CHAPTER 5

“Duke, how dare you!” The Empress shouted and disagreed.

“Empress, silent! This is your son’s doing and this is the consequences. The House of Harrigan is the most powerful

house in this Empire but your son betrayed their trust!”

“Your Majesty…” The Empress speechless.

“Lastly, with this betrayal, the House of Harrigan will no longer support the Crown Prince for the throne. Here are the extrication documents, Your Majesty.” The duke handed the documents to the emperor’s aide.

Hearing the Duke’s declaration, some houses that support the Crown Prince felt dumbfounded. Truth to be told, the main reason they chose his side was because he was engaged to Althea, the only daughter of the most powerful house in the Yagish Empire.

With the extrication of Harrigan, the power of the Crown Prince for the throne has been massively decreased even if all the supporters behind the Empress were on his side. Moreover, the House of Marquis Payne and the Magic Tower were declared neutral from the beginning. It means that the Crown Prince didn’t have a more powerful house on his hands.

“Duke, I am the Emperor of this Empire ashamed of the Crown Prince’s doing. If you think the requests are fair to you, I’ll agree to everything. Despite this case, please keep supporting this Empire generally.” The emperor said sincerely.

“Sure, Your Majesty. I’ll dismiss myself now and these six people will be punished under Harrigan’s judgment.” The duke replied.

“Yes, Duke. I will not intervene.”

-------

A few hours after the duke’s commotion, the rumor of Althea and Crown Prince’s annulment because of Crown Prince’s infidelity with Lady Priscila spread among high-society.

“Do you hear the news? I feel sorry for Lady Althea. Now I know why she is always against Lady Priscila this whole time!”

“Yes, Lady Priscila always pretended as the victim. In fact, she is the root of the problem.”

“Not only Lady Priscila, but also the Crown Prince. I was really disappointed.”

-------

On the next day, many letters came to the Harrigan mansion. The letters were sent by the ladies of Althea’s age. The contents were mostly to comfort her or to invite her to a tea party.

“Zoey, I won’t go.” Althea threw all the letters and stretched lazily on the bed.

“My Lady, why?” Zoey asked in confusion.

“Zoey, listen. I am the victim and to gain more attention, I have to act more vulnerable. So, I will not attend these parties in the near time. Let the Crown Prince and that woman face people’s

attention, first.” Althea smirked.

“You’ll appear lastly as the main character, My Lady?”

“Exactly. You are smart, Zoey!”

“My Lady is so cool!” Zoey clasped her hands in excitement.

“Of course. Ah…I want to bake something. Let’s go to the kitchen.” Althea said.

“My Lady, you never went to the kitchen even once. Are you sure?” Zoey asked.

“I have a talent for baking. I can do it perfectly even without practice.”

“Wow…My Lady!”

Althea and Zoey headed to the kitchen. Its location was near the knights’ quarter and a bit far from the main building. They must walk through long corridors before arriving at the kitchen. Once they arrived, a kitchen maid noticed Althea’s presence.

“My Lady, you are here.”

“Oh my God, My Lady is here. Tell me what dish do you want, My Lady?” The chef asked.

“I am here to bake, Mr. chef.” Althea said.

“To bake? My Lady wants to bake?” The chef doubted his ears and asked again.

“Yes. Please prepare the baking equipment.”

“As your command, My Lady.”

The kitchen servants prepared the baking equipment right away. Some of the equipment was equipped with mana stones that supported the work more effectively.

“Here is the baking equipment, My Lady.”

“Thank you for the help everyone. I’ll make many so we can eat them together.” Althea said kindly.

“My Lady is the best!”

Althea started her baking time excitedly. Many servants came to the kitchen and watched how professional she was in baking. Her movements were so smooth as if it was her expertise. All the servants who watched the scene were in disbelief.

It was Arein’s skill. Baking was the hobby that encouraged her to start a Boutique and Dessert Café. Of course, baking any kind of cookies and cakes was a piece of cake to her. There were many

dessert recipes from the 23rd century on her head.

“Wow, our Lady is so skill-full.”

“You’re right.”

After she finished with the butter cookies, she sliced some chocolate and melted cheese bars into small pieces. She collected them and put them into two different bowls; one for chocolate pieces and one for melted cheese pieces.

Next, Althea made a small ball of butter cookie dough and organized them neatly on the long wooden table. When all the butter cookies dough had been divided into mini balls, Althea took one of the doughs. Then she put a mini chocolate bar inside the dough.

“Alright, I need more hands now. Anyone wants to help?” Althea asked.

“I want to help, My Lady.”

“Me too, me too.”

“Also, me, My Lady.”

With the help of some servants, it took an hour only until the raw cookies with chocolate and melted cheese bar finished. And it took about one and a half hours to bake all of them.

“It’s all done. Good job and thank you for the help everyone.” Althea said in satisfaction.

“Our Lady is very skill-full in baking!”

“My Lady, what is the name of this cookie?” Asked Zoey.

“Ah…all of you must be familiar with all crunchy cookies, right? This one isn’t only crunchy cookies. Instead, this is chewy soft cookies. Come on, let’s try them.” Althea said.

“Hmm…it’s so delicious, My Lady.”

“The chocolate is melting inside the cookies!”

“The cheese is also melting! I never ate this kind of cookie before.”

“Yes. You won’t find this kind of cookie at any dessert shop. Soft cookie has a crunchy texture on the outside, but it is so soft and chewy on the inside.” Althea explained.

“Oh my God, My Lady is truly a genius!”

“You all flatter me. My baking skill cannot be compared to Mr. chef.” Althea said shyly and stared at the chef.

“Oh, My Lady. Your skill is far above mine. I mean it.” The chef exclaimed.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***