The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Candy House
28

Crash!
The sound of a goblet shattering echoed loudly from the far end of the Ballroom. Every head snapped in that direction. Through the crush of bodies, she spotted soldiers in uniform. Karno’s eyes narrowed as he recognized their faces.
It was clear he needed to leave. Asha nodded quickly to show she understood.
“I’ll come back and tell you more later.”
“Go on, then!”
Asha waved with a cheerful grin. As Karno stepped away, the crowd parted before him like a receding tide. And the moment Asha allowed herself a quiet sigh of relief—
“Well, well, it seems this ball isn’t much entertainment for our youngest niece.”
At the voice behind her, Asha spun around. It was a man she’d seen once at the Imperial Palace. He knelt gracefully on one knee, lowering himself to meet her gaze with a gentle smile.
“We haven’t been properly introduced, have we? I’m Maksim, your father Yuri’s older brother.”
This was the same Maksim her Spirit of Discernment had identified as a “small bird,” the man who had quietly helped the family through difficult times these past ten years.
“Ah… Duke.”
“No, just call me Uncle. Or if you prefer, Father’s brother.”
Maksim laughed heartily and ruffled her hair into complete disarray.
“Ah, forgive me. I have only sons at home. Let me see—will this help set things right?”
As he spoke, Maksim fished something from his pocket. It was a Hair Ribbon made of pale pink silk. A large bow hung from it, adorned at its center with a cluster of small, transparent gems surrounding a lustrous white pearl.
While Asha was still trying to make out what the glittering stones were, Maksim suddenly placed the ribbon on her head.
“Oh!”
“There we are. It suits our little princess perfectly. Since it’s my apology for making such a mess of your hair, you’ll accept it without argument, won’t you?”
Asha fingered the ribbon and couldn’t help but smile slightly. If he had only sons at home, that meant he’d bought this ribbon specially for her.
“Um, didn’t Dmitri come?”
“Ah, my boy? No, he didn’t. He said his stomach was bothering him.”
Maksim rubbed his jaw as he spoke. His expression was oddly subtle.
“Seemed like an excuse to me. But I couldn’t very well drag him here by the scruff of his neck.”
……
Could it possibly be because I upset him? Asha wondered to herself.
“So, how are you finding life at the Imperial Palace? Are you settling in?”
Maksim asked brightly. Asha’s face relaxed a little, and she nodded.
“Aleksei’s been wonderful to me… and there’s so much to enjoy!”
“Much to enjoy?”
“Ah… this and that?”
She couldn’t bring herself to mention that she spent time baking sweets in the kitchen. Maksim, apparently not curious about the details, burst into a hearty laugh.
“So the Crown Prince is good to you, then? All I ever get from him is the cold shoulder. Not a shred of charm about him.”
“No, he is charming!”
“…Who is? We are talking about Crown Prince Aleksei, aren’t we?”
“We are, but… Aleksei is charming.”
“You call the Crown Prince by his given name?”
“Oh, yes… I got scolded for it before. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“Scolded? By whom?”
Asha started to answer but stopped. She felt two piercing gazes from across the room—one from Karno, another from Valeri. From beneath Valeri’s feet, a sinister darkness and a sickly green emotion seeped outward: the dreadful weight of jealousy.
‘The left one looks like he’s suffocating, and the right one looks like he’s being stabbed.’
“Ah, that fellow? Don’t worry about him. Don’t let it weigh on your heart.”
The language was harsh for someone referring to his own brother and Asha’s uncle, but no one present had the standing to point it out.
“But…”
“Hmm, you should be more concerned with our Vice Commander than him.”
Asha found herself briefly impressed by Maksim’s ability to see straight through the situation.
“Y-yes, that’s true.”
“But the Crown Prince will surely handle that himself.”
“Do you think so…?”
“…Did I choose such a poor topic that I’ve made our princess look so downcast?”
Asha shook her head firmly and looked up at Maksim quietly. There was one thing she’d always been curious about regarding him.
“Um, Uncle.”
“Yes? What is it?”
Maksim gazed down at her with an amused expression. Asha asked carefully.
“I’ve been wondering about something—is it all right if I ask?”
“Of course!”
“You said the Spirit your uncle contracted with was called the Spirit of Discernment, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So it means he can precisely identify which Spirit other people have contracted with?”
Maksim’s brows lifted at the unexpected question, and he rubbed Asha’s cheek with the back of his hand.
“No, that’s not what this power does.”
“Then what does it do?”
“It means to think rightly and judge correctly about the affairs of the world. Even if the answer isn’t the truth.”
“Even if it’s not the truth?”
Maksim winked.
“Yes. If I sense a tremendous power but cannot divine its nature, my discernment tells me it’s the Spirit of a small bird.”
“……!”
“That’s why…….”
As Maksim spoke, he straightened and glanced around. The elegant chandeliers, the fine music, the dancers, the brilliant gowns and shoes, the glittering ornaments floating through the Ballroom.
“I wanted to buy you some time, but I’m afraid what I said won’t amount to much.”
Maksim had not confirmed Asha’s Spirit, but he had moved quickly to shield her from meaningless attention at the Imperial Palace. Before the Palace’s elders could harbor vain hopes or suspicions, the Crown Prince’s Spirit was merely that of a small bird, nothing more.
“—Uncle Maksim, have you been tormenting Asha?”
A voice cut through from behind her then. Soft-spoken, yet the tone carried an icy chill that crept across the back of her neck. The murmur of the crowd in the hall died at once, silent as a tomb.
Standing behind her was Aleksei.
“Ah…… Aleksei, you’ve come?”
Asha turned, her voice warm with delight. But Aleksei’s response surpassed her imagination.
He lifted her up into his arms.
“Whoa, whooaa!”
Though she was considerably smaller than her peers and he only five years her senior, the difference in their builds was striking. Her eye level had shot upward in an instant. Asha quickly wrapped her arms around Aleksei’s neck.
“So I was busy for a moment.”
“That’s not what I mean…….”
He smiled with eyes narrowed in warmth, holding her with one arm while his other hand lightly tapped her cheek in playful teasing. Asha’s head was already spinning.
“Uncle Maksim.”
“I wasn’t tormenting her!”
Maksim, who had been keeping his eyes on Asha with bent knees, now straightened and quickly raised both hands in protest.
“Well, well—so this is the spring breeze the Crown Prince brings to our little princess, while freezing out his uncle. How times change.”
“Uncle.”
“If I run my mouth further, I won’t be getting home tonight. Isn’t that right, Asha?”
As Maksim spoke and smoothed Asha’s cheek, Aleksei’s hand struck his away. A sharp sound followed, and Maksim’s face went blank for a moment before breaking into laughter.
“Well, I really got scolded for that.”
“I apologize, Uncle. The Crown Prince was merely startled. Please forgive your nephew’s rudeness.”
“Not at all—the Crown Prince is the one who should forgive me. But I have something to give Asha. I’ll bring it separately later.”
Asha blinked in confusion, tilting her head. Maksim smiled, his expression carrying a bittersweet quality she had never seen before.
“Yuri sent it. He asked me to bring some things Asha used to have at home…….”
“Ah.”
“He also asked me to tell you he’s sorry he couldn’t come to the ceremony, Asha. I’m sure you’re disappointed, but as for why your father couldn’t come either…….”
Maksim’s words trailed off. In that moment when Aleksei too fell silent, Asha broke into a smile.
“It’s all right! Mom and Dad are well, aren’t they?”
“Huh?”
“It’s fine that they couldn’t come. I understand…… Though I do miss them. Mom and Dad aren’t sad, are they? They’re doing well? Then that’s enough.”
“……Of course they’re doing well—they’re both grown. Of course they’re well. If they weren’t, this uncle would go and give them a piece of my mind!”
Maksim declared it with theatrical confidence. Asha broke into another bright smile.

* * *

Aleksei set her down only after they had stepped outside onto the Terrace and he’d locked the door behind them.
“Alek…….”
“Halba Mama summoned me, so I was a bit late. Looks like Uncle had already gotten hold of you.”
Aleksei pressed his index finger gently to Asha’s forehead.
“Even if someone like Uncle seems to be tormenting you, you should leave and find a safe place, yes? What were you doing, waiting for me to rescue you?”
“I didn’t ask to be rescued.”
Asha puffed out her lower lip. Aleksei looked down at her with a small laugh.
“Was anyone really tormenting you?”
“No one did. Though Valeri…… Marquis Shapirokin was staring at me rather terrifyingly from the side.”
Aleksei’s eyes narrowed to sharp slits at Asha’s blunt remark, then slowly relaxed again.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, when you think about it, he hasn’t said anything untrue, has he? I just kept calling you Aleksei without thinking……”
“There’s no need to listen to that.”
“Aleksei probably didn’t like being called Aleksei either. From now on, I should call you Crown Prince properly……”
He turned his head with a snort, but his body suddenly felt light—he was being lifted. Asha flailed helplessly until she found herself seated against the railing of the first-floor Terrace, and only then did her senses return.
“Aleksei!”
“Go ahead and try calling me Crown Prince.”
“When I called you that, it wasn’t me glaring at you like I was about to swallow you whole—that was you, wasn’t it?!”
Asha cried out with her eyebrows raised, but eventually her shoulders sagged in defeat.
As she sat on the Terrace before him, a warmth radiated from Aleksei in a way she had not felt before, rippling gently through the air around him.

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