“Young master… where are you going?”
“To Delight, Sir Shane.”
“Delight? Isn’t that a dessert shop?”
“Correct.”
“Why would the young master go to such a place…?”
Shane looked at Kal with a bewildered expression.
Delight is a large and famous pastry shop with branches all over the empire.
A luxurious space with sweet desserts, somewhere feminine and elegant.
Usually, noble ladies and young noblewomen frequent it, while men tend to avoid it.
Men who go there are often seen as having unusual tendencies.
Of course, it’s just prejudice, but sometimes prejudice can be the most dangerous thing. Especially among nobles, it can be fatal.
“After training hard yesterday, I feel like eating something sweet today. I heard Delight is the best place for that.”
Shane swallowed hard as he watched Kal speak so casually.
Having known Kal since he was a baby, Shane understood his personality better than anyone.
Normally, Kal wouldn’t even glance at desserts, no matter how hard he trained.
Meat, maybe, but desserts?
Moreover, Kal often said, “Desserts are for women.”
So why the sudden desire to go to Delight…?
‘No way!’
Suddenly, Shane recalled yesterday’s events.
Come to think of it, they had encountered that elf near Delight.
The elf had been leaving Delight, chatting with a fairy.
—Hmm, sister. Let’s come back tomorrow morning.
—…Okay.
Shane looked at Kal again.
Now he noticed that Kal had oiled his hair and was dressed in formal attire.
For someone who usually didn’t care much for dressing up, this was unexpected.
‘It’s clear.’
Shane’s eyes narrowed. Kal didn’t want dessert. He was going because of that elf.
As Shane stared, Kal awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Ahem, ahem… Anyway, I’m going to Delight.”
“But… you know the reputation of that place, don’t you?”
“Worrying about people’s prejudices is something only petty people do, as you taught me, Sir.”
“……”
Shane was speechless. He had indeed taught Kal that.
‘Using that against me now…!’
Kal was young but sharp. Arguing with him was futile.
Kal would find a way to go to Delight no matter what.
“Understood, then I’ll escort you to Delight….”
“You don’t have to come inside. Just wait at the entrance.”
“…Understood.”
Though his duty was to guard Kal, Shane had no desire to enter the shop.
Rather than suffer in a shop full of girls, it was better to stay at the entrance and keep watch.
“Let’s go, Sir.”
Kal strode forward energetically, and Shane sighed deeply before quietly following.
A foreboding thought began to rise in Shane’s mind—things were about to get complicated.
*
“!”
Ariel shot up from her bed and checked the clock.
The sun had already risen long ago.
She had overslept.
Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but today was different.
Today was the day she had vowed to eat Delight’s strawberry tart!
She had to hurry before it sold out.
Ariel threw off her pajamas and quickly changed into her outdoor clothes.
In the process, Roo, who had been sleeping in her pajamas, was flung onto the bed.
“Ugh…”
But Roo didn’t wake up. She had gotten drunk on wine last night.
Deciding there was no time to wake Roo, Ariel briefly greeted Ghost and dashed out of the lodging.
Ariel ran at an invisible speed and arrived at Delight in the blink of an eye.
Her hair was a mess, and her clothes weren’t properly arranged, but that didn’t matter.
Ariel opened the door to Delight and stepped inside.
Ding.
Inside Delight, a crowd of people was already lined up.
They were waiting to buy the strawberry tart.
Ariel joined the end of the line and glanced ahead.
She prayed fervently that the strawberry tart wouldn’t sell out before her turn.
Even after Ariel joined the line, more people kept coming for the strawberry tart.
Soon, a long line had formed behind her.
“What, it’s an elf.”
“Why is an elf in a place like this…?”
“She’s so pretty.”
People whispered as they looked at Ariel.
Even in the city, seeing an elf was rare.
Naturally, people’s attention was drawn to her.
But it didn’t last long.
“Then, Sir Shane, I’ll be back soon.”
As a young boy entered Delight, people’s gazes shifted from Ariel to him.
A handsome boy with oiled hair and dressed in formal attire.
It was Kal.
Currently, Delight was filled with women, and Kal was the only man.
While being a man wasn’t as attention-grabbing as being an elf, Kal’s status made it possible.
Kal Kastark, the son of the Northern Duke.
No one in the empire’s nobility didn’t know his name.
With looks that had Princess Illiana falling for him at first sight, he was destined to wield all the power of the North in the future.
Among noble ladies, Kal was a celebrity, and his appearance in such a place naturally drew attention.
“That’s…!”
“Isn’t that Prince Kal?”
“Why is Prince Kal in a place like this…?”
Moreover, Kal had put more effort into his appearance than usual, making his already handsome face shine even brighter.
Kal, feeling the attention on him, took a seat by the window.
Being the center of attention was nothing new to him, so it didn’t bother him.
To Kal, it was just a natural phenomenon.
‘Hmm.’
Kal pretended to look around the shop while searching for Ariel.
‘She said she’d come today, so she must be… Ah!’
He quickly found her.
Ariel was standing in line, waiting her turn.
While the noble ladies around her were busy stealing glances at Kal, Ariel stared straight ahead with an expressionless face.
Kal felt his heart race again.
She was truly beautiful. Compared to her, the other noble ladies looked like mere squids…
Kal’s cheeks flushed, and his gaze became dazed, as if he were enchanted.
The sharp-eyed noble ladies quickly noticed where Kal’s gaze was directed.
“…Prince Kal is staring at the elf as if he’s bewitched.”
“So the rumors about him courting an elf were true….”
“That must be the elf. The one who coldly rejected Prince Kal….”
People’s attention shifted back to Ariel, but she paid no mind.
She patiently waited her turn for the strawberry tart, and finally, it was her turn.
With a thrilled heart, Ariel ordered the strawberry tart from the clerk.
It was the same clerk she had seen yesterday.
“There’s exactly one left in stock.”
The clerk smiled as if relieved.
“You’re lucky.”
A faint smile appeared on Ariel’s lips.
It had been close, but she had finally secured the strawberry tart.
“Here you go. Enjoy.”
As the clerk handed her the tart, Ariel turned around.
She planned to return to her lodging immediately to eat it.
“Oh no, it’s sold out!”
Someone muttered.
“I really wanted to try Delight’s strawberry tart….”
It was the girl standing right behind Ariel.
The tart had sold out just as it was Ariel’s turn, so the girl had missed it by a hair.
The girl had red hair and a lively appearance, but now she looked completely dejected.
Her expression was similar to Ariel’s from yesterday.
“If not today, I’ll never get to eat it….”
Though the girl’s muttering bothered her, Ariel tried to ignore it.
Life was cold like that. Sometimes you missed opportunities.
But she couldn’t just give away the strawberry tart she had worked so hard to get.
Ariel silently walked past the girl.
But after a few steps, she stopped and turned back.
“Hey.”
“…Huh?”
The girl, who had been hanging her head, slowly looked up.
“What?”
Ariel held up the strawberry tart in her hand.
“Want to share this?”
“What…?”
The girl’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“You’re really going to share it with me?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you!”
The girl beamed.
*
The girl’s name was Selly.
She was the third daughter of the Matiel family, one of the high-ranking noble families in the eastern empire.
Selly was also on her way to the imperial capital to attend the princess’s birthday party.
The Matiel family placed great emphasis on refinement…
Or, more accurately, on appearance, so fattening foods were strictly forbidden.
Like desserts.
The Matiel family’s diet was always filled with vegetables, and they had to endure rigorous daily exercises to maintain their figures.
As a result, all the women in the Matiel family had excellent figures.
Selly, despite her young age, maintained a firm, toned body with no excess fat.
“I really hate that.”
Selly mumbled as she chewed on the strawberry tart.
“I’d rather be fat and ugly, living a life where I can eat as much of this as I want.”
Ariel sat across from Selly.
Ariel was also chewing on the strawberry tart.
Originally, she had planned to return to her lodging to eat it, but since she decided to share it with Selly, she just sat down at a table in Delight.
“I feel bad for the princess, but honestly, I’m not interested in birthday parties. I just wanted to escape my family for a day and eat as much of this as I wanted… By the way, this strawberry tart is amazing.”
Selly looked moved.
“It’s so delicious, it feels like my brain is melting. Ariel, don’t you think so?”
Ariel nodded slightly.
She wasn’t sure about her brain melting, but the strawberry tart was shockingly delicious.
In Ariel’s opinion, the phrase “heavenly taste” seemed appropriate.
“Thank you, Ariel. If you hadn’t shared, I would never have gotten to eat this strawberry tart. I have to leave the city early tomorrow morning.”
Selly smiled brightly.
“So, Ariel. How about spending the day with me? Since you shared your strawberry tart, I want to repay you. I’ll make it really fun. Okay? How about it?”