Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Flour Marks That Have Lost Their Role
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Noon sunlight spilled over the windowsill onto Alina's bed.
Alina, who had been forcing her eyes shut to reassure her dad, cracked them open slightly at the murmur of voices from outside.
"Mm..."
The moment she opened her eyes, intense sunlight stabbed into her vision.
Alina reflexively furrowed her brow.
But something was off.
There was only one window, yet the light pouring in appeared as multiple overlapping holes.
The world rippled like she had opened her eyes underwater.
Even though she hadn't moved her head an inch during her nap, with the pillow cradling it.
...Yeah, it's probably because I squeezed my eyes shut too tight before opening them.
Alina reached up a hand to block the sunlight from the ceiling.
The shadow soothed her eyelids, and her furrowed brow relaxed.
But even her own fingers, captured in her gaze, were blurry and doubled.
Her five fingers blurred into ten, twenty, shaking like ghosts.
Ah...
Terror settled into her young heart.
It's... not better yet.
She recalled the conversation between her dad and the doctor that morning.
『It's flash blindness from the sudden intense light. It'll get better with time.』
Flash blindness.
Ever since she saw that terrifying light yesterday, the world had changed like this.
Even with her dad's face right in front of her nose, it felt distant.
Alina pulled the blanket up over her head.
She fled into the darkness beneath it.
I can't go out.
Alina was normally an energetic girl who hated staying still in bed.
She wanted to dash out right now, prank Ronas, and press her ear to Kara's belly to say hi to Yeppi.
But she couldn't.
If I go out now... everyone will see me and be sad.
If they saw her stumbling because her eyes still weren't better, unable to see properly...
Her dad, her brother, Kara sis, even bear-like Barg bro.
They'd all look at her with sad eyes.
Like head maid Marsha's gaze yesterday, blood trickling as she looked at Alina.
Like her dad's teary embrace.
That scared her too much.
She hated seeing people sad because of her.
Alina curled up in the blanket's darkness, hugging her knees, even though sleep wouldn't come.
That was when it happened.
Murmur murmur.
Voices drifted in from beyond the door.
......?
Were they talking seriously about her eyes with the doctor maybe?
Alina started to cover her ears but couldn't resist the curiosity that had gotten her hurt before and lowered her hands.
"This smells so good, doesn't it?"
"Shh! Alina's sleeping. Be quiet."
Dad's voice.
"Dad's the loudest. And she's already awake anyway."
Gasp! How does bro know?
Ronas's grumbling voice.
"No, her eyes are closed. No need to bend down... Huh."
Barg bro's deep chuckle.
"Barg, bend down quick. You're the tallest."
Kara sis's kind voice too.
Thank goodness, it wasn't something serious.
Excited, happy voices.
...I wanna join in.
She wanted to slip into that safe, warm circle the grown-ups had made.
Into the cozy shadows.
But she still couldn't muster the courage to open the door.
If I go out, the mood will... they'll all get sad eyes because of me... because of me...
Alina decided to pull the blanket over tight and pretend to sleep again.
Click.
That's when the door opened.
Someone came in.
Without knocking.
The silent signal only Dad and bro could use.
Cautious footsteps approaching, muffled.
D-Don't come, Dad...
At that moment.
With her eyes closed, the whispers gone, and her nose heightened from the quiet footsteps.
Her eyes snapped open as a smell pierced through the blanket gap.
"Huh...?"
Sweet, tangy, nutty aroma.
The scent she'd craved so much yesterday, but then a fishy smell had overwhelmed it before she could savor it.
No way...?
"Alina? Are you awake?"
Dad's gentle voice.
Alina hesitated, then peeked her head out just a bit, lowering the blanket slightly.
Her vision still blurry.
Dad's voice trembling just a little.
No way, is Dad making sad eyes right now...
The world was foggy like mist, so she could only guess at Dad's expression, and she hated that.
Right now, she couldn't capture others' faces in her eyes; they only bloomed in her mind alone.
And those blooming expressions always wilted.
In the end, unable to look at Dad's face, she bowed her head.
But in that brief instant, something red and glowing on the plate in Dad's hand stood out vividly.
"Take a look at this."
Eisen approached the bedside and offered the plate.
"It's grapefruit tart."
"......!"
"Barg bro and Kara sis, and... Elysia sis made it for you themselves."
Themselves?
That tricky-to-make grapefruit tart?
Alina, who hadn't wanted to show her eyes, lifted her head, her pupils widening.
These siblings who couldn't cook a thing?
No, even more, that pretty princess she'd just met yesterday?
"F-For me...?"
"Yes. They all rolled up their sleeves. Mr. Patish from the dessert shop came too."
Alina sat up.
And looked toward the people at the door.
Her eyes were still hazy.
Since that terrifying light yesterday, the last clear shape Alina had seen was the light itself.
People's forms still overlapped and wavered.
Barg bro looked like a giant boulder.
Kara sis and Elysia sis like blurry shadows.
But.
Even in that hazy vision, some things etched sharply into her heart.
White smudges on Barg bro's cheek.
A white dot on Kara sis's nose tip.
And white powder caked on Elysia sis's forehead and hair.
...Flour.
They hadn't washed it off.
Nor wiped it away.
Just rushed here like that, eager to show it to me quick.
To feed it to me while it's warm.
Messy as they were.
Seeing those white marks, Alina realized.
They're not looking at me sadly.
Not pitying me.
They're just standing there ridiculous like that, wanting to see me happy.
Wanting to make me smile.
Ah...
The worries that had made her tremble under the blanket—fearing the grown-ups would be sad seeing her, fearing she'd be a burden—melted away like snow.
Relief.
Gratitude.
And a swelling feeling of being loved.
She hadn't even tasted the tart's sweetness yet.
But her mouth was already full of it.
Now just tasteless,
Irreplaceable if spilled again,
A pesky flour mark to brush off clothes.
Yet those white traces melted the frozen child's heart.
Tears welled up in Alina's eyes.
"......"
Barg and Kara exchanged panicked glances.
"Huh? Alina? What's wrong? Does it look bad?"
"Or..."
At the grown-ups' worried voices, Alina shook her head vigorously.
And then.
"W-Waaaaaah!"
Unable to hold back, she burst into loud sobs.
The child's honest wail from overwhelming gratitude and joy.
"Waaaah! Sis! Bro!"
Alina leaped from the bed into Kara and Barg's arms.
"Thank you... sob... I really wanted to eat it... waaah! I used Kara sis as an excuse... because I wanted it... so..."
"Aww, our Alina."
Kara hugged her tight, and I stroked Alina's head too.
Elysia, Ronas, and Eisen holding the plate.
All beamed at the bawling Alina.
Flour-covered grown-ups and tear-soaked child.
The bedroom in Eisen guard filled with sweet tart aroma and warm laughter.
A time of healing more effective than any miracle drug.
Tears of joy wet Alina's eyes.
For a fleeting moment, they coated her pupils like dew.
And in that instant, the grown-ups' clear expressions filled her eyes.
Their smiling faces looking at her.
Warm shadows enveloped Alina.
After her cry, Alina sat on the bed with a fork.
Tear-soaked tart.
But it looked like the world's best treat.
Alina cut a small piece and held it not to her mouth, but to Kara.
"Sis, ahh~. Yeppi needs some too."
"Huh? No, you eat it, Alina."
Kara declined, but Alina shook her head.
"Yeppi must be hungry. Quick."
"But we made it for you to eat..."
As Kara pretended to hesitate, Alina said seriously.
"No. I went to buy this yesterday to let Yeppi taste it."
"......!"
Kara's eyes shook.
The child who hadn't let go of the tart box even in the terror of kidnapping, thinking of the baby inside.
That pure heart was so precious and lovable.
Kara wiped her eyes and accepted the tart from Alina.
"Delicious. Really good."
Then Alina pointed to the two versions on the plate, laying out her logic.
"Listen, Yeppi. Sis is a grown-up now, so she'll eat the bitter one. Yeppi's still a baby, so sweet one."
"Pfft."
I burst out laughing without realizing.
Grown-ups get bitter.
Kids get sweet.
Simple, clear logic.
Of course, the "grown-up" was Alina, still just a kid, and the "kid" was Yeppi in Kara's belly. Couldn't hold back the laugh.
In the end, Kara would eat the sweet version anyway.
"Okay, got it. Yeppi will eat sweet and grow big."
Kara played along and took another bite of the sweet version.
"Wow, Yeppi loves it! Feels like kicking!"
"Really? Hehehe."
Alina beamed proudly at caring for Yeppi and bit into her bitter version.
"Mm...! So goo..."
Her brow furrowed.
"B-Bitter..."
Grapefruit's natural bitterness was too much for a 7-year-old.
Especially made by total baking newbies, not a pro like Patish.
Grown-ups might handle it, but for a kid's palate, still harsh.
But Alina swallowed without spitting and grinned bravely.
"I'm a grown-up now too! I can eat it fine!"
Everyone in the room cracked up at that.
Happy tea time ended.
Baron Eisen and Ronas went to see off dessert master Patish at the entrance.
"I gave Patish plenty as thanks. He's discreet, so he won't spill about today."
Returning, Baron Eisen adjusted his shirt collar and said.
"We didn't tell Patish she's the princess. Just a precious guest."
"Well done, Barg."
We gathered in the study.
Time to address the real issues.
Ronas yawned and flopped into a chair.
"Alright, to the main point. While we slept, did that fool... er, Her Highness the princess give anything up?"
Eisen father and son's eyes fixed on me.
We'd even done an all-nighter interrogation, but the kidnappers were just pawns; no clear mastermind.
Only clue was from Princess Elysia's mouth.
The info I'd gleaned while baking with her was key.
I sighed with a troubled look.
"Sigh... Nothing."
"What? Nothing at all? Even after baking tarts? After all that chaos?"
Ronas looked incredulous.
"Only thing I got was... 'Her Highness has baking talent and wants to open a dessert shop someday'..."
"......"
Eisen and Ronas clutched their foreheads in unison.
Beyond exasperation.
I had nothing to say.
Got swept into her pace, mindlessly along for the ride; actual interrogation took a backseat.
"Oh, and she confessed one thing belatedly."
I recalled and added the one safe fact.
"She came to Eisen guard for an academy recommendation letter. Through you, Baron, to get one from Grand Duke Northguard."
"Recommendation letter..."
Eisen nodded.
"Makes sense. Narrow footing in the imperial court, after all."
Then, Elysia, who had been hovering in the study corner, sidled up shyly.
"Hehe... Sorry. That's really all I know..."
Elysia gave an awkward smile and bowed her head.
"With my status, lots of people target me... Illegitimate, no guards, no info... Just charging in bare-handed is my daily life."
Her voice carried a bitter edge like the tart.
......
I stared hard at Elysia.
Acting? Sincere?
Which was the real Elysia?
That suspicion colored my gaze during the interrogation.
And the result...
Just confusion about Elysia.
But clear: she's struggling to survive too.
All that agonizing was pointless. I overthought it.
I'd been wary, suspicious based on facts only I knew, but maybe she's a victim swept up in huge fate like us.
Eisen comforted softly.
"Not Your Highness's fault. No need to apologize. For the letter, I'll speak well to His Grace the Grand Duke."
"Really? Thank you, Baron!"
"That said... Without the kidnapping, we could've entertained you properly here yesterday."
Eisen clicked his tongue regretfully.
"And when sending documents and letters to the grand ducal house yesterday, I could've added a line to report to His Grace faster. Bad timing."
Letter.
My heart jumped at the word.
My gaze drifted to the northern sky outside.
The postscript I'd asked Kairun via Eisen's letter yesterday: talk to big bro Carl.
Come to think... did the letter arrive safely?
Forgot amid the kidnapping frenzy with Elysia and Alina.
But that letter was a key to upend the original story's flow more than this incident.
The sole hope to stop Carl's suicide, Kairun's fall to darkness.
Kairun... stick by your brother. No distractions.
Save your brother.
So we can all smile, even briefly.
My eyes, mixed with foreboding and hope, stared north.
Beyond the window, snowy Northguard grand duchy seemed to shimmer.
Spring had come.
A bit chilly till yesterday, but today's noon was warm.