The particles of the mashed yolk were mixed with mayonnaise and were like a sweet cream, and the remaining egg whites like small grains were plump on the tongue. When the taste became heavy, the refreshing acidity of the cream cheese works like the highest note of a chord, making the salad endlessly scooped up with a spoon.
“If you add cucumbers, you can definitely get texture.”
“That’s right! So quickly, bread!”
“Yes, bread.”
Pavel cut the bread and prepared it as Asha ordered. On one side, honey and mustard were mixed and applied, a lot of egg salad was put on, and the remaining bread side overlapped it. It was Pavel who sprinkled parsley over the thick egg salad between the slices of bread.
“As expected of our Taimir Palace chef!”
“I was the only one who couldn’t join the banquet kitchen.”
“Oh, are you upset? Huh? Did you sulk?”
“That’s not true.”
“I’ll give you this.”
As Asha held out half of the sandwich like it was a kindness, Pavel eventually took the sandwich in his mouth and naturally took out two cups of milk.
“Ah, I think I will live.”
Chewy bread, soft yet heavy texture, savory and sweet egg salad, and finally, the honey mustard was perfect to clean up the taste that would otherwise be greasy.
“…I’ve never seen a salad like this before.”
“Really? It’s delicious.”
“…How did you come up with it?”
“I saw it in the book.”
“Which book?”
As usual, he was moderately circumspect, but Pavel’s tone was a little strong. Asha paused a little and turned her head.
“Well, I don’t know. I can’t think of it.”
“If it’s a book about cooking, there isn’t anything I haven’t read, but I’ve never seen a salad like this. Same for the last cake.”
“That, is it? I can’t remember what book I read it in…”
“It’s not something you’ve seen in books.”
Asha, who was about to say where else would she have seen them if she hadn’t seen them in a book, hurriedly shut her mouth. Apparently, Pavel thought that she had created all these recipes with her brilliant talent and was hiding them for some reason.
“In a sense, it’s half right…”
The book that Asha read wasn’t here, and the other details couldn’t be said to have been told by the spirit, so she was evasive.
But she didn’t mean to hide it for a special reason. She just thought it was obvious that no one would believe a ten-year-old child made this. It was at the time when Asha was briefly agonizing over how to say this.
“Oh! Here you are! Chef Marka!”
Asha clapped her lips and turned her head in surprise. Perhaps he attended the victory ball today, but a young woman in a fancy dress burst into the kitchen expressing intense delight.
Asha and Pavel were also dressed inappropriately in the kitchen, but the woman’s colorful attire was eye-catching. Asha looked up at Pavel, he had the expression of looking at an acquaintance.
“Ah.”
“I’ve been looking for you around the dance hall for a long time! You don’t know how much I wanted to thank you for using the gift I gave you so nicely.”
“You don’t have to say that when it’s been a year since I’ve used it…”
“I heard you named the product, too? There is really no way for me to repay this favor. I just thought it was a complete failure.”
“It was right to fail, so don’t buy things like that from now on…”
“So by the way, oh, I know this is really rude. However, I really intend to pay the price properly, so please listen seriously.”
The woman was almost on her knees.
“No, I don’t need to know what it is. Don’t tell me…”
“Do you have any thoughts of selling the cake exclusively?”
“…Don’t tell me.”
“But please take a look at the contract!”
The woman picked through the hem of the dress and took out a bundle of documents in between. She seemed to attend the victory ball with all of them on her back.
“Baroness* Saratov, calm down, and that cake…”
[*TN: The raws use Baron and I confirmed that she is in fact a woman so I took liberty and changed it to Baroness since that’s the female equivalent]
Pavel held back and glanced at Asha. And stars popped out of Asha’s eyes.
‘Baroness Saratov?’
“I can’t do anything about that cake. I don’t know how you came here, but go back…”
“Wait! Wait just a moment!”
Asha interrupted, shouting. Baroness Saratov, a woman who was half-kneeling, opened her eyes wide and recognized Asha behind Pavel.
“Let’s take a look at the contract, Mister Pavel.”
“Imperia… Ack!”
As Pavel, who tried to call her Imperial Highness, was kicked in the shin at once, he swallowed a groan, Asha looked up at Baroness Saratov with her eyes shining.
Baroness Saratov attended the victory ball but did not recognize Asha at all, as if she was not interested in the existence of the Princess. Now, she seemed to think it was urgent to sign a contract with Pavel.
“Words about the cake circulated among gourmets. The chefs are naturals, and the nobles are also growing interested.”
Asha nodded as if she knew everything and winked at Pavel.
‘Cake? What cake is she talking about?’
“Why, the first thing I made in your kitchen…”
‘That thing? But how the hell did the rumor grow about it? You only made it once. His Majesty ate everything you made.’
“I gave what was left after practicing to the attendants…”
Pavel answered with a whisper. Meanwhile, Baroness Saratov shouted passionately.
“So! “so! Let’s make and sell that chocolate cake.”
Baroness Saratov opened the contract and pushed it forward. There was a green glow of expectation around her.
“Everyone on the island will rush to taste this cake at least once. The great taste of the very cake that His Majesty also praised!”
Baroness Saratov exclaimed with enthusiasm. She was a professional orator. It seemed that even a stranger would pass by and stop on their own.
Pavel ran through the contract quickly for now. As Asha, who was next to him, stepped on his feet, Pavel bent over and shared the contract with her.
“Oh, no. The patisserie… Will you pay for it?”
Pavel, who read the contract, said in surprise. Baroness Saratov looked natural.
“Sure, I’ll pay for a patisserie. Where would you sell cakes without a shop?”
“But…”
Pavel glanced down at Asha, clapping his lips.
“Well, you may not know, but we cannot do business outside the Imperial Palace.”
He was an imperial cook, and this girl was an imperial grandchild who was not yet of age. It was of course impossible for both to stand as patissiers in the store.
“So even if you tell me this…”
“Oh, of course, it would be difficult for the noble imperial chef to do vulgar business outside.”
Baroness Saratov took another document out of her arms as if she had waited. It was a document with a rather detailed description of unfamiliar names, personal information, specialties, and personalities. She cleared her throat with a look of discomfort at Pavel, who had suddenly read the life story of a stranger.
“Who are these…”
“The artisans who will make the chocolate cakes at the patisserie.”
Pavel looked alternately at Asha and Baroness Saratov.
In the meantime, Asha skimmed through the resumes. Asha, whose reading was over, raised her head.
“So, at the patisserie, you’re going to make and sell chocolate cakes exclusively, and if we give you a recipe, these people will make the cakes?”
“Uh… yes, that’s right. One of them, to be exact.”
Baroness Saratov looked sideways at Asha and nodded.
“…Well, ten million karousas for that down payment.”
“Of course it’s a down payment. I’m going to give you thirty percent of the profit, minus the labor cost and the cost of the ingredients to run this patisserie. This is not an exaggeration, but an incredibly unconventional proposal.”
The Baroness explained that the cost of living for a large middle-class family was about fifty million karousas per year, and that ten million karousas was a very large amount of money for the worth of a recipe.
It was also certainly an amazing story to run a patisserie outside and give thirty percent of the proceeds. Pavel glanced at Asha, and Asha smiled and shook the contract.
“Oh, I won’t do this.”
“Hmm, Chef Marka? Who is this kid?”
“It’s not just a cake, it’s a cake that depends on the life and death of the Baroness’ southern trade route, but ten million karousas?”
“…!”
Asha folded one finger at every word she said. Then she spread one finger and waved at Pavel, who stood next to him with that finger.
“I can’t even feel the wind*. Don’t you think so, mister?”
[*TN: Something in the wind means rumors about something happening. By saying she can’t feel it, she’s saying there’s not even a possibility of them agreeing right now.]
“…That’s right.”
“Ha, ha. Why are you talking about the southern trade route all of a sudden…”
“Isn’t cake less important to you, Baroness, but rather the chocolate that will sell hard when the cake becomes famous?”
Baroness Saratov coughed in vain at Asha’s words.
“Of course I won’t say it doesn’t matter. But the most important thing is to sell a lot of cakes and get rich together.”
“We all talk about getting rich, but if the cake doesn’t taste good, it won’t sell.”
Asha pouted her lips.
“If someone who has never tried cake before suddenly asks to start a cake business, wouldn’t they have another ulterior motive?”
“It’s because many people have already acknowledged it even if I didn’t taste it. And more than so many people, His Majesty the Emperor…”
“Whether the cake is delicious or not, once it becomes a topic of conversation, ‘A great cake praised by His Majesty has appeared!’ rich nobles and merchants will rush in, right? If it’s good, it’ll sell well, and if it doesn’t exist, there will be people who try to recreate it as it doesn’t exist.”
“There’s no way it won’t taste good! This is a cake made by the chef and praised by His Majesty.”
Baroness Saratov, who said so, was confident, and her voice even contained respect for the person who created the great work. However, Asha did not back down easily.
“Only ten million karousas to provide the recipe for the cake His Majesty praised?”
“Hmm. ten million karousas is not a small amount of money. I don’t usually think about buying recipes…”
“Then we shouldn’t think of selling recipes, either. Right, Pavel?”
“T, That’s right.”
Pavel nodded his head and looked intently between Baroness Saratov and Asha. Baroness Saratov laughed hard.
