Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Sweet and Bitter Tart
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Clink, clink.
A sudden cooking class had broken out in the kitchen, bathed in the peaceful sunlight that heralded the approach of lunchtime.
"Come on, handle the dough gently, like a baby! But with strength!"
"......Pardon? Gently, but with strength?"
I was rolling out tart dough with a rolling pin the size of my forearm, draped in a white apron.
Compared to my massive build, the ridiculously small apron barely hung over my chest like a bib.
"Ugh....! As expected of Lady Wintersword. You're too perfect."
"Oh? Hehe."
To my side, Kara was peeling a grapefruit, and next to her...
"Hya! Hup!"
The princess Elisicia, her face caked in flour, kneaded the dough with a look of grim determination.
Her royal dignity was nowhere to be seen—only flour scattered in the air.
Her sense of propriety was probably already trapped in the sticky mess of dough, unable to escape.
I stared blankly as I rolled, lost in thought.
'How did it come to this?'
Just thirty minutes ago, I had been locked in a high-stakes psychological battle with Elisicia in the annex.
A tense time of securing testimony on the kidnapping and gauging the thickness of the princess's mask.
But when I came to, here I was, baking side by side with her.
The Eisen Baron and Ronas were out cold from staying up all night, while I was covered in flour here.
'I haven't even enrolled in the academy yet... and every day is so damn exhausting....'
Was this the dignity of the original story's first chapter timeline?
Or the dignity of the heroine who dragged disaster and chaos in her wake?
Incidents kept piling up, big and small.
Trivial ones and horrific ones alike.
"Your hands have stopped! The dough can't breathe!"
Patish, the passionate dessert artisan explaining the recipe from one corner of the kitchen, pointed at me accusingly.
I let out a sigh and glared at him.
I appreciated the sentiment, but he was the culprit behind this mess.
Rewind ten minutes.
In the annex guest room, I was clutching my head, ensnared by Elisicia's unpredictable rhetoric.
Truth and lies.
Just as my patience was wearing thin amid her shifting acts and true feelings...
Knock knock.
"Lord Wintersword, a guest has arrived."
It was the butler's voice, Mayer.
"A guest? At this hour?"
"Yes. The baron and young master are both asleep after staying up all night... It would be difficult to wake them, so I've come to you."
I excused myself from Elisicia and stepped outside.
A unfamiliar face stood at the door.
But the faint, nutty sweetness in the air—that unmistakable aroma—gave him away immediately.
It was Patish, the owner of the tart shop Alina had visited.
He fidgeted anxiously, holding a large dessert box.
"Oh, sir! It's an honor to meet you!"
"What brings you here?"
"Well... the young lady met with trouble right in front of my shop, didn't she...? She's safely back now, but my heart's too heavy..."
Patish's voice cracked as he offered the box.
"I've brought our shop's best-selling desserts as a get-well gift. I thought something sweet might soothe her frightened heart..."
What a kind man.
The shop owner hadn't done anything wrong, yet he felt guilty just because the incident happened in front of his place.
"Thank you. Alina will love it. Let me guide you to the main house. Have some tea at least."
I moved to lead the unexpected guest to the main house drawing room.
But then.
Creeak.
The annex door opened softly behind me.
"......?"
Golden eyes gleamed through the crack.
"P-Princess?"
Kara's flustered voice came from the gap too.
It was Elisicia.
Those shining golden eyes weren't fixed on me or Patish—they were locked on the ornate dessert box in his hands.
Wide and sparkling.
Like a retriever spotting prey, laser beams seemed to shoot from the princess's gaze.
As if she might fire off a "Zap!" with her eyes any second.
'...This feels ominous.'
A bad premonition flashed through me.
My memory of the process vanished.
Before I knew it, Elisicia had followed us to the main house drawing room.
Patish panicked at the princess's appearance.
Of course, he didn't know her identity—just that she was an important guest.
With trembling hands, he placed the dessert box on the table.
"Th-this is... snowflake meringue cookies, and chocolate fondant..."
As the lid lifted, colorful desserts sparkled like jewels.
A sweet aroma filled the drawing room.
"Wow...."
Elisicia's mouth fell open.
The princess couldn't tear her eyes from the box.
She must have had desserts in the palace, but these rustic northern treats highlighting natural flavors were clearly new to her.
Gulp.
The sound of Elisicia's throat moving was starkly audible.
Like a giant dog in "stay" training, she swallowed hard, just staring.
But she couldn't bring herself to say, "Give me some too."
This was a get-well gift for the injured Alina.
'I want it. I want to devour it. But I'm a princess. No, before that, I'm human. I can't steal from a patient's gift....' Her inner turmoil was plain on her face.
The pitiful, burdensome gaze made even Patish break into a cold sweat, glancing at me.
His eyes pleaded, 'Should... we offer some to her too?'
"Haa...."
I let out a deep sigh.
Watching this made all the psychological warfare feel pointless.
Then, Kara beside me gently covered the back of my hand.
"You okay? Your brow's been furrowed all day."
Kara whispered with a worried look.
"Lady... Elisicia seems to really want some. She's drooling."
"...Yeah."
But Elisicia, who had been staring holes through the box, tilted her head.
"Huh? But... no grapefruit tart?"
"Pardon?"
"I heard this place is famous for it. People line up for it."
Elisicia added with an innocent smile.
"We're kidnapping buddies with Miss Alina, right? We chatted a bit while tied up, and she said the grapefruit tart was the best dessert here. She really wanted to try it. Hehe."
"......!"
Kara, I, and artisan Patish all gasped in unison.
To casually drop the eerie word "kidnapping buddies" with such a clueless expression.
Her mentality was no joke.
Kara had carefully avoided calling her "princess" in front of the outsider Patish, but that one slip nearly blew it all.
If Patish hadn't been distracted by her baffling word choice, he might have realized Elisicia was the princess.
Patish stammered, sweating profusely.
"Ah... w-well..."
He fidgeted awkwardly, lips twitching, then cautiously pulled something from his bag.
"Actually... Miss Alina came to buy a grapefruit tart and that's when it happened... I worried that seeing one might trigger bad memories and trauma, so I left it out on purpose."
A dented box.
A battered, bloodstained old tart box.
"I picked it up from the scene. Thought it might help the investigation..."
Seeing its pitiful state tugged at my heart.
It was the box holding Alina's precious feelings for Kara and Yeppi, clutched until the moment she was taken.
Kara's expression hardened.
She bit her lip, staring at the crushed box.
The child endangered because of her.
It pained her to see that pure heart smeared in blood and dirt.
The mood turned somber.
That was when it happened.
"Mr. Patish! That's wrong!"
Elisicia clenched her fist and shouted.
"Pardon? Wh-what..."
"You can't avoid it forever. The bad guys were the kidnappers—not the delicious grapefruit tart or Miss Alina's sweet heart for going to buy it!"
Elisicia looked around at us with serious eyes.
"It's too sad to not enjoy what you love because of bad memories. Just cover them with even better ones!"
"Even better... memories?"
"Yes! So how about this?"
Elisicia's eyes sparkled.
"We make it ourselves and surprise Miss Alina when she wakes up—ta-da!"
"......Ourselves?"
"Yeah! Tell her, 'This is the one-and-only tart your big sis and bro made just for you!' The bad memories will vanish, and only will remain!"
The princess excitedly swung her fist around.
"Plus, the fresh-baked tart scent filling the mansion will wake her up in a great mood!"
I stared blankly at Elisicia.
'Acting all logical... but you just want to eat it yourself.'
A fierce desire for fresh-baked goods.
But.
"...That's a good idea."
Kara's face beside me brightened.
"I felt bad for Alina... If we make it ourselves, she'll love it. I'm in favor."
Even Kara was on board.
I couldn't refuse now.
"Haa...."
I sighed and picked up an apron.
"Alright. Let's bake."
And so it began.
This whole fiasco.
"The dough's too thick! Be more delicate!"
Elisicia poked my side, nagging away.
I bristled but held back and retorted.
"Don't demand delicacy from a barbarian. And wipe the flour off your face. You look like a panda."
"Oh, really? You know pandas? They only live at the edge of the eastern Slokina Kingdom?"
Elisicia rubbed her face with her sleeve, but it only smeared more, turning her into a full flour ghost.
I shook my head and gripped the rolling pin again.
'Whew....'
The letter to Kairun would prevent Karl's suicide, altering the future.
I'd thought a mere string of words could shift the flow I'd intervened in.
But right after sending it, Alina was kidnapped, the princess showed up, and now we were baking tarts.
'The original story's derailing too fast.... Though I'm the one who changed it most....'
One unexpected variable after another.
Could I handle this massive current?
Even amid my tangled thoughts, my hands honestly kept rolling the dough.
And shortly after.
A sweet, bittersweet grapefruit aroma began wafting from the oven.
That scent strangely calmed my mind.
'For now... let's bake the tart and think later.'
It felt like everything would work out if it baked deliciously.
"Done—it's complete!"
With Elisicia's shout, we gathered around the kitchen table for an "emergency tasting session."
The nutty, tangy aroma of the fresh-baked tart filled the kitchen.
At the table's center sat two round grapefruit tarts.
One was the "Sweet Version," minimizing the grapefruit's bitterness and maximizing sweetness with condensed milk and honey.
Aimed at child-friendly Alina's tastes.
The other preserved the grapefruit's inherent bittersweetness for depth and impact—the "Bitter Version."
Patish said adults like Eisen and Ronas preferred it.
"Well then...."
The dessert artisan Patish took up the cake knife with a solemn expression.
Slice, slice.
The tart was neatly divided into four pieces.
Me, Kara, Elisicia, and Patish.
A tart made by three dessert novices.
I gripped my fork, praying my perpetually furrowed brow wouldn't deepen further from this morning's events.