CH 97

Tea Party and Lorschel (11)

At first, she thought that he was just very busy. However, it was true that it felt rather useless after a day, which eventually became two days, and now it had become day three.

She wondered if he was already tired of her or something like that.

Of course, she knew that it didn’t make sense at all. In fact, not only Kergel couldn’t have changed his mind so easily, but even if he had, he would have told her directly instead.

“I can’t help it, oh well.”

Roelin tried to pull herself together and said calmly. Then, Silloa opened her mouth as if she had also relaxed a little.

“Then, shall we prepare the meal?”

“Go ahead, Silloa.”

Roelin nodded at Silloa’s question. Silloa then straight away went out of the room to prepare the meal. Roelin looked over there for a moment and eventually turned her eyes away.

Then, she stared at the brightly blooming flowers on the table and opened her mouth all of a sudden.

“Is His Majesty still in the office right now?”

“Oh, I suppose so? …Yes?”

Lucy was startled at the unexpected question and stuttered—which was completely out of her character. Roelin widened her eyes at the reaction and looked back at Lucy. And Lucy was already avoiding her by looking down when she made eye contact with her.

“Could there be anything that is actually hidden from me?”

“……That, how could I even do that?”

Lucy raised her mouth and replied with a smile. However, the expression on her face was still awkward.

“What are you really hiding? His Majesty…… What did he tell you to hide?”

Roelin’s expression began to set in as well. At the same time, her voice was already trembling too. Lucy immediately rushed the idea as all kinds of disaster had begun to quake her head before she finally opened her mouth.

“No, Empress. No such thing had ever happened, you must have misunderstood something.”

“If it’s not as such, then, what is really happening right now?”

“It’s… it’s……”

Lucy instantly blurted out the end of her speech with a troubled look. If she could, she would definitely like to tell Roelin everything right now—to be honest.

< Never! Never tell the Empress, Lucy! I want to surprise her myself. >

Had it not been for the Emperor’s request, she would have already said everything. Lucy sighed while thinking of Kergel, the Emperor who had been imploring her several times, with flour all over his face.

‘I’m going to bake some snacks by myself and give her as gifts.’

Such a wild idea. And on second thought, it was utterly ridiculous.

‘I don’t even know why he had thought of that.’

It was only a natural question for Lucy, who didn’t even know what Kergel had really been up to.

* * *

—gulp.

Someone couldn’t resist the tension as they gulped down, which made the other people’s eyes become focused on the person at once. It was because it had been so quiet that even the sound of swallowing saliva could be heard loudly.

And amongst them, Vernon, the Chief Chef, had the sharpest eyes. He glared once again at the kitchen assistant who covered his mouth with his own hand before he turned his head and spoke in a low voice.

“Now is the time, Your Majesty.”

“Not yet. A little bit more.”

Could he please proceed like what he had learned! Vernon clenched his fist while suppressing the urge to scream at Kergel.

If it had been the kitchen assistant whom he taught, Vernon would have already hit his head several times and kicked his shin. It would be nice if he would just listen to what he had been told to do, but he was just absolutely stubborn like that.

Even on the first day, when it seemed like he was learning……

< Something’s wrong with this. Vernon, I did what you told me to do. What’s with this undercooked dough? >

If he had known that his mistake on the first day would have resulted in this, he wouldn’t have made that particular mistake somehow.

Vernon belatedly blamed himself for being unconsciously distracted by the burden of teaching the Emperor and the excitement of seeing those old books with such ancient recipes written on them.

If he had not made a mistake at that time, the Emperor would not have been so stubborn. Then, he would have already finished his teachings and by now, he would be able to have such an ecstatic time with those books……

“All right, I’ll take it out now.”

Kergel opened the oven with his eyes shining brightly.

And at that moment, everyone intuitively realized.

Oh, it had ruined again this time, just like he said.

“…….”

Kergel looked down at the charcoal thing and went silent. Vernon could barely open his mouth after looking at that particular figure.

“Your Majesty, uh, um, you did everything well, but the time was a little……”

“There must be a problem with the oven.”

Kergel spoke categorically before Vernon could even finish speaking. Then, Vernon moved his mouth with an awkward expression before he remained silent.

What more could Vernon even say when Kergel was the one who had done something wrong and blamed the innocent oven instead?

While Vernon was complaining irreverently about the Emperor, Kergel’s voice could be heard once again.

And unlike a little while ago, it sounded like a slightly timid voice this time.

“………shall we reduce the time a little?”

“What?”

“Although there is a problem with the oven. Well, I think it’s also a good idea to cut back on the time. As you have said, Vernon.”

The redness of Kergel’s neck eventually came to Vernon’s eyes. Vernon nodded as he struggled to tear down the twitching corners of his mouth.

“All right, then let us do it one more time.”

Kergel realized that the chef was forcing himself to hold back his laughter, but he turned away as if he didn’t realize and just opened his mouth casually. Then, they immediately started preparing to make Lorschel once again here and there.

“Whoa… I’d rather catch a dragon.”

Wouldn’t it be much easier to catch a dragon that only existed in mythology—Kergel murmured to himself while swallowing back a sigh