Emperor Mikhail finally put down his pen after spending the morning dealing with the Knight Commander of Tingnes, who had barged into his office and acted as if his time was limitless.
“I made myself clear.”
“Are you absolutely certain?”
The emperor rubbed his forehead, furrowing his brow. Though the person he was addressing was of a similar age and had once been a loyal knight who played a crucial role in determining the current borders of the empire, there was an air of doubt in their conversation.
‘But it wasn’t like this when I was young.’
The knight’s loyalty was unquestionable, to the extent that when his daughter said she would marry the youngest prince, the son of the emperor, he had distanced himself from her in a way that seemed a bit excessive.
“Since she expressed a desire to go out, I told her I would grant permission if she took an escort. I also instructed a knight from our order to accompany her.”
“But not a single person from the Taimir Palace has come to request assistance from me.”
“My granddaughter said she would use Karnov Neustadter as an escort, so I had to let her go. Is there anyone stronger than him in this empire?”
Tarjei Nellin couldn’t raise his voice any longer, even as his face burned red.
“No…no, why the hell is that Karnov Neustadter guarding the royal family? Did Prince Alexei ask him to do it?”
“If you were so curious about your granddaughter’s affairs, you should have gone there yourself.”
“I couldn’t do that, so I asked His Majesty!”
Tarjei bit his lips tightly.
While he had pretended to act indifferent to Lise, who had been both a lady-in-waiting to Princess Anastasia and a close friend of his daughter, the real reason he had returned to the knight order was to find an excuse to catch a glimpse of his granddaughter’s face, just as Lise had mentioned.
“Why can’t you do it? Just go and see her face once. I won’t say anything, even if you do.”
“…”
“Maybe she’ll give you a dirty look or something when you show up.”
“Huh, if she had inherited even half of your daughter’s temperament, of course she would.”
Tarjei’s expression briefly showed a sense of unfairness.
“Why does Princess Anastasia often show her face to Your Majesty?”
“Are you and I the same?”
“Then what’s the difference?”
Emperor Mikhail wanted to grind his teeth in frustration, responding with a self-reflective voice he had never shared with anyone else.
“You drove your daughter away, and I was rejected by my son. To put it in words, you’re the perpetrator, and I’m the victim.”
“That… isn’t that not the way to talk about this?”
“It’s not exactly wrong. So, that’s why you’ve earned Asha’s resentment.”
“Asha…”
Tarjei heard his granddaughter’s nickname for the first time. He muttered in a voice with regret, but Asha was now out of the palace.
“If you pray by saying that you’re sorry that you’ve done something wrong, the young one will forgive you.”
“Considering the temperament of her parents, Your Majesty, that might not be the case.”
Tarjei seemed to criticize the prince while in front of the emperor but didn’t appear too concerned. The emperor responded with a nonchalant smile.
“Well, she’s not exactly the type to beg me fiercely.”
Tarjei’s mouth twitched at the emperor’s peculiar brag, but in the end, he couldn’t say anything.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
‘Is it still far?’
<We’re almost there. You just have to cross the next alley.>
Phoebe, sitting on Asha’s shoulder, pouted.
Karnov looked suspiciously at the mysterious chick who didn’t think of getting away from Asha and shook his head, but Asha moved her steps with a look of great anticipation.
“While I’m at it, I should buy a cake too.”
“…Made using your recipe?”
“But you know, the ones sold in stores have a different feeling. I should bring them to commemorate. One for Alyosha and one for my grandfather.”
Asha counted with her fingers.
‘Should I buy one for Phoebe too?’
“Peep peep!”
<No need.>
‘Why?’
<I don’t want to eat it unless you made it.>
‘Oh!’
Asha seemed delighted as she gently wiped Phoebe’s forehead, causing Phoebe to bob her head and chirp again. Just then, Lise, who had been following behind, bent down and whispered to Asha.
“Your Highness, why don’t we buy something for Lord Nellin?”
“Who? Grandpa on mother’s side?”
“Yes, I think he’ll like it.”
Asha gathered her brows.
“Well, not really…”
“Lord Tarjei Nellin?”
Asha was startled by Karnov’s voice, which popped up above her head. Karnov looked down at her with a languid expression. Asha swallowed her dry saliva and shook her hand in a hurry.
“Oh, well, but I’ve never even met Lord Nellin. Even if we meet… I don’t think he’ll like it.”
“No, Your Highness. Why do you think so? Lord Nellin…”
Asha hurriedly closed Lise’s mouth. It was because she didn’t want to talk about her maternal grandfather in the presence of Karnov. However, Karnov’s eyes narrowed as if she was one beat late.
“You don’t mean…”
But Karnov’s words did not last. As they continued their conversation and walked away from the alley, they encountered a crowd due to a street performance.
A long line extended, seemingly from nowhere. Amidst the bustling crowd, Karnov quickly picked Asha up. Phoebe fluttered up and landed on her shoulder again.
“Wow, Karnov!”
“Why are there so many people?”
“I’ll go find out what’s going on.”
Lise gave Asha’s coat to Karnov again and pushed through into the crowd. Asha stared at Karnov, her heart racing from surprise.
“Karnov, if you’re going to do something, you should tell me in advance.”
“So, do you want me to drop you down?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Asha hit Karnov hard on the shoulder with grumpiness, but Karnov did not budge.
“Do you hate your grandfather?”
“Well, Karnov. Isn’t there no context in our conversation?”
“That’s what I was going to ask earlier. Even if you don’t seem like you care about what people think.”
“…”
Asha’s lips twitched.
‘Just be honest. Did you perhaps misunderstand and think I’m avoiding you because you might get the wrong idea…’
“Peep!”
<What’s the problem? If this human bothers you, why not just flick him away?>
Phoebe climbed over Asha’s head and peeped at the top of her head. Asha held her breath.
‘Even if it’s an elephant, you would still pass out from hitting that spot…’
In the meantime, Karnov said casually.
“If you don’t dislike him, why don’t you meet him?”
“I’m not avoiding him because I don’t like him…”
“The fact that you’re calling for me due to His Majesty’s order to have a knight accompany you means you’re avoiding him.”
Asha raised her chin confidently at Karnov’s words.
“That’s not true. I just wanted to go out with Karnov.”
“…Hmm.”
“But if you insist so much, should I buy a cake for my maternal grandfather too? What about Karnov’s grandmother? Did you tell her you missed her? Is she coming?”
It was Asha who asked briskly, but she was startled when Karnov nodded calmly.
“I… Really? When is she coming?”
“Once the weather gets better.”
“Oh, then it’s still far away. Should you buy it for your grandmother later?”
Without saying a word, Karnov continued to gaze at her. Thanks to being held by Karnov, Asha playfully met his gaze before quickly waving her hand as she noticed Lise running toward them from a distance.
“Lise! Lise, there you are. What’s the matter?”
Lise’s face was somehow flushed as she approached with a quick step, clutching her skirt.
“They’re all standing in line to buy cake.”
“Cake? Our cake?”
“Yes, Your Highness… Ah, Miss.”
Lise quickly continued her words, glancing around to check if anyone was listening and adjusting her address.
“Really? Like this? All of them?”
“Yes, really. It seems like the news has spread widely.”
“It hasn’t even been a few days since the shop opened.”
“A well-known noblewoman tried our pastries on the opening day and praised them highly. That’s why it’s like this now…”
When Asha heard that, she was momentarily dazed before quickly snapping back to her senses.
“Then this isn’t the way to do it here! Quickly, get in line. If I knew it would be like this, I would have stood in line from the beginning.”
“Yes?”
Asha pointed at the end of the line and pulled Karnov’s collar, and Lise looked alternately at Asha and Karnov completely baffled.
“Since you’re the owner, if you just ask, they’ll give it to you immediately, right? I’ll go get the cake.”
“Uh… no… no, wait a moment! Lise, wait!”
Asha urgently grabbed onto Lise’s clothes, nearly tumbling halfway out of Karnov’s arms in the process.
“It’s risky! You should be careful.”
“That’s not the issue. How, how can we just get it like that?”
“If Miss asked for it, they should naturally bring it right away. They’ll definitely bring it from the shop too.”
“But… can’t we just stand in line and wait? I… yeah, I really wanted to try standing in line!”
Asha spoke earnestly with a low voice. Lise made a face on her face that she didn’t understand, but she couldn’t resist Asha’s wish.
“But today the weather is so cold…”
“Because I came as a guest today. Everyone else is waiting, right?”
Asha tried to talk soothingly while looking at Lise with a smile, and noticed the air current of “I don’t understand” that happened abundantly in a nearby place.
‘Oh, my God, even Karnov!’
