Chapter : 09
I’d Rather Avoid the Death Route, Even If I’m Just an Extra (9)
Because she liked desserts and had a strong interest in them, Iaat felt his curiosity stirred—but he deliberately hid his expression.
“She says she wants to make various tools.”
“Tools?”
“Yes. She knows many dessert recipes and says she wants to create the tools needed for them.”
Iaat couldn’t understand any of Irenea’s actions.
She approached him without hesitation, even though she had nearly been killed by him before, and she was unnecessarily diligent.
In many ways, her behavior felt suspicious.
“She knows many unique desserts and wants to spread them throughout the empire.”
“Hm.”
Iaat began to think.
Up to now, all that had accumulated—after people avoided him because of his madness—was distrust.
People he trusted would turn their backs on him in an instant.
On the surface, Irenea’s actions appeared to be goodwill.
But to Iaat, that attitude wasn’t exactly welcome.
He couldn’t rule out the possibility that she was a spy planted by one of the noble families plotting rebellion.
“What do you think?”
“You mean about that child?”
“Yes.”
The head pastry chef hesitated briefly at Iaat’s question, then answered with a faint smile.
“She seems like a bold one.”
At the pastry chef’s words, Iaat let out a small laugh.
The pastry chef was one of the people Iaat considered his own.
He was someone who steadfastly stayed in his place.
He never leaned too far to one side and always judged situations objectively.
That very answer, so like him, made Iaat firm up his resolve.
“Alright. Let’s keep an eye on her.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, Ruelle’s birthday banquet was tomorrow.
The time I spent showing recipes to the pastry chef and discussing them together had been incredibly enjoyable.
I think I liked making desserts even more than I had realized.
“This should be more than enough decoration. Since we’ll have to start at dawn to be ready on time tomorrow, go back and rest for today.”
“Yes, see you tomorrow!”
After finishing my final meeting with the pastry chef, I returned to my room.
After soaking my tired body in warm water, worn out from focusing on work for days, a yawn slipped out naturally.
“Haaam, I should go to bed early.”
I’d have to be up at dawn tomorrow.
Just as I approached the bed, pulled back the covers, and was about to lie down—
A book placed on the small bedside table caught my eye.
“…I completely forgot about this.”
I’d been so absorbed in desserts that I’d forgotten an episode had even started.
In a way, I wondered if I was a pretty simple person.
Sometimes focusing on one thing and forgetting everything else could help—but sometimes it couldn’t.
I naturally picked up the book and opened it.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“What was the male lead’s name again?”
Unlike other romance novels, the male lead’s presence hadn’t been all that strong, so I couldn’t remember his name well.
All I remembered was that he was a marquis.
“Well, there can’t be that many marquises.”
Ruelle’s family, the Duke Tennent family, was the only ducal house in the Karten Empire.
Below them, there were probably only two or three marquis families, though the novel hadn’t specified exactly.
Finding the male lead among them wouldn’t be that hard.
“A birthday banquet, huh….”
I recalled the opening part of the novel, which was set at Ruelle’s birthday banquet.
Tomorrow, at Ruelle’s birthday banquet, originally, Iaat would have been subjected to all kinds of contempt despite being the crown prince.
Of course, no one would openly approach him to insult him.
But there would have been an enormous amount of whispering behind his back—so much that outright insults might have been better.
Thankfully, since I’d survived, that wouldn’t happen.
“It’s not even Iaat’s fault.”
Who could be indifferent to their favorite character’s suffering?
I muttered quietly, feeling sorry for him.
People feared Iaat because of his madness, but the biggest reason they disliked him was Ruelle.
A beautiful, kind, angel-like duke’s daughter loved by everyone.
That was the role of the female lead.
That Ruelle became engaged to Iaat because of a power-hungry duke, and the nobles pitied her.
That pity gradually twisted and turned into contempt toward Iaat.
“Ugh, whatever.”
Sensing that unpleasant memories were about to surface, I roughly closed the book and put it back on the bedside table.
For now, I should just sleep.
“Wow….”
I’d felt it when I first entered the imperial palace too, but the scale was on another level.
The vast banquet hall was filled with flowers and all kinds of jeweled decorations, lavishly arranged.
It seemed the main events had already ended while we were preparing the desserts.
Ruelle, the star of the banquet, was recognizable at a glance even from far away.
She’d been pretty enough before, but today she was so beautiful it took my breath away.
Diamonds sparkled along the hem of her pale pink dress, and the same went for her hair ornaments.
Her hair was styled half-up—the so-called “goddess hairstyle”—and her makeup was slightly darker than usual, absolutely perfect.
“If I had to transmigrate, being a noble would’ve been so nice.”
I was a noble by status, but right now, I was still just a palace maid.
Today, the dull black maid uniform felt especially resentful.
I wanted to wear clothes like that too.
Muttering grumpily, I diligently carried the desserts.
On the tables placed here and there, carrot cake cut into bite-sized pieces and macarons surrounded the main cake.
Small glasses were arranged beside them.
Of course, none of it was for me.
“Suddenly, I feel a little sad.”
If I’d transmigrated as an ordinary noble lady or a princess—
I’d probably be wearing a gorgeous dress right now, enjoying delicious desserts and alcohol.
But in that position, pointless conversations with people would’ve been unavoidable.
I absolutely hated that kind of exhausting thing.
In a way, being a maid might actually be more comfortable.
“…That’s what they say.”
“They’re right. Honestly, what sin did the young lady even commit?”
“I know, right.”
That conversation drifted into my ears as I moved busily around the hall, lost in thought.
I slowed my steps as I was about to set down some macarons and eavesdropped.
“I knew Duke Tennent was obsessed with power, but still.”
“We should’ve known when he ousted the previous duke.”
“Who could’ve known? He made the situation so airtight that everyone was completely fooled.”
“Is His Majesty the Emperor pretending not to know, or does he really not know?”
“He can’t just overturn a decision he’s already made.”
So they were saying Duke Tennent had pushed out the original duke and taken his place?
I didn’t remember reading anything like that.
It was oddly interesting, hearing the dark underside of the original novel.
“The former duke had no children, so perhaps His Majesty was in on it too—”
“Shh! Watch your words, someone might hear.”
The nobles glanced around nervously.
I quickly moved away, afraid our eyes might meet.
“Huh?”
At that moment, I saw a familiar back.
It was Iaat, standing in an oddly isolated blind spot where he didn’t draw much attention.
Why was he standing there?
I naturally walked toward him.
“Ruelle?”
Standing behind Iaat, I followed the direction of his gaze.
There stood Ruelle, smiling brightly, surrounded by noble young ladies.
“My, Lady Ruelle, you’re so beautiful today as well.”
“You’re absolutely radiant. Just looking at you is dazzling.”
As praise poured out, Ruelle’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“Oh no, it’s just because the makeup and dress are nice.”
The looks in the ladies’ eyes as they watched Ruelle felt familiar.
Yes—those were the looks.
Eyes full of admiration and envy, like when looking at a beautiful celebrity you wanted to resemble.
“It’s the same everywhere.”
A small laugh escaped me at the familiar sight.
“Oh my, now that I think about it.”
A woman with a subtly different look in her eyes spoke up.
“I heard you personally witnessed His Highness the Crown Prince’s madness this time.”
The corner of her lips twitched as she tilted her head slightly.
“Ah… yes, that’s right.”
Despite Ruelle’s awkward reply, the woman continued without concern.
“Poor young lady, you must have been so frightened. And you’ll have to live with him for the rest of your life….”
As the woman spoke words of pity with a deeply furrowed brow, Ruelle bit her lip.
“Melissa, that’s a bit much.”
One of the watching ladies stepped in to stop the woman called Melissa.
“That’s right. It’s a happy day, so let’s only talk about good things.”
It seemed everyone felt the same way; once one person spoke up, the others quickly added on.
“Oh my, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Melissa raised one hand to cover her mouth and smiled with her eyes.
“I just didn’t realize you thought talking about your fiancé, His Highness the Crown Prince, wasn’t a good thing.”
As if.
That woman, Melissa, clearly seemed to dislike Ruelle.
Her actions made her intentions obvious.
“…Ha.”
At the short sigh that sounded close by, I lifted my head.
Iaat was pressing his fingers to his temple.
If I could hear it, he must have heard everything.
“He’s probably been through situations like this countless times.”
I doubted it was just once or twice.
And now it was only about his madness—but originally, it would’ve been about him killing someone.
Just attending events like this must have been torture for Iaat.
He always suffered from the fact that he couldn’t control or remember his actions, yet they were still his.
Since it was a political engagement, there were no sweet words of love or warm comfort.
But just the fact that Ruelle stayed by his side was something Iaat was always grateful for.
“Gasp.”
Lost in thought, I let out a stupid sound when Iaat suddenly turned around.
“…What are you doing here?”
“Ah….”
Facing Iaat as he frowned and questioned me, my mind went completely blank.
Then I suddenly remembered the macarons in my hands.
“…These!”
One of Iaat’s eyebrows twitched as he looked at the macarons I thrust forward.
“What’s this.”
“They’re called macarons—a dessert I made. They’re really delicious.”
Iaat slowly alternated his gaze between me, smiling awkwardly, and the macarons.
“I wanted to bring them so that Your Highness could try them.”
Iaat hesitated briefly, then picked up one of the macarons from the tray.
Then he stared at me silently for a moment.
“Hey.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
…What? Did I hear wrong?
I was sure he called me, so I answered—but Iaat’s gaze was fixed on the macaron.
His lips, which had been twitching earlier, were now tightly pressed together.
“Then I’ll be going now—”
One thing I absolutely couldn’t stand was silence.
As I started backing away to escape the suffocating quiet—
“…Aren’t you afraid of me?”
Iaat’s blue eyes turned toward me.
