Episode 32
“Is it not to your taste? Why are you eating like that?”
“I’m eating slowly because I don’t want it to be gone too quickly.”
“Huh? But there’s so much of it.”
The basket was full of cookies. All of them were baked by me, and Alicia had packed every single one, sorted by ingredients, shape, and color.
She said that if she missed even one type, she’d get an earful later.
“It’s not that much. Honestly, if I put my mind to it, I could finish it all right now… And who knows when you’ll bake again.”
“I’ll bake more for you next time. Just say the word.”
“Really?”
Behind the Duke’s bright smile, Alicia’s voice seemed to echo in my head like a hallucination. That fox… Tch.
“Of course. I’ll bake as much as you want, so please eat comfortably.”
“Thank you.”
Only then did the Duke finally toss a cookie, much smaller than his palm, into his mouth.
A moment later, he smiled with his eyes gently crinkling. I dare say, that smile was sweeter than the cookie itself.
“It’s really delicious. Iris, have you tried one?”
“Oh, yes. Of course.”
Why am I the one sweating when it was the Duke and the knights who trained?
As I fanned my face, a cough came from nearby.
“Ahem, Your Grace, may I interrupt for a moment?”
“No. Can’t you see I’m busy flirting with my fiancée?”
“Generally speaking, most people wouldn’t consider that to be ‘busy.’”
The man who replied without blinking was Count Volani, who then turned his gaze to me.
“Since the Duke hasn’t introduced us, allow me. Pleased to meet you, Lady Duchess-to-be. I’m Count Volani, currently serving as the captain of the Rudian Knights, though I hardly deserve the title.”
Then, Count Volani introduced the man standing next to him.
“This young man is my son. He’s been called a prodigy in swordsmanship since he was young, easily standing out even among older and larger knights. By age ten, people were calling him a genius—”
“Adrian Volani. I serve as vice-captain of the Rudian Knights. I’ve been knighted, so please call me ‘Sir.’”
Sir Adrian cut off his father with a face red as a tomato and introduced himself.
It was quite amusing that Count Volani used the word “undeserved” when referring to his own title, but freely used “prodigy” and “genius” for his son. His fatherly love was clearly overflowing.
“I’m Iris. I look forward to working with you.”
“If introductions are done, you can go rest now. I still have some flirting left to do.”
“Why not just let us all hang out together?”
“Sure, sure. But more importantly—pass me some more cookies. These are great.”
Mark, who had approached at some point, reached for the cookie basket the Duke was holding.
But the Duke was fast. He protectively pulled the basket to his chest as if it were a newborn baby.
“Pick your battles! How dare you go after my cookies?”
“I’m not asking for gold or jewels! Even for a duke, hoarding a few cookies is just petty, isn’t it?”
Mark tried to snatch some cookies, and the Duke dodged away. It was an unexpected and ridiculous scene for the training grounds.
“Haha, it seems His Grace really loves the cookies you baked.”
“They were indeed delicious. Thank you for them.”
“Oh, I’m glad you liked them.”
Sir Adrian bowed politely, and I bowed in return.
“They’re so sweet and melt on the tongue… I thought my wife would love them, so I saved some for her. Do you happen to have any left?”
“Oh, I baked a lot. There are still some at the Iris residence. I’ll send some your way.”
“Thank you. My wife adores anything with sugar in it. She’s basically got a monopoly on every dessert shop in Pennington. I’ll introduce you sometime if you’re interested.”
“Oh! I actually know most of the good shops already. It might be fun to compare notes.”
“Really? Then if you’re okay with it, please send my wife an invitation sometime.”
“I’ll definitely do that.”
I wondered how many dessert shops the Countess Volani and I had in common.
‘It’d be great to discover some new places!’
My anticipation was swelling like rising dough when Count Volani coughed and added,
“By the way… I heard that the Duchess-to-be is very strong. How about an arm-wrestling match with me?”
“Father!”
“Absolutely not!”
Sir Adrian and Alicia cried out at the same time. Sir Adrian quickly bowed to me and said,
“My lady, it’s been a pleasure. I’ll take my leave now.”
He then dragged his father away like a sack of potatoes.
“Just one match! Just one arm-wrestling match!”
Even while being dragged, Count Volani shouted back. Alicia clicked her tongue in disbelief.
“That man seriously needs to pick better people to challenge. If he ever suggests something ridiculous like that again, just ignore him. You must not indulge him. Got it?”
Alicia’s tone was so fierce that I simply nodded obediently.
‘I kinda wanted to try…’
But I kept that thought to myself.
* * *
Back at the Iris residence, we grabbed the pre-packed cookies and headed to meet Miss Bell as scheduled.
“Iris unnie! Wow, did you bake all these cookies yourself?”
“Yes. Would you like to try some?”
“Yes! …Wow, jam cookies!”
With great excitement, Miss Bell grabbed a jam cookie in each hand and devoured them happily.
“Wow, they’re amazing! I think you’re even better than our chef!”
“Really? Thank you!”
“I’m not just saying that because I like you. These are seriously good. The best!”
With those heartfelt words, she cheered me up and finished her entire share of cookies by the time we reached the Lavender residence where the second daughter lived.
She looked longingly at the basket I was holding but, aware it was her sister’s share, she didn’t ask for more.
“Lady Duchess-to-be, Lady Veronica. Welcome.”
The butler and maids of the Lavender residence greeted us at the door, as we had arranged beforehand.
Bell spoke smugly in front of them.
“I’m here to see my sister. You’ll let me in this time, right?”
“Of course. But…”
“If she’s not feeling well, we’ll leave right away. You don’t need to repeat yourself—I already know.”
She snorted and grabbed my hand, pulling me inside before the butler could even guide us.
He sighed, clearly used to this, and followed after us.
“Lady Duchess-to-be, Lady Veronica. There’s already a guest with Lady Vanessa at the moment.”
“What? And you’re telling us just now?”
“I was just about to mention it…”
The butler sounded genuinely apologetic, so I quickly stepped in before Bell could say more.
“Who is the guest?”
“Lady Vanessa’s fiancé…”
–Crash!
At that moment, a loud crashing sound echoed from the end of the hallway. We all turned our heads in surprise.
A man came out of the room looking as if he’d been thrown out.
“I’ll come back another time. Until then, please…”
“Don’t come back! I said—! Cough, cough!”
The shrill voice inside the room was quickly overtaken by a coughing fit.
The man’s face as he looked back at the room was filled with regret. He instinctively reached toward the door, then dropped his head in resignation.
I was shocked.
It was the same man who had just been talking to me earlier, now approaching with an apologetic expression as if he already knew we were there.
“My apologies. I seem to have upset Lady Vanessa.”
“Sir Adrian, did you get into another fight with my sister?”
That’s right—Sir Adrian’s “lady,” as Alicia had mentioned, turned out to be none other than the second daughter herself.
