The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 61

The Emperor wanted to scoff and say he knew no such thing as regret, but his throat felt clenched, and no words came out.
The wind’s laughter seemed to recede into the distance, and then a brief storm whirled outside the window, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

* * *

In a room gently lit by warm, soft candlelight, Asha was settling Alexei down and feeding him warm tea and pastries.
“You’ve certainly received quite a lot. Even from the Marquis of Tataritcha?”
At Alexei’s words as he looked at the row of tea party invitations laid out on the tray, Asha wore an awkward expression.
“Yes, they keep coming. Do I really have to go to all of them?”
“You don’t want to? You might make friends. And if it’s the Marquis of Tataritcha’s house, the food will be excellent. The Marquise takes great interest in pastries.”
Though that remark stirred her somewhat, Asha overcame the temptation.
“I don’t need other friends—I have Alyosha.”
“Friends are different from me.”
“You should make lots of friends. I really don’t need them.”
Asha turned her head away stubbornly as she spoke, and Alexei finally yielded to her with a laugh, telling her she didn’t have to go anywhere.
“By the way, Asha, Baron Sarato is supposed to visit tomorrow.”
“Oh! I asked him to bring me some ingredients.”
“What kind of ingredients?”
“In a little while, Baron Sarato is going to open a patisserie…… and I’m making cakes to sell there.”
Preparations for the patisserie that Baron Sarato was opening were proceeding smoothly.
Now all that remained was to refine a few prototypes, finalize the recipes, and hire pâtissiers.
“Once I make them, I’ll give some to Alyosha too.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Though it might have sounded like mere courtesy, Asha could not take it that way. For soft particles had begun to bloom from behind Alexei, gently rippling through the air until they reached her.
As they continued their leisurely conversation, Asha had been about to finish the refreshments and retire when the final topic made her eyes go wide.
“To…… to Kalno?”
“Yes, and to one other person as well.”
Asha stared at Alexei with an expression as though her soul had been knocked clean out of her.
‘The land where that mine is…… Lumen Basiliche is going to Kalno?!’
The two fiefdoms that had been received from the Nocti Elves were to be distributed to nobles who had distinguished themselves in service.
One would go to Kalno, who had faced the elves in battle on the battlefield, and the other would go to another noble.
“Who is the other person…….”
Asha began to ask but shook her head. There was no need to hear the answer—she could tell from the current of air around Alexei alone.
‘That’s it. If you give one to this faction, you have to give one to that faction to avoid discord.’
Since Kalno was, so to speak, being treated as the Emperor’s closest aide, he would have to share favor with someone from among the nobles who had stood on the opposite side.
“Give it to whom…… and what, exactly?”
“Well, I imagine the Empress and her ministers will confer and decide. It won’t be something trivial.”
“I see…….”
“Oh dear. Our little pea doesn’t want Kalno to receive an honor?”
“Hmph! Kalno’s been nothing but difficult to me every day.”
Asha pouted her lips while continuing her calculations.
One of the two fiefs shimmered bright and transparent like crystal as it lay dormant, the other was nothing at all.
‘Ah……. Is this what they call affection born of resentment?’
It was beginning to feel unfair, yet having Kalno claim the Diamond Mine seemed preferable to it falling into the hands of some nobleman hostile to the Imperial House.
“Sigh.”
“There goes our little pea, sighing away. Don’t like it that much? Should I tell them not to give it?”
“……It’s also a bit awkward not to give it at all…….”
Alexei heard Asha’s murmured words, spoken after much deliberation, and broke into laughter. She shot him a sidelong glance, then poured warm ginger milk—heated over a fuel-warmed ceramic warmer—into his empty cup.
“Drink it quickly.”
“I’ve already finished one cup.”
“I made it—don’t you want to have two?”
“If you say it like that, I could drink a hundred.”
“Not a hundred—just one more.”
Alexei, it seemed, had accumulated fatigue from recent days and had begun to cough since morning. That was why Asha had brought the ginger milk specially warmed for him.
Since Alexei disliked eating alone, Asha too drank a full cup. As his cup neared empty, Asha’s resolve hardened.
She’d grown worried since she hadn’t seen Kalno’s face even once after telling him about the Spirit…….
“Alexei, could you call Kalno for me?”
“So you disliked him, and now you want to see him?”
“Alexei!”
Asha shrieked, and Alexei burst into laughter again. Then he called a servant from outside and, in a low voice, issued some order before sending him away.
“I told him to come by tomorrow afternoon. What do you intend to tell Kalno?”
“Hmph, I’m going to tell him about you.”
“That doesn’t sound like praise.”
“I’m going to form an alliance against your tyranny.”
“What tyranny have I committed.”
“At that banquet with the Elves last time, you made Kalno bring me! He complained to me endlessly about how he’d been subjected to your high-handedness.”
“What? Truly?”
“Of course it’s true…….”
“That’s a completely false accusation. Kalno volunteered to go himself.”
“What?”
Asha’s eyes widened. Alexei’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then spread into a broad smile.
“Kalno said that himself? That I sent him?”
“Uh, yes…….”
As Asha trailed off in bewilderment at becoming an unintentional informant, Alexei smiled knowingly and stroked her hair.

* * *

Tarieï, captain of the Tinginess Knights, upon his return, saw the maid Lis before him and an unfamiliar boy at her side, and his face darkened considerably.
“What are you trying to do?”
“He was once a slave to Her Highness Anastasia and was recently granted emancipation. Wouldn’t it be good for you to teach him?”
“Who told you to say that again? What are you trying to do?”
“He was once a slave to Her Highness Anastasia and was recently granted emancipation. You teaching…….”
“Blast it!”
Tarieï, who had shouted explosively, took a deep breath and fanned himself vigorously with a hand fan.
“So you remained in the Imperial Palace all this time serving as a maid, intending to heap this humiliation upon me?”
“That’s harsh language, Tarieï.”
“Alas. Now you don’t even call me Master, just Tarieï?”
“You taught me Self-Defense briefly when I was young. And it’s just caution since we’re in the Imperial Palace.”
“……That Irina……such caution should have been necessary…….”
“It is not something you should say to Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
Tarieï’s face looked nearly ready to scream. He drew a sharp breath, then looked down at the boy before him. The boy, Ibven, still stood with no change of expression.
“……Fine, fine. I was wrong to open my mouth. So what is this one’s name?”
“He is to become Her Highness Anastasia’s servant. She wished to see if it might be possible for you to teach him Sword Technique.”
“Hmm.”
Tarieï, his weathered face creased deeply, crossed his arms and looked down at Ibven. Then, suddenly, he snapped off a small branch and began tapping Ibven’s arms and legs here and there, testing his stability. Ibven wavered somewhat but remained standing firm.
“Your frame is solid. You’ve got good balance too. Train properly, and…….”
Tarieï trailed off mid-thought, then opened his mouth again.
“I’d like to check your stamina. Could you run the Training Grounds for me? Two or three laps.”
Lis said quietly to Ibven, ‘Will you run it?’, and Ibven nodded before taking off around the Training Grounds. When Ibven reached about the far side, Tarieï spoke softly.
“……Did the Imperial Heir ask you to entrust him to me?”
“No. I mentioned I’d find a good Sword Technique instructor.”
“……I see, then.”
Tarieï watched the running Ibven in silence, his gaze intent. Lis lowered her eyes.
“Go pay your respects first.”
The ‘to whom’ was left unspoken, but the meaning was clear.

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