a warrior, just a guy who occasionally rubbed shoulders with the girl next to him.
“It’s so pretty in the moonlight. We could have tea tonight, bake some snacks.”
“You’ll surprise the chef again.”
“But I have to make the cat food, so I can’t help it. I have to make the snack, so I can’t help it…”
“Why can’t you help it?”
The girl laughed mischievously at Karnov’s words.
“Karnov Neustadter misses my snacks so much… I can’t do anything about it either.”
“Oh my, who said that?”
“Your expression.”
The girl flicked Karnov’s nose with the tip of her index finger and burst into laughter. Karnov shook his head in defeat.
“You can bake all you want, but not today. Get some rest, you’re going to get sick again.”
“Okay… tomorrow, after I feed the cat.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The two stood in front of the window and talked for a long time. The butler quietly closed the door and left the room.
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If the butler was the one who actually managed the castle, Constantin LeShavin was the one who managed the estate while Karnov was in the capital.
As one of the Duke of Sedvoyer’s aides, he was also the one who wrote the reports to the capital, and so it was that even in the middle of the night, after inspecting the repairs to the damage done by the beast, he was on his way to report back to the duke with news. Constantin had been out of town all day, and his face was dark with fatigue.
‘Just when I thought things were finally going well…’
The wild beast was also caught alive. Some people were injured because they did not respond properly at first, but they were all well, and the broken things would just have to be fixed.
‘Phew. I wonder what the duke will say when he hears about this, if he’ll just call it a nuisance… I wish General Yekaterina was here for this.’
Perhaps Karnov would not mind. He had been like that since he was a child. Rather, it was the employees who could not stand the behavior of the former duke and his wife. Only Karnov had been consistent with a little irritating indifference.
It was time for Constantin to break away from his busy thoughts.
“Huh?”
“Oh my.”
A young girl in a white lace nightcap glided down the hallway of the ducal residence, her pink hair rippling in beautiful circles as she turned at his footsteps.
She was a stranger to the castle, with wide, pale eyes. Beside her, an equally strange young man stared at him warily.
But as he gazed at her, the nonsensical sentences the Duke had ordered him to write in his report flashed through his mind. Suddenly, he was asked to inquire about the condition of peaches and peas…
Constantin’s eyes widened.
“Peaches…? Peaches! Peas!”
“Huh? How do you do that?”
The girl’s eyes widened in surprise. Constantin’s mouth dropped open. Then his brilliant mind began to spin rapidly.
A report to the crown prince of the capital.
The peach that he was seeing for the first time.
Princess Anastasia, who was supposed to come today.
Right here, in the hallway, at this hour…
‘Oh. God!’
Constantin quickly hid his pointing hand behind his back.
