Louis was disappointed by the shabby setup before him and puffed his cheeks. All Anastasia had brought was flour, the kind used to make bread.
Louis frowned and asked, “Are we just going to throw flour around?”
“No, not at all,” Anastasia reassured him with a smile. “Don’t be disappointed just because you don’t see any toys. We’re going to make our own toys from scratch.”
“We’re making our own toys?” Louis asked.
“Yes,” Anastasia confirmed.
“With this flour? Are we making bread instead of toys?”
“Hey, don’t be so suspicious. Just follow my lead,” she replied.
Anastasia filled the bowl she had prepared with flour. Louis watched her blankly. Seeing this, Anastasia glanced at him, gesturing for him to go ahead and do the same. Despite his suspicious look, Louis filled his bowl with a spoonful of flour.
“Good job, Louis!”
“That’s it?”
“Of course not. Now, we need to pour a little water in here. Just a small amount.”
Anastasia lifted the glass kettle and poured some water into the bowl. When Louis attempted to lift the same kettle, Anastasia quickly grabbed it to assist him.
“I’ll help you. Let’s do it together,” she said.
“Ah, thank you,” Louis said, surprised.
Belatedly, he wondered, ‘Should I do this?’
But he remembered that it’s polite to say thank you when receiving help.
With Anastasia’s assistance, Louis poured some water into his bowl. As the flour mixed with the water, it began to clump together and turn gray.
“Now, we’re going to knead this. Try pressing it down,” Anastasia instructed.
Then, he vigorously mixed the lumps of flour in his bowl. Louis initially watched Anastasia’s actions awkwardly but soon started to mimic her.
Before long, they produced a very fine texture of flour dough.
“This… feels weird.”
“Doesn’t it feel nice? Soft.”
“That’s right. Soft! And it’s moist.”
For the first time, Louis responded to Anastasia’s words without even realizing it. He tilted his head and asked, “That’s it?”
“No, there’s more.”
Louis looked at Anastasia with curiosity, and she felt her heart flutter for a moment.
It was so adorable to see him blinking his jewel-like eyes at her! She wanted to hug his small body like a teddy bear and shower his cheeks with kisses.
‘…but it would be crazy to do that now.’
Anastasia asked patiently, “Louis, what’s your favorite scent?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Oh, come on, answer me.”
“Well….”
Like someone contemplating a very important question, Louis answered after long consideration.
“I like the scent of roses the most.”
“Oh, me too! I love the scent of roses.”
She hadn’t realized they shared something in common!
‘This is a precious opportunity not to be missed.’
Anastasia emphasized their similarity. “We have that in common, right?”
“Do you like rose scents?” Louis replied cynically, narrowing his brows. “Half of Rosenberg’s population likes the scent of roses. It’s not really that special.”
“…”
Anastasia awkwardly chuckled, unsure how to respond to Louis’s unexpected logical rebuttal.
‘…I might have spoken too soon,’ Anastasia thought to herself, but she decided to continue with the activity.
“Anyway, I’ll add plenty of rose oil that both Louis and I like. Then we can smell the fragrant roses from here, right?”
She opened a bottle of rose oil and poured it generously over the dough. ‘I can’t believe I poured a whole bottle of this expensive perfume into a toy…’
But in pursuit of winning Louis’ affection, it wasn’t extravagant at all. In fact, it was a rather minor expense.
“Wow, it smells just like roses!” Louis exclaimed after taking a whiff of the dough infused with perfume.
While it seemed natural, the idea of scenting dough with perfume was quite extravagant by common standards.
For a moment, Louis set aside his logical thoughts and was deeply moved by the fragrant toy.
“And earlier, the dough kept sticking to my hand, so it was uncomfortable, but now it doesn’t!” he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling like peridots.
“This is incredible!”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, I’ve never seen a toy like this before!”
“But Louis, there’s more.”
Anastasia revealed that there was another secret element.
Louis’s eyes widened in anticipation.
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Why?”
“I’m going to make this dough the color you like.”
“Really?”
Louis asked, surprised.
“Can you do that?”
“Of course. There’s nothing we can’t do.”
“Well, then I, I… Wait a minute. I need to think about it.”
Louis couldn’t give an immediate answer as he had many favorite colors.
After pondering for a while, Louis finally asked Anastasia, looking troubled.
“I can only choose one color, right?”
“Only one. It looks nice if you use just one color in the dough.”
“Then I’ll choose pink.”
“Pink? Excellent choice.”
Seeing Louis reminded Anastasia of her younger brother, who wasn’t fond of pink, and she smiled unconsciously.
“I’ll make it pink. Can you close your eyes for a moment?” Louis hesitated briefly before complying and closing his eyes.
While Louis had his eyes closed, Anastasia discreetly located the red paint among the ones she had prepared and added a small amount.
Carefully, she kneaded the dough to ensure the paint blended in seamlessly, hiding any traces of it, before wrapping it up securely.
“Now, you can open your eyes.”
Louis opened them eagerly, only to be met with disappointment. “It’s still the same white color as before.”
“At the moment,” Anastasia replied with a shrug. “But if Louis keeps kneading it like he did before, it will turn pink.”
“Really?” Louis asked, skeptical.
“It’s true, of course. Try working on it. It’ll turn pink in no time,” Anastasia assured him.
Louis was suspicious at first, but he decided to give it a try as Anastasia said.
“Wow, wow!”
After a short while, Louis exclaimed with sheer amazement, “Look, Your Majesty! The dough’s color is changing! It’s incredible!”
As the paint blended with the dough, it started to adopt a unique hue, resembling streaked pink marble.
The color shifted with each knead, offering Louis a delightful spectacle. Eventually, the dough turned entirely pink.
“Wow, it’s truly pink!”
“See? I told you.”
“Yes, Your Majesty was right!” Louis exclaimed enthusiastically, then his expression shifted to one of confusion as if reality had just hit him.
He appeared like a startled dog as if someone had stepped on its tail.
It dawned on him too late that he was overly enthusiastic in front of Anastasia.
‘What am I doing?’ He had resolved not to get too close to Her Majesty, just pretend to play for a moment, but he found himself enthusiastically participating in the game.
Louis felt his resolutions crumbling, unable to utter a word in embarrassment. Anastasia seemed to sense his realization and remained silent.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
Olivia entered the room with an irritated tone, addressing Louis sharply. “Do you realize what time it is? You’re late for class!”
“Oh…”
Louis quickly checked his watch, realizing it was already ten past ten. Despite his restless expression, he still clutched the liquid monster in his hand, but Olivia noticed and swiftly confiscated it.
“What is this hideous thing?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Be quiet and go to class first. I’ll hear your excuses later.”
Olivia’s firm demeanor silenced Louis. As he was escorted outside by the other maids, only Anastasia and Olivia remained in the room.
“What are you doing now, Your Majesty?” Olivia asked, her gaze intense.
Despite Olivia’s piercing stare, Anastasia remained composed and replied calmly.
