“Yes. I’ve never tasted alcohol before.”
“That’s surprising.”
Asha cocked her head in confusion. Karnov had been in the military for a long time and had even fought in the war, so she thought he must have at least tasted wine by the age of fifteen. Karnov flicked the tip of Asha’s nose with his finger.
“No one ever offered me any alcohol.”
“Is that so?”
“I guess they thought something bad would happen if I got drunk.”
Upon hearing that, Asha looked up at Karnov like she was possessed, then quickly snapped back to her senses.
“R,right. It’s a big problem if the deputy commander gets drunk.”
“…”
“Anyway, this is not allowed. If they say it tastes good later, we can drink it together with your grandmother. All right?”
Asha said so and tightly closed the lid of the glass jar. Karnov alternated his gaze between Asha and the kitchen counter, his lips quivering slightly.
“So, let me get this straight. I went to play a Kerum game that I wasn’t interested in, got dragged back to the palace, made alcohol, and now I’m being kicked out empty-handed.”
“No~!”
Asha playfully waved her finger and burst into laughter.
“It’s a Kerum game that you weren’t interested in, but once you tried it, it was fun! Right? It’s fun to make alcohol, too. It’s so easy and convenient with Karnov. It’s comfortable and nice. Maybe when I grow up, I’ll try making my own distilled liquor?”
“So, we have a little drunkard in the palace.”
“And not empty-handed!”
Asha said as she held Karnov’s hands together, enclosing his hands with hers, and flashed a mischievous smile.
“Our sweet memories remain in your heart like this, right?”
“…”
“…”
Karnov looked down at Asha with a cool expression. Asha smiled awkwardly.
“I… I’ll bake you a lime pie.”
“…”
“Ah! Should I give you a ride home?”
“…”
“Uh, um.”
Asha hesitantly withdrew her hand with a puzzled expression. Only then did Karnov smirk.
“Sure.”
“Y, you want me to give you a ride home?”
“Oh, you were just saying it casually?”
“No, I really mean it! I’m serious!”
“I mean, the lime pie is good, Your Highness.”
“I’ll bake you a big one to enjoy with alcohol. I promise.”
With Asha’s firm oath, Karnov once again had a contemplative expression.
“When making a statement like that, there should be a token.”
“A token?”
“If you don’t want to, then forget it.”
“Ah, who said they didn’t want to? Karnov, stop being so stubborn.”
Asha said that and quickly looked around. Although she couldn’t see anything suitable as a token to symbolize the oath. Asha became flustered and started rummaging through her pockets. Karnov, who had been silently observing, tilted his head.
“If you have absolutely nothing, then at least give me a ribbon.”
“A ribbon?”
Karnov pointed at Asha’s hair with his chin. Her hair was decorated with small sky blue ribbons on both sides.
“This? Do you need this? What are you going to use it for?”
Asha obediently untied the ribbon while asking, and Karnov clicked his tongue.
“Why, to as use a token of the oath.”
“Then are you going to hold onto this ribbon and return it to me when I bake the lime pie?”
“…If you want it back, then give me the pie.”
“It’s not that I necessarily want it back. But originally, the ribbon was on both sides. If I give you only one, the balance will be off…”
After a moment of contemplation, Asha untied the other ribbon as well.
“Ah! There you go. Both of them! The left one represents Princess Anastasia’s trust, and the right one represents Princess Anastasia’s faith.”
Asha proudly smiled as she placed the two ribbons in Karnov’s hands. Karnov silently stared at the sky blue ribbons on his hand and let out a small chuckle before tucking them away in his pocket. Then, he slightly bowed and planted a kiss on the back of Asha’s hand before straightening up.
“I’ll be looking forward to that lime pie.”
“You’re tickling me, Karnov.”
“Sigh…”
“Don’t sigh like that.”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Valery looked out the window, watching as the sun was almost setting in the evening. The servants were busy cleaning up after the social gathering that took place earlier.
“So… Ilya was happy?”
“Yes. He said he didn’t expect so many people to come.”
The butler reported quietly about what had happened today. Valery pressed his temples tightly and swallowed a sigh.
“So, I owe my brother.”
“Ilya said it would be nice if they all gathered again to play the Kerum game…”
The butler’s words trailed off. Valery hesitated for a moment before extending his hand.
“If they got really close, one of them will invite him. Let the ball and cue stand be disposed of.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After the butler left the room, Valery sighed and poured himself a glass of brandy. The breadcrumbs made to appease the royal chef, Fjord Buicker, helped his family by allowing him to build a friendship with Fjord.
Of course, it didn’t sell well because the quality of the product was good. The eldest prince had passed away, the second had no interest in anything, and the youngest had discarded everything and hidden away, leaving only Valery. So, it sold due to nobles and officials purchasing it as insurance for an uncertain future. As a result, if there were any issues with the breadcrumb product, Valery had managed to cover them up reasonably well.
But how – how dare a gossip magazine make a big deal out of a small issue with a product invested in by the royal family? And when Valery received the Weekly Vichegda, he immediately saw through what had happened.
‘Alexei… That damn nephew.’
It was clear to Valery that Alexei was behind all of this. Valery had also discovered that it was Marchioness Tataricha who had pulled the strings, but it was well known that she had connections to the crown prince.
There were rumors circulating about how fondly the crown prince treated his cousin. There were even stories of Princess Anastasia being carried around because she couldn’t walk on her own. It was evident that Alexei retaliated after realizing that Valery was trying to get involved with the business connected to his beloved cousin.
‘Damn it.’
Why couldn’t anything go according to plan? Valery wiped his face in frustration. He couldn’t understand why such a big fuss was being made over a cheap gossip magazine article. But the incident spread like wildfire.
The information from the Weekly Vichegda was transferred to the Monthly Vichegda, and those who didn’t even know there was an issue quickly were informed.
Restaurants, which were using the tasteless breadcrumbs as a last resort, switched to other products, embracing the situation. The factory ended up shutting down. The negative reviews swelled up, ready to devour Valery. He had to exhaust all his money just to try and salvage the situation.
‘…And even though things have come to this point, Father…’
His reputation was tarnished, his finances were depleted, and all he could offer his son was a social gathering. Yet, there was no sign from the emperor.
Valery never expected the emperor to scold or reprimand him. From the beginning, he had no illusions about the emperor’s response. But this time, he had thought that perhaps he would be summoned and reproached. After all, he had ruined the dignity of the royal family. It was his own misjudgment. Marquis Shapiroqin had no share in the dignity of the royal family, nor did he have the emperor’s interest.
A miserable and sickening feeling whirled inside him. Until his youngest brother Yuriev was born, Valery had always thought of his father as a strict and rational person. There was never any praise for doing well, but there was also no anger or scolding for making mistakes. He had believed that this lack of outbursts and expressions of anger meant affection and love.
But it didn’t.
His brother didn’t seem to be afraid of anything. He didn’t do anything he didn’t want to do. Even when their father raged and threatened to beat him.
Valery realized then that the emperor was capable of such anger. And he also discovered that the emperor only expressed anger or, very rarely, smiled because of his younger brother’s actions.
Even when his first son died, the emperor had briefly shown a shallow sorrow before concealing his emotions. But when his youngest son spat out disrespectful words and left the capital, the emperor held onto that wound for a long time.
Valery knew. He had never once received genuine attention from his father. From some point on, he trembled with the misery of it, but at the same time, that misery faded away and was replaced only by anger.
“Damn it, Father was always like that… Why am I still…”
But now, at this moment when he watched the setting sun and sipped on brandy with exhaustion, he suddenly wanted to distance himself from that anger and misery.
He wanted to escape from it all.
Valery had spent his whole life searching through the forest for a rare bird to put in his own cage. But now, he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps that bird never existed in this forest from the beginning.
Now, but now…
Valery gulped down the remaining brandy. He couldn’t taste any alcohol. However, the image of his youngest niece came to mind. A little niece who said she made a snack for him with bright green eyes.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha put her hands together and looked at the people standing in front of her with a nervous expression. Baroness Saratov, who brought the contract related to Phoebe powder, Pavel, who took a short break at Asha’s request for help, and Asha’s maid, Lise, stood side by side, holding a small glass in her hand. And the three looked at each other and put the fruit wine in their hands to their mouths.
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
With a popping sound, all three of them were surprised, their eyes widening. Asha didn’t even ask how it tasted, she just relaxed her tension. There was no need to hear their words when the storm of starlight was bursting out right in front of her.
“Ah~! I’m glad. I made it with so much excitement, but I never got a chance to taste it.”
“Your, Your Highness, what is this?”
Baroness Saratov asked urgently, covering her mouth with her hands. Pavel was already trying hard to smell the remaining fragrance in his emptied glass. Asha smiled mischievously and replied.
“It’s the shasling wine I brewed. It’s a one-year vintage. And now, this.”
“What is this?”
“The shasling wine I brewed, aged for ten years.”
“What? Then you made alcohol as soon as you were born?”
“It’s a secret. So stop asking and just taste it now.”
Asha poured ten-year-old liquor into the new glass. The three tilted their heads, emptied their drinks, and quickly opened their eyes wide.
“Good, good. This one is a success too. The last one is the thirty-year vintage.”
Asha looked at the three of them with a satisfied expression, watching as they savored every last drop, unable to hide their disappointment.
