“This is what Your Highness made for you and me!”
Cedric also nodded his head in agreement with his sister's words.
“Yeah, this is ridiculous. Why are we fed only the food prepared by the chef, while the residents of the Dark Mansion have the luxury of eating the food you cooked?”
The lower lips of both people were swollen.
It was just embarrassing to see not only Cedric but also Bianca, who was always cheerful, and angry enough to show her horns.
“No, I... Now that I look at it, I wonder if it's too simple food for His Highness the Grand Duke and the Princess to eat, so...”
“I can’t believe it’s simple, this is simple...!”
Bianca shouted, hiding the large plate of sandwiches behind her.
“This is the most precious food I have ever seen...”
After acting like an upset child for a moment, Bianca's cheeks soon turned bright red.
“I have never eaten food that my family made for me. Not even from my mother or father...”
They were born as children of noble families from two worlds, the demon world, and the human world, and have lived a long life following the rules.
The culture of commoners cooking food for each other as a family was bound to be unfamiliar.
'I guess I was secretly jealous of that.'
I could feel that just by looking at Cedric and Bianca's eyes as they looked at the food I had prepared.
Their eyes, which were rarely impressed even in the presence of top-class cuisine, were sparkling with emotion and joy.
“If you’re going to send the food you made to the dark mansion..."
Cedric's voice sank even lower.
“Those who ate it will no longer need their tongues from that day on.”
“...”
“They have already tasted heavenly food before their master, and they no longer need their tongue. Right, Bianca?”
It sounded like they were going to rip out the tongues of the Dark Mansion residents who ate the food I made if they sent it to them.
I don't know if I heard correctly or not, but Bianca nodded her head clearly towards Cedric.
“Yes, I think they won’t need their tongue much after that day.”
As I watched Bianca say scary things without any hesitation, I became as frozen as ice.
‘Ooh, our Bianca is now... No, no! Our Bianca doesn't know anything right now, so she'll just answer brightly...'
I shook my head as if in denial.
Then I held out the plate containing the food I had made in front of them again.
The purpose became a little unclear, whether it was to create memories for the three of us or to save the tongues of the maids.
“Stop being scary, ha... It can't be helped. Bianca quickly put the plate you hid behind your back in front of you. If we all want to eat together.”
Bianca laughed and put the plate back in its place.
“This is Bianca’s favorite egg sandwich. Oh, Cedric said he likes soup with a little bit of substance, so I tried potato soup. And since the mashed eggs and potatoes might leave your mouth feeling dry, I prepared a refreshing apple salad.”
After explaining, I smiled shyly.
“Western food that I know how to make myself... No, we only have a few foods, so this is the best.”
Out of embarrassment, useless excuses flowed out like a defense mechanism.
Whether they knew how I felt or not, smiles bloomed on the faces of the siblings.
At the sight of that, a sound of air escaping from my lips escaped.
‘Okay, what if it doesn’t suit your taste? Still, I did my best.'
I picked up a sandwich and held it out in front of Bianca.
“Bianca, do you want to try it first?”
“Oh, yes, yes!”
“Well then, ah...”
Bianca bit into the sandwich with her dainty mouth.
A bright light once again appeared on the face of the child who chewed and swallowed the sandwich.
“Wow! It’s so delicious!”
"Really?"
“Yes, really! It’s much, much more delicious than what the chef made himself?”
Bianca took the sandwich from my hand and began eating it herself.
I was watching this kid with a smile because she was so amazing, but I felt eyes on me from somewhere.
“...Why do you look at me like that?”
Cedric's gaze fell on the plate containing the sandwich.
'Why are you doing that? Are you a little hesitant to eat it?'
It was a time when I understood him but also felt sad inside.
"Ah."
I stared blankly at Cedric, who suddenly opened his mouth in front of me.
Then he pointed alternately between the sandwich and his own face with an expression so confident that it seemed arrogant.
“Me too, ah.”
It seemed like he meant for me to feed him, just as I did for Bianca.
I looked at him with bewildered eyes and let out a small sigh.
“Stop playing around and eat it yourself, Cedric.”
“You fed Bianca.”
“Bianca is still young.”
“I’m still young too.”
“...It means that Princess Bianca is worried that it might spill on her dress.”
“Oh, I’m not used to eating with my hands either, so I think I’ll spill it.”
As I closed my mouth as if ignoring him, Cedric's face came up to my nose.
I blinked in surprise at the sudden proximity.
Then, a charming low note flowed from his lips as he smiled leisurely.
"Huh? Then the maid will be in quite a bit of trouble.”
It was an unusually cute excuse.
It was a moment when I let out a small laugh and faced those blue, beautiful eyes again.
Bianca seemed to notice that I was shaking and added her words.
“Your Highness, can you please feed Your Highness the Grand Duke as well? On days like today, I want to see the two of you getting along well...”
In the current situation, a single word from the child was tantamount to invincibility.
Isn’t this picnic prepared to make memories for Bianca?
After thinking about it, I finally picked up another sandwich.
“Oh, try it. Cedric.”
Cedric's eyes widened slightly.
Even though he begged me to do it, he didn't seem to think that I would actually do it.
'Either that, or I was surprised that it felt better than I expected.'
It seemed to be the latter. Soon, uncharacteristically for Cedric, even the back of his neck blushed and he burst into joyful laughter.
“...It was something like this.”
He mumbled softly and gently touched my wrist, which held out the sandwich.
“This was the feeling of being both peaceful and happy.”
Then he handed me my hair and gently kissed my cheek.
Cedric's eyes were filled with pure happiness, and Bianca's face was shining brightly with joy as she looked at him and me.
Spring flowers in full bloom, lush greenery, flower petals fluttering beautifully in the breeze, and the scent of spring.
And the three of us finally became a family.
I desperately hoped that this moment would last forever and that our separation would be far away.
Of course, it was... Even though I know very well that it is a wish that is difficult to come true for us today.
***
In the early morning, Kevin left the Mansion of Light and was walking toward the castle gate, letting out a long yawn.
In the garden, the spring flowers that had bloomed yesterday thanks to the Grand Duke's family's picnic were frozen and fallen.
The spring that the Grand Duke had called for had already gone away, and the return of winter, as always, depicted a bare scene.
By this time, all the newspapers published within the empire would have been piled up at the guard post in front of the castle gate.
It was the responsibility of Kevin, the youngest of the Twins family employees, to wake up early in the morning and fetch it.
He celebrated his birthday last month and had just turned fifteen, and like everyone else, he was proud to work as a servant for the Twins family.
His only complaint was the spiteful Grand Duchess, but even that concern disappeared a few months ago.
The Grand Duchess sincerely repented of her past mistreatment of them and became a completely different person from before.
Now, it was hard to even recall her vicious past.
The employees who truly respected the Twins family eventually accepted her with a wide heart as she changed.
They truly loved their Grand Duchess and were proud of her.
And it was the same for young Kevin.
“Good morning, Mr. Mensley.”
As soon as Kevin said hello, the window of the guard post opened.
“Haam... Kevin, seeing as you have appeared, it seems like morning has come.”
Mensley, who was on guard duty last night, had drowsiness piled up in his eyelids.
He glanced toward the newspaper basket next to the guard post.
“Hurry and take it back. Everyone has probably arrived.”
"Yes."
Kevin walked down the familiar side road next to the guard post and headed to where the newspaper basket was.
As Guard Mensley said, all the newspapers for that day had arrived, from the Imperial Newspaper to the Zenard Economic Newspaper.
Kevin walked straight to the Mansion of Light, carrying several bundles of newspapers.
“I wonder if there will be any more interesting news today.”
Kevin muttered, holding several bundles of newspapers under his arms and unfolding one newspaper with both hands.
Then he burst out laughing, thinking it was funny to see himself pretending to be an adult.
The benefit of this job was that he could watch the morning's news secretly, but faster than anyone else.
Even before Grand Duke Cedric.
Kevin took full advantage of this and kept up with the Empire's gossip.
'Since the news of Baron MacBurnell's affair was published yesterday, perhaps the identity of the mistress may have been revealed today?'
Kevin licked his lips and opened the page with the gossip section.
“McBurnell, McBurnell....”
As he was skimming the newspaper, looking for the news he was waiting for, he felt strangely uneasy.
'Hmm...? I think it said something about the Twins on the front of the newspaper?'
Oh, that can't be true.
As was his habit, Kevin glanced back at the gossip column for a moment before suddenly feeling ominous, so he hurriedly folded the newspaper and checked the article featured on the front page.
“Twins Grand Duke and his wife suddenly divorce! - Due to a long-standing feud due to personality differences..."
Even if Kevin rubbed his eyes and looked again, the printed words did not change.
“What is this... Why is this article...?”
When he opened the other newspapers he had under his arm, they all had the same content on the front page.
At that moment, all the blood drained from Kevin's face.
He ran straight to the Mansion of Light and shouted, shaking the bell at the entrance.
“Butler, come out now! This is a big deal! There was a strange article in the morning newspaper!”
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