The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 30

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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 Villainess Grand Princess Wants to Live in a Patisserie
Chapter 30

The crumbled yolk mixed with mayonnaise into something like sweet cream, while fragments of egg white lingered on her tongue with a pleasant bounce. Just as the flavor threatened to grow heavy, the bright tang of cream cheese cut through like the highest note of a harmony, drawing her spoon back again and again to the salad.
“Ah… if we add cucumber, we really can nail the texture too.”
“Exactly! That’s why we need white bread, quick!”
“Yes, yes—white bread.”
Pavel prepared the white bread just as Asha directed, slicing it and spreading one side with a mixture of honey and mustard, then piling on a generous helping of egg salad before topping it with the remaining slice. It was Pavel who garnished the thick egg salad between the halves with a sprinkle of parsley.
“See? That’s our Taymir Palace kitchen chef for you!”
“Though I wasn’t assigned to the banquet kitchen.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. Are you pouting? Hmm?”
“I’m not.”
“Here, I’ll give you this.”
Asha held out half the sandwich as if bestowing a great favor, and Pavel eventually accepted it, biting into it naturally before retrieving two glasses of milk without a word.
“Ah, I think I’ll gain weight.”
The chewy bread, the soft yet substantial texture, the rich and sweet egg salad, and finally the honey-mustard perfectly cutting through what could have become cloying—it was all flawless.
“…I’ve never encountered a salad quite like this.”
“Haven’t you? It’s delicious.”
“…However did you come up with it?”
“I saw it in a book.”
“Which book?”
It was the usual vague excuse, but Pavel’s tone carried an edge. Asha hesitated slightly, turning her head.
“Well… I’m not quite sure. I can’t seem to remember.”
“I’ve read every book related to Cooking I could find, and I’ve never seen a salad like this. The same went for that cake last time.”
“Well… yes? I can’t quite recall which book myself…”
“Then you didn’t see it in a book at all.”
Asha was about to protest—if not from a book, then where?—but she swallowed her words hastily. It seemed Pavel believed she possessed some brilliant talent for creating all these recipes herself, and for some reason, she was hiding that fact.
‘In a way, he’s half right…’
The books Asha had seen didn’t exist in this world, and she couldn’t exactly say that a spirit was feeding her all the details, so she had to deflect.
But she hadn’t been hiding things for any particular reason—it was simply that she knew nobody would believe a ten-year-old girl could create something like this. She was still considering how to explain when it happened.
“Ah! There you are! Chef Marka!”
Asha’s lips froze mid-motion, and she spun around in surprise. A young woman in a dazzling gown—apparently one of those who had attended the Victory Ball today—burst into the kitchen with effusive delight. Pavel’s expression shifted into one of recognition.
Neither Asha nor Pavel belonged in the kitchen dressed as they were, but the woman’s finery was so brilliant it made their eyes widen. When Asha glanced up at Pavel, he wore the look of someone who knew who this visitor was.
“Huh.”
“I’ve been looking for you all through the ballroom! I heard you used the tribute I gave you so wonderfully, and I’ve been dying to express my gratitude!”
“You can’t exactly call something ‘this time’ when you delivered it over a year ago…”
“And you even gave the product a name! I really don’t know how I could ever repay this kindness. I thought it was utterly ruined, truly.”
“It was ruined in the first place, so from now on, try not to purchase things like that if you can help it…”
“Which brings me to this—and I know this is terribly presumptuous of me. But I really do intend to pay a fair price, so I do hope you’ll hear me out seriously.”
The woman looked as though she might actually drop to her knees.
“No, never mind what it is, don’t say—”
“Would you consider selling that cake exclusively?”
“…I said don’t say it.”
“At least look at the Contract!”
The woman rummaged through the folds of her skirts and produced a stack of papers with fumbling fingers. She’d apparently been carrying all of this while attending the Victory Ball.
“Sarato, calm down for a moment. That cake is…”
Pavel gestured for her to stop, glancing sidelong at Asha. And at that glance, stars ignited in Asha’s eyes.
‘Sarato? A baroness?’
“That cake isn’t mine to dispose of, and I don’t know how you even found this place, but you should leave—”
“Wait! Wait wait wait!”
Asha cried out, cutting in. The woman—Sarato, the baroness—who had been about to kneel, opened her eyes wide and only then seemed to notice Asha standing behind Pavel.
“Let’s look at the Contract, Pavel.”
“Your… oow!”
Pavel had been about to say “Your Highness” when Asha’s foot found his shin in a single fluid motion. As he stifled a groan, Asha gazed up at Sarato with sparkling eyes.
Sarato had attended the Victory Ball, but she seemed to have no interest in or awareness of the Grand Princess’s existence, and had not recognized Asha. Apparently, securing a Contract with Pavel was her immediate priority.
“Word about that cake has already spread like wildfire among those with refined tastes. Chefs are naturally talking about it, and nobles are beside themselves with interest.”
Asha nodded as though she understood perfectly, then shot Pavel a meaningful glance.
‘A cake? What cake is she talking about?’
‘Why, the one Your Highness made for the first time in my kitchen…….’
‘That one? But how did word get out about it? I only made it once. And the Emperor ate it all anyway.’
‘I distributed the rest from my practice batches among the servants…….’
Pavel answered in a hushed whisper, his eyes doing the talking. In that same moment, Baroness Sarato cried out with passion.
“That’s it! Let’s make that Chocolate Cake and sell it!”
Baroness Sarato thrust forward a contract. Around her, a fresh, verdant shimmer of anticipation bloomed.
“Everyone in Jedo will come running to taste that cake, even once. The extraordinary flavor of that very cake the Emperor himself praised!”
Baroness Sarato proclaimed it with fervor—the passion of a seasoned orator. Even a stranger passing by would stop in their tracks.
Pavel quickly scanned the contract. When Asha beside him rose onto her toes, he bent at the waist to share the document with her.
“Ah, wait. You’re saying to open a patisserie……?”
Pavel said it in surprise after reading the terms. Baroness Sarato’s face said it was only obvious.
“Of course a patisserie. How else would you sell a cake without a shop?”
“But…….”
Pavel’s lips moved silently as he glanced down at Asha.
“You see, those unaware of our position—we cannot conduct business outside the Imperial Palace.”
He was the Imperial Palace’s head chef, and this girl was not yet of age, a Grand Princess. For either of them to stand as a patisserie’s owner was naturally impossible.
“So even if you say such things to me…….”
“Ah, of course—naturally, a head chef of the noble Imperial Household cannot engage in such vulgar commerce outside these walls.”
Baroness Sarato withdrew another document from her sleeve as though she’d been waiting for this very moment. It detailed unfamiliar names, personal information, special skills, and character assessments in meticulous detail. Pavel, suddenly thrust into reading the biography of a stranger, let out an uncomfortable cough.
“Who are these people…….”
“Artisans who will make Chocolate Cake at the patisserie.”
Pavel looked back and forth between Asha and Baroness Sarato.
Meanwhile, Asha pored over the résumés closely. When she finished her study, she lifted her head.
“So the patisserie will exclusively make and sell Chocolate Cake, and if we provide the recipe, one of these people will make the cakes?”
“Ah…… yes, that’s right. To be precise, one of them.”
Baroness Sarato nodded, watching Asha sidelong.
“……And the signing fee would be ten million Karus.”
“Of course that’s just the signing fee. As for profits—meaning the revenue after subtracting labor costs and ingredient expenses from running the patisserie—I’ll give you thirty percent. This is no exaggeration; it’s an extraordinarily generous offer.”
The baroness explained that the yearly living expenses for a middle-class extended family came to around fifty million Karus, so ten million was quite substantial payment for a single recipe.
Operating a patisserie externally and offering thirty percent of the profits was certainly remarkable. When Pavel glanced at Asha, she grinned broadly and waved the contract.
“Nope, not doing it.”
“Pardon? Chef Marka? Who is this child…….”
“It’s not just any cake—it’s the cake your entire Southern Trade Route business depends on, and you’re offering…… ten…… million…… Karus?”
“……!”
Asha folded down one finger with each word she spoke. Then she unfolded one finger and used it to fan Pavel standing beside her.
“Can’t even feel a breeze. Right, sir?”
“……Y, yes, you’re right.”
“Ha, haha. Where did this Southern Trade Route business suddenly come from…….”
“The baroness doesn’t really care about the cake—it’s the chocolate that’ll sell once the cake becomes famous that matters to you, doesn’t it?”
At Asha’s sharp words, Baroness Sarato coughed awkwardly.
“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s unimportant. But the most important thing is to sell many cakes and grow wealthy together.”
“You talk about growing wealthy together, but if the cake doesn’t taste good, it won’t sell at all.”
Asha pouted her lip.
“If someone who hasn’t even tasted the cake suddenly proposes to sell it, there has to be some ulterior motive, doesn’t there?”
“I don’t need to taste it myself when so many have already vouched for it. And more than all those people, the Emperor himself…….”
“Right—so if the buzz spreads that ‘This magnificent cake praised by the Emperor has appeared!’, the wealthy nobles and merchants will flock to it regardless of whether it actually tastes good, won’t they? If it’s delicious, it’ll sell. If it’s not, there’ll be people trying to recreate it anyway.”
“The cake has to be delicious! Chef Marka made it, and the Emperor praised it.”
Baroness Sarato spoke with utmost conviction, and her voice carried a reverence reserved for one who had created something magnificent. But Asha refused to yield so easily.
“And the recipe for a cake the Emperor praised goes for merely ten million Karus?”
“Ahem. Ten million isn’t a small sum. Usually people don’t even conceive of the idea of buying a recipe…….”
“Then we’ll simply not conceive of the idea of selling one. Don’t you agree, Pavel?”
“Y, yes, of course.”
Pavel nodded, carefully watching the tension between Baroness Sarato and Asha. Baroness Sarato forced a smile.

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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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