The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 85

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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 85

“Me?”
“Ah… yes.”
Valerie finished the last bite of her Financier, rinsed her mouth with the remaining tea, and rose from her seat.
“Asha, I’m sorry, but I have some work to attend to. I’ll have to leave early. I hope you and Ilya have a wonderful time together. Kalno, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
Though her farewell was somewhat perfunctory, Asha had consumed all the Financiers she’d brought, so she rose without regret, smiling brightly.
“I’ll come again next time!”

* * *

“She doesn’t seem to have improved all that much.”
On the path back to the Garden after leaving the mansion, Kalno spoke quietly, as if murmuring to himself. Asha answered with a somewhat serious expression.
“One visit isn’t enough.”
“So you’ll have to do this again?”
“Mm. Still, now that she’s tasted my pastries once, I can just send them by post and she’ll eat them without thinking.”
The urge to hate and harm others always leaves a raw wound on one’s own spirit. No one desires hatred for its own sake. They do it because they have no choice.
But what if there were another way? By simply eating the pastries Asha made, the power of the Spirit of Sensation would seep into Valerie, allowing her to slowly separate from Frasty. From now on, Valerie would instinctively crave Asha’s pastries. Humans naturally wish to distance themselves from ugliness.
“If it still doesn’t work, just ask Ilya to play the Kerum Game again.”
……
Kalno exhaled a sigh. Asha paid it no mind and pressed on with her next request.
“After this gathering, are you busy?”
“…Why?”
At Kalno’s reaction—as though he’d intuited some tiresome task—Asha shot him a pointed look.
“We promised to make liquor together.”
“Mm.”
“If it turns out well, I’ll give you a bottle too. You and Grandmother can share it.”
“Mm.”
“Ugh, if you don’t want to, forget it.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”
Asha shoved Kalno forcefully. He didn’t even flinch.
“I like it when people say clearly whether they like something or not. Don’t be all wishy-washy like a bland pudding. It’s tasteless.”
“…Very well. I would very much like to make liquor with you.”
“Once you’ve said yes, you’re in it for the long haul, Kalno.”
“My goodness.”
Asha drove the point home earnestly. When Kalno asked how many batches of liquor she intended to make, she only laughed.

* * *

Kalno gazed down at Natalya, who made no effort to hide the challenge in her eyes, then glanced sideways at the Young Princess standing beside him. She puffed out her soft cheeks and smiled brilliantly.
“Natalya, today was fun, wasn’t it? Let’s play together again next time. I’ll bake you some delicious cookies then.”
Natalya, who had been glaring at Kalno with gleaming eyes, quickly closed her green eyes and met the Young Princess’s gaze with a shy expression.
“Yes, absolutely.”
Kalno exchanged greetings with Ilya, who had hosted the gathering, and with his cousin Dmitri—though in truth, all he did was nod slightly from the Young Princess’s side—before naturally boarding the carriage with her.
“The young lady of the Tataritsyn Marquis House seems to dislike me.”
“Phew.”
The Young Princess, who had been sitting and adjusting the folds of her skirt, lifted her head and let out a peculiar laugh. At that enigmatic sound, Kalno’s brow furrowed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I was just thinking, after what you just said—it seems no one has ever actually disliked you, only feared you.”
……
Are those two things different? For the first time, Kalno became aware of that distinction. While he leaned against the carriage wall, lost in such thoughts, the Young Princess hugged a cushion and spoke on, wiggling her feet slightly.
“But Natalya doesn’t seem to dislike you. That girl is talented at everything physical and has never lost before—or so it seemed. But you beat her soundly. So now her competitive spirit is burning.”
Kalno’s brow furrowed again.
“You won just as viciously. And I forgot to ask—wasn’t this your first time playing the Kerum Game?”
“Where else would I have played it? You know I’ve never done it in the Imperial Palace, and certainly not at home. If we’d had something like a ball made of ivory, I’d have sold it straight away to buy bread.”
The Young Princess lifted her chin and spoke with confidence. Kalno narrowed his eyes slightly but didn’t press the matter further.

* * *

“Incredibly sweet, isn’t it?”
The moment they arrived at the Imperial Palace, Asha led Kalno straight to her kitchen. There, she pulled a large quantity of fruit from the cold storage, split one open, and popped half of it into Kalno’s mouth.
Overripe, its skin had turned soft, the small fruit offering a sweet fragrance and taste somewhere between grape and peach.
“It’s called Shassling—it starts appearing in early spring and we’re nearing the end of the season now. This is the last harvest of the year,” Asha explained.
Asha studied Kalno’s face and smiled warmly. Though caught off guard by the sudden sweetness on his tongue, Kalno seemed not to dislike it.
“First, we need to remove all the seeds.”
Asha worked methodically, halving the fruit and removing the pits from the center. Watching her, Kalno eventually exhaled and reached for a kitchen knife. Neatly prepared fruit began to accumulate in a large bowl.
“But Kalno, didn’t Valerie mention something earlier? About the Emperor’s birthday celebration?”
Kalno continued working the fruit without pause, glancing sideways at Asha. A gesture that said he was listening.
“Should I do something too?”
At that, even Kalno hesitated slightly.
“……Normally…… you would.”
Asha was separated from her parents, left alone in the Imperial Palace as things stood.
“If I made something like pastries, he might just laugh at me. And if I try something else, I’m not sure I could actually provide him with what he needs.”
‘But not doing anything at all…….’
The Emperor might sulk. While Asha worked through the fruit with a troubled expression, Kalno pointed at the pile with his knife tip.
“You could ferment these into wine.”
“I just told you—if I actually make something, it feels wrong. Besides, giving a handmade gift on a day that meaningful isn’t something to take lightly.”
Asha placed her hands on her hips and spoke in a instructive tone.
“It’s better to buy something well-made than to give something half-baked, Kalno.”
“The Emperor might see it differently.”
Kalno spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, but Asha wasn’t listening.
“Sigh. I need to think more about what to give for his birthday. What will you do?”
“I’ve already done it.”
“What? What do you mean?”
Asha looked up in surprise while searching for a mortar to crush the finished fruit. Kalno handed her the pestle and spoke matter-of-factly.
“I ended the war in victory. That should be enough.”
“Ah…….”
When put that way, there was nothing more to say. Asha nodded in agreement and turned her attention back to the fruit.
Once the crushed fruit was transferred to the large bowl and three cups of honey were added and mixed, the base was complete. Asha pulled over three Glass Jars and set them on the counter. She divided the concentrate equally among them, then looked at Kalno with a face full of anticipation.
“Now it’s your turn.”
“Don’t blame me if I ruin it.”
“You won’t ruin it. You can do this, Kalno! I’ll hold your hand. You’ll feel stronger with me there.”
With that, Asha wrapped both her hands firmly around Kalno’s left hand. Kalno flinched.
“……Holding hands gives strength, does it?”
“Sounds funny? But it’s true~!”
“If you say so.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
At Asha’s words, Kalno let out a faint smile, but the moment his gaze fell on the bottles of wine awaiting him, the smile faded and he sighed.
“If the officers of the Imperial Military saw this, they’d faint.”
“Saw what?”
“Me using this strength to brew wine of all things.”
“Kalno, you agreed to do this because you wanted to. Why do you keep complaining?”
“Fine, fine.”
“The leftmost one for one year, the middle one for ten years, and the rightmost one for thirty years, please.”
“……Alright.”
“You can manage that level of control, right? You’ve been practicing to get used to your strength and haven’t even come to see me.”
…….
This time, Kalno shot Asha a look, then sighed again and reached toward the jars. A faint light flashed three times in succession.
“Done?”
“Done.”
“Really?”
“Yes. So now…….”
Kalno trailed off, but Asha had already released his hand and was rushing toward the bottles.
“……You really are something.”
“I’m shaking so much right now~! This is my first time making wine.”
“…….”
“This won’t end up destroying the entire brewing industry, will it? We’re only drinking it ourselves, right?”
“When I was planning military operations, I never worried about hypotheticals this absurd.”
Asha pretended not to hear Kalno’s remark, drawing a deep breath. She cracked open the first jar just slightly.
“The smell is…… incredibly strong. Now I’m about to find out what it actually tastes like…… Oh, um…….”
“…….”
“Mm.”
“……?”
Only then did Asha look up at Kalno, her face growing faintly troubled.
“Come to think of it, we’re still not old enough to drink, are we…….”
“Good heavens. You drag me all the way here and only now remember?”
“It slipped my mind too!”
Asha’s voice carried a note of injured protest, though her spirit flagged slightly. Kalno made a show of being angry, but the expression crumbled quickly into a thin smile.
“So what do we do with this now?”
“I’ll have to let Pavel or Lis taste it later. If they try it and say it’s good, then I’ll give some to you…….”
“Why can’t I just taste it now?”
“You can’t!”
“Why not?”
“You’re still a Minor!”
“But you said you’d give a bottle to Grandmother to drink.”
“That’s different—you’d be drinking with a guardian present, so it’s acceptable.”
“So right now, because I’m a Minor, I can’t drink alcohol?”
“That’s right.”
Asha spoke with unwavering firmness. Kalno stood with his arms folded across his chest, looking down at her before asking again.
“There’s no other reason?”
“What other reason would there be for not drinking? Surely you didn’t spend the war in the North guzzling alcohol at fifteen?”
“I didn’t.”
“Really?”

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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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