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Chapter 25
Siana and I were watching the procession that had stopped at the main palace entrance through the window of the secondary palace.
A man stepped down from an antique, ornate carriage.
“Is that the prince of the Bonia Kingdom?”
“Yes. That’s Ruid Ettinger, the older brother of Princess Sharle Ettinger.”
“He doesn’t really look like Princess Sharle, does he?”
He had the aura of a wild stallion.
If Princess Sharle looked like a fairy, this prince seemed more like a boss of some organization.
Maybe the sharp impression came from his upturned eyes.
“Could it be because they’re half-siblings?”
“Half-siblings?”
“King Ettinger of Bonia had one queen and one concubine. The youngest, Princess Sharle, is from the queen’s line, and the other two princes are from the concubine’s line.”
“Princess Sharle is the youngest?”
“Yes. But the first in line for the throne is Princess Sharle, who is of legitimate blood. The second prince is Ruid Ettinger. It seems those two are currently disputing the succession. The first prince is naturally frail and not someone suitable for the throne struggle.”
As I marveled at Siana, who knew the royal affairs of another country so well, a particular face caught my attention.
“Oh.”
“Do you know him?”
“…Huh? No, he’s just handsome.”
At the back of the procession, there was a handsome man riding a white horse.
Unlike the surrounding knights, his clothing was neat and sophisticated.
It must have taken several days to travel from Bonia to here, yet he was fully dressed like this.
He looked more like a prince than the prince himself.
Was he a knight who liked to dress up?
“That knight only keeps his eyes on the horse’s neck? He must be shy. He’s not noticing anything around him.”
“Come on, could someone dressed like that really be shy…?”
“Look.”
Siana pointed, and I saw maidservants squealing in the distance at the sight of the handsome man on the white horse.
When the handsome man accidentally made eye contact with them, he hurriedly turned his head and fixed his gaze on the horse’s neck again.
“Is that so…?”
I scratched my cheek.
He was an unusual knight, but certainly handsome.
Because my eyes had become so high-standard from all the talented faces scattered around Zendal.
If my eyes deemed him handsome, he really must be.
Had I not known His Majesty’s beauty, I’d probably be squealing with the maidservants right there.
…Maybe I’ll never be able to date anyone in my life if my standards stay this high.
I shook my head and moved away from the window.
Having finished watching, it was time to pursue the original purpose.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
Siana smiled gently.
“Brown hair really suits you.”
“Hey, when did you ever complain that it wasn’t black?”
“Did I? Brown eyes too.”
I looked down at my hair at Siana’s casual tone.
Natural brown, as if it had always been that way.
My reflection in Siana’s kind eyes showed me in the sky-blue maid uniform.
Anyone could tell I worked in the royal palace.
I smiled contentedly.
“Let’s go, Siana.”
It had happened two days ago.
I had a few silver and copper coins on the table and was deep in thought.
“7 silver 3 copper…”
My entire fortune.
“I don’t have enough money.”
What do you need money for when you’re a fan?
The bank account, of course.
The salary from the chapel was decent, but the statues were absurdly expensive.
Huperson had checked the cost of commissioning the best sculptor on the Odithria continent:
“Three years to make it? Three thousand gold coins per statue?”
My small, precious salary was 27 gold.
I’d have to save for 9 years and 4 months just to commission one statue.
And I had already spent this month’s salary buying gifts for His Majesty and the people around him.
At this rate, 9 years? I wouldn’t even be able to order one 20 years from now.
As a saint, I was basically idle, and asking for more salary would be ridiculous.
“Ah—if only someone would drop money from the sky.”
Someone like Seikan, perhaps.
As I gazed at the sky, hoping to see Seikan, voices of maidservants in the courtyard floated into my ears through the window.
“Thousand gold coins?!”
A thousand gold coins.
Who could ignore such a tempting word?
I listened closely.
“You know the Antoine Bakery?”
“Of course. They have branches in every town. Our hometown already has three.”
“Looks like they’re holding a contest there.”
It turned out that a famous bakery in Zendal was holding a dessert recipe contest.
The first prize was a thousand gold coins, plus a contract for a new recipe.
First prize, huh. With a thousand gold, maybe commissioning a bust would be possible.
“Should I enter too?”
I thought the words came out of my mouth.
But it was impossible.
In the finals, contestants had to demonstrate their recipes. Could I go out like, “Hello, I’m a saint”?
A distant dream.
While I was lamenting this, the maidservants’ conversation continued.
“We can’t enter. Only people with a chef’s license from the Culinary Association can participate.”
“Really? What a shame. Even then, you need a license.”
“I heard from someone involved that most famous chefs are participating. The prize money must be huge.”
“Then even if we entered, it would have been hard to place. Ah, last time…”
The maidservants quickly moved on to another topic and left.
I murmured while looking down at the empty courtyard.
“Only chefs can participate…?”
The royal palace kitchen was always intense.
Every day, hundreds of meals had to be prepared and sent out.
Even though the volume was high, the quality could not be neglected.
Meals for visiting dignitaries, and most importantly, meals for His Majesty and the saint.
Every dish leaving the kitchen passed through Head Chef Heli Montblanc’s hands.
And he took great pride in his profession.
In this empire, or even on the Odithria continent, no chef but him had ever cooked for the saint.
“Don’t slack off just because lunch is over! There’s a banquet for the Bonia delegation tonight!”
Heli shouted at the busy cooks in the kitchen.
As the head chef, it was his duty to keep the team alert in this battlefield-like kitchen.
“Yes! Understood!”
Seeing his subordinates respond loudly, Heli nodded.
“Um, Head Chef Heli.”
A few months ago, the apprentice chef Madren hesitantly approached him.
“What is it?”
“There’s a guest here to see you.”
“A guest?”
4 p.m.
Most visitors at this hour had similar requests.
Probably some noble who was hungry and had someone send food over. He must have known the kitchen would be busy due to the banquet.
Grumbling, Heli picked up a basket of bread from the counter and opened the kitchen door.
“I don’t know who sent you, but right now, this is all we have for a snack… Huh? Lady Pradan.”
“Hello, Heli.”
A neat, beautiful woman with reddish-brown hair tied up smiled elegantly.
Siana Pradan, the saint’s personal maid. Why was she here in the kitchen?
“Wh-what brings you here? Did the saint send you?”
Heli was flustered at her unexpected appearance but felt a thrill of anticipation.
Was this the day the saint sought out my cooking first—!
As Heli eagerly waited for her words, he realized she wasn’t alone.
Behind Lady Pradan stood a brown-haired girl.
A maid who had come along, it seemed.
Heli ignored the girl and asked Siana first.
“Is there anything the saint would like to eat?”
“There’s nothing I want to eat.”
The reply came from the girl behind Siana.
To speak so casually about the person she served!
Heli frowned and looked at Siana, as if asking, “Is this okay?”
“Ha ha.”
She smiled?
So Lady Pradan pampers her trainees while training them.
Heli clicked his tongue internally.
That maid wouldn’t get a single bread crumb from me.
“I have a question.”
The girl stepped forward from behind Siana.
Heli looked at her.
Ordinary brown eyes, brown hair.
A late-teen girl with exotic features, a charmingly pretty face.
“Seems like she’s from a foreign country where they don’t use the continental language. That’s why her manners are off.”
But strangely, the girl’s face didn’t feel unfamiliar.
“Why? It’s not a face you forget after one glance.”
Siana smiled teasingly at Heli’s puzzled expression.
“Heli, don’t you know who this is?”
“I don’t.”
“Really?”
Hearing him say he didn’t know, the girl’s face lit up.
‘Wait, “Who is she?”’
Her foreign looks, and Lady Pradan using honorifics—could it be…
Heli was shocked by Siana’s next words.
“She’s the saint.”
“Heli, long time no see!”
“Hair and eye dye? …Does this have an antidote?”
“Saint, what do you take this Chobi for? This product was even sold in the market. There’s medicine to neutralize the effects.”
“That’s fine. It was popular and had no side effects.”
Indeed, Huperson’s words were more effective than a hundred of Chobi’s.
“But why ‘was sold’? Not sold anymore?”
“…Hehe.”
“The lab chief got into a fight with a distributor… He tested the new product on them, and all their hair fell out…”
A tragic story.
As a result, Chobi’s dye became rare and valuable, and some inventory collecting dust in the lab ended up with me.
“Saint, this… appearance of yours…”
Heli stammered in shock at my true identity.
“I came because I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Oh, first, if it’s inconvenient, please refuse, in the name of Seikan God.”
“Yes, yes…”
Not wanting to put Heli in a difficult position, I spoke first.
‘In the name of Seikan God.’ I really was putting what I learned from Chobi to use.
“Do you know about the dessert recipe contest hosted by Antoine Bakery?”
“Ah, yes. It was quite a large event.”
No need to explain the contest then.
I got straight to the point with Heli.
“I inquired with the organizers, and joint participation is allowed. Only one person needs the chef’s license!”
“I see…?”
“So, here’s the thing…!”
I clenched both hands.
1 year and 2 months of weekend experience at a dessert café.
Though I hadn’t formally studied pastry, this was something I could confidently claim.
“…This is a dessert?”
“Yes. A pie made with small fish.”
At the beginning of the summoning, His Majesty threw away the dessert he received from the daughter of the Duke of Panterion in the fountain.
It was because desserts in this world were disgustingly bad.
“Heli, do you want to make a profit with me?”
Right now, a thousand gold coins were in front of me.
