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Chapter : 31
Even If I’m an Extra, I Refuse to Die on a Death Route (31)
I can’t hear very well…
I moved as quietly as possible and pressed my ear close to the crack of the half-open door.
“…you… me…”
“Ha… how… could it be like this…”
Even so, other than realizing that the voices belonged to Iat and Luella, it was hard to make anything out.
Just what on earth were they talking about?
“Irenea?”
“Hup—!”
I barely managed to hold back a scream at the sudden voice from behind me.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, I just came back for a moment. It looked like something was stuck here…”
Hiding my flustered state, I rubbed aimlessly at the door handle.
“Why did you come back?”
“Ah, I went to grab this.”
I lifted the bundle of recipes in my hand as I spoke.
“What’s that?”
“Dessert recipes.”
“Why?”
“You’re really curious about everything, aren’t you, Brother?”
The questions just kept coming endlessly.
Is Edwin a human made entirely of question marks?
“Don’t dodge the question.”
“Who’s dodging anything? His Highness asked me to show him a few simple dessert recipes, so I brought them.”
“And why?”
“How would I know?”
Iat told me not to tell anyone else, after all.
“Hm.”
“By the way, where did everyone suddenly go?”
I asked while looking past Edwin at the silhouettes of two men walking toward us from afar.
“The young lady said she saw someone suspicious near the front gate, so we went to check.”
“Really? Did you find them?”
“No. It seemed they’d already disappeared.”
“I see.”
Somehow, that felt expected.
Maybe Luella sent them away to hide her conversation with Iat.
I didn’t know what had been said, but it was obvious the atmosphere had been serious.
Had something begun between the two of them?
“Oh, you’re here.”
Perhaps because he’d walked quickly, Taron let out a slightly rough breath.
He approached the door, then paused briefly after confirming it was open.
Knock, knock—
At the sound, the murmuring from inside the room stopped.
“Come in.”
At Iat’s voice, Taron entered first.
The moment I followed him inside, the look on Luella’s face when she spotted me was something to behold.
But as if nothing had happened, she quickly changed her expression and spoke.
“We meet again.”
“I greet you, Young Lady.”
Perhaps because others were present, Luella’s voice sounded as gentle as ever.
“Young Lady, we were unable to find the person you mentioned.”
“Oh my, is that so?”
Luella’s face fell in a look of regret.
“Then I’ll be on my way. You seem busy.”
“We’ll skip the escort.”
Luella, who had been walking slowly with a gentle smile, paused at Iat’s words.
“…Yes, that’s fine.”
She replied with a pitiful smile tinged with sadness.
If I hadn’t known Luella properly, I might have felt sorry for her.
But now, everything about her looked fake.
“Did you bring the recipes?”
“Ah, yes. Here they are.”
Iat didn’t even glance at Luella until she opened the door and left.
Then he took the recipes from me, skimmed through them, and sat down on the sofa.
Naturally, I sat across from him.
“So, what tools are needed for these recipes?”
“This one, this one, and this should be enough.”
The recipes I’d brought were for muffins, several kinds of cookies, and tarts.
I set aside the piping tips for the pastry bag, muffin trays, and tart molds accordingly.
“These piping tips can also be used for the meringue cookies I made before, and they’re great for decorations too.”
“Hm.”
“These molds are used to shape things. With tarts, for example, you can bake the outer shell in advance and use it later.”
Iat listened with his brow slightly furrowed.
After I finished explaining a few more things, Iat straightened up and spoke.
“I have just one question.”
When our eyes met directly, I swallowed dryly, an inexplicable tension rising.
“No matter what I order you to do, will you follow without question?”
“Of course.”
I’d expected some grand question, but it was nothing special.
At my immediate answer, Iat’s sharp eyes widened slightly.
Then he let out a small laugh and continued.
“You answered without hesitation. Why?”
“Because it’s Your Highness’s command.”
It was an obvious answer.
I was an employee, and he was my employer.
But aside from that, I couldn’t deny that it was also because he was my favorite.
“And… I’m a fan.”
“…A fan?”
I clapped my hands lightly, my voice lifting with excitement.
Looking at me, Iat asked with a puzzled expression.
“Yes, a fan.”
“What does that mean?”
“Uh, well…”
Trying to explain the word “fan” turned out to be harder than I expected.
“It means that no matter what Your Highness does, I support you, trust you, and follow you.”
“……”
“That kind of feeling—liking someone like that—that’s what being a fan is.”
That should explain it well enough, right?
After finishing my explanation, I examined Iat’s expression.
What is it? Did I say something strange?
His face looked complicated and subtle.
It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
“Ah… yes.”
After speaking in a flat tone, Iat stood up.
I hurriedly rose as well and nodded.
“Frit will bring today’s dessert, so you should conduct market research.”
“Market research?”
“If you were to make those desserts using ingredients currently sold in the Carton Empire, estimate how much the unit cost would be.”
“Yes, understood.”
After a light lunch, I headed out to do market research as Iat instructed.
It’s making me uneasy for no reason…
Ever since the cat incident, dark alleyways made me a little tense.
But once I found myself looking at the bustling streets, my mood quickly lifted.
I didn’t particularly like blending into crowds, but feeling that lively energy wasn’t bad.
“Hello.”
The first place I headed to was a fairly large bakery that caught my eye.
When I opened the door and greeted them, the owner, who had been arranging desserts, turned around.
“Oh!”
The owner stared at me with wide eyes and hurried over.
“What brings the young lady of the Petrion Count’s household here in person?”
He was a kind-looking man, probably middle-aged, with the air of a head pastry chef.
It seemed that Irenea, before I possessed her, had been connected to this place.
“Um, is this my first time coming personally?”
I asked with a gentle smile, pretending to be calm.
“It’s usually your servants who come, saying the young lady placed an order, and take desserts with them.”
“Right, that’s true.”
I replied as if I’d just remembered, clapping my hands lightly.
“Actually, I’ve started working at the imperial palace.”
“At the palace?”
“Yes, in charge of desserts.”
At my words, the owner’s eyes widened.
Then he seemed to notice my attire.
“Now that I look closely, your outfit…”
“Haha, yes.”
“I knew you always had an interest in desserts, but I never thought you’d jump in personally.”
The owner chuckled softly.
Seeing how friendly he was made me feel much more at ease.
“Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask.”
“Please, ask anything.”
“What’s the average price of the desserts you sell?”
Perhaps it wasn’t the question he expected, because the owner’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Could it be… a price adjustment?”
“What?”
“Things are already this tight. How much more could it possibly—”
His face gradually twisted, and he pressed a hand to his forehead with a deep sigh.
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
“…I see. That’s a relief, then.”
“But may I ask what you mean by ‘tight’?”
At my question, the owner hesitated and avoided answering at first.
“If I speak carelessly and end up displeasing His Majesty…”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t come on anyone’s orders—this is just my own curiosity.”
After looking at me with a suspicious expression, the owner finally let out a short breath.
Then, in a more drained voice than before, he replied.
“As you know, although the Carton Empire excels in technology, our land isn’t very fertile. Since most essential ingredients have to be imported from other countries, prices are inevitably high.”
“That makes sense.”
“You asked about dessert prices earlier, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes.”
“The cheapest basic cookie set is 20 gold. Pies range from 25 to as much as 40 gold. Even a cake with only the simplest decoration costs about 70 gold.”
The prices were far higher than I’d imagined.
A ‘cookie set’ only contained about ten bite-sized cookies at most.
“With prices like these, we can only sell to nobles. And as you can see, these aren’t exactly to nobles’ tastes… There are only a few bakeries left in the empire now.”
“Then how low would the price need to be for commoners to be included as customers?”
“Well, they spend at most 5 to 10 gold on a meal. It’s hard to spend that much on dessert that won’t even fill you up.”
“Hm…”
When I first arrived here, I’d thought ingredients were abundant—but that was only because I was in the imperial palace.
The situation outside was completely different, and I was ignorant of what other ingredients could be used.
Still, if their technology was so advanced, there should have been plenty of room for development.
“Why is it that…?”
“Yes?”
“Oh, I just mean—it feels like the dessert industry alone is especially stagnant.”
At my words, the owner smiled sadly.
“If the ruler leading the empire has no interest, stagnation is inevitable.”
“Ah…”
Just as I thought.
It matched my rough expectations.
I’d already found it strange that there wasn’t even a dessert kitchen in the imperial palace.
“Anyway, it makes me happy that you’re taking interest like this, young lady.”
“No, I’m not actually being helpful yet.”
“Sometimes I like to hope that when small bits of interest gather, many things can change.”
Looking at the owner’s bitter smile stirred a strange feeling in me.
Maybe… I was starting to feel greedy.
A desire to change something.
“…Could you package one of each type of cookie over there?”
“Of course.”
The pastry chef happily picked up the cookies on display.
While he did, I slowly looked around the shop.
Compared to the desserts served at banquets, these looked rough and plain.
It really drove home how important tools and decoration were.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you. I’ll be going now.”
“Yes, please come again anytime.”
“Of course.”
Holding the box of cookies, I stepped back out onto the street.
