The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 71
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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 Pastry Shop
Chapter 71
* * *
“Your Highness! Look at this. It’s so beautiful.”
“Ah… yes, yes.”
Asha gazed at her reflection in the mirror with a slightly bewildered expression.
Today was the day Alexei had promised to take her to the opera. If she were being honest, she’d never truly intended to go—Alexei had merely mentioned it in passing.
But ever since Asha had returned from visiting the cake shop, Alexei had been excessively alert to her every mood. If she’d refused to go, he would have surely kicked up a fuss, convinced something had happened outside—perhaps turning all of Jedo upside down to find out what—so she’d had no choice but to accept.
And yet……
“The dress is so… incredibly elaborate.”
“It’s a gown the Imperial Heir specially sent for you, and it really is lovely. It suits Your Highness as though it were tailored just for you!”
The hem of the skirt was embroidered with gold thread on navy or teal velvet, a lace-trimmed ribbon was tied at her neck, and suspended from the center of the ribbon hung a brooch with an enigmatic blue sheen. It was the sort of outfit that would catch the eye instantly, even from far away in the dead of night.
“The shoes are lovely too.”
Asha spoke as she regarded the shoes that Lis held out, supported by a cushion. The navy pumps, their toes gently rounded to match the dress fabric, could be fastened with thick ribbons, and across the instep pearls and glittering gems rose like stars scattered across a night sky.
“These shoes are……”
Yet Lis’s reaction was peculiar—calmer than when she’d been excited about Asha’s elaborate gown.
“Kalno sent them.”
“……Kalno? Why?”
“I’m not entirely certain myself. Shall we try the shoes on first?”
Though her words seemed like a deflection, Asha made no protest and slipped her feet into the shoes. They fit her perfectly.
Just as Asha finished fastening the shoes and tying the ribbon that draped her neck, the door opened. It was Alexei, come to fetch her.
“Asha, the dress suits you wonderfully. You look absolutely beautiful.”
Alexei too was dressed far more formally than usual. Where his appearance had previously been that of a cold scholar, he now looked unmistakably like an heir about to ascend to the throne.
“I’ll tie it for you.”
Alexei gestured for Lis to step aside, then knelt on one knee before Asha. As he tied the ribbon of her bonnet beneath her chin, Asha noticed a faint lavender aura that seemed to shimmer around him.
‘Did I show it that much?’
What had happened during her outing hadn’t been entirely pleasant, but she’d thought she hadn’t revealed it.
If she left it alone, Alexei’s lavender aura would only grow deeper. Asha quickly decided to change the subject.
“By the way, about the opera. I’m not sure it will be interesting. What’s the story of today’s performance?”
“Today’s performance is ‘The Veiled Princess,’ I believe.”
As Alexei led Asha out of the room, he spoke in a gentle, measured tone. Outside, a magnificent carriage awaited them for the journey to the theater.
“A great general is to marry a beautiful princess, but the general actually has someone he cares for, so on the wedding day he doesn’t even lift her veil.”
“Then shouldn’t he have simply not married her from the start?”
“There were circumstances—adult complications that made it unavoidable. But as it turns out, the princess was actually the woman the general secretly loved. That’s the twist of it. The plot itself is rather ordinary, but the arias are exquisite.”
Asha wore a serious expression for a moment, then whispered to Alexei as she climbed into the carriage.
“The princess’s veil is unveiled before the first act ends, isn’t it?”
Alexei smiled with an enigmatic expression and did not answer.
* * *
An actress in a brilliant pink gown, her face half-concealed by a veil, spun across a stage arranged like a study, singing.
“The general simply must learn to read first. How else could any woman fall in love with him?”
Then she withdrew books one by one from the shelf, naming their titles aloud. The chorus beside her joined in, matching the rhythm.
“This is ‘Shadow of Lilacs!'”
“A lady with a sweet tooth travels here and there, meeting this man and that man!”
“This is ‘Master of the Winter Forest!'”
“A bastard of a noble house seeks revenge, but also meets the princess!”
“This is ‘A Span of Palace!'”
“A woman with strong arms enters the Imperial Palace as a maid—and there she meets the prince!”
Asha and Alexei sat in a box seat on the second floor, center stage, partitioned from the surroundings by curtains. Asha, nestled deep into the sofa, whispered to Alexei.
“The chorus seems to sing better than the leading lady.”
“The one with brown hair in the middle?”
“Don’t you think so too? Isn’t she the best?”
Alexei nodded. Asha raised the opera glass to her eyes.
Through the opera glass lenses, the lead actors’ faces appeared magnified, and as Asha tilted the glasses, the chorus members came into view.
‘I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before.’
But the chorus had apparently been on stage only briefly—they vanished offstage almost at once.
“The harpist seems drowsy.”
“Is he playing poorly?”
“It seems like he keeps hitting a few wrong notes.”
Even as Asha whispered this to Alexei, she felt a small shock at herself. The fact that she could perceive such a thing at all.
Yet while she could detect the harpist striking wrong notes among all those instruments, she couldn’t for the life of her remember where she’d seen that brown-haired chorus singer before. Asha remained puzzled even after the opera ended completely and the curtain call rose.
‘There’s something familiar about her face.’
Asha glanced down and noticed a vivid bird shape etching itself onto one of her coat buttons.
‘What is it, Pibi? Did you just sleep through the whole thing?’
‘But the singing is lovely.’
‘What would I sing?’
Pibi raised his voice like a parent who has absolute faith in their first child’s genius. Asha nearly burst out laughing, but she held it back and pressed the opera glass firmly against her eye sockets again. The maid chorus was at the edge of the stage, and with their heavy makeup, even their facial features were hard to make out.
That’s when Pibi spoke.
‘Which woman?’
Only then could Asha recognize the face of the woman in the chorus who had been singing most beautifully.
* * *
Slightly removed from the heart of Jedo, the old Opera House built along the Bichegda River was a place steeped in history and tradition.
That is to say, the theater was—kindly put—charmingly antiquated, and frankly, not all that refined. As a result, the second-floor nobility-only seating had been scarcely half-full in recent times, yet today it was completely sold out.
“Well, you’ve brought company today…….”
“You’ve always come alone before, watching quietly and leaving.”
The nobles who had sold out the second-floor seating this evening had done one thing first upon sitting down: raised their opera glasses to their eyes and glanced across at the other audience sections.
More precisely, at the center seating of the second floor.
There, a small girl who seemed doubtfully no older than ten, and a boy of fifteen who wore an expression that made his age impossible to gauge, were settling into a sofa. These two were Alexei, the Imperial Heir to the throne, and Asha, the Imperial Heir-Princess who, ever since the Emperor himself had left her in the palace not long ago, had apparently not been allowed outside the gates at all.
“I heard that the Imperial Heir-Princess took a brief outing into the city not too long ago.”
“And that Kalno accompanied her on that excursion.”
“Is that so? Really?”
The second-floor nobles, indifferent to whatever commotion was happening in the theater, had gathered here primarily to catch a glimpse of the Imperial Heir-Princess.
“When I heard that myself, I was utterly astonished. If His Majesty treasures her so dearly, would he really use the next Duke of House of Sedvoyer as though he were a mere bodyguard?”
“Still, the young Imperial Heir-Princess seems to know nothing of the world. She didn’t appear frightened of Kalno at all.”
“Ha, well, she’s just a child. What would she know?”
The curtain rose and the performance began. Even as the singers moved gracefully and sang their parts, the nobles’ whispered murmuring never ceased.
“By the way, where did she go when she ventured into the city a few days ago?”
“Someone—I think it was Sarato who recently opened a new shop. Apparently the Imperial Heir-Princess went to see it.”
“Sarato? That merchant, you mean?”
A look of disdain flickered across another noble’s face.
“I’m not even sure whether I should acknowledge her as nobility. And yet the Imperial Heir-Princess visited her shop.”
“But isn’t the Imperial Heir-Princess a child from the countryside? Everything would seem novel to her. Besides, that shop has been causing quite a sensation recently. Have you tried anything from it?”
“Ah…… some sort of chocolate cake, I suppose? The color looked rather odd to me, so I didn’t feel inclined to try it.”
“The Countess Tataricha raved about it, or so they say.”
“The Countess Tataricha? She’s usually quite strict about her desserts. What was the name… didn’t she speak quite harshly about that shop run by someone who’s either the current Head Chef of the Imperial Palace’s brother-in-law or apprentice?”
“Exactly what I mean. So I became curious as well. I mentioned wanting to try it myself tomorrow.”
“Psh, I’m rather wary of that countess myself. They say she beat her husband to death, you know. It frightens me.”
“Isn’t that just a rumor? I thought he fell down the stairs by accident.”
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
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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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