“All your friends must be chefs, too. No, of course they are, right? Friends who are chefs. I have a favor to ask. Please brag about how good it is when you share Phoebe powder with your friends.”
The only people on her side in the Imperial Palace were probably Alexei, Lise, and the chef. Then she had to make money while they were on the same side!
‘Why did His Majesty leave me behind… no, why the hell did he call Alyosha to decide about my maternal grandfather? Besides, my maternal grandfather had never come to see us in 10 years, but now since I’m staying in the palace, what’s the first thing he comes to see…’
“…Pavel?”
Asha, who was secretly gossiping about her maternal grandfather and paternal grandfather, suddenly realized that Pavel was still. Pavel was avoiding her eyes with a very awkward look.
‘What did I say? Oh, I have to sell Phoebe powder, so let’s promote it to mister’s friends…’
Asha realized at that moment.
“Y…You don’t have any friends, mister? Really?”
“Who said I don’t have any?”
Pavel screamed but didn’t look very convincing. Asha also noticed why Pavel still hadn’t noticed her identity. There was no one around him who could tell him!
“The fact that you don’t have any personal ties to brag about this amazing thing means you have no friends.”
“Chestnut, are you sure you’re 10 years old?”
“Yes. Have you ever seen a ten-year-old as cute as I am?”
“I’ve never seen a ten-year-old as strange as you.”
“So you really don’t have any friends, do you, Pavel?”
“You! Do you have one, a friend?”
“…”
“…”
Asha looked mournfully.
“Pavel…”
Pavel, a middle-aged man, ended up dropping his head after asking a very miserable question to a 10-year-old girl.
Asha asked one after another.
“Come to think of it, I was curious, but usually… There’s something like a helper. They don’t want to work with Pavel either?”
“How dare you?! Those who want to be disciples can line up from here to the Vichegda River!”
“But why don’t they come here?”
“Because I hate it! Because I hate when it’s crowded! I hate noise around me!”
Asha looked at Pavel with clear and still eyes. With a gaze asking who was the loudest man here. There was an awkward silence between the two, and Pavel shook his hand hastily.
“Oh, so, my friend! It’s not like I don’t have a lot of friends either! Yes, there is, but… Yes. Anyway, I have…”
“There is?”
“Shut up.”
Pavel turned his head without hiding his expression that he was going to die when he tried to say this her.
“You don’t like me that much.”
Asha clapped her hands.
“Oh, that’s even better!”
“What?”
“If a person who you don’t like goes on a roll, you would hate it. I’m sure they’ll be very curious about your secret recipe.”
“Why am I winning because I use Phoebe powder?”
“Because. You can make more nice snacks faster than before.”
“You bake a lot of snacks and use them somewhere. This is His Highness the Crown Prince’s palace.”
“His Highness, the Crown Prince, likes snacks.”
“The Emperor and His Highness do not like snacks.”
“No, they like it.”
Asha spoke in an overly confident voice, Pavel paused a little.
“How do you know that? I’ve never served snacks for dessert so far, and they haven’t told me to serve more…”
“They don’t know because you don’t serve a lot of snacks! They’ll know when they see it. That they really like it.”
Alexei was fed scones or cookies every time, so the Emperor knew this from the reaction after eating chocolate fondant.
“Th,ere,fore~ Use Phoebe powder and bake cookies. There are rumors that Phoebe powder is good. If you have talkative, talented friends who don’t have a chance to use it, then you will teach them. You should have at least one student.”
You had to have an eye to admire the utility of Phoebe powder to go viral. Pavel squinted at Asha’s words, looking down at Asha, murmuring.
“Talkative and talented…”
Hmm, said Pavel, who swept his chin.
“Do you have many friends?”
“No. I came to the Imperial Palace the day before yesterday. But I didn’t have any friends at home either.”
“Yet you were talking about how I didn’t have many friends.”
Asha shrugged her shoulders.
“Because there was only one house nearby. But even if I had another house, I wouldn’t have a friend.”
“Why?”
“People don’t get along with my house. My dad likes to drink and my mom used to hit people around…”
Asha talked like that and imagined the future. Although it was an escapist delusion from the fact that a grandfather was coming.
‘If I earn money with this, I will change my house and build a kitchen, so I can live while baking snacks to my heart’s content. Leaving the imperial family… I’ll be able to do something…’
“…Would you like to work in the kitchen?”
“What?”
She was drunk on her own thoughts, and when she looked up, Pavel, who had a slightly gloomy face, was looking at her. Asha blinked her eyes.
“No, I can’t. It’s a mess.”
“Why?”
“I have my own job to do!”
“Calling it your job when you’re just the size of a small acorn.”
“I’m only here during a short break.”
“Is that so?”
She couldn’t imagine what face Lise would have if she said she would work as a chef’s assistant in the kitchen.
Then the hourglass rang, signaling that the cupcakes were finished baking. Pavel again lamented the fact that the fine teacups had been baked in the oven once more, but he also admitted that there was nothing he could do about it.
In the meantime, Asha mixed powdered sugar and lemon juice with a much more troubled face and sprinkled it like a decoration on the cake.
“It’s complete.”
“…The cake rose beautifully.”
“It’s the power of Phoebe powder. Can you feel it?”
“I got it, I got it!”
Pavel waited for the cup containing the cake to cool down to an appropriate extent and brought two teaspoons.
As the little girl ate her cake without strain or worry, Pavel raised his spoon with his slightly trembling hand.
The outside was a little crispy, but the inside was soft, so the spoon went in without much resistance. The subtle scent of black tea spread out into the mouth, and the sweet cake was moist. When the sweetness was strong, the icing sprinkled with lemon juice and powdered sugar added freshness and captivated the tastebuds.
Then you had no choice but to get another drink right away.
‘…This is really…’
How could a cake made by a girl who was not good at cracking eggs well every time have such a taste? She was silent for a moment, then Pavel suddenly realized that the girl was looking at him with her strange expression.
“Kuhm, why, why. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Hmm… I guess this is really good?”
“…It’s good enough to eat!”
“Yes, yes. All right.”
It was funny to see a small child half his size laughing happily, but for some reason Pavel couldn’t help himself in front of Asha.
Moreover, after eating a cupcake, her negative emotions melted away like snow. The girl looked at him and pointed to a cupcake.
“Can I take one of these? I’ll bring the cup back.”
“What are you going to take with you. Who are you going to give it to, your cousin?”
“Yes, my cousin…”
“Do you still want to get along with your cousin?”
The little girl sighed, holding a teaspoon tightly in her hands. Judging from the way he usually is, he seems to be on good terms with his cousin’s eighth cousin, not a first cousin…
“It seems to be getting better. I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”
Pavel burst into laughter. When he listened to the girl’s words, she was bold and mature, but when he saw her seriously agonizing over her relationship with her cousin, he thought she was definitely her age.
“Yes, then. But you must bring back the cup.”
“Of course!”
The girl smiled broadly and left the kitchen with a cupcake.
Until now, Pavel had not recognized the strange sense of incompatibility until, to be precise, the servant of the Crown Prince brought the glass that the girl had carried.
The girl would sometimes show an unbearably lovely expression, so he only thought that the attendants would have accommodated her.
It was several days later, at a victory ceremony to welcome soldiers returning from war in the north, that Pavel realized everything.
Wowwwww!
The shouts made my ears perplexed. Asha shivered at the sound of exploding, and was literally surprised by the hand that wrapped her shoulder.
Because on her left was Alexei, and then this arm was Alexei’s…
“Are you surprised?”
Now! I’m surprised now! Now! Asha just kept her mouth shut and shook her head quietly.
“Here comes the heroes!”
“Karnov! Karnov! Karnov!”
“Heroes who defeated the Noctis Elves!”
Cheers that were almost screaming rang out all the way here. There were knights in the palace and the soldiers stamped their feet to the beat, so she could feel the vibration.
‘I wasn’t going to come out…’
The mere mention of the name Karnov Neustadter made her appetite drop, and there was no way she wanted to come out to cheer him on. She didn’t even want to be seen by him.
However, not only Alexei but also the Emperor seemed to think that she would come out, of course, and when she pretended to be sick because she was slightly unwell, they immediately sent for an Imperial Palace healer.
The Imperial Palace healer honestly reported that the imperial granddaughter was in perfect health.
‘Do you really think I’ll die in sorrow like that?’
They looked down on her like this because she didn’t have any connections! Of course, even if she had connections, she wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone honestly.
When she glanced up to her side, Alexei was looking straight ahead, his expression unchanged except for his arm around her shoulder.
“…Isn’t Alyosha too nervous?”
