The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 37

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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 Imperial Princess Wants to Live in the Pastry House
Chapter 37

“Did you have an enjoyable time with Karno?”
Lis wanted to know if something had happened, but she couldn’t ask directly. Instead, she studied the girl’s expression carefully, approaching the question sideways. The girl rested her chin on her hand and tilted her head.
“Yeah. But it was a bit different from what I expected.”
“Different how?”
“I thought Karno would hate me a lot.”
“Why would he hate you?”
Lis asked back, a little startled, but the girl only offered a quiet smile and didn’t answer the question. Lis swallowed hard. At times like this, the girl seemed far older than ten.
“Oh! And another thing I didn’t expect—he’s really strong. He kept lifting me right off the ground. I was shocked.”
“You’re still quite small, after all.”
“I’m not that small…….”
The girl pouted her lips, looking slightly disgruntled. Lis gazed down at her with affection for a long moment, then sighed again.
“But he dragged you along even with your ankle like that. He was too rough…….”
“Oh, no. That was…… he’s just…….”
The girl was waving her hand vaguely when a somewhat urgent knock came from outside. Lis smoothed her apron and stepped out, where a servant stood with a hurried expression.
“The Emperor is coming right now!”
“What?”
“The Imperial Granddaughter Asha is receiving a visit! Prepare to receive him at once!”
Lis’s expression hardened with sudden tension.

* * *

“You don’t have much interest in your studies?”
…….
As Asha was about to respond to the Emperor’s question, she noticed his gaze was directed at the elderly Head Servant beside him. The Head Servant seemed unable to answer.
‘What’s this? He shows up suddenly and just leaves me sitting here.’
When the Head Servant said nothing, the Emperor didn’t press further on the matter of studies and changed the subject.
“How’s your health? Have you been gaining weight?”
“Since your recovery, we’ve…… The Kitchen has been instructed to prepare restorative meals.”
“I hear you twisted your ankle.”
“After the healer’s visit, it’s been showing improvement.”
“Is that what you call improvement?”
“That is…….”
‘He’s really just going to sit there and talk past me.’
Asha watched the Emperor and his Head Servant conversing across her, then glanced at the hem of a shawl that was slowly drifting toward her.
‘Isn’t that the one from back then…….’
It was the shawl the Emperor had worn that day when he met with her alone over the Panna Cotta Chocolate—now known as Asha’s Chocolate Cake. A strange, semi-transparent shawl that moved on its own. Asha studied the shawl’s hem, then the Emperor, alternating her gaze between them, and quietly began to play with it.
She moved her fingers, drawing the shawl this way and that…….
“Asha.”
“Yes? Yes?”
The Emperor, whom she had thought would simply observe her like this and leave, suddenly spoke to her. Asha’s eyes widened in surprise.
The Emperor had somehow taken up the tea Lis had prepared. But he only sipped it without speaking. Asha pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes, then unfortunately caught sight of something she hadn’t wanted to see.
Pale amethyst-like transparent Aura flowing from the tips of the Emperor’s fingers as he held the teacup.
‘This is what I see when Lis worries about me…… why is it coming from the Emperor…….’
Why…….
…….
…….
“Um, uh. Would you like some pastry?”
Even knowing it was a non-sequitur, she had to say something. Asha spoke awkwardly, then quickly gestured to Lis to bring the individually wrapped Dacquoise that had been prepared after Karno left.
Though there were other refreshments on the table where the Emperor sat across from her, his eyes turned to the pastry Asha was offering.
“Did you make this yourself?”
“Yes!”
Asha answered confidently, but then she caught herself as emotional particles burst suddenly from behind her. The person standing behind her was her attendant, Lis. Lis probably still thought Asha had been getting the pastries directly from the Head Chef.
The Emperor reached for the Dacquoise with an unhurried hand, placed it in his mouth, and ate. And in that moment, Asha made a silent vow—she would fix Karno’s sense of taste. If even the Emperor enjoyed it this much!
The Emperor didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow as he chewed the Dacquoise slowly, as if grinding stone between his teeth—and all the while, brilliant particles like starlight cascaded from behind him. A few bounced high enough to land on the table itself before winking out. Had everyone in the room been able to see them all, their jaws would have dropped at the sight.
“…….”
“…….”
Asha had never seen anyone mask their expression and gaze so completely. The Emperor finished the Dacquoise cleanly, rinsed his mouth with tea, and at last broached the subject.
“Anastasia, I hear you left the Victory Ball early the other night. Why was that?”
The moment he wiped away the last lingering taste of Dacquoise, the light subsided, and thin violet particles began to scatter from his fingertips once more.
Asha watched those emotional particles drift, then spoke abruptly.
“To be honest, I wasn’t enjoying myself.”
A chill silence passed between them. The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
“You weren’t enjoying yourself?”
“I was supposed to enter the Banquet Hall with Alexei that day, but I couldn’t. He said he was busy. And you were busy too, Your Majesty.”
“……Hmm. Is your lack of diligence in your studies also because you weren’t enjoying it?”
The Emperor’s voice was clipped, but he didn’t sound angry. If anything, soft-colored particles were beginning to bounce gently around him.
Asha swallowed. The atmosphere suggested she could afford to be a bit more honest.
“Yes! That class seems to be for Ale— the Crown Prince, Your Highness, so couldn’t I just study something else instead?”
Hearing this, the Emperor opened his eyes narrowly.
“Something else? Do you have something you’d like to study?”
“The thing is…….”
What would the Emperor say if she told him she wanted to bake pastries not as a hobby but seriously? While Asha hesitated for a moment, the Emperor continued.
“And what makes you think that class was meant for Alexei alone?”
“That’s…….”
‘Ah…… I should’ve brought up the pastry thing right away!’
As Asha swallowed her silent sigh, the Emperor continued to regard his granddaughter with an expression hard as steel.
“This Empire is vast. The one person who will lead this nation must be stronger than anyone else, and must always make the soundest judgment without wavering. But above all else, the most important duty is to guarantee the citizens of the Empire their future.”
Having said that much, the Emperor fixed her with a clear, penetrating gaze.
“That guarantee is you both.”
“……I’m sorry?”
“The classes are part of that duty.”
“I understand that the guarantee is Alexei, and that the classes are meant for that purpose, but I…….”
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed as he waited for her to continue. Asha thought for a moment, then made her decision. This might actually be an opportunity.
This is my chance to make it clear that I have no interest in the Imperial Throne!
“Your Majesty, before anything else, I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you keep me in the Palace?”
“Did your father not instruct you to address me differently?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Your father told you to ask me, did he not, whether he instructed you to speak that way when standing before me.”
Asha shook her head firmly.
“I didn’t even know I had a grandfather until I came to the Imperial Palace. And that grandfather was you—I only found that out here.”
At Asha’s words, the Emperor laughed silently, as if he found it absurd.
“……Then why did you ask such a thing?”
“Because I don’t understand why I was left in the Palace.”
“In other words, do you believe you are unsuited to prepare for the Empire’s future?”
“Yes!”
“It seems you have no intention of being suited for it either.”
“Yes!”
At the very answer she’d been waiting to give, Asha broke into a bright smile, and the Emperor leaned his chin on his hand, adopting a benevolent expression as he tilted his head.
“Is that so? Your judgment is that certain? That the succession of the Empire, rather than being decided by my judgment—I who have lived as Emperor all my life—should be determined by yours?”
‘Does she have dough-kneading gears spinning inside her or something?’
Even as Asha’s mind wandered briefly to other thoughts, she wasn’t fooled by the Emperor’s words. The golden particles glimmering around him told her exactly how pleased he was.
‘He’s really strange, truly!’
How could his mood improve when his granddaughter was being so brazenly defiant?
“I’m not making any judgment. I was just telling you what I want to do……. But Your Majesty only cares about guaranteeing the Empire’s citizens their future.”
“……Then what else should I be concerned with, besides the Empire’s citizens’ future?”
“What about Alexei?”
“…….”
“You are Your Majesty, but still—before that, you’re Alexei’s grandfather. Alexei’s future, his heart—what about those?”
“What are you saying now…….”
“You’ve made Alexei the Crown Prince, so why would you speak of keeping a fake spare button? That’s not for Alexei’s sake at all…….”
What the Emperor wanted from her, why he’d kept her in the Palace—Asha could discern it even looking at that expressionless face. A fake spare button. A tool to drive Alexei harder, to make him take one more step forward.
But the whip may push forward faster for a moment — it only leaves scars. The Emperor listened to Asha in silence. Then, at the end of that quiet, he raised his hand and dismissed the attendants and servants entirely.
When the room had fallen silent, the Emperor asked.
“Then what truly serves Alexei?”
Asha wet her dry lips. She had to say this herself, of all things.
“You are his grandfather, Your Majesty — Alexei’s grandfather! He is your first grandson, and yet… don’t compare him to others, don’t measure him against anyone. Just cherish him, love him, trust him, and Alexei will be—”
capable of accomplishing far greater things.

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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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