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Chapter 51
Nine Breads. Shit Is Still Shit, It Can’t Become Soybean Paste (1)
The next day.
“This is beyond expectations. You must have been pressed for time, but you did extremely well.”
“Thank you! I did my best!”
Elly smiled brightly, clasping her hands together by her chin like a sly courtier.
Despite it being early in the morning, Damian was already perfectly dressed. His neatly arranged, loosely braided hair and crisp white dress shirt looked impeccable.
It was only at the banquet hall that Elly learned Damian was a prince of the Yan Empire.
She had been completely caught off guard.
‘I knew we’d meet him, but I never imagined this…’
She hadn’t expected the person Maurice brought along to be a prince.
Elly inwardly shivered with frustration at Maurice for not giving her a heads-up about such an important fact.
In fact, when Maurice had said that Damian had to enter the banquet hall with them, Elly had decided she would have smacked Maurice at least ten times.
In reality, there was no chance to do so. Last night, Elly was so distracted that she barely remembered anything from the moment she fell asleep.
“Elly, it’s time to sleep now.”
“Good night.”
Whose voice was that?
By the time she came to her senses, she was on the bed in the guest room, and when she woke, it was already dawn. She had worked in the kitchen sweating profusely and fallen asleep without even properly washing herself.
Judging by how unbothered she was by it, she must have been utterly exhausted.
Elly immediately asked for a bath and washed herself thoroughly. She indulged in the fragrant soap she no longer often used, scrubbing every corner clean.
When she finished, fresh clothes were neatly laid out. She disliked that it was a home dress, but the size fit reasonably well. It seemed Maurice had prepared it.
Then Maurice came to fetch her to go to Damian. Perfect timing.
Ban and Edmund were not allowed to accompany her.
Not only was Damian the emperor’s third son, but also the Minister of the Army, making it inappropriate for him to meet the foreign tower lord and the knight commander.
Even Maurice was not allowed to enter the reception room.
“You know, right? You have to look good, Elly.”
“I understand. Don’t worry.”
“Yes, you’re good at flattery too.”
Elly’s hand, which had reached up to ruffle her hair, awkwardly froze. The events of last night had left her feeling strangely uncomfortable around him, and she subtly pulled back. Every time she caught the faint scent of the perfume he had worn when he hugged her, it made her feel odd.
Elly couldn’t look Maurice in the eye and quietly entered the reception room where Damian was waiting.
And now, here they were.
Damian complained nonchalantly.
“You knew who I was and stayed calm, but you don’t seem happy even when I praise you. Boring.”
Elly, lost in thought, awkwardly clapped her hands and gave a stiff cheer.
She recalled the time she had worked part-time at a café. The owner, in her late twenties, expected constant praise at every moment.
Come on, spirit of the part-timer, awaken.
“Not at all! I’m actually surprised and happy. Really, I’m shocked. Wow, I’m shocked. Waaa…”
“……”
His look of astonishment, more than reproach, was humiliating. Elly dropped her gaze, trying to hide her reddening cheeks.
‘This is why you shouldn’t do things against your nature.’
But it was a relief that she hadn’t acted purely according to her usual temperament.
Her survival instincts had saved her.
She had guessed his status would be high, but what truly shocked her was that he was the Minister of the Army. He had said he was only twenty-seven, so the fact that someone so young commanded the empire’s military was hard to believe.
‘He’s the emperor’s son, so maybe it’s just a ceremonial post. He doesn’t really have power, right?’
But in this world, it was common for young people to hold high positions.
‘Like a 20-something vice president or director? In my past life in Korea, that would have been absurd.’
Yet it wasn’t completely implausible.
In a world where humanity’s survival depended on securing and defending territory from monsters, the better you were at fighting, the easier it was to climb the ranks.
Thus, it became a norm to value those who could fully utilize their abilities when sharp, and even teenagers could be placed in key positions if necessary.
Of course, in a hierarchical society, it wasn’t uncommon for a five-year-old to become a lord.
“You didn’t really need to hide it from me, did you?”
Damian’s expression showed dissatisfaction. Nervous, Elly quickly spoke.
“I… I was actually flustered. My voice shook like a goat, didn’t you notice? Honestly, I don’t remember who I spoke to or what I said yesterday!”
“You should remember. Anyone who I sponsor can’t afford to be stupid.”
“I will remember. I’ll remember everything. I remember it all.”
Somewhere in her brain cells, it must have been stored… unconscious Elly is smarter than conscious Elly, after all.
Damian chuckled, amused by Elly’s desperate tone, and she finally relaxed.
“Seems like you had an incident yesterday. Are you feeling okay?”
“Y-yes? Ah, yes, a minor… very small incident happened, but I’m fine.”
“Hmm.”
Damian persistently looked into her eyes. There were no traces of tears, and he seemed a little disappointed at her clear, unpuffed eyes.
He must have expected her eyes to be swollen like a fish’s. But Elly hadn’t shed a single tear yesterday, just a slight sniffle.
“My condition is excellent. I could even bake bread right now, or make desserts like yesterday…”
“Today, the chefs will make it according to your recipe.”
“But there won’t be any ice cream now.”
“Then we just skip that menu. What about the meal…”
Growl.
Elly’s stomach growled loudly.
Damian froze in mid-sentence, eyes wide, and Elly felt like she would die of embarrassment.
This oblivious bastard. Just because he didn’t put food in front of me at mealtime, he has the nerve to trigger my reflex like that upon hearing the word ‘meal’…
‘It is a reflex…’
Thinking about it, Elly hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.
From the moment she arrived at the villa, she was dragged into the kitchen to frantically make desserts, then immediately pulled by Damian to wander the banquet hall…
‘Damn prince.’
She had met the biggest obstacle, trick, and trap of her life, and all her energy was drained before she collapsed in exhaustion.
Elly tried to rationalize like a cat grooming itself after a fall. She was hungry. It was a natural bodily response!
“Let’s just eat. You can eat until you’re full.”
“Yes…”
But it was also natural that her face burned red with embarrassment.
“I need to go to the Mage Tower for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”
Edmund seemed to be deep in thought after last night.
Normally, he would have ignored the tower’s summons until someone came looking, but this time, surprisingly, he agreed without complaint, though he looked bored.
Since becoming the tower lord, Edmund hadn’t exercised much authority.
The tower, part of the kingdom’s military, was a massive institution rife with internal politics and power struggles, but Edmund, disliking conflict, had ignored them.
Originally, Edmund had only aimed to become tower lord because the mage who created him wanted him to. He simply wanted to occupy the position that the mage couldn’t, to feel a sense of victory. There was no other purpose.
However, Edmund seemed to realize that remaining powerless would leave him a mere puppet.
Duke MacClure was impressive, but if Edmund were a normal tower lord, he wouldn’t have been so easily ignored.
Ban, left alone, had similarly complicated thoughts.
Neither Duke MacClure nor even Maurice regarded Ban as a shield for Elly.
They believed he wouldn’t be able to protect even Elly properly.
‘Can’t deny it. Maurice’s prediction was accurate.’
No matter how much the Cronin family moved, it was all within the Rosso Kingdom. And even there, Duke MacClure’s power was considerable.
Moreover, Ban couldn’t mobilize all of his family’s resources. Even the position of knight commander wasn’t particularly powerful. Ban felt embarrassed at having once been satisfied with merely holding that title.
But doing nothing wouldn’t change anything. Ban patrolled near the villa to check security. Even if he couldn’t be a shield, he could be a guard dog.
Maurice was busy promoting Cookie Walking to those gathered at the villa, and Elly, having been summoned by Damian since morning, had nothing else to do.
‘By now, training at Rayard must be in full swing.’
It was fortunate that he had taken plenty of leave.
While walking in the garden, Ban sensed someone looking and looked up.
Through the second-floor window, he saw a familiar silhouette: Elly’s half-sister, Ireine.
Ban was slightly surprised.
Ireine looked completely different from when they had met at the conquest site. Her long, fine blonde hair, slender face, and gem-like blue eyes were the same, but her overall impression had changed.
Gone was the lively, spirited, cheeky tomboyishness; she now looked pale and emaciated, as if suffering from a serious illness.
Her shadowed blue eyes fixed on Ban. After a moment, she turned and disappeared from the window.
Her empty gaze unsettled Ban, but he dismissed it for now.
What he sought were Seth Hastings and Prince Marc.
Since disappearing early from the banquet hall last night, they were nowhere to be found.
