CLWE 12

Chapter 12

Just as Kamin opened his mouth to lodge a complaint, I slipped a grape right into it.

Kamin shot me an irritated look, suddenly finding himself chewing on a grape. Then his eyes widened at the sweetness spreading through his mouth. I burst into laughter again.

“Good, right? The grapes from our place are addictive. Some people have never tried them, but no one’s ever tried them just once.”

Mumbling as he chewed, Kamin nodded vigorously. I snorted with a grin, popped a grape into my own mouth, and muttered,

“In a way, they’re just like people. A person themselves doesn’t change, but malicious rumors and slander can drag down their value, can’t they? It’s ridiculous.”

My mood sank despite myself. It felt like a line that summed up my entire life—Riena Pond’s life.

I was being praised as the perfect crown princess consort just the other day. How did it end up like this?

And yet, after all those twists and turns, here I was doing something I genuinely wanted to do. Life really is unpredictable.

As I wallowed in regret, Kamin suddenly straightened up and muttered in a small voice,

“…It’s too sweet.”

“Right?”

Chuckling, I held another grape up to his mouth.

—Master, so you finally decided to see how things go with that man?

After Kamin left, just as I was getting ready to make a proper round of the farm, Louis—who had behaved himself all day—spoke up.

I let out a small laugh and pulled my straw hat down low.

“What are you talking about, Louis? Just because a man and a woman are together doesn’t automatically mean there’s romance. That’s such an outdated way of thinking.”

At my reply, Louis gleamed brightly and grumbled,

—Saying there’s no such thing as friendship between a man and a woman is an age-old saying—no, wait! If you had no feelings at all, why were you stuffing grapes into his mouth like that?!

Ah, so that’s why the sword had been buzzing so loudly. Looks like he’d gotten worked up after seeing me feed Kamin grapes.

For a sword that must be centuries old, it’s pretty simple-minded.

I tightened the handkerchief around my neck and replied,

“Friends can feed each other grapes too, you know.”

That must have angered him, because Louis bounced up and down in the air as he said,

—Good grief, how frustrating. At this rate, you’ll just end up giving me away too without even realizing it.

“That will never happen, so don’t worry.”

Why is our Louis so full of worries when he’s just a sword? At my answer, he flew around in protest, buzzing angrily.

—That’s only because you don’t know. Do you have any idea how vicious the Mareshal lot are? Right now he’s fine because you give him tasty things and tell interesting stories, but the moment he gets bored, he’d cut off your hand if he had to just to take me.

“Mareshal?”

I tilted my head.

“I feel like I’ve heard that name before.”

It must be Kamin’s family name, but after being away from high society for so long, I couldn’t recall it.

Louis pressed the point earnestly.

—Anyway, you must never let your guard down. Don’t be fooled just because his skin looks all smooth and fancy. Remember this again and again—he’s a demon of a man.

“Alright, alright. I’ll trust you, Louis.”

I nodded readily. Then, frowning as a sudden thought struck me, I asked,

“But Louis… have you decided to stay by my side for your whole life?”

At my words, Louis—despite being a sword—froze stiff like ice. Then he screamed,

—W-what kind of question is that?! Are you thinking of throwing me away?!

Honestly, even for an inanimate object, it was hard to be this noisy. I patted the blade of the hopping, panicking Louis to calm him.

“No, it’s just that your idea of an extreme life doesn’t really have anything to do with me. I thought maybe you were dissatisfied.”

At that, Louis dimmed his light sadly and replied,

—But you’re the only one who wants me for who I am.

I fell silent. I could feel the weight of the worries this sword had carried all this time.

Well… when he ran away even after being told to leave, he must have had his own desperate reasons.

And maybe this—what Louis was talking about now—was the very 고민 of his existence.

Louis added in a subdued tone,

—And honestly, I think you use me far better than my previous master ever did…

That was enough to set me off too. I clenched my fist and shouted,

“What?! They just left a sword as sharp as you hanging around?! That person really didn’t know how to use a sword!”

—Exactly! Exactly! You’re the only one who recognizes how great I am!!

Louis shone white in agreement. To be honest, it was so bright it hurt my eyes—like a fluorescent light—but I could feel his sorrow, so I didn’t look away.

—Even if it means the end of my eternal life, I’ll protect you! So please, stay with me for your whole life too!

Who would’ve thought this impudent sword had such a past? I pulled Louis into a tight hug.

“Of course. Stay with me.”

—Master!

Yeah. You’re my hoe.

I swallowed the words I really wanted to say.

At the Forstin lord’s castle, sitting on the windowsill of his room, Kamin sank into thought.

What floated through his mind was the sweet grape juice he’d tasted the day before.

It was sweeter than anything I’ve ever eaten.

At first, he wondered if it had simply tasted sweeter because of the situation, but no matter how much he thought about it, that wasn’t it. Those grapes truly were exceptionally sweet.

How on earth did she grow grapes that sweet?

As that thought lingered, another naturally followed.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seriously thought about how the food that ends up in my mouth is made.

The emperor, Kamin Mareshal, usually had simple thoughts. Fending off nobles who constantly coveted his position, intimidating them so they’d never dare rise again, and efficiently processing the documents that crossed his desk.

He had never really considered how the commoners—who made up the overwhelming majority of the nation—actually lived.

I want to talk more.

It wasn’t about anything else. He wanted to know whether he was truly ruling this country well, and if not, what he was lacking. He wanted to have those kinds of conversations.

I definitely came here just to retrieve the ego sword.

But the more he talked with her, the more he understood why the ego sword had abandoned the lofty imperial throne and chosen a rural woman like her as its master.

She must have been a fresh stimulus for it too.

Just as Kamin was forming an entirely new opinion of Riena, something like a bundle of straw could be seen bobbing up and down through the bushes, approaching the castle.

What is that?

If it really was a bundle of straw, why was it moving? And it seemed to be getting closer.

If that color looks familiar, is there something wrong with my eyes?

As Kamin rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, the bundle lifted its face.

Riena!

It was strange. That face came into focus so clearly.

Even from a distance, it etched itself into his vision as if drawn. Round, light-brown eyes, small lips, a straight nose, and dimples that popped cutely when she smiled.

Thump.

An ominous sound echoed in his heart. Kamin bit his lip and lowered his head.

It was a sound that must never be acted upon—and even if heard, must be ignored.

Today was tea time with the lady lord grandmother.

I brought watermelon punch today, just for this.

I want to do things stylishly too—like green grape tarts or banana pudding.

But I’ve got clumsy hands.

Desserts, by nature, rely heavily on decoration, and I was hopelessly bad at anything involving my hands. I couldn’t even draw my own face.

Honestly, I can cook only because my mom made me do it a lot at home. Otherwise, I’d probably still be washing rice with soap.

And even then, I can only really make things like kalguksu or sujebi.

There was another reason I didn’t make desserts: the ingredients were expensive and hard to store.

To be honest, in this world, the cooking process itself is a burden. Sugar and salt are expensive. Honestly, compared to people around here, I use a lot of salt.

Salt and sugar cost about as much as gold of the same weight. And if you add easily spoiled cream and butter on top of that…

I live alone. There’s no way I can use up that many ingredients. And my Engel coefficient would shoot through the roof.

It was ironic. A world where salt cost more than ribeye, and sugar more than skirt steak.

But fruit punch is fine.

Milk can be obtained not only from cows but also from goats.

I even cut the watermelon nicely just for Grandma. I hope she notices the effort.

And if possible, I wanted to patent this and export it too: molds for cutting watermelon into heart or star shapes!

Our lady lord grandmother isn’t the type to steal someone else’s ideas. I can safely talk to her about distribution.

She’d probably sparkle with excitement.

Thinking that, I passed through the gates of the lord’s castle. As I waited for the butler who was supposed to guide me, an unexpected person appeared before me.

“What brings you here?”

“…Mr. Kamin?”

A tall man with beautiful golden hair and an elegant, flowing shirt was looking at me. I pressed a palm to my forehead and shook my head.

“Ah, my popularity just won’t cool down. Did you follow me all the way here?”

“I’ve been staying here all along. In this case, wouldn’t it be you who followed me?”

“Why would I? Oh—are you here to make me pay for everything you’ve eaten so far?”

“……”

At my calm counterquestion, Kamin bit his lip and froze, clearly flustered.