While Asha tilted her head at the Emperor’s strange conclusion, the servant, who had been holding his breath, flinched.
“The granddaughter?”
The Emperor has always called his grandchildren imperial children. It was the same for his sons. It meant they would be treated only as a member of the imperial family, not as a family member.
“I have an item coming in a few days, so I’ll send it to you.”
Was he even giving her something else? The servant thought back to see if the Emperor had acted like this before and remembered that it was the first time since the imperial son had left the palace that he had performed this way. And that he never personally gave anything to the imperial son.
“What? Oh, no. The chef helped me a lot, too. And I’m going to go home now…”
It was the moment when Asha tried to finish her words without knowing what the servant was thinking and was embarrassed. Asha stopped talking and opened her eyes wide.
Asha’s eyes were reflecting an illusion. The translucent shawl the emperor was wearing fluttered as if it were moving freely.
‘Uh…Huh?’
The end of the shawl spread softly and loosely came closer and closer until he even brushed her forehead and cheeks. Even though Asha faltered in surprise, the Emperor pointed outside the study without blinking an eye.
“Was the chef Pavel Marca? I’ll give him a prize too, so know that. It’s late, so you should guide the Princess to bed now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The attendant quickly bowed his head, holding down the joy of being freed from the entrance to hell. Asha opened her mouth at the sudden decision to stay in the imperial palace longer, eventually, her back with her shoulders drooping.
The study door closed behind her back was like a wall. Symbolizing a lack of understanding between the Emperor and her.
‘So why was His Majesty so curious about who made the cake?’
She feared the chef would be in trouble, but it ended without her knowing what was happening. If it were like this, she would’ve just sent the chef!
‘And what the hell was that shawl?’
The servant didn’t seem to see anything. Was it only seen in her own eyes? Asha was curious about its identity but she thought she didn’t care because she wanted to return home quickly.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The Emperor looked down at the empty bowl.
The mysterious cake, which had a sweet and bitter taste and a crispy and moist texture quickly, was a new taste even for the Emperor. The Emperor had a disposition not to enjoy sweets as a luxury, but he was not very ignorant of gastronomy. If he made something this big, he called the chef because he thought it was worth giving a prize.
However…
– I made it for you, Your Majesty!
Even after the youngest son, who was so clever that he was singled out as the successor, abandoned everything and left the palace as if he were running away, the Emperor confirmed the news of him occasionally. That’s how he heard the news that his youngest granddaughter was born.
However, it has not only been about Yuriev and her granddaughter. The same goes for his other grandchildren. Meeting such relatives for the first time in 10 years did not cause any particular feelings. However, it would be a lie if he said he was not very interested in the light green eyes of the little girl talking.
“Shamal.”
<What’s wrong with you?>
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in at the name the emperor muttered to himself. It was a wind that could not blow in the study with the door all closed.
“Did she see you?”
<The little peach thing?>
Answering the Emperor’s question was a translucent shawl that had enveloped him so far. Rising like a wave, it quickly turned into the wind.
The wind hurriedly hastes from a translucent boy to an older man without raising dust before the emperor. It was a genuinely bizarre sight.
This was one of the two heads of the double-headed eagle, the symbol of their imperial ancestors.
It was the “King of Spirits.”
It is an existence that symbolizes the divinity of the empire, a credential that only the Emperor could wield and those who could not dare to challenge the throne.
Among them, the one in front of the Emperor was Shamal, the Spirit of the Wind.
Even after the spirit ceremony, it took decades for the emperor to see the invisible spirit with his naked eyes. No one in the Empire even knew that they could see the true nature of the Spirit. Famous scholars treat it as an old story and study it.
But did his young granddaughter, who just turned 10, see the traces of the Spirit King, even if it’s just a shadow?
‘I’ll have to keep an eye on her.’
“…but still a little peach?”
<Isn’t she the same as a peach that her hair is red and her eyes are green?>
Come to think of it, it wasn’t wrong either. The wind moved around while the Emperor smirked and folded the wrinkles around his eyes. The shape became a dog, a cow, a person, and a bird, and it came and went busily.
<I was just trying to touch her because she was cool.>
“What’s so interesting?”
Did this spirit, who had lived for a long time that humans can’t even think of it, have something curious and unique left? The shape of the wind paused for the first time at the Emperor’s question.
<It’s cool, of course. I’ve never seen a human being so uninterested in you.>
“What?”
<To be exact, I should say that I have never seen a human being who is not interested in my contractor.>
The wind burst out laughing as the Emperor raised his eyebrows.
<All that little peach cared about was how well you ate her snack. Did you say you were giving away a prize? Was the peach interested in what the prize was?>
“What?”
<The only other thing she thought about was when she could go back home.>
“…”
The Emperor was silent for a moment. He knew the youngest son’s family, who left the imperial family, living in poverty. Although he thought it was because she was still young that such a granddaughter only wanted to return home even after seeing the luxurious palace, a corner of his heart was agitated for no reason.
The shadow of his beloved youngest son seemed to be seen.
‘Don’t tell me you’ve inherited a ruffian temperament.’
<It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a being with such idle thoughts in front of you, so it’s amazing.>
“… that kind of temper must resemble her father.”
<Ah, your smallest, who spat out nonsense the other day and went out…… No, is that peach his daughter?>
The Emperor clicked his tongue. Meanwhile, the shape of the wind was changing around.
“Your yesterday is a long way off.”
But it was like yesterday for the Emperor, too. The youngest son in his memory still had the face of a young man.
But now, the youngest son’s daughter has come to the palace. A girl who baked a small cake for him, saying she made it for him, seems to have popped out of an unknown rabbit hole.
“…I heard she signed a contract with the spirit of the little bird. Is that right?”
<A little bird spirit?>
For a moment, Shamal’s ever-changing appearance stopped. It looked strange because it stopped at the moment when a giant lizard turned into a rose. Shamal said again as the Emperor frowned at the bizarre landscape.
<Was it said that the little peach contracted was the spirit of the bird? Who?
“The Marquis of Serenetev. He made a contract with the Spirit of Discernment.”
The Emperor referred to his son as if referring to others.
<Hmm…>
Shamal’s figure slowly changed again. Unlike before, it was slow.
<The Spirit of Discretion is never wrong…>
“It sounds like it’s wrong this time.”
<That’s a strange thing.>
The wind did not answer the Emperor’s words and spoke to himself, showing a translucent figure from one side to the other.
<A little bird? Sounds like it.>
“It’s the first time you’ve spoken without conviction.”
<It’s my first time, too.>
The wind fluctuated for a long time after that and finally subsided.
<The mystery will be solved gradually. One thing is for sure. Your Marquis must be very fond of your Peach.>
At the end of the sentence, Shamal disappeared at once. The cool wind blew, and it ended. The Emperor sighed and slowly swept his solar plexus.
Judging from Shamal’s attitude, he didn’t seem to intend to tell the truth yet. The Emperor had never regretted his choice in his life, but somehow he had a vague feeling that this decision to leave his youngest granddaughter at the palace would return to a big storm.
When Asha carefully returned to the room with a servant who seemed to have lost his soul, fortunately, Lise was still in the kitchen near the main palace.
Asha walked to the bed and threw herself on, listening to the sound of the door closing quietly. She couldn’t sleep because her heart was shaking. After all, she made snacks for the first time in her life.
‘What’s the gift? I hope it’s cashable.’
Then as soon as she return home, she could sell it, buy sugar, butter, and flour, and bake snacks…
‘If it’s a little big, maybe I can buy a house…’
If the roof was not repaired yearly, you might get a decent house to live in with your mom and dad, which was not a house where you could get rained inside.
Asha, thinking that far, suddenly felt the embroidery on her pajamas with her hand. When the kitchen went crazy about the loss of two cakes, the bird, who disappeared as if she didn’t want to be bothered, remained in her pajama embroidery. Asha pressed the overly vivid and chubby embroidery with her fingertips.
“Augh, au? Because of you, I…”
<You were the one who wanted to make something called fondant chocolate…>
“Wow!”
There was a brief disturbance behind Asha’s scream.
First, her ladies-in-waiting arrived, and Lise ran into her room after a while. Asha explained that she had a nightmare.
After reassuring her, she hesitated to see if she was worried and left, leaving Asha to catch her breath while lying on her bed. Just when it was quiet around her, Asha got up and tapped herself on the head.
“Is it an auditory hallucination?”
<It’s not hallucinations. This body is the great spirit of the senses!>
