The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 84

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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 Princess Wants to Live in a Pastry Shop
Chapter 84

Dmitri had expected her to comply because he’d threatened her with the Emperor’s favor and authority. His promise to bake a tart if Ilya could hold the tea party had been a joke, but now……
“You made a promise and broke it?”
Asha watched the emotion flickering around Dmitri and swallowed her smile. She decided that this boy hadn’t listened to her because he’d submitted to the fact that she was loved by the Emperor, but rather because he wanted her sweets. It seemed he thought that version would better preserve his pride.
“Oh…… no. No, I brought something else. Strawberries are out of season.”
Asha, scrambling for an excuse, pulled a individually wrapped Financier from her pocket. It was a small baked cake with a deep golden-brown exterior and a slight crack down the middle that revealed the tender crumb within. Just as she was about to slip the pastry into Dmitri’s hand——

Asha’s head snapped around at Pibi’s words. Beyond the trees and shrubs of the garden, in the distance, she spotted a carriage approaching. The figure stepping down from it was indistinct, but she recognized him as Valery. It seemed he’d just returned from an outing.
“What, what is it?”
Dmitri faltered, taken aback by the sudden shift in Asha’s demeanor. She pressed the Financier into his hand and turned away.
“I’m going over there for just a moment. Keep yourself entertained.”
“What do you mean, entertain myself. I’m perfectly fine on my own!”
Asha paid no attention to Dmitri’s excuses and quietly slipped out of the garden.

* * *

“What are you planning to do after meeting Marquis Shapirokin?”
“Oh, you startled me! I…… really. Kalno.”
As Asha hurried across the garden, she spun around at the sound of the voice behind her.
“Aren’t you going to play games with Natalya and Kerum?”
“I’m not their governess. I left them with the Imperial Heir.”
“Then why did you follow me?”
“Because you went.”
Asha sighed and fussed with the hem of her dress. Still, since he’d followed because she was on his mind, she felt she ought to feed him something. She drew a Financier from her pocket, unwrapped it, and pushed it directly into Kalno’s mouth.
“Mph!”
“Mph? Dmitri can’t eat any because I ran out.”
“……Why does the Imperial Heir want your sweets so badly?”
“Because the sweets I make are delicious.”
Kalno wore an expression of displeasure but said nothing more. And as Asha watched the tender particles of affection settling softly around him, she felt a quiet smile bloom in her heart.
“……You still haven’t explained what you’re going to do after meeting Valery.”
“Give him my sweets.”
Asha only realized, after speaking the words aloud to Kalno, how absurd her answer sounded to anyone listening.
“……You’re going to give him sweets?”
“Precisely, I want to get him to eat them……”
“Why?”
“……Because…… eating my sweets makes people…… feel better……”
“……”
“……”
Asha pretended not to notice her own flushed face.
“Even if I sent them separately, he might not eat them anyway. I don’t know when I’ll see Valery again, so I need to get a lot into him while I have the chance.”
“What happens when people feel better?”
“They become a little kinder.”
Asha pouted her lips.
“He hates Alexei so much that I have eyes too. Of course I know.”
“And yet you still want to give him sweets?”
Asha knew how her words sounded, but she had no choice but to speak.
“It’s for everyone’s sake……”
“……”
“I really mean it.”
“……”
Kalno wore the expression of someone who had just heard something hopelessly naive, but it seemed he understood that Asha harbored some sort of plan and purpose beneath it all.
And Asha decided she would gladly make use of Kalno, who showed no sign of leaving. Word of Kalno’s visit must have already spread through the Manor, for the servants went pale the moment they saw his shadow.
By the time Asha and Kalno had slipped out of the garden and reached the Manor Entrance, Valery, having heard the news, had rushed out in surprise.

“Asha, Kalno. I was so startled when I heard you’d come to Ilya’s gathering just now that I was already wondering whether I should greet you…….”
Valery’s complexion was indeed somewhat pale, but he continued speaking naturally enough in Kalno’s presence. Yet Kalno merely nodded at all those words.
‘Pibi, Uncle Valery really does have Prasty, doesn’t he?’

‘If I feed him the pastries I made, I can draw Prasty out, right?’

As Pibi’s words trailed off, Valery—whose face had flushed briefly with humiliation at being ignored by Kalno—turned his head toward Asha.
“But Asha, what brings you here instead of playing in the garden……?”
“Other people are just guests, but you and I are family, Uncle Valery. Since I’ve come all this way, I wanted to pay my respects properly.”
As Asha spoke with a bright smile, Valery gave a short, uncomfortable cough as if struck by something.
“How very kind of you. No wonder the Crown Prince treasures you so. Still, talking with me can’t be very amusing…….”
“I even baked pastries to bring you, Uncle!”
Asha said this with a radiant smile. When a niece offers pastries she’s made with her own hands, one cannot very well refuse them. Valery fell silent for a moment, then summoned the butler with the scar beneath his eye and ordered him to prepare a simple tea service.
Atop the dazzlingly ornate tea table, brilliant as polished silver, Asha’s pastries were arranged. Seeing the rectangular confections on the plate, Valery tilted his head.
“A pastry I’ve never seen before.”
“I made them shaped like gold ingots, using deeply browned butter and almond flour. The outside is crisp and the inside is moist…….”
“…….”
Hadn’t Valery just mentioned that one of his ventures was collapsing? She’d chosen these pastries thinking that hearing about gold ingots might lift his spirits a little—but it seemed she’d misjudged badly.
‘Haven’t I just made things worse?’
Valery merely drained his teacup with a darkened expression, leaving the pastries untouched. Just as Asha was agonizing over how to make him eat—even considering whether she should force one into his mouth—Kalno, seated beside her, set down his cup with an audible clink and picked up a Financier. At this sudden movement, Valery glanced sideways at Kalno. Kalno ate one pastry carefully, then looked directly at Valery.
“Would you not care for one, Your Highness?”
“Ah…… no, of course. I should eat one. My niece baked them, after all…….”
Valery forced a smile and reached for a Financier. Asha hid her face behind her teacup, watching intently as Valery cut the pastry in half.
The richly browned surface split in two, revealing the bright ivory interior within. As a fragrant hazelnut aroma spread through the air, Valery’s expression softened perceptibly. And the moment he took a bite.
‘Phew.’
Asha finally released the tension that had kept her spine rigid. Valery’s sickly fluorescent green particles rippled violently, as though struck by a blow.
‘Pibi, is all of that from Prasty? Originally he was a good per…….’

Pibi spoke in a measured tone from within the cuff of Asha’s sleeve.

‘…….’

Listening to Pibi’s words, the Valery before her eyes suddenly seemed far from ordinary.
‘If I just feed him the pastries I made, that solves it, doesn’t it?’
At Asha’s words—which held a note of weariness—Pibi’s voice softened.

‘But how is it actually drawn out?’

‘What? Kalno?’

Asha furrowed her brow seriously at yet another revelation.
‘Kalno and I? What does that even…….’
Just then, bright orange particles suddenly streaked past Asha’s eyes. She looked up in surprise. Valery, having finished one Financier, wore a slightly bewildered expression—and all those bright, dancing particles were emanating from him. Their number was not great, but…….
“You…… you baked these yourself, you said?”
“Yes! How do they taste, Uncle?”
“Delicious. Your skill is evident. It seems the Emperor had good reason to grant you a kitchen.”
Having regained much of his composure, Valery sipped his tea naturally and reached for another Financier.
“When the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration draws near, wouldn’t it be fitting to present him with pastries of your own making as his birthday gift?”
Asha’s eyes widened at mention of the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration, which she’d never heard of before. Valery smiled subtly.
“You haven’t been at the Imperial Palace long, so there’s much you don’t yet know. When autumn comes, the Birthday Celebration is held in great ceremony, together with the harvest festival.”
“Oh, I see……. But would it be appropriate for me to give something I made?”
“It needn’t be pastries—if you made it with your own hands, I’m certain he would treasure anything. Your skill with your hands is clearly remarkable, given how delicious this is.”
Valery’s words were honeyed and smooth. At the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration, everyone would bring brilliant, masterwork gifts crafted by artisans. A humble, handmade thing from a ten-year-old girl would surely stand out—but not in a favorable way.
‘So that’s the ugliness of character Pibi was describing.’
“Thank you for telling me, Uncle Valery.”
“What have I done for you? It’s all your own skill. I do wish our Ilya had picked up a bit of that—she knows how to make things too. But that girl only knows how to read books.”
Asha smiled brightly.
‘So I’m the kitchen maid and Ilya’s the brilliant scholar, is that it?’
“Oh, but Ilya has such a kind heart—she’s always willing to give things up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone kinder than Ilya.”
Valery’s forehead twitched, and his smile turned strained.
“Maksim cared deeply for your father, Yurieh—the youngest of you. Perhaps that’s why. You’ve inherited something of him, I think.”

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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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