The Cooking Princess - Chapter 112

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Shuel couldn’t hide his embarrassment and his face turned completely red.

He tightly grasped both hands that Chloe had raised to hold his face and whispered in a moved voice.

“I’ll do better from now on.”

Shuel’s face as he said this was truly bright and radiant.

Chloe became even more embarrassed by Shuel’s gaze, which was filled with shyness and embarrassment.

‘He’s always liked me while keeping in mind that he might be rejected.’

Learning of Shuel’s true feelings for the first time, Chloe completely broke down. Having focused only on cooking all this time, she was far from romance and didn’t know how to react.

Seeing this, Shuel smiled knowingly and added.

“You say you love me, I’m so happy.”

She was so caught up in the thought that she must convey her true feelings that she ended up speaking informally again.

“Of course I love you, Shuel.”

Shuel’s eyes widened as if slightly surprised by Chloe’s repeated informal speech.

Seeing that reaction, Chloe inwardly regretted it.

‘Maybe speaking informally was going a bit too far?’

Perhaps finding it amusing that Chloe was subtly watching his reaction while thinking this, Shuel asked her in a voice filled with laughter.

“You spoke informally earlier too. Why are you suddenly being cautious?”

“Well, I… earlier I could have brushed it off as speaking informally because I was embarrassed.”

However, contrary to Chloe’s regret, Shuel was very pleased with her informal speech.

“How about using informal speech when we’re alone from now on.”

“What? Absolutely not, Shuel.”

“There’s no one listening anyway, so what’s the problem.”

Chloe felt a bit happy that Shuel, who had definitely been timidly watching the Empress’s mood when he was young, had somehow become capable of playfully teasing people.

“Don’t tease me.”

“Hm? I wasn’t teasing you.”

Shuel seemed puzzled, saying he wasn’t teasing, but since Chloe, who had looked very tired when she first came to the balcony, seemed to have recovered her energy, he let it slide thinking good things were good.

After the ticklish time passed and it was time to talk about realistic matters.

Shuel asked Chloe for understanding, saying he probably wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy the week-long festival following the investiture ceremony.

“Claude might attack during that time.”

It seemed Shuel was also concerned about when Claude might start a rebellion. Chloe sighed in relief and answered.

“That’s a relief. Still, His Majesty the Emperor really did the crown prince investiture brilliantly.”

“Yes. It’s also my duty to make sure Father doesn’t regret his decision.”

The Emperor seems like someone who doesn’t fulfill his duties and only thinks about his own safety.

‘There’s no need to badmouth his father right in front of Shuel.’

Thinking this, Chloe listened to Shuel excitedly talking about the various measures he had set up for defense.

‘Come to think of it, there’s been no news from Shurya and Eshir lately.’

However, at this point when Shuel had just been invested as crown prince, Chloe, as Shuel’s fiancée and future crown princess, couldn’t carelessly leave her position, so she planned to contact them after the investiture ceremony ended.

***

At the very time when Chloe and Shuel were confirming each other’s feelings while holding the investiture ceremony, Eshir and Shurya were having a secret meeting.

“The Magic Tower and the Temple need to cooperate to drive out Claude.”

The very fact that the two of them were meeting was drawing too much attention so they were meeting secretly,

yet Eshir couldn’t understand why she was talking about the Magic Tower and Temple needing to cooperate.

“No, that won’t work. Go back. There are already many rumors about the Temple and Magic Tower being secretly entangled, and now the Pope herself will officially ask the Merchant Prince? Are you in your right mind?”

Even when asked if she knew that it was the two of them who had joined hands, not the Magic Tower and Temple directly, Shurya was firm.

“If not now, reconciliation between the Magic Tower and Temple might never happen.”

“That’s…”

Since it was certainly true, Eshir was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Besides, you know Chloe is in danger.”

At those words, Eshir pressed her forehead and answered in a troubled voice.

“Even so, the Magic Tower and Temple joining hands is a different matter.”

When he said the Magic Tower was also independently investigating Claude’s current location, Shurya immediately responded.

“The mage who was investigating died. We can use that as an excuse to cooperate with the Empire. The Temple will naturally cooperate with the Luzhiere Empire too.”

“When did you find out about that… Never mind.”

There was no point in questioning it.

Eshir calculated in his head for a moment.

‘The Empire aside, the Temple and Magic Tower joining hands…’

The backlash would be stronger from the Temple side than the Magic Tower side.

To them, mages were those who showed off apostolic power without receiving God’s blessing.

And Shurya, the current Pope, hadn’t fully established herself in the Temple due to the fake saint incident.

She had many supporters, but there was no benefit in deliberately causing discord.

“If you’re worried about me, thank you. But I won’t crumble from just that much.”

Shurya opened her mouth and spoke.

“Not just a mage died, but a priest too.”

“What?”

Killing the mage who was observing the monsters’ movements was also infuriating, but this matter only resulted in the Magic Tower’s loss. However, killing a priest in a place where the Temple’s influence was great, like the Luzhiere Empire, was an entirely different matter.

‘What on earth is Claude thinking?’

Eshir recalled the things Chloe had said before he became the Merchant Prince.

Combining her evaluations, Claude was the very embodiment of a stubborn person who acted freely according to his emotions.

Since Chloe wasn’t someone who thought of others with great malice, this evaluation was likely accurate.

‘I heard he’s particularly popular with the imperial citizens who suffered greatly from barbarians because his methods of dealing with barbarians are very cruel.’

If this news was true, Claude was likely still just a big child.

However, even though he had assessed the situation, it was premature for the Magic Tower to move.

While it was true that the current Emperor Felix III and the Magic Tower had shared various interests,

since the Magic Tower was a relatively neutral place, there would be no problems only after securing evidence thoroughly.

Shurya and Eshir bickered but couldn’t reach a conclusion immediately.

And the very day after the crown prince investiture ceremony, Claude invaded the central region with barbarians from the frontier.

Chloe tried her best not to lose her composure and contacted her parents first.

Fortunately, the Garnet Estate was holding off the attack under the command of her parents and Pierre, who had been diligently receiving successor training in Chloe’s place.

However, the enemies’ offensive was so fierce that it was uncertain how long they could hold out.

It wasn’t just the Garnet Estate that was under attack.

None of the central nobles could move carelessly.

Most nobles were away from their family estates due to the grand event called the crown prince investiture ceremony.

‘My parents attended because I was here, but they went down because they were busy with family estate matters.’

However, most of the great nobles were still remaining at the Imperial Palace, trying to properly make an impression on Chloe herself and Shuel.

So that’s why he didn’t rebel right before the investiture ceremony but during the festival period after the investiture ceremony was completely over.

‘He deliberately targeted when the central nobles couldn’t mobilize their private soldiers!’

Then why now of all times?

Chloe, who had been pondering this, soon learned the reason.

Claude had deliberately watched the persecution of the Empress, his mother, while creating justification for his rebellion.

He was trying to frame it as: the Emperor favored only the legitimate heir Shuel and tried to frame him and the Empress with rebellion charges, so he hesitated but eventually overturned the Imperial Palace.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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