The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House

racle, so there was a slight lack of credibility.
Alexei, who saw Asha nervous, closed his eyes again and laughed.

“It’s very delicious.”

A simple word made Asha a little sullen.

“…Really?”

“Really.
I can’t believe this little pea made it.”

“…Did Alyosha decide to call me a pea?”

“What else would be good?”

“I like ‘Asha’.”

“How about kidney bean?”

“I hate you, Alyosha…”

“Then baby peach?”

“I don’t like Alyosha…”

“I can’t do anything you don’t like.
I’m in trouble.”

Asha looked at Alexei with an expression of wanting to tear her hair out.
As Alexei laughed, something resembling cherry blossom petals scattered around him.
When she saw things like that, she couldn’t say anything.
Asha slid all the way out of her seat.

“It’s true that it’s delicious.
It’s the best snack I’ve ever had.”

What he said with a gentle smile sounded like a kind greeting, but Asha ended up burying her face between her elbows with her cheeks red.
It was because of his proclamation that all the currents crashing around him were genuine.

“So, does that mean you’re retracting your statement of disliking me?”

“I don’t know.”

Asha murmured, still turning her head.

“Well, I don’t know what kind of gift I should give to relieve my sister’s feelings.”

“If I’m a pea, Alyosha is a chick.”

“…What a surprise.
Anastasia, my sister.
You won.”

“Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“…I really lost, Asha.”

“All right.
I’ll forgive Fafnir for burning all the cookies today, Alyosha.”

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

[To my lovely princess, Asha.

Asha, I can’t imagine what life is like in the palace.
Your mother and I are missing you every day.

But I don’t think I’ll be able to go to the palace for a while.
So, I am sending the things you wrote to Maxim.
Please understand.

I heard that a peace delegation from the north will be arriving soon, and while I’m pleased about the empire’s progress, I’m worried that you might be exhausted from the busy affairs in the palace.

Do you happen to remember Sir Arten Juvanne? The harpist who stopped by our house the other day.

I heard that he will perform at this peace mission’s welcome ball.
I wanted to let you know that if you meet someone you know even a little bit, they might alleviate the loneliness you feel in palace life.

If there is something you want to say or send a reply, please write a letter and ask Brother Maxim.

And I want you to do your best to be out of the eyes of His Majesty.

My one and only princess, who is very loved, your father Yuriev and mother Irina.]

[Dear mom and dad.

Everyone in the palace is nice to me, and I made a lot of new friends.
I miss my mom and dad so much, but I’ll hold it in.

I got a chick this time, and His Royal Highness Alyo* Alexei gave me a cage as a gift.

[*TN: Asha messes up here, almost revealing how close she is getting to Alexei in her letter and corrects herself]

I’m a little upset that the chick is stupid and doesn’t listen to me.

One of my friends – I’ll call him stylish mustache – likes to cook, so we often bake snacks together.
But I’m concerned because the stylish mustache seems to have a lot of worries these days.
I hope it’s not a bad thing.

The other one, I’ll say is violet cape.

The violet cape always has a grumpy look on his face, but he uses a whisk very well.

I’ve decided to play with him this month, and I’m planning to make soufflé soon.

I’m sending the things I got from the Imperial Palace together because Uncle Maxim is helping me.
Please don’t get sick and stay healthy until we meet again.

Asha, the one and only daughter who loves her mother and father so much.

P.S.
I will take note of what you said at the end.
I love you!]

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

Asha sealed the letter and read the letter from her parents again.
The last line of the letter had the title ‘His Majesty’ written in a different handwriting.
It seemed like Irina, her mother, hastily added it, probably concerned it might be an issue later on. 

‘Though it probably won’t make much difference since the content wasn’t altered.’

Only after finishing the written reply and letter could Asha turn to the box.

A small, rugged box that Maxim delivered to her through Alexei.
They had packed her belongings and clothes from when she was with her parents.

“My nightgown!”

Yuriev had to sell blue paint made of ground lapis lazuli in order to get linen fabric to wrap the body and frills and lace to decorate the end.

Asha held her nightgown in her arms and rubbed it against her cheeks.
Inside, there were some fairy tales that Yuriev had drawn for Asha, leather boots that Irina had made for her, and…!

‘It’s here! It’s here!’

Asha quickly took out some old notes and opened them.
During the time when she believed that the family’s financial situation would return one day – around the age of six, to be precise – this record was diligently written to ensure that she wouldn’t forget the recipes she remembered.
The fact that she reached this point without any issues was because her parents had the virtue of not impulsively opening their daughter’s diary.