Chapter 36
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much.
Since three beginners had thrown it together in a frenzy, I expected it to look decent enough but taste like a disaster.
‘What if it tastes awful? I’d feel bad even giving it to Alina.’
With my unease weighing on me, I took a bite of the Sweetie Version first.
Crunch.
The soft tart crust and sweet grapefruit filling melded together in my mouth.
“......Huh?”
My pupils widened.
It was delicious.
‘The sweet version is a little soggy underneath because of the moisture in the fruit... but not enough to be unpleasant. If anything, it’s softer.’
A texture that melted softly in my mouth.
The sweetness of the honey gently embraced the grapefruit’s tartness.
Next, I tried the Bitter Version as well.
‘Wow, this is it.’
My mouth felt refreshed.
The grapefruit’s characteristic bitterness stimulated my tongue, cutting through the buttery richness of the crust.
This was a dessert for adults.
And that bitterness was exactly to my taste.
“Master Patiss, did you use some kind of magic? To get this quality out of beginners like us....”
When I asked in admiration, Kara, beside me, widened her eyes too.
“It really is... I made it, but it’s so delicious. The bitterness isn’t unpleasant at all—it’s so refreshing.”
Kara kept chewing the tart, unable even to think of putting down her fork.
Master Patiss proudly stroked his beard.
“The ingredients are good, and above all, the care put into it by the people making it. The recipe is merely a guide.”
It was then.
“Waaah! This is amazing!”
Elysia, who had finished her portion in an instant, stood up in a fuss.
“I really made this? Am I a genius? It’s bursting in my mouth!”
She grabbed Patiss’s arm and shook it vigorously, flour smeared around her mouth.
“Master! Can’t I just quit the academy and become your apprentice here? I’m really confident I’d be good at it!”
“Y-yes? The academy? More importantly, why are you calling a confectioner like me ‘Master’...”
“Oh, but there’s so much more for me to learn from you! Forget the academy and everything—I think baking suits me much better! Please take me on as your apprentice!”
Patiss shook his head uneasily at the immature princess’s declaration.
She was already like this without knowing she was an imperial princess. If she found out....
It would only create more unnecessary noise.
“Ho ho, my lady. You certainly know how to joke. This work is far more grueling than it looks. It’s not something refined ladies like you can do every day.”
Patiss rolled up his sleeve to show her.
His forearms and the backs of his hands were covered in old burn scars and calluses, like medals of honor.
“A hot oven is only the beginning. Boiling sugar syrup is more frightening than oil. If it splashes, it burns all the way to the bone. It ruins delicate hands.”
The master had said it out of genuine concern.
But.
“Oh, I’ve had plenty of burns myself. Look at this.”
Perhaps she had grown competitive; Elysia gave a little laugh and took off her gloves.
Then she spread both palms wide.
“......!”
For a moment, silence fell around the table.
Master Patiss’s mouth fell open.
Elysia’s hands.
Unlike the smooth backs of her hands, the insides of her palms were covered in horribly wrinkled burn scars.
They were not injuries from yesterday or today.
They were the traces of long years of agony, repeated countless times as her skin melted away and fused back together.
The Sun God’s power, 「Incineration」.
A curse-like brand born from burning herself because she could not control that power.
“Th-this is....”
Patiss could not finish his sentence.
He did not know where to look, confronted by a grotesqueness he could not believe belonged to a young lady’s hands.
Elysia smiled and pulled her gloves back on as if it were nothing.
“It’s nothing, right? I’m pretty good at enduring heat, too. So you’ll take me on as your apprentice, right?”
“......”
The room spun.
I felt faint.
‘Why did she show him that?!’
I screamed inwardly at this unforeseen development I hadn’t even had time to stop.
Those burn marks were proof that she used the Imperial Family’s secret art, 「Incineration」, and a fatal weakness directly connected to her identity.
It was fortunate that the person before us was an innocent dessert master. If he had been a noble or spy with even a little knowledge of Imperial affairs, he would have grown suspicious immediately.
‘Does that woman have no sense of caution, or does she live as though there’s no tomorrow?’
It was precarious.
It felt as though I were carrying a time bomb with its safety pin pulled.
As the atmosphere turned chilly, Elysia pretended to read the room and looked away.
I turned my head to salvage the awkward mood.
That was when I spotted Kara at the edge of my vision.
“......”
Kara had her head bowed deeply, fork still in hand.
Her shoulders were trembling faintly.
“Kara?”
Startled, I put an arm around Kara’s shoulders.
“Why are you crying? Does it taste strange? Are you feeling sick?”
Kara shook her head.
“...No. It’s just so delicious.”
“Because it’s delicious?”
“Yes....”
Kara murmured in a tearful voice.
“Alina... was going to give me something this delicious... She went to buy it with those tiny hands... and then that happened....”
Clear tears fell from her sapphire-colored eyes, splashing and spreading across the plate.
“How frightened must she have been? She must have gone out excited to give some to Yeppi....”
The sweeter the tart spread through her mouth, the more keenly her remorse seemed to pierce her.
The child had gone out to share this sweet taste, only to be kidnapped and tremble in bitter fear.
Thinking of that child made my chest ache, yet relief surged over me like a wave at the knowledge that she had returned safely and was now sleeping soundly.
Conflicting emotions were flowing as tears.
“......”
Elysia grew solemn as well, setting aside her playfulness.
Master Patiss also lowered his head, his eyes reddening.
Without a word, I embraced Kara and patted her back.
‘Even so... I’m glad we made it.’
It was hard to watch Kara cry, but these tears were not only tears of sadness.
It was part of the healing process.
Even adults furrow their brows at grapefruit when all it offers is bitterness.
Only by washing away guilt with the sweetness of gratitude and relief that she was safe could one finally smile.
Only then could the faint bitterness lingering afterward taste refreshing.
Only then could it be appreciated as flavor.
“There, there. Stop crying now. We have to give it to Alina when she wakes up.”
“Okay... sniff... I understand....”
Kara wiped her tears on the hem of my clothes.
Only when we delivered this tart to Alina after she woke would the wounds from this incident begin to heal.
For children and adults alike.
For daughters and fathers alike.
Everyone needs sweetness.
In the warm fragrance of the tart, cozy comfort seeped through.
“Master! I don’t want to go to the academy!”
Even amid all that, Elysia’s shrill, unrelenting cry shook the main-house kitchen.
While Kara and I shared a tender embrace, Elysia was still clinging to Patiss’s trouser leg.
“Please take me on as your apprentice! I’m amazing at kneading dough! Please? Please?”
“Oh, my lady... please, don’t do this!”
Patiss backed away with a miserable expression.
“If your parents hear about this, I won’t survive... Please, have some dignity!”
“Does dignity feed you? I like delicious things more!”
“Please, just stop it.”
Wearing a flour-covered apron, I was sweating as I struggled to pull Elysia away.
“You’ll put the count in a difficult position if you keep this up.”
“I don’t care! I’m not leaving! I’m going to bake bread and live here!”
Elysia was utterly relentless.
‘Oh, seriously... should I just put in a word for her? Let her stay here as a dessert master?’
Part of me genuinely wanted to send her to Patiss.
If the heroine remained in the count’s domain as its dessert master, I’d be more than happy....
Once I had fully made up my mind, I was ready to put in a word for her.
Unfortunately, before that could happen, the uproar from the kitchen made the second-floor bedroom door fly open.
“Mmm... What’s all the noise....”
“Ah... my head....”
Count Eisen and Lonas stumbled out into the hallway.
Their usual neat appearance was nowhere to be seen.
Hair sticking up like a magpie’s nest.
Sleep in their eyes.
Clothes half undone.
A father and son who looked like complete wrecks.
Yawning, the two approached the railing and looked down at the first-floor kitchen.
And then.
“......”
They froze in place.
That was the shocking sight that greeted Count Eisen and his son.
The Empire’s imperial princess, wearing a flour-covered apron and lying there while clinging to someone’s trouser leg.
A dessert master with a woebegone expression, running away from her.
And beside them, the Wintersword couple embracing each other and exchanging honeyed looks.
After waking from a brief nap, they had found a complete disaster unfolding in their own mansion.
“......”
“......”
Count Eisen and Lonas backed away in unison, as if on cue.
Ssssss.
Father and son hid themselves inside the hallway.
A minimal gesture of wanting to deny reality.
“...Lonas.”
Eisen whispered in a trembling voice.
“Am I seeing things? Her Highness the Princess... was wearing an apron.”
“...It’s not a dream, Father.”
Eisen and Lonas took deep breaths and desperately smoothed down their tousled hair.
“For now... let’s calm down and go back out. We must preserve the dignity of House Eisengard. Though I fear it may already be too late....”
Father and son rubbed their eyes at the same time and composed their expressions.
Three minutes later.
Tap, tap.
The father and son descended the stairs as neatly as possible.
““What... in the world is going on?””
Count Eisen and Lonas asked together in hoarse voices.
““Ah....””
Then they looked at each other simultaneously.
Kara and I finally managed to pull Elysia away and smiled awkwardly.
“Ah, you’re awake. There was a bit of a situation.”
I briefly explained the tart-making commotion that had taken place during the day and our plan to surprise Alina with it.
After hearing the explanation, Count Eisen’s gaze turned toward a corner of the table.
Elysia’s golden eyes, following his gaze, sparkled like morning stars.
She expected him to be moved by the tart she had put so much effort into making.
‘How is it? I made it! Praise me!’
The princess was sending silent pressure through her golden eyes.
But Eisen’s gaze passed over the steaming tart and moved to the old tart box beside it, crumpled and stained with blood and dirt.
The box Alina had refused to let go of when she was kidnapped.
“Ah... that....”
Eisen’s expression darkened.
The thought of the fear and pain his daughter must have endured made his heart lurch.
Only then did Elysia notice what Eisen’s gaze had settled on, and all the laughter vanished from her face as well.
The sparkle drained from her eyes, replaced by guilt and pity, and she lowered her head.
It was then.
Thud.
Lonas firmly grasped his father’s shoulder.
“Father.”
Lonas pointed toward the center of the table with his chin.
“Look at this for now.”
A freshly baked grapefruit tart with a radiant golden hue sat there, still steaming.
In place of the crumpled box was the warm present we had made together.
Lonas picked up a fork and took a piece of tart.
He placed a slice of the Sweetie Version on a plate and handed it to Eisen.
“Have this, Father. Your blood sugar’s low.”
“...Thank you.”
Then he bit into the Bitter Version, its pleasantly bitter flavor still vivid.
Munch, munch.
Lonas closed his eyes and savored it.
“Mmm... delicious.”
Then he smiled faintly.
“It’s the kind of flavor that drives away fatigue. Even the Duchess of Northgard has learned from Patiss, so Alina will surely enjoy it too.”
“Y-young master... you recognize my work!”
Patiss was moved to tears.
As the atmosphere warmed, we hurried to finish preparing.
It was time to take this tart to Alina’s room.
Although Count Eisen and Lonas had gone to sleep after staying up all night, they had woken up, so Alina, who was an Eisen like them, was bound to be awake too.
Kara, Elysia, and I hurriedly tried to wipe the flour from our faces.
“Wait, stop.”
Lonas stopped us.
“Don’t wipe it off.”
“Huh? But our faces are a mess....”
When Kara looked puzzled, Lonas smiled gently and said,
“Alina will like it better if you go just as you are.”
“......”
“Rather than seeing us neat and tidy, Alina will find the sight of her big sister and big brother baking bread for her with flour all over them. That ‘trace’ itself will be the greatest comfort and gift to Alina.”
Eisen nodded as well at those words.
“That’s right. It is the most beautiful makeup in the world. Let’s go to Alina.”
We smiled brightly at one another.
Faces covered in flour.
Tousled hair.
Wrinkled clothes.
But expressions brighter than ever.
“Let’s go! Let’s wake up Yeppi’s big sister!”
I led the way, and everyone followed.
Noon at Eisengard.
The moment when the sunlight cast its warmest glow across the windows.
A procession trailing the sweet fragrance of tarts came bounding toward Alina.
Thanks to the noon sunlight, the tart had stayed warm all this time, still giving off wisps of steam.