The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House - Chapter 99

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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 a Patisserie
Episode 99

“What business do you have to attend to?”
“I’m a busy person too, Your Majesty.”
At Asha’s cheerful reply, all the attendants around her broke into warm smiles. The Emperor himself had started to smile before quickly suppressing it, then spoke with deliberate sternness.
“Too busy to even think about your wish?”
“Well, if you put it that way! I did think of something!”
Asha clenched her fists as she said this, then slowly uncurled her fingers and gauged the Emperor’s mood. He raised his chin.
“Then speak.”
“Do you really mean you’ll grant anything?”
“Anything within my power to grant.”
The Emperor seemed to be in good spirits. Asha’s eyes began to dart about before she suddenly seized his hand.
“Grandfather.”
“……Yes.”
“There’s something Baron Sarato and I have been preparing.”
“Beyond the patisserie?”
“The patisserie wasn’t something I prepared! The Baron really did all of that himself.”
“Fair enough. So what else are you preparing?”
“It’s still…… too embarrassing to talk about. Once it’s finished, I’ll tell you. But it should be done soon anyway—we’re almost there.”
“And then?”
“So once that’s complete…… it’ll probably be autumn by then.”
Since it was summer now, “soon” was the right word. The Emperor waited with patience as Asha carefully circled around her point. Taking a deep breath, she spoke rapidly.
“In winter my mother and father have their birthdays and I want to go see them!”
“…….”
“……Is that…… not possible?”
Asha looked up at the Emperor with wide eyes. He sat in silence, his gaze lowered, turning her words over in his mind. She quickly added more.
“Mother and Father say it’s fine in letters…… but water leaks through the roof when it rains. The ladle is old and probably has holes in it by now. There are only two chairs, so Father always had me sit on his lap while we ate…….”
“…….”
“I’m worried about them. Can’t I go see how they’re doing?”
She had been concerned about her parents all along. She had earned money through various contracts with Baron Sarato, but when it came time to send it to them, she realized she didn’t know their account number at all.
When she quietly looked into it, she learned that her parents didn’t even have an account in their names. And even if they had, they wouldn’t have touched Asha’s money.
The Emperor remained silent for a long time before opening his eyes and gazing quietly at the portrait painted of Asha. A vivid portrait of a young girl turned back, smiling broadly.
“Didn’t I tell you I’d grant you anything? There’s nothing difficult about this—why do you hesitate? I don’t know what you and Baron Sarato are working on, but once it’s finished, tell me about it then.”
At those words, Asha broke into a wide smile and threw her arms up.
“Grandfather is the best!”
“…….”
“…….”
And nothing happened. Asha lowered her arms in embarrassment. At her words and the silence that followed, the Emperor too seemed to be caught somewhat off guard, though rarely so.

At Shamal’s amused whisper, which had gone unspoken until then, Pibi—who had been dozing with her round belly on full display in her cage—suddenly jolted awake.

As Asha sighed and turned to look at the cage, Pibi and the wind began a fierce battle inside it. As tiny yellow feathers started to fly about, Asha shook her head and looked back at the Emperor.
“That moment just now—when you were supposed to sweep me up in your arms!”
“……Was I?”
“Do it again, and you’d better do it right this time.”
Saying so, Asha cleared her throat and threw her arms up again with exaggerated enthusiasm.
“Grandfather is the best!”
“……You certainly have a way with words.”
The Emperor bent down and lifted Asha up lightly. Then, quietly and slowly, he patted her back. Yellow feathers scattered softly in the air.

* * *

“Could you…… stop looking for just a moment?”
Asha fidgeted beside him as she spoke. Kalno straightened up from quietly admiring Asha’s portrait on the wall for some time now.
“Hmm.”
Then he fixed his gaze on Asha, as if comparing an original painting to a copy. His eyes held that particular scrutiny. Heat crept up Asha’s neck, and she fanned herself with her hand, clearing her throat repeatedly.
“Since you showed me this, you’ll lend me the portrait, won’t you?”
The moment the Emperor gave his consent, Asha sent Pibi straight to Kalno—to ask if he would lend her the Müller painting he kept in his collection. Pibi returned with his reply not long after.

[This is the third letter.
If you show me that portrait of yours first, I would be happy to lend you the painting.]

The letter was characteristically blunt and quite brief, as Kalno’s letters tended to be.
Now the preamble “this is the third letter” made sense—it seemed Kalno intended to number every letter he sent—but the content struck her as odd.
If Asha’s wish came true and the exhibition opened, wouldn’t everyone be able to see it anyway? And besides, surely she wouldn’t refuse to show him the painting?
Still, even if there were two or three more incomprehensible things written in the letter, it didn’t matter. As long as Kalno would lend her the Müller painting!
“Fine. Very well.”
“Really?”
“I gave my word, so of course. It seems you didn’t ask only me—you must have contacted Marchioness Tataricha and Baron Sarato too?”
Asha’s eyes widened.
“How did you know? I was just about to ask you.”
“Did you contact the Marquis of Silesteria as well?”
“Ah… no. I don’t have any real connection there, so I felt awkward asking outright.”
She had seen Grisha, the son of that household, at the tea party, but the boy had been rather withdrawn, and what with Natalya flitting about, she hadn’t built any particular rapport with them.
“Yet you could ask me outright?”
“Stop complaining when you like it anyway.”
When Kalno gave her a sideways look without any real displeasure, she let out a small laugh.
“Then I’ll speak to the Marquis of Silesteria myself.”
“You will?”
Asha blinked and tilted her head in question. Kalno regarded her for a moment, then turned his gaze to the portrait—to the young girl within it, gazing back.
A smiling girl, looking toward the viewer. It was as if a single moment of life had been captured and held within the frame.
“I have a connection there as well. And since we’re not selling but displaying it alongside the Emperor’s portrait, they’ll likely be willing to lend it.”
“Kalno…!”
Asha looked up at him with profound gratitude written across her face. Kalno turned to look at her and flinched slightly.
“Well… ahem. When something goes out, something must come back in, Your Highness?”
“Right! Just ask for anything! I’ll give you whatever you want!”
Asha struck her chest with her palms, making grand pronouncements. Kalno studied her quietly for a moment, then spoke with an air of deliberate gravity.
“A Wish Ticket.”
“…What?”
“A Wish Ticket. I’d like a signed document—a promise to grant any wish at all.”
Asha’s lips moved soundlessly.
“No, wait… you could just tell me what you want right now. I’ll grant it immediately.”
A Wish Ticket? Kalno didn’t seem like the type to be harsh with her, but the very word carried an air of dread.
‘It feels like being trapped in some kind of loan shark scheme.’
“I don’t want to ask right now—I might want to ask later. If you claim you don’t know what I’m asking about, that would be a problem.”
“That won’t happen!”
“Good, so all you need to do is write the Wish Ticket.”
“Ah… well…”
How had the conversation twisted this way? Asha held her head in her hands for a moment, wrestling with the dilemma. Finally, persuaded by Kalno’s persistence, she picked up a pen.

[Anastasia shall grant Kalno one wish….]

As she wrote the words on thick card stock, Asha paused.
“There’s… there’s an expiration date I need to write. How long should I make it?”
“You’re writing an expiration date?”
Something in Kalno’s tone suggested that writing an expiration date was not what he wanted, but Asha decided to brazenly forge ahead.
“Of course! Fruit goes bad if you leave it too long. Besides, if there’s a deadline, you’ll actually use it and not forget. And I hate feeling like I owe you.”
Asha’s words sounded very much as if she were doing him a favor. Kalno crossed his arms and fell silent, then nodded.
“Fine.”
“Then… next week?”
“No.”
“W-week after next?”
“Ten years from now.”
“Ten years?!”
Asha cried out in shock, and Kalno raised one eyebrow at the sound.
“Why?”
“Oh, no. It’s just so long.”
“I’m not asking to charge interest—surely you can grant me even this small kindness, Imperial Heir?”
“I can, it’s just… well, I suppose I can.”
“Then fifteen years from now?”
“T-ten years from now. You have to use it within that time. If you go even a minute over, I won’t honor it. Understood?”
Asha wrote everything down as she spoke—today’s date, “ten years from now,” and the date ten years hence.

[…to grant whatever is requested within the time limit…]

“You left out ‘anything.’ You said you’d grant anything at all.”
…….
Asha pressed her lips together and stared at Kalno before adding the phrase.

[Promise to grant anything whatsoever.]

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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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