“It doesn’t seem like he’s become any nicer.”
On the way back to the garden after leaving the mansion, Karnov muttered quietly. Asha also replied with a rather serious look.
“Once is not enough.”
“So you’re saying you have to do it again?”
“Well, but he’s tasted my snacks once, so now he’ll just eat them if I send them by mail.”
Feeling hatred and the desire to harm others often ends up hurting oneself. There is no human who hates and reviles others just for the sake of it. It’s just because they have no other choice.
But what if they had a choice? Just by eating the snacks made by Asha, the power of the Spirit of Feelings permeates him, and he can be slowly separated from Prasti. From now on, Valery will instinctively covet Asha’s snacks. Humans naturally want to distance themselves from the vile.
“If it doesn’t work, I’ll ask Ilya to play Kerum again.”
“…”
Karnov sighed. Asha, undeterred, continued with her next question.
“After this gathering, Karnov, are you busy?”
“…Why?”
Hearing Karnov’s response as if he sensed something troublesome, Asha gave an elegant roll of her eyes.
“We agreed to make alcohol together, remember?”
“Hmm.”
“If it turns out well, I’ll give you a bottle too. We can share it with your grandmother.”
“Hmm.”
“Oh, if you don’t want to, forget it.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”
Asha pushed Karnov forcefully, though he didn’t flinch.
“If you don’t like something, just say it straightforwardly. Don’t act all wishy-washy like a lukewarm pudding. It’s not tasty.”
“…All right. I really want to make a drink with you.”
“If you said you’re fine with it, then stick with it till the end, Karnov.”
“Fine, fine.”
Asha nodded satisfactorily. Karnov asked how many bottles of alcohol she planned to make, but Asha just laughed, teasing him.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Karnov looked down at Natalya, who did not hide her challenging gaze towards him, then briefly looked at the girl standing beside him. The girl smiled, her round cheeks dimpling.
“Natalya, today was fun. Let’s play again next time. I’ll bake delicious snacks then.”
Natalya, who was staring at Karnov with fiery eyes, immediately softened her green gaze and shyly locked eyes with the girl.
“Yes, definitely.”
After greeting Ilya, the cousin who hosted the party, and Dimitri, Karnov naturally ended up riding in the carriage with the girl, even though all he did was glance in her direction.
“I didn’t know the young heiress of the Tataricha Estate disliked me so much.”
“Pfft.”
The girl, who was sitting in the chair and fixing her skirt, raised her head and laughed. Karnov narrowed his eyes at her strange laughter.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I thought about it after hearing what you just said, but I guess everyone was afraid of Karnov but never hated him.”
“…”
Are those two different things? Karnov was first made aware of the difference. While he pondered over various thoughts and leaned against the carriage wall, the girl cuddled a cushion and tapped her toes as she spoke.
“But I don’t think Natalya hates Karnov. She’s good at everything with her body, so I don’t think she’s ever lost. But Karnov completely defeated her. So it’s just her competitiveness.”
Karnov furrowed his brows.
“But you were the one who pushed her harder to win. No, you forgot to mention. Was it your first time playing a Kerum game?”
“Then where would I have tried it before? I’ve never played it in the palace, of course, and I couldn’t do it at home either. If I had something like an ivory ball, I would have sold it immediately and bought bread.”
The girl proudly jutted out her chin as she spoke. Karnov narrowed his eyes at her, but he didn’t inquire further about it.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Isn’t it sweet?”
Upon arriving at the palace, Asha led Karnov to her kitchen. She then took out a plentiful amount of fruit from the refrigerator and cut one in half, inserting one of the halves into Karnov’s mouth.
It was a small fruit, overly ripe, with the peel already peeled off. It had a sweet aroma and taste, reminiscent of a combination of grapes and peaches.
“It’s called shasling, and it starts growing in early spring, and this is the last fruit of the season this year.”
Asha looked at Karnov’s face and smiled happily. Karnov seemed somewhat taken aback by the sudden burst of sweetness in his mouth, but he didn’t seem to dislike it.
“First, remove the seeds.”
Asha leisurely cut the fruit in half and began removing the seeds from the core. Karnov watched her silently and eventually sighed, finding a utility knife and holding it in his hand. The meticulously cleaned fruits piled up in a large bowl.
“But Karnov, Uncle Valery told me earlier. The emperor’s birthday celebration.”
Karnov glanced at Asha briefly while continuously preparing the fruits. It meant he was listening.
“Should I also… do it?”
Karnov hesitated for a moment at her words.
“Well… usually… I guess you should.”
After all, wasn’t Asha in a situation where she was separated from her parents and left alone in the palace?
“If I made something like a snack, I might just be laughed at. And I wonder if I can provide something that the emperor really needs by doing something else.”
“If you do nothing…”
The emperor would be upset. While Asha was contemplating with a troubled expression as she prepared the fruits, Karnov pointed to the pile of fruits with the tip of his knife.
“You can make this drink for him.”
“I just told you. It’s a bit strange to make something genuine. And it’s not easy to think of giving a handmade gift on such a meaningful day.”
Asha put her hand on her waist and spoke in admonition.
“It’s better to buy something well-made than to give something mediocre, Karnov.”
“The emperor’s thoughts might be different.”
Karnov spoke in a decisive tone, but Asha didn’t listen.
“Ugh. I’ll have to think a bit more about the emperor’s birthday gift. What about you, Karnov?”
“I’ve already done something.”
“Huh? What?”
Asha, who was looking for a mortar to mash the prepared fruits, raised her head in surprise. Karnov handed her the mortar pestle and said casually.
“I ended the war with a victory. That’s enough, right?”
“Oh…”
With that kind of statement, there was no choice but to keep her mouth shut. Asha nodded in understanding and turned her gaze towards the fruits.
Once she had filled a large bowl with mashed fruit and added three cups of honey, the preparation was complete. Asha brought three glass jars and placed them on the countertop. Dividing the mixture equally into the three jars, she looked at Karnov with anticipation, her face glowing with excitement.
“Now it’s Karnov’s turn.”
“I might ruin it.”
“You won’t. Karnov, you can do it! I’ll hold your hand. It’ll give you more strength.”
Saying that, Asha enveloped Karnov’s left hand with her own hands. Karnov flinched.
“Holding hands gives you strength?”
“It sounds like a joke, but it’s true! I mean it~!”
“Let’s just pretend it does.”
“Because it really does.”
At Asha’s words, Karnov smiled faintly, but then, looking at the jars of wine waiting for him, quickly stifled his laughter and sighed.
“If the imperial knights saw this, they would be astonished.”
“What are you talking about?”
“If they saw me brewing alcohol with this power.”
“Karnov, you’re doing it because you want to, right? Why do you keep sulking about it?”
“All right, I got it, I got it.”
“The left one is for one year, the middle one is for ten years, and the right one is for thirty years, please.”
“…Okay.”
“You can manage this much, right? I didn’t come to see you practice.”
“…”
This time Karnov glanced at Asha, sighed again, and reached towards the bottles. Soon, a faint light flashed three times in succession.
“Is it done?”
“It’s done.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So now…”
Karnov’s words trailed off, but Asha had already sprung forward, releasing Karnov’s hand and rushing towards the bottles.
“…You really…”
“I’m so nervous right now! This is my first time making alcohol.”
“…”
“This won’t be something that disrupts the ecosystem of the brewing industry, right? Since we’re the only ones who will be drinking it, right?”
“When I plan military operations, I don’t worry about such detailed and grandiose concerns.”
Pretending not to hear Karnov’s words, Asha excitedly lifted her chest. And then she opened the first jar just a little.
“It smells… incredible. Now, let’s see how it tastes… Oh, um…”
“…”
“Hmm.”
“…?”
Asha finally looked up at Karnov with a slightly flustered face.
“Come to think of it, we’re not of legal drinking age yet, are we…?”
“Oh my. You brought me all the way here and only just now realized?”
“No, I forgot too!”
Asha defended herself with an indignant, but somewhat defeated voice. Karnov pretended to be angry, but couldn’t hold it for long and let out a faint laughter.
“What are we going to do with this now?”
“We should let Pavel or Lise taste it later. I’ll feed them it and if they say it’s good, then I’ll give some to you too…”
“Why don’t I just taste it now?”
“No!”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re still a minor, Karnov!”
“But earlier, you said you would give a bottle for me and my grandmother to drink.”
“That’s because it’s okay to drink in the presence of a guardian.”
“So now, I’m a minor and shouldn’t drink?”
“Yes.”
Asha said in a firm voice. Karnov crossed his arms, looked down at Asha, and asked again.
“Is there any other reason?”
“What other reason is there for not being able to drink alcohol? Don’t tell me, Karnov, did you drink a lot when you were at war in the north? You’re fifteen years old.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Really?”
