“Is that so? Do you truly believe that? Do you hold such regard for her, as the daughter of Prince Yuriev? That she has inherited the temperament of the prince?”
General Yekaterina responded in a matching tone to the emperor’s jest. To believe that she had no interest in the throne, simply born into the royal family, was absurdly naive. And in this moment, the emperor leaned back in his chair with the gentlest expression of the day.
“I know that Yuriev’s words that he had no interest in the throne was also a lie.”
Yuriev knew well that he could do anything with that outstanding quality. And those who know themselves well know what they desire.
However, Yuriev had made a conscious decision to go against his own desires. To not take the place of his brother, but to give his rightful share to his son. Because that was the right thing to do.
But the decision was as painful as quitting drugs…
“Yuriev desired this position too much to stay within the capital.”
That’s why he ran away from the capital and fled to a faraway place.
“But that child is different. If she resembles either of her parents, it would be her mother, not him. She knows clearly what she wants and charges ahead with only that in mind.”
The emperor said so, picking up a small crescent-shaped cookie and putting it in his mouth. White and sweet powder sprayed on the surface melted on the tongue, and the cookie broke into soft particles and wrapped around the tongue as soon as it was chewed.
“In that case, what does the princess desire?”
General Yekaterina asked, furrowing her eyebrows. The emperor gestured toward the cookie.
“Baking snacks.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, baking cookies. She simply enjoys baking cookies and has no interest in anything else. She doesn’t even care who I am. That’s all there is to it.”
The emperor pointed to the cookies with his chin. General Yekaterina glanced at the snack that Princess Anastasia had baked, which had a mild sweet scent coming up earlier.
The emperor’s words should clearly be an absurd joke, but they sounded almost earnest. General Yekaterina slowly placed the crescent-shaped cookie into her mouth.
At the same time, Yekaterina recalled the shasling drink she had with her grandson not long ago. Her grandson had brought a bottle of excellent liquor that he happened to acquire and they couldn’t help but be amazed by its taste. For some reason, as she ate the cookie, she was reminded of that pleasant sensation. And the sky-blue silk ribbon that was tied in Princess Anastasia’s hair.
“Where have I seen that before…”
She realized that it was the ribbon her grandson had instructed the butler to procure. General Yekaterina savored this fact leisurely as she took another cookie into her mouth. The cookie, baked by Princess Anastasia, had a sweet and warm taste.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Upon seeing General Yekaterina return to the mansion, Karnov felt a sense of unease as he noticed the meaningful smile on her face.
“I saw a familiar face.”
“Who?”
It had been a simple and light conversation, finishing dinner and sharing a cup of tea. But Karnov had a strong intuition that something might be amiss and quickly set down his cup.
“Princess Anastasia.”
Sure enough.
Karnov thought that if General Yekaterina had mentioned Princess Anastasia’s name from the start, he might have choked on his tea.
“Did you? I thought you were going to say hello to His Majesty the Emperor…”
“At the right time, she baked some snacks to give it to His Majesty.”
“I see.”
Karnov answered in a short answer so as not to continue the topic, but General Yekaterina did not know when to give up.
“Well, as soon as the princess saw me, she asked if I was your grandmother. I was so surprised.”
“…She has a keen eye.”
Karnov agreed. After all, didn’t the girl have the knack for sensing his mood even with her eyes closed? It was no longer surprising that she recognized her as his own flesh and blood upon seeing his grandmother for the first time.
“I never dreamed that a day would come when someone who saw me for the first time in my life would say we looked like each other.”
As General Yekaterina said, the two did not look alike at all. The purple eyes inherited by the Neustadter family through the generations were similar, but that was all. They weren’t the only ones with purple eyes.
“I thought besides the crown prince, that you would warm up to none of His Majesty’s descendants.”
“Grandmother.”
Karnov frowned. General Yekaterina smiled and sipped the tea.
“On His Majesty’s upcoming birthday, we will compete with each other in a Kerum game. On the condition of writing a letter to the winner.”
“A letter? What kind of letter are you talking about?”
“The princess asked the loser to write a review of the snack, but His Majesty said, ‘What would happen if the princess lost?’ So at that time, we decided that it didn’t matter what the content was, we would write a letter. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Karnov inwardly cursed, knowing how the situation had developed.
“Seems like both of you will end up writing a review of the cookies.”
“Really? But if we do well, it will be an opportunity to receive a letter from Her Highness, won’t it?”
“What will you do with a letter from a young princess, Grandmother?”
“Well, the emperor seems to be really keen on it. But there might be others who want it too, aside from His Majesty.”
Yekaterina smiled, her eyes narrowing. Karnov grimaced openly, but Yekaterina remained unfazed.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Pavel spoke earnestly.
“I feel incredibly burdened. Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better if there wasn’t dessert at the banquet?”
Asha burst into laughter at Pavel’s words. Pavel had mentioned that he would be the assistant to the head chef and in charge of desserts at the upcoming emperor’s birthday celebration.
It had become a well-known secret within the palace that Princess Anastasia had a hobby of making desserts, which made everyone hesitant to take on the dessert duties at the banquet.
Furthermore, wasn’t there some achievement that Pavel had made during the last diplomatic mission for peace? Even though it was thanks to the cake that Asha had made. Therefore, Pavel unanimously became responsible for desserts at this birthday celebration.
“What are you talking about? Pavel is the head chef here, and I just make it for fun. If Pavel feels burdened, what can I do?”
“…”
Despite Asha’s words, Pavel remained silent. While others may feel a vague sense of pressure when it came to areas of interest to the princess, Pavel was someone who had personally tasted Asha’s talent and the snacks she made.
Even though there was some camaraderie between them, Pavel was only joking. Could he, as the head chef, really tell a princess not to eat dessert? Asha smiled and revealed what she had been hiding behind her back.
“If you make me dessert, I’ll give you this.”
“…What is it?”
“A whisk.”
“This… This?”
Pavel opened his eyes wide and looked at the instrument that Asha was holding.
The wooden handle was still a bright color, indicating that it hadn’t been made long ago. On top, several pieces of carved wood were curved and stacked like a hot air balloon.
At first, it was intended to be made of iron, but it was made because wood was convenient to make a prototype. Asha made sure to bring the whisk, knowing just how peculiar it looked in Pavel’s eyes, and she handed it over before fetching an egg white.
“I’ve been calling the whisk a bundle of twigs this whole time for a reason.”
“Hmm.”
“Just concentrate and watch closely.”
With those words, Asha vigorously began to beat the egg white.
“Hmm.”
Pavel put his hand on his waist and looked at Asha alternately with an egg-white cheek. But the gaze soon changed.
“Oh? Already?”
“Ah, I’m tired. It’s not working. Pavel, why don’t you give it a try?”
When the egg whites started to form frothy bubbles, like beer foam, Asha handed the whisk and bowl to Pavel. With an amazed expression, Pavel gladly took the bowl and whisk and started whisking.
“Oh! Ah! Oh!”
“Isn’t it better?”
“Oh!”
When people start to achieve something, they become even more engrossed in it. Pavel was completely absorbed in beating the meringue, not even hearing Asha’s question. Asha watched him with pride.
Before five minutes had passed, Pavel lifted his horn-shaped, pure white meringue triumphantly.
“Your Highness! Look at this!”
It was as if a child was boasting of a sand castle he had made, an enthusiastic and innocent voice. Asha held back her laughter and asked.
“Do you like it?”
“This! This is a revolution! It’s the Whisk Revolution! A new world has opened up in the kitchen!”
“I guess you can prepare a birthday party better with that, right?”
“…!”
Pavel took a deep breath and nodded his head. Having made a few personal promises to himself to work hard, he suddenly looked at the whisk with a worried expression.
“But what if the others try to imitate this? It’s something Your Highness made…”
“It would be better if we could all cook well together.”
Asha couldn’t say she invented the whisk, so she said that, but Pavel seemed to take it differently. He looked at her for a long time with very impressed eyes and swore in a voice, “I will definitely put in my best efforts for the preparations of the banquet.”
“There’s no need to swear…”
Asha awkwardly laughed, but Pavel didn’t listen.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
As the emperor’s birthday approached, the days got hotter and hotter.
“Your Highness, are you feeling very hot?”
“Not a lot, but a little…”
Having finished the clothes she would wear at the birthday banquet, Asha was sprawled on the sofa. Lise, standing beside her, fanned vigorously while placing ice nearby.
<Why are you complaining so much?>
‘It’s hot because it’s summer. What can I do? How come Shamal can’t do anything about this? You said you could summon wind to cool down the heat caused by Fafnir.’
At Asha’s whining, Phoebe moved her beak violently and squeaked.
<Silly one. It’s to control stupid Fafnir running wild, not to cool off the summer heat.>
‘You’re stupid. What’s wrong with blowing it a little more? It’s so hot!’
<This is all because of your lack of stamina! You spend every day sluggishly making and eating snacks, no wonder you’re so weak and fragile!>
“Phoebe must be very worried, too.”*
(*E/N: This was said by Shamal. Apparently he’s in this scene.)
<It’s been a while since you said something right for once.>
Asha alternately looked at the two beings who were not communicating at all but were communicating, and then drooped again.
“What should I do about the banquet? It’s going to be incredibly hot, isn’t it? With so many people and the chandeliers…”
“It’s the emperor’s birthday banquet, I doubt it will be like that. Ice will be installed everywhere, so the banquet hall will be cool.”
Lise tried to appease Asha. Asha looked at the ice column with cloudy eyes.
