The Marchioness of Tataricha looked down at her daughter, who was sound asleep, with her arms crossed.
“Oh, I can’t believe she fell asleep next to her.”
At the wife’s sigh, the maids were at a loss. When the marchioness’ only ten-year-old daughter said she would take a walk in the forest alone with the princess, they pretended to step down, but the servants always followed them from a distance.
Even when the two girls entered the very small, shabby hut, the servants were naturally following, and the door was quietly opened after a moment passed.
If she knew that the servants were following her, she would get angry, so the servants carefully approached them but instead of a small hand coming out and gesturing, there was Natalya who fell asleep on the knees of the princess at the door.
She assumed that the servants had followed them, and beckoned for them to take Natalya, who was asleep, to the mansion. The Marchioness of Tataricha sighed again and soothed her forehead.
“It’s my fault, really.”
The marchioness was very worried that her feisty daughter would attend the unwanted tea party and cause trouble to the princess.
So she had kept her daughter from playing freely for a whole week, thinking that if she was tired, she might be a bit more well-behaved. However, how could she be so tired that she would lead the princess deep into the forest and fall asleep inside the cabin?
“It’s a relief that the princess didn’t blame her for her rudeness.”
The Marchioness of Tataricha had a strange look on her face when she remembered the girl with fine pink hair. The princess, who lent her daughter her knee, even took off her coat and covered her daughter’s shoulders. Without blaming the servants, she left the forest together and said she had something to tell the Marchioness of Tataricha.
– I was really happy to hear that you enjoyed the cake.
The marchioness didn’t immediately understand the girl’s words. It was about the cake from the patisserie that she had eaten and admired. The name was “Asha’s Chocolate Cake”!
The girl smiled shyly and nodded. The Marchioness of Tataricha knew then why Princess Anastasia was not present at any other tea party, but only accepted her invitation.
The girl chuckled softly and spoke. She mentioned that there were some unfortunate incidents during the opening, but she was happy to receive good reviews and came to express her gratitude. She even added that it was a good thing that she came and became friends with Natalya.
“Who was in Natalya’s cabin?”
“Do you mean the servant who brought in the fireplace, madam?”
“Is there anyone else besides the servant?”
The maid, who noticed what the Marchioness of Tataricha meant, smiled awkwardly.
“Master Grisha couldn’t cross the stream the last time he came, and Prince Dimitri saw it just before the hut was completed, and he was scared…”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The Marchioness of Tataricha swept her daughter’s smooth forehead once and left the room.
“But the story about making it herself… Is it really true?”
The maid following her questioned about the tart brought by the princess today.
“Who else would have made it?”
“But still…”
The maid trailed off her words. A sound of someone swallowing saliva could be heard from the side.
The Marchioness of Tataricha had willingly shared the leftover tart with the servants and had enjoyed it with them.
The maids who remembered the taste couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
“You’ve never had a tart that delicious before, have you?”
“Maybe it was made by a patissier whose name is not yet known?”
“Is there a patissier in the capital that I don’t know about?”
Again one of the maids swallowed and expressed her affirmation to the words of the Marchioness of Tataricha.
However, the reason for their ongoing suspicion was that the dessert, which was so incredibly delicious that the marchioness and her maids had never tasted anything like it before, was because the same marchioness and her maids had conquered every dessert in the capital. They couldn’t believe that the princess, who was the same age as Natalya, made that up.
“There may be outstanding patissiers I don’t know about, but I don’t think the princess, who had just arrived this year, would be on that skill level yet.”
The maids nodded in agreement one by one.
“And even if she tricks people into pretending it’s her talent, would you lie that you have a knack for making pastries among the many things you do?”
There was no reason to deceive others with the skill of a mere kitchen servant, as Prince Dimitri had criticized.
“By the way, something unpleasant must have happened to the store. I need to look into it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Since I’m looking into it, I’ll buy that chocolate cake while I’m at it.”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
In the carriage returning, Asha opened the box which was given as a gift by the Marchioness of Tataricha. Packed cookies were neatly placed in a box wrapped in a pink box with a sky blue ribbon.
“Shall we share this?”
Asha took out cookies one by one and gave them to Bethelnic, Anne, and Lise one by one.
“T,Thank you.”
“…Thank you.”
“Oh! Give one of these to Ivan too.”
Asha picked up another cookie bag and handed it to Anne. Anne nodded, saying she would be happy to. Asha, looking down at the three cookies left in the box, wrapped her head and contemplated for a long time before picking up another one.
“This… to Commander Nellin.”
“…!”
“…!”
Bethelnic was calm, but Lise and Anne opened their eyes wide at the same time. Asha quickly cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“This is made at the Lemerotil snack shop. They served it at the tea party, and it was really good. I wonder how they make them. Are the ingredients different?”
“If you’d like it, should we invite their patissier to the palace?”
“Oh, no. That’s not what I meant.”
Asha shook her hand in a hurry. She recently realized that Lise had a little bit of an extreme side. While Asha was talking to the people in the carriage, the coachman, who had only focused on driving the carriage, stopped the carriage and knocked inward.
“What’s going on?”
When Lise raised the window of the carriage and asked outside, the coachman, who leaned forward to the fullest, said in a trembling voice.
“T,That… We briefly stopped at the intersection… Lord K…Karnov Neustadter would like to greet the princess.”
“Karnov?”
The expressions of everyone in the carriage changed little by little. Lise looked back at Asha with a rather perplexed look at the unexpected person’s name. Asha shrugged her shoulders.
“Karnov said he had to go meet his grandmother today. I guess he’s done with his business.”
“Ah… I, I see.”
“Then I’ll go and say hello for a second.”
Asha said so, and tried to get out of the carriage, but stopped just before, she opened the cookie box of the Lemerotil bakery and picked up a cookie bag. Lise got off the carriage first and tried to help Asha get off, but Asha dissuaded her. Then, this time, the knights tried to follow her, so she stopped them.
“I have Karnov, it’s all right.”
“Karnov!”
Karnov, who was riding, seemed slightly taken aback before he quickly dismounted.
“I greet Your Highness. …I didn’t expect you to get out of the carriage.”
Karnov’s whispering was barely audible.
“What? It was Karnov who called me out.”
“I thought I’d say hello through the carriage window for a moment. But I didn’t expect you to get out of the carriage like this.”
“Ride the carriage? I’ll ride it if you want.”
As Asha was muttering under her breath, she suddenly turned around, but Karnov was already standing in front of her faster than anyone else.
“My bad! That was my bad. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
Asha folded her arms and looked up at Karnov.
“These days, I feel like Karnov is trying to make up for everything with just one ‘I’m sorry’.”
“Did you notice?”
“I won’t give you this.”
Asha took out the cookie bag she was holding. Karnov blinked.
“What’s that?”
“They’re incredibly delicious cookies.”
“Did you bake them yourself?”
“Um… no, not really. I went to a tea party today, and the marchioness gave them to me as a gift…”
Asha suddenly started to ramble, then narrowed her eyes and smiled.
“What is it, Karnov? Are you saying that only the sweets I make are good?”
“I think I’ve told you a thousand times that I don’t like sweets.”
“But recently, I know you’ve started to like them.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can tell from your face.”
“…”
Karnov’s expression showed that he couldn’t entirely deny it, but in the end, he obediently accepted the cookie bag that Asha handed him.
“Did it go well with your grandmother? What are you doing here?”
“I greeted my grandmother and went out for a short walk.”
At the mention of a walk, Asha blinked and looked at the horse behind Karnov. The glossy black horse was calm, with just a playful flick of its tail when it saw Asha.
Thanks for the chapter 👍
Thanks for reading!