Chapter 124

“Fruit tarts are always delicious no matter when you eat them!”

“Last time, I tried strawberry tarts, so now I should try melon tarts!”

“Huhuhu! I’ve already conquered all flavors of tarts by trading with other fairies!”

“Wow! I’m so jealous!”

As always, the fairies’ tea party was lively and bustling.

It was something that always brought a warm smile to anyone who saw it.

However, Mari suddenly felt a sense of doubt as she watched.

“Um… Didn’t Foreign Minister Danny attend last time? It seems like it’s still not his turn…”

*Gasp*

At Mari’s words, one fairy was so startled that even a normal human could tell.

“T-that must be a mistake! That can’t be possible!”

“Now that I think about it, the person eating the blueberry tart over there looks like Royal Mage Dortel. Didn’t Dortel also attend the tea party yesterday?”

*Gasp*

It was a subtle difference that Kurt, who had been too busy cooking to properly socialize with the tea party attendees, couldn’t notice.

With so many fairies attending the tea party, it was even harder for Kurt to notice the difference.

In fact, Kurt had also felt something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

Starting from Mari’s comment, Karina and Serena began to notice strange things one after another.

As Kurt and his group realized that the tea party attendees hadn’t changed, the fairies started panicking, saying things like, “What should we do? What should we do?” and “This is terrible!”

It was the moment when the fairies’ wicked and heinous plot was about to be exposed.

However, it was Vivian, the Queen of the fairies, who saved the situation.

“Ah! Now that I think about it, I forgot there’s a state council meeting this afternoon! I must prepare for the meeting now, so let’s end the tea party here.”

With her usual wisdom and intelligence, Vivian calmly began to restore order, just like the wise ruler who had brought peace to Arciel.

“I must take my leave now. Fairies who haven’t finished their tarts, pack them up and take them home! The tea party is over!”

“Understood!”

“I must attend the state council meeting!”

“Soldiers, clean up this tea party area and return home!”

And so, the fairies hurriedly got up, and soon the square where the tea party had been held was left with only the soldiers who had been on guard duty and the messy remnants of the party.

…

Of course, Vivian’s decision helped avoid the immediate crisis, but it didn’t erase the suspicions of my group.

In fact, it only fueled our doubts.

“…What’s going on? Wasn’t today’s tea party a bit strange?”

“Indeed. I heard that Queen Vivian always clears her schedule for an hour before and after the tea party to enjoy it. But for the tea party and the state council meeting to overlap is strange. Of course, even for a queen, state affairs can’t always be controlled at will…”

“Moreover, the atmosphere of the tea party was bright, but compared to before, it felt a bit darker. It wasn’t like this until recently, but lately, it feels off.”

“It definitely feels suspicious. Something seems to be happening, and we might need to investigate.”

“But how do we investigate? The only person we know in the Fairy Kingdom is Queen Vivian, and she probably won’t tell us what’s going on…”

A fairy we know…

There is one fairy that comes to mind.

“Now that I think about it, the assistant helping with the tarts changed recently. From a guard in the Fairy Kingdom to a servant working in the palace. Maybe if we talk to that guard, we can find out what’s going on.”

“That’s a good idea! If it’s a guard, they’re always stationed in the same place, so we can find them even if we don’t know their home!”

“Then let’s go find them.”

And so, I took the other three and headed to the guard post in the Kingdom of Arciel.

…

“This is so damn frustrating!”

That was the first thing we heard when we entered the guard post to ask about the situation.

“…What?”

Mari, wide-eyed, asked back, clearly not expecting such harsh words from a fairy.

But the fairy on guard duty, seemingly unaware of Mari’s shock, shook their small body roughly and continued to vent their anger.

“Recently, Queen Vivian issued a royal decree limiting tea party attendees to royalty and high-ranking officials working in the royal palace!”

Hearing that, I felt puzzled and asked.

The Vivian I’ve seen over the past few days didn’t seem like that kind of fairy.

“Why such an order…?”

“Because the treasury has been depleted from hosting too many tea parties over the past few days, she said that from now on, only the most outstanding fairies will be given the privilege to attend the tea party!”

“But the fairies attending the tea party are always the same ones!”

“I’m a model taxpayer fairy who even received a commendation, but I’ve never been invited! How much tax have I paid?!”

“It’s so stingy, only eating among themselves!”

“Last time, they suddenly canceled the promised rewards for the guards, saying the treasury was low!”

“I swear on my career as a guard, she’s a terrible queen!”

“How dare she take away our chance to taste tarts! Unforgivable!”

As soon as I asked, the fairies burst out with their pent-up frustrations, as if a dam had broken.

The scene was a far cry from the harmonious atmosphere they had shared just a short while ago.

“Wait, was the kingdom’s atmosphere dampened because of me?”

“Was Kurt’s dessert cooking too much for the kingdom’s treasury to handle…?”

Mari looked at me with a tired expression.

“Chef! Please talk to the bad queen and ask her to bring the tea parties back to how they were!”

“…Alright. If I’m the cause of this situation, I can’t just ignore it. I’ll talk to her at tomorrow’s tea party.”

“Hooray! Thank you so much, Chef!”

In the end, all I could do was promise the other fairies, and upon hearing my words, they cheered as if they had found a savior.

…

And so, the next day’s tea party arrived, and I told Vivian what I had heard from the fairy guards.

Although I hadn’t known her for long, from what I had seen, Vivian was a queen who cared for her people. Even if she couldn’t fully restore things to how they were due to financial reasons, she would at least come to a better conclusion than the current state.

However, my thoughts were naive.

It was my mistake for not realizing how much Vivian had changed in recent days.

“I refuse. This tea party is for me. Therefore, how the tea party is organized is up to me, the queen. My will is the law.”

“…What?”

“Hmm. Sorry. My voice must have been too soft for you to hear. This tea party is operated with the kingdom’s assets and the royal family’s personal wealth. In fact, the fruits used in these fruit tarts come from royal trees that bear over ten types of fruits. Therefore, how I use my precious fruits is up to me. I cannot waste such valuable fruits on the citizens.”

After saying that, Vivian snapped open her fan and covered her mouth.

With that, Vivian ended her speech, but none of us could speak, left speechless.

I never thought such words would come from the queen.

It’s like the fairies have completely changed.

What on earth happened in the past few days?

However, as if unaware of our shock, Vivian pointed with her fan and said to me, “If you’re done with your business, go and make the tarts.”

“…I refuse.”

“What do you mean?”

“The tea party is over. We will now leave to continue our journey.”

“W-what…!?”

Vivian was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

But my decision was firm.

We had stayed far beyond our original schedule to attend the tea parties because we enjoyed the fairies’ pure nature.

But if my cooking was causing harm to the Fairy Kingdom, that was a different story.

Perhaps we should have left sooner.

In the midst of spending each day with the fairies, we had missed the right time to leave, and it had ended up causing harm to both us and the fairies.

“W-why…! Money! That’s it! You need money, right? I’ll give you as much as you want! I’ll even empty the treasury…!”

Vivian, now in tears, desperately clung to me.

Her appearance was like that of a pet desperately struggling as its offspring were taken away.

But I couldn’t let my heart soften here.

“I don’t need money. The hospitality we’ve received from the fairies is more than enough.”

“Then why…?”

“Because I don’t think we’ll see anything good if we stay here any longer.”

I had heard rumors about fairies’ obsession with sweets, but I never expected it to be this extreme.

Leaving behind the fairies begging for tarts, I returned to the carriage with the rest of my group.

…

Back in the carriage, we began packing our things with heavy hearts.

“To think that the food I made with good intentions would cause discord…”

“It’s so heartbreaking. They used to get along so well.”

“But maybe things will slowly return to normal after we leave.”

We finished packing in a somber mood, with only the departure of the carriage left.

“But… It’s still too sad to leave like this.”

“That’s right…! At least let’s stay until the fairies reconcile.”

“….”

But unable to bring themselves to leave, the three looked at me pleadingly, and even I couldn’t bring myself to leave as a source of conflict.

After much deliberation, I finally put down my luggage and said, “Alright. Let’s stay until the kingdom returns to normal.”

Hearing this, the three relaxed and felt relieved.

And so, we decided to stay a few more days to observe the atmosphere in Arciel.

However, the atmosphere in Arciel didn’t flow as we had hoped.