Her kitchen companion, Pavel Marka, was a noble from a count’s family, and so was Lise, who was highly educated as a maid. Karnov was a direct line of the few dukes in the empire, and it goes without saying that the emperor and Alexei were pure-blooded nobles born and raised in the palace.
Their expressions of taste were also extremely elegant. It wasn’t that their expressions were false, rather she knew it was sincere. She had never been disappointed watching their elegant and graceful hands and the calm tips of their forks. But it felt completely different to see someone hastily devouring the taste of the tart and then regretting the last remaining bite.
Natalya, who had emptied her plate cleanly, slumped into a chair and glanced at the boys’ plates. Anyone could tell that the two were surprised by the gaze aimed at the tart. Asha smiled and moved the chair a little closer.
“Do you want to eat mine?”
“Uh… Can I do that?”
“Oh, my lady.”
Natalya looked at Asha with a face of extreme suspicion. The maid whispered from behind, but Asha placed her portion of the dish in front of Natalya.
“I made it, so I’m glad you enjoy it.”
“…?”
This time, Natalya, who was picking up the tart with her hand, paused and looked at Asha sitting next to her. Asha didn’t give a long explanation, as she saw the puzzled expression on Natalya’s face, and Dimitri clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“Hmph. You’re still playing in the kitchen like a servant, even though you’re a noble.”
“No one else cares about my future as much as you do.”
“W-who said anything about caring?”
“I’ll make sure to tell my grandfather.”
“…Grandfather?”
“Yes. I should tell grandfather that Dimitri was worried about my career path, oh, right. You call him Your Majesty. Yes, His Majesty will appreciate your worry about your cousin.”
“Who said you’re my cousin?”
Dimitri exclaimed angrily and, contrary to his initial reaction, weakly poked at the tart with his fork. Then, with a nervous gesture, he took a bite of the tart and fell silent.
Chew… Chewing.
“…!”
With a firm grip on the fork and furrowed eyebrows, Dimitri’s hand movements became slightly faster. While glancing briefly at Asha, his jaw moved diligently. And behind Dimitri, particles of light burst forth like fireworks, and Asha had to suppress her laughter.
It was a joyous thing to see people who liked her enjoying her dessert, but how could she ignore that the little boy who despised her to the point of death found the dessert delicious?
“Is it tasty?”
“N, not really…”
“Grandfather said it was delicious.”
“…”
Dimitri’s expression now looked as if he had just tasted a stimulating street-side skewer after sticking to a healthy diet.
Dimitri gazed at her with a face filled with resentment, but his fork was sincere. He skillfully combined a bite-sized piece of strawberry, cream, and tart crust in one go.
Eventually, Asha couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter, but Dimitri emptied a plate of tart cleanly, with a face that seemed like he was eating against his will. Behind him, a burst of dazzling light exploded, almost resembling the halo of an angel.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
By the time the four plates of tarts, four sandwiches cut in half, and fruit juice and cookie plates were all emptied, the atmosphere of the garden was much better.
“Don’t you host tea parties?”
Dimitri, who became much more docile, answered Asha’s question, looking tired at Natalya kicking the puff ball and Grisha chasing the ball.
“My father dislikes it when I do things like that. He thinks it’s all nonsense.”
“Aha.”
Asha responded, thinking she knew the answer. Dimitri’s father, Maxim, had made a contract with the Spirit of Discernment. He would have known more than anyone else that he and his son weren’t fit to challenge the throne.
Asha decided to test her luck a little. Valery also had a child of her own age and Dimitri’s age.
“Is that why Ilya doesn’t have tea parties?”
“…”
Dimitri looked back at Asha with a frown.
“Do you want to go to a tea party that the crybaby holds?”
“Unlike you, he’s a good kid.”
“What? Am I a bad kid?”
“Yes. What did you say when I stayed at the palace?”
“…!”
Dimitri’s face turned into a mess. It went from red to pale, and then back to white.
“I, Ilya, is a fool, so Uncle Valery won’t let him host one.”
“Where did you hear that? If Ilya wants to do it, he can. Maybe you should try getting along with him.”
“I don’t want to!”
“Come on. I’ll make you another tart. It was delicious, right?”
“…”
Dimitri’s face turned red as if it were about to explode as Asha spoke in a soft soothing tone. Then Natalya, chasing after the ball, hurriedly left the scene. Asha couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
Asha understood to some extent the strange composition of today’s tea party. The Viscountess of Ceilistria seemed to want to strengthen the relationship by sending her second son to the Marchioness of Tataricha’s daughter’s party. Maxim seemed to be trying to make friends for his difficult son.
And Natalya…
“I don’t become friends with people who can’t kick the ball as well as me.”
“Aha.”
“But Your Highness is an exception.”
“Really?”
“Yes, indeed.”
Dimitri and Grisha, who were clearly worse at kicking the ball than Natalya, were resting because they were tired of chasing after the ball.
Asha crossed the stepping stone on the stream, holding Natalya’s hand in one hand, and holding the hem of her dress up to her knees in the other hand.
In the marchioness’s backyard, there was a beautiful and dense forest that was carefully managed, which was completely Natalya’s playground. And Natalya had a tremendous fondness for Asha, who had made her a wonderful strawberry tart she had never tasted, and, moreover, said nothing about her way of eating.
She even offered to guide her to her secret base. Asha followed the path of the forest, led by Natalya, and understood perfectly the anguish of the marchioness about Natalya’s dark trousers.
Natalya was indeed outspoken. She didn’t care at all about mud or bushes, and even regarded scratches from tree branches as almost like badges of honor.
“When are you getting married soon?”
“Keugh.”
Asha coughed in spite of herself. If she had heard that right after crossing the bridge, she might have fallen into the stream. Asha shook her head, still hugging the hem of her dress in her arms.
“Oh, no. I haven’t even thought about it. I’ve never wanted to. How about you, Natalya?”
“I don’t like it either.”
“But who keeps telling you to get married?”
“I’m only ten years old now. No one says anything.”
Natalya said solemnly. Asha swallowed her laughter and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“But I can tell.”
“Can you tell?”
“Yes, Lady Ceilistria hopes that I will marry Grisha. So my mother sent the invitation to the tea party.”
“But you don’t want to, Natalya?”
“Yes, Grisha can’t do anything with his body.”
At the same time, Natalya climbed up the tree a few steps ahead and picked some purple fruit. Asha watched the movement with a look of wonder.
“That’s right… It must be really frustrating…”
Natalya wiped the outside of the small fruit with her sleeve and held it out to Asha. Then she put the remaining one into her mouth. Asha also received the fruit, examined it, and carefully bit it in half.
“Oh? It’s sweet!”
She was a little nervous because it looked and smelled very sour, but the fruit was sweeter than she thought.
“Wow! It would be good to make alcohol with this.”
“…My mother said the same thing.”
“Oh.”
Asha was a little embarrassed and smiled awkwardly. There was a very clumsily built cabin inside the forest. Natalya’s face overflowed with pride as she looked at the cabin.
“Did you make this yourself?”
“Well…the servants helped, but yes. Do you want to come inside?”
Natalya opened the door of the creaking cabin. Inside, although it was modest, it had various things arranged. A small wooden stump served as a table, and the shelf on the wall had several thick notebooks placed on it. There was a dusty, outdated carpet on the floor, and on top of the carpet…
“Wow, the fireplace is really…”
“Well, my mother insisted on putting it in. The forest is still cold even after winter. She said if we didn’t have it, she would get rid of this place, so I couldn’t help it.”
There was a sparkling, sophisticated, and luxurious fireplace placed in the roughly constructed and worn-out cabin. It stood out in stark contrast to the crude and worn-out things that barely completed the cabin.
Natalya felt a sense of shame for placing such conspicuous urban items in this cabin, but she remained silent, feeling even more embarrassed as she continued to make excuses.
However, when Asha closely observed the smoke flowing into the fireplace, Natalya quickly looked flattered.
“I’m going to light it up now, so it’s dangerous.”
Natalya’s voice also contained a dignified firmness. Asha took a step back, as guided by Natalya, and soon, with a sound of ignition, a subtle light and a hint of smoke began to circulate.
“Wow, this is so warm.”
“Doesn’t the imperial palace have this?”
“In the imperial palace…”
Asha paused for a moment. Firstly, the palace didn’t have a portable fireplace like this, and the wall fireplace hadn’t been used in a long time.
“Maybe… it might be there?”
“…Don’t you have it in your quarters?”
“Oh, it’s okay even if it’s not in my room! It’s not very cold…”
Asha smiled and waved her hand. When the heat was circulating in the small space, Natalya, who had been silent for a while, suddenly stood up and brought a notebook that was stuck in a small bookshelf.
“Do you want to see this?”
“Huh? Yeah! What is it?”
“Leaves and seeds from the forest…”
When she opened the notebook, leaves, branches, petals, or seeds were attached to the left side, and on the right side, the date, weather, and where she found them were written in clear letters.
“Wow!”
“…”
“Did you do all this by yourself?”
Natalya nodded her head cautiously as she carefully flipped through the pages, afraid that the dried leaves might crumble.
“Amazing. Are there more collections written in other notebooks?”
Nodding.
“Can I take a look?”
Nodding.
“Oh! This is what we ate earlier, right? If we plant this, will the fruit grow again?”
Nodding…
As Asha flipped through the notebook, exclaiming in admiration, she suddenly noticed that Natalya had been silent for quite a while. Asha looked up and her eyes widened.
Natalya, who had been confident and composed all this time, was blushing intensely. She desperately tried to maintain a calm facade, but Asha couldn’t help but burst into laughter, covering her face with the notebook.
“Did… did I intrude too much?”
“Oh, no. No, it’s not that. I’ve never shown this to anyone else! That’s why…”
It was not just because of the fireplace, but also because of the warmth emanating from Natalya sitting next to her that the cabin didn’t feel cold at all.
“Why didn’t you show them something amazing?”
“…”
Natalya did not answer, but Asha was able to read out the answer in the silence. The brave and confident girl seemed to show this secret treasure map only to those who would treasure her little palace. Asha smiled warmly.
“In fact, Natalya. If you have something new, you can show me again, right? I’ll come back with another strawberry tart.”
