The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House

That thing? But how the hell did the rumor grow about it? You only made it once.
His Majesty ate everything you made.’

“I gave what was left after practicing to the attendants…”

Pavel answered with a whisper.
Meanwhile, Baroness Saratov shouted passionately.

“So! “so! Let’s make and sell that chocolate cake.”

Baroness Saratov opened the contract and pushed it forward.
There was a green glow of expectation around her.

“Everyone on the island will rush to taste this cake at least once.
The great taste of the very cake that His Majesty also praised!”

Baroness Saratov exclaimed with enthusiasm.
She was a professional orator.
It seemed that even a stranger would pass by and stop on their own.

Pavel ran through the contract quickly for now.
As Asha, who was next to him, stepped on his feet, Pavel bent over and shared the contract with her.

“Oh, no.
The patisserie… Will you pay for it?”

Pavel, who read the contract, said in surprise.
Baroness Saratov looked natural.

“Sure, I’ll pay for a patisserie.
Where would you sell cakes without a shop?”

“But…”

Pavel glanced down at Asha, clapping his lips.

“Well, you may not know, but we cannot do business outside the Imperial Palace.”

He was an imperial cook, and this girl was an imperial grandchild who was not yet of age.
It was of course impossible for both to stand as patissiers in the store.

“So even if you tell me this…”

“Oh, of course, it would be difficult for the noble imperial chef to do vulgar business outside.”

Baroness Saratov took another document out of her arms as if she had waited.
It was a document with a rather detailed description of unfamiliar names, personal information, specialties, and personalities.
She cleared her throat with a look of discomfort at Pavel, who had suddenly read the life story of a stranger.

“Who are these…”

“The artisans who will make the chocolate cakes at the patisserie.”

Pavel looked alternately at Asha and Baroness Saratov.

In the meantime, Asha skimmed through the resumes.
Asha, whose reading was over, raised her head.

“So, at the patisserie, you’re going to make and sell chocolate cakes exclusively, and if we give you a recipe, these people will make the cakes?”

“Uh… yes, that’s right.
One of them, to be exact.”

Baroness Saratov looked sideways at Asha and nodded.

“…Well, ten million karousas for that down payment.”

“Of course it’s a down payment.
I’m going to give you thirty percent of the profit, minus the labor cost and the cost of the ingredients to run this patisserie.
This is not an exaggeration, but an incredibly unconventional proposal.”

The Baroness explained that the cost of living for a large middle-class family was about fifty million karousas per year, and that ten million karousas was a very large amount of money for the worth of a recipe.

It was also certainly an amazing story to run a patisserie outside and give thirty percent of the proceeds.
Pavel glanced at Asha, and Asha smiled and shook the contract.

“Oh, I won’t do this.”

“Hmm, Chef Marka? Who is this kid?”

“It’s not just a cake, it’s a cake that depends on the life and death of the Baroness’ southern trade route, but ten million karousas?”

“…!”

Asha folded one finger at every word she said.
Then she spread one finger and waved at Pavel, who stood next to him with that finger.

“I can’t even feel the wind*.
Don’t you think so, mister?”

[*TN: Something in the wind means rumors about something happening.
By saying she can’t feel it, she’s saying there’s not even a possibility of them agreeing right now.]

“…That’s right.”

“Ha, ha.
Why are you talking about the southern trade route all of a sudden…”

“Isn’t cake less important to you, Baroness, but rather the chocolate that will sell hard when the cake becomes famous?”

Baroness Saratov coughed in vain at Asha’s words.

“Of course I won’t say it doesn’t matter.
But the most important thing is to sell a lot of cakes and get rich together.”

“We all talk about getting rich, but if the cake doesn’t taste good, it won’t sell.”

Asha pouted her lips.

“If someone who has never tried cake before suddenly asks to start a cake business, wouldn’t they have another ulterior motive?”

“It’s because many people have already acknowledged it even if I didn’t taste it.
And more than so many people, His Majesty the Emperor…”

“Whether the cake is delicious or not, once it becomes a topic of conversation, ‘A great cake praised by His Majesty has appeared!’ rich nobles and merchants will rush in, right? If it’s good, it’ll sell well, and if it doesn’t exist, there will be people who try to recreate it as it doesn’t exist.”

“There’s no way it won’t taste good! This is a cake made by the chef and praised by His Majesty.”

Baroness Saratov, who said so, was confident, and her voice even contained respect for the person who created the great work.
However, Asha did not back down easily.

“Only ten million karousas to provide the recipe for the cake His Majesty praised?”

“Hmm.
ten million karousas is not a small amount of money.
I don’t usually think about buying recipes…”

“Then we shouldn’t think of selling recipes, either.
Right, Pavel?”

“T, That’s right.”

Pavel nodded his head and looked intently between Baroness Saratov and Asha.
Baroness Saratov laughed hard.