The Cooking Princess - Chapter 74

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

The Princess Who Cooks

Episode 74

Since Shuel’s complexion was so dark, Chloe asked this first.

“Is this the Prince’s intention?”

At Chloe’s innocent question, Shuel remained silent for a moment before answering.

“…No. I didn’t want to force it.”

Whatever the Emperor might force, if it wasn’t Shuel’s will, then it wasn’t something he needed to apologize for.

“Then that’s fine. It’s not Your Highness’s fault.”

Along with Chloe’s words, the first dance of the fresh youths experiencing their first debutante began.

Shuel seemed to hesitate at Chloe’s words for a moment, then muttered with a slightly bitter expression.

“You always tell me it’s not my fault.”

Holding her waist and spinning around, Chloe answered leisurely.

“Well, Your Highness always blames yourself for things that aren’t your fault.”

After saying that, Chloe secretly lowered her voice and added this.

“I’ll forgive everything as long as Your Highness doesn’t order my execution.”

At that ridiculous joke, Shuel finally chuckled.

“You really are something.”

Even as he laughed softly, he still seemed to be worried about Chloe.

“It’s not about me, but bad news for you, Duchess.”

But somehow, his words sounded a bit strange, so she looked up to meet Shuel’s golden eyes directly and asked straightforwardly.

“Is it bad news for Your Highness as well?”

Shuel seemed to hesitate with his answer for a moment, then soon replied with a determined light in his golden eyes.

“…No.”

Rather, it was good news for him, Shuel said as he avoided Chloe’s eyes.

After Shuel’s message, the two danced together but their conversation didn’t continue.

It was because they were each lost in their own thoughts.

‘So that’s why Shuel looked troubled. It’s bad news for me but good news for Shuel.’

Shuel must have been watching Chloe’s reaction while feeling guilty about being happy.

‘He’s really like a kind male protagonist.’

Chloe tilted her head.

‘But I don’t know what news could be bad for me and good for Shuel.’

Usually, if something was good for Shuel, there would be nothing bad about it for Chloe either. It was puzzling.

When the song ended, among those who wanted to request the next dance with Chloe was Claude.

He wasn’t even paying attention to his partner, the Marquis’s daughter, and was approaching Chloe with an utterly confident stride.

Naturally, Shuel’s expression became unpleasant and Chloe’s heart grew anxious.

And right at that moment.

“I think the Duchess might be curious about something regarding me.”

With a very natural movement, Eshir made the first move.

“Would you like to dance?”

‘Nice, Eshir!’

Chloe smiled favorably and responded to Eshir’s dance request.

“Of course, Merchant Prince.”

Seeing the smooth dance request and acceptance, Shuel also naturally asked Shurya to dance.

“Would you like to dance, Saint?”

Shuel’s tone when requesting the dance was utterly gentle and sincere.

It seemed like an attempt to block troublesome young nobles who might approach Saint Shurya with unseemly intentions.

There, Chloe thought.

The two were destined, so this occasion would help them build mutual affection.

Sure enough, Shurya quickly gave a positive answer to Shuel’s proposal.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

So they switched partners and danced once.

Chloe immediately asked Eshir.

“So, why are you the Merchant Prince?”

“Why? I was one of the Merchant Prince candidates from the beginning.”

At those words, Chloe fell into thought. Then she asked her curious question.

“You saying you were one of the Merchant Prince candidates, not the heir, means you weren’t the only one with succession rights?”

“You catch on quickly. You’re right.”

Chloe nodded and asked clearly.

“Did you beat your competitors?”

“That’s right.”

Saying that, Eshir whispered in Chloe’s ear during the part where they came close together.

“Thanks to a certain someone’s cooking.”

Chloe was grateful that Eshir told her openly without hiding it.

The original Chloe and Eshir probably had no particular connection.

Her only link with Eshir was cooking.

‘When I went to propose the magic items, I should have realized when I saw the former Merchant Prince and Eshir alone together.’

Knowing the original story had actually been poison.

The next Merchant Prince she knew from the original was someone with black hair and purple eyes.

She had been buried in her original knowledge and failed to realize the truth.

Looking at the silver-haired, red-eyed Eshir before her, Chloe organized her thoughts.

‘If he was highly evaluated as a Merchant Prince candidate, now I understand why he was so versatile.’

Right now, Eshir was talented at everything – attack magic, detoxification, growth magic.

He was so capable that it was puzzling he was merely employed working at a ducal house.

‘But why did he specifically get employed at our house?’

Whether Chloe’s question showed clearly on her face, Eshir answered indifferently.

“Because someone was spouting crazy talk about using magic for cooking.”

In an era when it was natural to use magic only for combat, Eshir added that the conditions set by the Garnet Family were too absurd.

“I was too curious about the face of someone who would say such things.”

“Aha.”

Chloe nodded and asked further.

“But wait. According to what you’re saying, doesn’t it make even less sense? If you were a Merchant Prince candidate, why did you come to our manor that was seeking cooking instead of combat?”

“I said I was a Merchant Prince candidate, but I had no intention of becoming the Merchant Prince.”

“…What?”

Hearing that absurd answer, the strength drained from Chloe’s shoulders.

But if he didn’t even have the ambition to become Merchant Prince, it certainly made sense that another person became Merchant Prince in the original.

“Then why did you decide to become Merchant Prince now?”

“Well. I was just pushed into it?”

Intuitively, she was certain it wasn’t such a simple reason, but Eshir didn’t seem to want to speak properly about it. Chloe wisely kept her mouth shut.

While they were talking, the dance ended.

Chloe hurriedly turned her head toward Shuel and Shurya.

Even if they didn’t fall for each other immediately, since they were a couple who eventually got together in the original, they would have some degree of mutual attraction from the start.

Thinking that, she looked at the two and her eyes met theirs directly.

Both Shurya and Shuel were staring intently at Chloe instead of each other’s faces.

‘What?’

Feeling something very strange, Chloe felt awkward by herself.

Chloe stood awkwardly between the Prince, Merchant Prince, and Saint who were looking at her, and spoke uncomfortably.

“Uh, um. Did you two have a good conversation?”

Then Shuel rolled his eyes as if troubled.

‘Well, he can’t exactly say he fell for Shurya at first sight right here.’

To dismiss it thoughtlessly, the fact that Shuel and Shurya were staring intently only at Chloe instead of each other bothered her, but she tried to bring up a different topic.

Before Chloe could add anything more, Shurya glanced at Shuel looking troubled and added this.

“Conversation… isn’t usually carried on while dancing, Chloe.”

That was certainly against proper etiquette.

However, normally if people have some degree of familiarity or goodwill, they do secretly chat while dancing.

Since Shurya and Shuel couldn’t possibly be unaware of this obvious fact, what Shurya had just said to Chloe was…

‘His Highness and I aren’t that close, you know?’

That was the meaning implied in her words.

And Shuel also looked completely relieved as soon as Shurya finished speaking.

Chloe fell silent in the awkward atmosphere.

Once she fell silent, no one else spoke either.

Naturally, the air between the four of them became tense.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Chloe lightly poked Shuel’s side and asked.

“Is everything alright now? Your Highness must always be busy.”

After speaking, she thought ‘Oh no.’

‘It sounds like I’m hinting for him to go somewhere else because the atmosphere is awkward.’

Chloe’s original intention was to tell him that he didn’t need to be here, so if he had things to do, he could feel free to go without feeling guilty.

To Chloe who was thinking ‘oh no,’ Shuel smiled warmly and replied.

“It seemed like something happened to the Duchess while I was gone, so I can’t leave today’s partner alone anymore.”

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