“Did you have a good time with Lord Karnov…?”
She wondered if something had happened, but she couldn’t ask her outright, so Lise wandered around and examined the girl’s complexion. The girl tilted her head with her hand on her chin.
“Yes, but it was a little different from what I thought.”
“What did you think?”
“I thought Karnov would hate me.”
“Why would he hate you?”
Lise was a little surprised and asked back, but the girl only smiled calmly and did not answer the question. Lise swallowed her dry saliva. At times like this, the girl didn’t seem to be ten years old.
“Ah! I had another thing in mind. He was very strong. He lifted me up high. I was surprised.”
“You’re still very small.”
“I’m not that small…”
The girl pouted her lips with a slightly dissatisfied face. Lise looked down at her lovingly for a long time and sighed again.
“However, to think that he dragged this poor girl with her ankle like this. Lord Karnov is too much…”
“Oh, no. It’s… that person is…”
It was the moment when the girl tried to shake her hand. They heard a little urgent knock outside. As Lise went outside, organizing the hem of the apron, one person constantly said with an urgent face.
“Now, now His Majesty the Emperor is coming!”
“What?”
“He is coming to see Princess Anastasia! Get ready to greet quickly!”
Lise’s expression instantly hardened with tension.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Are you not interested in studying?”
“…”
Asha, who was about to say something to the Emperor’s question, noticed that his eyes were on the old chamberlain. The chamberlain seemed unable to answer.
‘What! He suddenly bursts in and makes people sit down.’
When the chamberlain couldn’t bear to say anything, the Emperor turned his words around without asking any more about her studies.
“How is your body? Have you gained some weight?”
“After I got sick, I ordered a diet from the kitchen to nourish me again…”
“I heard you sprained your ankle.”
“It’s been showing signs of improvement since the therapist came.”
“Is that showing improvement?”
“It’s…”
‘They really let me sit down.’
Asha stared at the Emperor and his chamberlain, who were talking to each other through him*, then glanced at the end of the shawl that began to slowly move in front of her eyes.
[*TN: Asha and the Emperor talking to each other through the chamberlain]
‘This was the…’
It was the shawl that the Emperor was wearing, which she saw on the day when she had a private meeting with the Emperor over the fondant chocolat – now named Asha’s chocolate cake. A strange shawl that moves on its own in a translucent, mysterious form. Asha looked back and forth between the end of the shawl and the Emperor, who had come close to her nose, and began moving quietly.
Moving her fingers around the shawl…
“Anastasia.”
“Yes, yes?”
The Emperor, who thought she would leave her and go back, suddenly spoke to her. Asha opened her eyes wide with surprise.
Before she knew it, the Emperor was tilting the tea that Lise had prepared. However, only the tea was tilted, but there were no words spoken. Asha pursed her lips and rolled her eyes until she saw something she didn’t want to see.
A thin, amethyst-like, transparent air current blooming from the fingertips of the Emperor holding a teacup.
‘This was only seen when Lise was worried about me, but why is this from His Majesty the Emperor…’
Why…
“…”
“…”
“Um, um. Snacks… Do you want some snacks?”
She had no choice but to say it even though she knew it was nonsense. Asha spoke awkwardly and quickly winked at Lise to bring the dacquoise, which she had packed individually after Karnov went back.
There were other refreshments on the table facing the Emperor, but the Emperor turned to snacks recommended by Asha.
“Did you make this yourself?”
“Yes!”
Asha answered confidently, but she was only surprised by the emotional particles that burst out from behind her. Standing in the back was her maid, Lise. Lise probably thought until now that Asha was getting snacks herself from the chef.
With a relaxed touch, the Emperor picked up the dacquoise and put it in his mouth. And Asha vowed to fix Karnov’s taste buds. Even the Emperor was eating it so deliciously!
The Emperor did not lift an eyebrow, but slowly chewed over the dacquoise as if chewing a stone, and bright particles like starlight were pouring down behind him. Some popped up on the table and then flickered. If all of that could be seen by the people in this room, everyone would have gaped at the spectacle.
“…”
“…”
Asha had never seen anyone control their facial expression and eyes so well. The Emperor ate one dacquoise cleanly, finished drinking tea, and finally brought up the business.
“Anastasia, I heard that you left partway through the victory ball a few days ago. Why did you do that?”
When the remaining touch of dacquoise was erased, the light died down, and a thin purple piece scattered from the Emperor’s fingertips again.
Asha looked at the air current and blurted out.
“It wasn’t really fun.”
A cold silence passed between the two. The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
“It wasn’t fun?”
“I was supposed to enter the banquet hall with Alyosha that day, but I couldn’t. He said he was busy. Your Majesty was also busy.”
“…Hmm. Is being insincere about class just not fun?”
The Emperor’s voice was hard, but he didn’t seem angry. Rather, soft colored particles were slowly popping up around him.
Asha swallowed her saliva. Looking at the atmosphere, she thought she could be more honest.
“Yes! That’s Alyo… I think it’s a class for His Highness Crown Prince, so can’t I just study something else?”
The Emperor squinted at the words.
“Anything else you want to study?”
“That’s actually…”
What would the Emperor say if she said she wanted to bake snacks, not as a hobby? While Asha was contemplating for a moment, the Emperor continued.
“And what kind of class was it, that you thought it was only for Alexei?”
“That’s…”
‘Ah… I should be quick to talk about snacks when talking about the class I want!’
While Asha swallowed a sigh in her heart, the Emperor was still looking down at his granddaughter with a steely look on his face.
“This empire is huge. The only person who will lead this country must be stronger than anyone else, and always be able to make the right decisions without wavering. But the most important duty of all is to secure a future for the people of the Empire.”
The Emperor, who had said so far, looked at Asha with a clear gaze.
“That is the guarantee for you all.”
“…Yes?”
“Classes are part of that.”
“I know that the guarantee is that Alyosha is, and that’s what the class is like, but I…”
The Emperor squinted and waited for her words. Asha thought for a moment and decided. This may be rather an opportunity.
At this point, she’s making it clear that she’s not interested in the throne!
“Your Majesty, before everything else, there is something I want to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you leave me in the palace?”
“Did he say that?”
“What?”
“Did your father not tell you to ask that when you stand in front of me?”
Asha shook her head.
“I didn’t know I had a grandfather until I came to the palace. That, the grandfather is His Majesty.”
At Asha’s words, the Emperor laughed in vain.
“…then why did you ask such a thing?”
“I don’t know why I was left in the palace.”
“In other words, do you think you are not fit to prepare for the future of the empire?”
“Yes!”
“Apparently, it means you have no intention of doing so.”
“Yes!”
Asha answered with a big smile to the very words she had been waiting for, and the Emperor tilted his head with a benevolent expression on his chin.
“You mean that? Is your judgment clear? Who will be the successor of the empire in the future, should I follow your judgment, not mine, who has lived my whole life as Emperor?”
‘Is there something like a pretzel kneader in his body?’
Asha thought about something else for a moment, but she wasn’t fooled by the Emperor’s words. The golden particles that glistened around the Emperor were telling how good the Emperor felt.
‘He’s such a strange person, really!’
What kind of magic was it that makes you feel better when your granddaughter is beating around the bush?
“I am not judging anything. I told you what I wanted to do… but Your Majesty only wants to secure the future of the empire.”
“…Then what else should I care about besides the future of the imperial people?”
“What about Alyosha?”
“…”
“Your Majesty is Your Majesty, but before that, you’re Alyosha’s grandfather. What’s about the future of Alyosha?”
“What are you saying…”
“Why would you say that after you made Alyosha the Crown Prince, you would put a fake spare button* next to him? That’s not for Alyosha…”
[*TN: Not a button like the ones that Phoebe has been on but a button like on a machine to control]
What the Emperor wanted from her, why he left her in the palace, and Asha could recognize it by looking at that expressionless face. a fake extra button. A means to whip Alexei so that he could go one step further.
However, whipping may move faster for a moment, but it only leaves a scar. The Emperor was still when he heard Asha. And after silence, he raised his hand and sent out all the servants and maids.
The Emperor asked when it was quiet around him.
“Then what is really for Alexei?”
Asha clapped her dry lips. She couldn’t believe she had to say it herself!
“You’re a grandfather to Alyosha! Your Majesty, Alyosha is your first grandchild… Don’t compare him to others, don’t compare him, just cherish, love, and believe in Alyosha.”
He could do much more great things…
