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~Chapter 57~
Delphina was unaccustomed to such a situation.
Rarely, if ever, had someone become angry on her behalf.
Kassen insulted me, she thought.
She and Elcayan were bound by a contract relationship, yet at times, he unsettled her with his actions.
He’s so kind… so gentle toward me.
While in the North, she had believed he was simply kind to everyone. Though he exuded an air of cold indifference, he had always shown a softer side to the Northerners.
But the capital had revealed a different truth.
He’s nothing like that here. He’s far colder toward the people of the capital.
Delphina glanced at Elcayan, who had been quietly seething, his displeasure evident.
At last, unable to restrain himself, he glared at the High Priest and Calix.
“Enough. How many dried persimmons do you intend to eat? Delphina spent her precious time preparing these. Do you plan to devour every last one today?”
The hands of Calix and the High Priest, who had been steadily popping persimmons into their mouths, froze in midair.
“A-hem… they’re simply so delicious, I lost control,” the High Priest muttered.
“My apologies, Lady Delphina,” Calix added, reluctantly lowering his hand.
Delphina smiled softly. “It’s fine. I can always make more.”
“But I dislike the thought of you exhausting yourself,” Elcayan interjected sharply, narrowing his eyes at the two towering men.
He disliked quarreling over food, but Calix and the High Priest had eaten far too many.
Calix, in particular, was notoriously picky. Even with a personal chef, he often refused meals, claiming that nothing tempted his appetite except Delphina’s cooking.
Over time, Elcayan had begun to find Calix’s constant presence irritating—more precisely, he disliked how Calix clung to Delphina and troubled her.
Even if Johannes valued Calix’s assistance, Elcayan did not.
If someone expresses a desire to eat Delphina’s food, she will push herself to satisfy them, he thought grimly.
He drew the remaining dried persimmons toward himself with deliberate care, as though guarding something precious.
From the corner of the room, Ahin watched with quiet disbelief.
Are all nobles like this? he wondered. They’re behaving like children fighting over sweets.
The High Priest, Sestia, and Ahin departed for the Grand Temple.
They needed to inform the other high-ranking priests of Sestia’s presence and prepare for the impending journey north.
Left alone, Delphina found herself glancing at the empty space beside her. It felt strangely hollow without Sestia, who was always at her side.
“It hasn’t been long since we met, yet I already feel her absence,” she murmured.
“She will join us again when it’s time to depart for the North,” Elcayan reassured her before turning to face her.
“There is someone who wishes to see you, if you are willing.”
“Someone who wishes to see me?”
“Yes. I believe you know who it is.”
Delphina tilted her head. “Could it be… Lord Johannes?”
Elcayan’s expression hardened as he nodded.
“If you do not wish to meet him, simply say so. I was planning to wait for your permission before arranging it.”
His tone made it sound as though he were referring to an unwanted solicitor rather than the First Prince.
Is it really acceptable to treat Johannes that way? she wondered, before shaking her head.
“No, I actually would like to see him.”
“You would?”
“Yes. Truthfully, His Highness Johannes has often reached out to me, even until now.”
Elcayan nodded, already aware of this from Johannes himself, though the thought soured his mood.
It wasn’t Delphina who displeased him—he simply found Johannes… bothersome.
“But I ignored all of his messages,” Delphina admitted softly.
“If you felt uncomfortable, you were under no obligation to respond. No one is required to answer every letter they receive,” Elcayan said.
“I suppose that’s true,” she murmured. “But it wasn’t because I wanted to ignore him.”
Kassen’s communications had always filled her with unease, but Johannes was different.
He wrote to her out of genuine concern, like a protective older brother. She had always known this.
I avoided him because I feared my family might resent me if I accepted his kindness.
Now, she no longer had to live in fear of the Rikeion family’s disapproval.
“I’d like to speak with Lord Johannes,” she said firmly.
“Delphina…”
“Does he have a favorite food? Perhaps a snack? By the time he arrives, he will have already eaten his meal.”
“He will eat anything you prepare. Even as a child, he always enjoyed your cooking,” Elcayan replied.
A faint smile touched her lips.
He was right. Johannes, like Elcayan, had often been her unwitting test subject when they were young.
Of all the dishes she used to make for him, one stood out most vividly in her memory.
“Apple pie,” she decided. “I’ll make apple pie.”
This time, Calix and Elcayan were enlisted as her assistants.
“I heard you and His Highness Johannes have been friends for a very long time,” Delphina said as they worked.
Elcayan did not deny it. Contracted or not, they had once been friends.
“I think he would appreciate it if we made the pie together,” she added.
“We aren’t exactly close…” he began, but her earnest gaze silenced him.
“Still,” he conceded, “it might be enjoyable. Apple pie, hmm…”
Calix looked at him in disbelief.
Elcayan, cooking? He’s the least domestic man I know, he thought.
“I’ve already prepared the pie crust,” Delphina explained.
She had originally planned to use it for savory meat pies that evening, so it was fortunate she had made extra.
She placed perfectly sliced apples and lemon juice into a saucepan.
As they cooked over medium heat, the apples began to caramelize into a warm golden brown.
Calix watched her hands in awe.
Then it was his turn. His knife moved with dazzling speed, separating apple from core in a single motion.
Elcayan followed, slicing with quiet precision.
Strange, he thought.
His movements were sharper, faster than ever before. His strength, his speed—they had grown unnaturally.
He knew the truth: Delphina’s food was the source.
“Focus, Elcayan!” Calix barked, shaking him from his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Delphina continued preparing the apple filling.
“I usually add cinnamon,” she said, “but I don’t think His Highness likes it.”
As children, her apple pies had always included cinnamon, and Johannes had always made a strange face when tasting them.
I never understood why back then, she mused.
He had never once told her he disliked the flavor, likely out of fear of hurting her feelings.
“The aroma is incredible,” Calix murmured, saliva gathering in his mouth. “It already looks delicious.”
He could hardly wait to taste it.
Every dish Delphina had ever made left him speechless, and this apple pie would surely be no exception.
Lady Delphina is truly extraordinary, he thought.
She approached everything she did with absolute sincerity—even now, as she carefully prepared a dessert for Johannes.
It was not easy to always put one’s whole heart into their work, but for Delphina, cooking was never a burden.
Before long, the apple filling was complete and cooling.
She rolled out the dough, pricking the bottom layer with a fork to prevent bubbling, her movements deft and practiced.
