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Chapter 20
“I don’t like ‘Maximilian.’ Call me Richard, Alina. No matter who we are, let’s never, ever let that matter between us.”
“……”
When Alina stayed silent, Richard grew anxious and added,
“I don’t care about being Emperor. How could I ever do that? There’s Lilith and Lysian. They can deal with the throne themselves. Let’s just keep living like this. Together in the palace. Okay?”
“I…”
Listening to Richard’s desperate words, Alina parted her lips.
She lowered her gaze to avoid his eyes, looking at his clothes—and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
His ceremonial uniform, so dazzlingly handsome just moments ago, had already become tattered.
“All this… You dressed up so nicely for once. What a shame.”
She spoke warmly and brushed Richard’s cheek.
“I must’ve been startled because you looked too handsome today. And I said my feelings don’t change easily. I meant that.”
“Really?”
Richard brightened instantly and pulled her into an embrace. The words that had been welling up inside him burst out.
“I love you so much, my Alina.”
“Yeah, me too. I really hope we get to attend the academy together.”
Unlike moments earlier when she was cold, Alina now spoke with the gentleness one would use with a younger sibling.
But Richard bit his lip in frustration at being treated like a child again.
“……Thank you.”
After a short silence, Richard’s voice was just as gentle as hers.
But unlike Alina’s warmth, his tone carried the tenderness of someone speaking to a lover.
As everyone expected, the ambassador Kestol’s welcome banquet contest ended up being a showdown between Trudy and Riese.
Every break, the kitchen staff buzzed about who had the better chance of winning.
Whenever the topic came up, Trudy would brag and shrug confidently, proclaiming she would prove her worth as the sous-chef.
“Big talk, seriously.”
Marika grumbled as she peeled apples in the pantry.
“She even heard about Ambassador Kestol being a vegetarian. Well, it’s not exactly a secret anyway.”
She bit into an apple slice with a crunch.
“And do you know what she said? She bragged that she didn’t even need to think about a menu—that she’d just make ‘Trudy’s Potato Dish.’ I couldn’t believe it.”
“Sounds like she was pleased.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
Marika frowned at Alina’s calm reply.
“She’s stealing your recipe and presenting it as her own, and you’re not mad?”
“If I were going to get mad, I would’ve done it back when she put ‘Trudy’s Potato Dish’ on the menu name.”
Alina accepted an apple slice from Marika and continued,
“Kestol ate nothing but potato dishes during his last visit to Maleharc. Don’t you think he’ll be sick of potatoes if we serve them again?”
“True… that does make sense.”
Alina swallowed the apple and said,
“Right? So we need to use another vegetable if we want a real chance at winning.”
“But what vegetable can you use for a main dish? Onion? Lettuce? Sweet potato?”
Marika listed off what she could think of. Alina thought deeply before replying,
“If he’s a vegetarian, he’s probably eaten those to death. To win a competition like this, we need something harder to cook—something that’s difficult to make delicious.”
“Well, if you want to win, picking a vegetable that’s rare and tricky definitely helps.”
“Exactly. Something hard to find in Maleharc or Kestol would be even better.”
Marika tilted her head.
“Is there even something like that?”
Alina smiled.
“There is. A vegetable that’s hard to get—and hard to cook.”
“Riese? What brings you here?”
Cayden brightened when he saw Alina at the knights’ training grounds. He was wearing a deep navy uniform trimmed with gold, likely in the middle of practice.
Alina held out the basket she brought.
“I came to give you some scones, Captain. To thank you for the helpful information.”
“Wow, scones? The same ones from before?”
Cayden smiled brightly and grabbed her hand—only for Till to swoop in from nowhere and start pecking him furiously.
“Riese! Riese!”
“Ah! Ow!”
Cayden flailed, covering his face as Till continued the surprise attack.
Alina grabbed him protectively and shouted,
“Till, stop it!”
When Riese spoke sternly, Till backed away, landing on her shoulder and puffing his chest threateningly.
“Riese! Riese!”
“Yes, I’m here. Stay calm. Cayden, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“No, just startled. That bird is… the second prince’s guardian animal, right? But he acts just like your guardian. Scared me to death.”
Cayden rubbed his hand sheepishly.
“Anyway, I’m glad the information about Ambassador Kestol being vegetarian helped you. You even brought scones.”
“Yes. Thanks to that, I decided on my menu.”
“What are you going to make?”
Alina smiled mysteriously.
“Cayden, do you happen to know what an eggplant is?”
“Eggplant? Sure, I know. But… you eat those? I didn’t even know they were edible.”
“I thought so.”
In this world and era, eggplants weren’t commonly eaten.
Which meant she could take a gamble using recipes from her previous life.
The problem, however, was getting the ingredients. Alina frowned.
“There aren’t any eggplants in the palace garden. If the palace doesn’t have any, the market probably won’t either, right?”
“I can help with that. My family’s hunting grounds have a small garden. An eggplant is that long, purple vegetable that looks like a zucchini, right?”
“Yes! That’s the one! Could I go see it myself?”
She grabbed his hand excitedly.
The competition was already next week. She’d been too busy to notice time passing, and sourcing the ingredients had been worrying her. Cayden’s help was a blessing.
“Instead of going, I can just have a servant bring them to you.”
Alina hesitated, emerald eyes wavering.
Then she made up her mind.
“Thank you, but if it’s okay, I’d like to choose them myself. For vegetarian dishes, the freshness is especially important.”
“Then that’s fine. But I need to practice for the welcome ceremony. Will you be okay going alone?”
“I’ll go with her.”
Before Cayden finished his sentence, a clear voice spoke from behind the tent.
Alina’s eyes widened at the silver-haired boy.
“Richard! When did you get here?”
“A while ago.”
He smiled gently at her—but the moment he noticed her hand in Cayden’s, his smile vanished.
He strode forward and slapped Cayden’s hand away.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Ugh.”
Cayden rubbed his stinging hand, eyes watering.
Richard glared at him coldly.
“Don’t try anything with Riese.”
“What? Me? What did I do?”
Cayden looked pitifully at Alina. She quickly scolded Richard.
“You can’t talk to an adult like that, Richard.”
“Riese! They held hands! Hands! Riese!”
Till immediately tattled loudly.
Richard stared at Cayden with an icy glare.
“…Marquis Schnerz.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Did what I just said bother you?”
“…What?”
“Did it make you feel bad?”
Richard’s tone was calm, but Cayden broke out in goosebumps. He shook his head frantically.
“N-no! Not at all!”
Seeing him terrified, Alina raised her voice.
“Richard!”
“Yes, Riese?”
He turned away from the pale Cayden and smiled sweetly at her.
Behind that melting smile, it was as if a puppy’s wagging tail were visible.
The same tail that always came out whenever he was with Alina.
“Marquis Schnerz said he’s fine. You heard him, right?”
“Still…”
Somehow, Cayden just looked so pitiful.
“Cayden…”
“And what about Marquis Schnerz?”
When Alina looked at him again, Richard snapped his head toward Cayden.
Cayden immediately hiccupped when their eyes met.
“Hic! Hiccup!”
“Are you really okay, Cayden?”
“Yes, hic! Riese, I’m fine—hic!”
“…So you two call each other by name casually.”
Richard muttered under his breath. Cayden paled even further.
“T-that! Hic!”
“Whatever. The Schlemmer estate’s hunting grounds are near the capital, right?”
“Yes! Yes, they are!”
Like a mouse facing a wolf, Cayden answered instantly.
Before Alina could comfort him, Richard took her hand.
“Let’s go together.”
The Schlemmer hunting grounds weren’t far from the palace.
Richard and Alina rode there in the carriage Cayden provided.
Greta issued Alina’s outing permit, while Lilith handled Richard’s authorization.
Less than two hours after leaving the palace, they arrived.
At a glance, it looked like a small forest.
The carriage could enter only up to the forest entrance; after that, the path narrowed, so they had to walk to find the garden.
Just as Cayden said, eggplants hung abundantly on the plants—huge, well-grown ones the size of a child’s forearm.
Alina filled the basket she brought to the brim.
“All done. Let’s go!”
“Yeah. Give that to me.”
Richard naturally took the now-heavy basket from her and led the way.
