Ugh.
“When is that Emperor guy coming? The child collapsed, and he doesn’t visit immediately? What is he thinking? Is he brainless?”
“Well, Your Majesty is currently enjoying a hunt in the forest, and is hurrying back upon hearing the news.”
“Calling for a meal and then going hunting instead? Ha. That’s the kind of person who, at the founding ceremony, confessed his unrequited love in front of the subjects and was promptly rejected.”
“Ahem! Ahem! That matter is prohibited from being mentioned in the Imperial Palace.”
“Oh my. How absurd.”
Ugh.
“The examination results are out! No poison was detected, but the magic concentration has exceeded what a human can tolerate. This level is comparable to that of a beast that has grown large due to high concentrations of magic.”
“Give it to me. Hm? It’s unusually low right after a meal? Could it be…?”
“Pardon? You call this low?”
“……No. I misspoke. It’s actually this high. It’s clear that there was something wrong with the feast prepared by that Emperor. How could he treat his guests like this? Can he still call himself an emperor?”
“That’s…”
“I don’t want to hear it. Everyone leave. I will take care of young Craft.”
Half-conscious.
Zoning in and out.
“I thought that because he was nervous, he would have trouble eating, so I prepared a strawberry parfait. But it might have gone to waste. The child always forgets one thing every time he’s taught. Still, it’s unfortunate that he keeps forgetting such a simple thing. Sigh. Should I first clear away the parfait before it melts?”
Strawberry parfait.
Strawberry strawberry.
Parfait parfait.
The parfait is a dessert made by piling a large quantity of fruits, whipped cream, and syrup on a big scoop of ice cream in a glass.
So, a strawberry parfait would be topped with fluffy whipped cream shaped into a peak, adorned with fresh strawberries, and drizzled with sweet red syrup in stripes.
Ugh.
It looks absolutely delicious.
“Please give me a strawberry parfait!”
Pastel suddenly sat up in bed.
The devil who was hastily gulping down the strawberry parfait paused.
Pastel’s eyes widened as she discovered the messy state of the strawberry parfait, marred by the large spoon marks.
The girl’s expression instantly turned to one of despair.
“Waaah! My strawberry parfait…!”
Strawberry strawberry parfait!
The devil looked flustered. With cream-stained red lips, he hurriedly swallowed the contents and approached.
“Have you woken? Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any pain, but how do you feel?”
“My parfait…!”
The devil, appearing flustered, brought over the remnants of the strawberry parfait.
“There’s still some left.”
Pastel gazed at the parfait.
A large spoonful had been taken out, cutting off half of the whipped cream mountain.
My strawberry parfait…
A tremendous sadness welled up. It felt like coming back from a cheerful shower only to find the delicious pudding I had saved in the fridge being devoured by the devil.
Ugh!
That’s my pudding!
So disappointing.
But it wasn’t that she wouldn’t eat it, so she accepted the strawberry parfait.
Pastel examined the parfait suspiciously. She sniffed near the whipped cream mountain.
“It smells like the devil’s saliva.”
Eww.
“There’s no way! That was the first scoop! Wait a second. I’ll get a new spoon.”
Phew.
“I’m already hungry, you know.”
Pastel scooped up a large amount of strawberry friends together with the whipped cream mountain. She opened her small mouth wide.
“Waaah~.”
The whipped cream mountain disappeared into her mouth. The girl’s cheeks puffed out.
Waaah!
Her pink eyes sparkled.
Delicious! Delicious!
The tangy strawberry and the moist, soft whipped cream exploded in her mouth. As the sweet, cold ice cream melted within, her mind became dizzy. Even the subtly perceived sweet taste of magic stones was magically harmonious.
Ugh.
That’s right! Magic stones!
This isn’t the time to be eating parfait?!
Returning to serious matters, Pastel hurriedly started to chew. Her cream-stained pink lips quivered.
Munch munch munch.
Gulp.
Ugh.
This is really delicious.
She scooped up the remaining whipped cream, which was no longer a mountain. Carefully, she placed strawberries on top and took a large bite.
Wow!
The pink eyes gleamed brightly.
“Wow! Devil! Devil! The best chef of my life is the devil!”
Hooray! Hooray!
“That’s a given.”
The devil wiped the whipped cream off Pastel’s lips with a handkerchief.
“By the way, how’s your condition? After not eating ordinary food for a long time, you probably aren’t in the best shape.”
“Ugh! That’s right! Magic stones!”
Is the devil a genius?!
“Devil! I forgot to sprinkle magic stone powder! So, so! Magic stone powder on cherry tomatoes!”
Pastel paused mid-sentence.
Magic stone powder on cherry tomatoes.
How would I sprinkle magic stone powder on round, plump cherry tomatoes? With that extreme freshness, even droplets of water would slide off.
Pastel’s pink eyes went blank.
In fact, it wasn’t that she forgot, but it was simply a difficult problem from the start.
It was as if it wasn’t that smart Pastel got it wrong for not studying the exam range, but rather the problem was so hard it might have been wrong regardless.
Even if she hadn’t studied, this problem was doomed to be wrong. It meant the difficulty adjustment by the question setter failed, and it wasn’t Pastel’s fault for not studying.
The devil seemed to have given up on listening and placed his hand on Pastel’s forehead, examining her pink eyes like a doctor.
“Try saying hooray.”
“Huh? Wow! Hooray!”
Pastel raised her arms and said it a bit late.
“But why am I saying hooray?”
“You’re fine. Your mind is somewhat dreamy, but that’s normal for you.”
The devil suggested she eat again.
“You must be hungry since you haven’t eaten properly. Finish the parfait.”
That was not difficult for Pastel’s life, unlike exam studying!
Pastel diligently ate the parfait.
The parfait glass was gleaming clean after being scraped thoroughly. When the spoon was placed down, it made a clear sound.
Feeling somewhat full, Pastel clasped her hands together in a serious manner.
“Devil.”
“Speak.”
“Should we escape?”
Reflecting objectively on the situation made her heart race and her skin feel cold.
She had collapsed from poison and gallantly declared that the culprit was the Emperor.
She had declared it…
But it turned out to be a misunderstanding~.
Hehe.
Pastel chuckled but quickly transformed back into a frown.
However, the accusation against the Emperor wasn’t a misunderstanding.
Her body trembled.
A confirmed future. A mistaken future.
A completely bad future.
“Hmm.”
The devil rubbed his chin.
“I’m unsure about the precise current state of the central political scene, making it difficult to judge clearly. However, there is no need to escape.”
“Huh? But I accused the Emperor!”
Immediate execution for treason against the royal family!
“If this were during the reign of the last tyrant, it would be troublesome, but thanks to your mother’s efforts, there are many institutional checks in place to curb the monarch’s rampage. Moreover, it’s not easy to mishandle the great nobles.”
The devil’s finger tapped the parfait glass. The glass flowed like melted candy and depicted the entire structure of the central political landscape on the table. The glass letters inscribed the names of the nobles, categorized by their factions.
“Wow.”
“Basically, the royalists and the noble faction are in conflict. Currently, the Emperor is in a weaker position after adversely dealing with the Craft family, which has grown too large to depose a tyrant. After building a rapport with your mother, the Emperor deemed the Craft family, traditionally royalists, too much of a threat to his authority and has thus brought about their decline. Restoring the faction will take a long time yet.”
Hee.
That’s good.
Oh, bad thoughts.
Go away, bad thoughts.
Pastel rubbed her cheeks.
Disappear.
Yes, yes!
“Then isn’t this an even bigger crisis? A noble accusing the Emperor during a desperate strategic situation!”
Ugh!
The devil chuckled, looking at the naïve girl.
“That strategy is currently impossible. If a great noble dies, the faction falls into chaos, and a viscount is spitting blood and collapsing. The Emperor, who is to confirm the truth of the claims, cannot make an insulting statement. Such claims would only serve as a tempting bait for the noble faction. After all, it would serve as an excuse to say the royal family disrespects the rights of the nobles.”
Whaaat.
Something seems to be brewing into a massive situation.
Pastel’s pink eyes spun around.
The naïve Pastel did not understand such complicated matters…!
Her thoughts wandered aimlessly.
“Oh! By the way, I dropped the pepper shaker!”
“Huh?”
She hurriedly checked her pockets. Of course, it wasn’t there. Looking around the hospital room, the magic stone pepper shaker wasn’t there.
“I said magic stone pepper at the end, you know!”
She wasn’t dead, but!
“What if, regardless of the truth, my collapsing is bad for His Majesty the Emperor? What if I claim I staged this act for revenge against the royal family that ruined my clan by eating magic stone powder? There’s evidence, after all!”
Because the state of needing to consume magic stones to live was something everyone was unaware of!
The devil’s expression grew somewhat serious.
“That might become troublesome if the Emperor latches onto it.”
Ugh!
Serious! Serious!
“However, I haven’t heard that you had your pepper shaker. You might have kept it a secret from me, but for the sake of countering the strategic response, it would have been better to disclose it. Given the silence, it seems the royal family hasn’t managed to secure the pepper shaker.”
“Huh?”
Then where is my pepper shaker?
Where’s my magic pepper?
Suddenly, there was a knock on the hospital room door.
The devil frowned and headed to the door. As it opened, there was an ordinary-looking attendant.
“What’s the matter?”
The attendant entered and closed the door. He politely bowed his head.
“I’ve come to return what you left behind.”
From his garment, the magic stone pepper shaker smoothly appeared. There was also a note.
Huh?!
Evidence that the royal family was supposed to have secured!
As she accepted the note and unfolded it, it contained an address and a sentence that seemed to be from a hiding place.
Pastel’s trembling pink eyes read the sentence.
―We welcome the alliance of the Empire’s supreme scheming clan.
Waaah!
That sentence is too suspicious…!
