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She didn't know how many times she had poked the fermenting dough while trying to calm her startled heart.
The dough was innocent. Holding the moderately risen lump of dough, she peeked at the backyard through the slightly open window.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Rahan seemed to have finished splitting the wood and was putting his shirt back on.
Furthermore, Rahan seemed to be quite a considerate person. When she went to the hearth with the iron plate holding the dough, a pile of appropriately split firewood was stacked next to the hearth. He must have left it there for her to use for cooking.
At Rahan's consideration, Iris felt like twisting her body in embarrassment in front of him.
Anyway, the dough came first now.
Iris opened the hearth door, waved her hand to see if the inside was hot enough, and then slid in the iron plate. The dough quickly rose inside the small hearth.
“What a delicious smell.”
Iris crouched in front of the hearth, taking in the savory aroma to her heart's content.
Priest Sorell, who was in charge of the monastery kitchen, called the warm, soft scent of baking bread the ‘scent of happiness.’
‘Why is it the scent of happiness?’
‘Because isn't it a happy thing to have bread to eat for another day?’
He said that, by the blessing of Eridrahan, having food to eat after completing one's work was the true meaning of happiness.
Priest Sorell would say that while tearing off a piece of freshly baked white bread and putting it into little Iris's mouth.
Getting a bite of bread like that was one of Iris's small pleasures and joys.
‘I wonder if he'll like this bread too.’
Fortunately, Rahan welcomed the bread Iris made with great surprise.
“White bread?”
“I baked it with honey mixed in.”
Iris boasted as she set the bread on the table. Soft, sweet white bread was loved by all the patients in the Healing Center.
“I didn't think I'd be able to eat white bread. Ah, don't misunderstand….”
“I don't misunderstand.”
Iris smiled shyly.
“It's true that Wind Rock Monastery is poor.”
At the monastery, they mostly ate black bread mixed with coarse bran or hardtack. In fact, it had been quite a while since Iris herself had eaten this white bread.
“Since it's our first meal.”
Rahan tore a piece of the warm, steaming bread, dipped it in the separated wild honey, and paired it with the ale he had found earlier. It was a truly perfect taste.
Grand Duke Lacheize was quite a gourmet, and she had said there were all sorts of delicious things in the Grand Duchy. So, Iris had been inwardly worried if it would suit Rahan's taste.
Rahan was eating the bread in large bites with a satisfied expression. He ate so well that it made Iris feel good just watching him.
“…Did I eat too greedily?”
Interpreting Iris's expression in some way, Rahan, who had finished half the bread, asked awkwardly belatedly. Iris smiled brightly.
“No, I love it.”
Rahan flinched at those words, then gave an awkward smile.
“You mean you like that I eat well?”
“Yes!”
“I thought….”
'I thought...?' Just as she was about to tilt her head and ask, Rahan was looking away. If Iris had been just a bit more attentive, she would have realized that his earlobes were slightly red.
But something else caught Iris's attention. It was the axolotl curled up in the cage where Rahan had turned his head.
“Right, you have to eat too.”
“It's a waste on that brat….”
Rahan grumbled dissatisfiedly, but he didn't strongly stop Iris from breaking off a piece of bread for the axolotl. As if it had been waiting, the axolotl snatched the bread and ate it deliciously.
“By the way, does he not have a name at all?”
“Why bother naming a mere lizard?”
Actually, he did. But he didn't want to tell Iris. To be precise, it was a name better left unknown.
“That's mean. You said he's a fish!”
“Then just call him 'Fish'.”
As if rebelling, the axolotl held a piece of bread in its mouth and shook its head with a pururu.
Its pink, feather-like gills were shaking wildly and turning bright red; it seemed to be angry.
“Can I think of a name?”
“Do whatever you want.”
After giving a handful of bread to the axolotl and returning, Iris chattered while pouring the beer.
“I could only give you potatoes last night. It kept weighing on my mind.”
“Hmm?”
Rahan, sitting at the table with his arms crossed, raised an eyebrow.
“Well, you came from the Grand Duchy.”
The territory Grand Duke Yvette Lacheize received from the Emperor upon ascending to the Grand Dukedom was very large. Originally the Emperor's second daughter, she had been wealthy, but she became even wealthier upon becoming the Grand Duke.
The title and territory of the Grand Duchy of Lacheize, which had been without an owner for 15 years.
Originally, it was a title and territory that would have gone to the third prince. However, the Emperor gave it to the second, Princess Yvette, and added other territories to it.
This was thanks to the agreement of the first and third princes, who were wary of the exceptionally smart and quick Yvette entering the struggle for the throne.
Thus, everyone thought she would be very satisfied with the position of Grand Duke Lacheize and would not interfere in the struggle for the throne.
But that was a miscalculation.
‘What on earth does everyone think the reason is that I bothered to pick up and raise the child the Margrave of Norwich threw away? Of course, it's because I had ulterior motives.’
Grand Duke Lacheize had grumbled so openly.
Of course, in front of Rahan.
What expression did Rahan make then? At any rate, he didn't get angry.
Regardless, it was only natural that the Grand Duchy of Lacheize prospered immensely after meeting a resourceful new owner.
Moreover, through the expedition, a vast amount of exotic spices and delicacies from Til Nebe Cedric flowed in.
Rumors openly circulated that the Grand Duchy of Lacheize was far wealthier and had more to see than the capital, Foldenbach.
“Robbie from the lower village said so. That in big cities, there are many more things tastier than potatoes.”
Robbie, the chief's son, often went to Arnsberg with his father. Arnsberg was the name of this region belonging to the Grand Duchy, as well as the name of the fairly large city at its center.
Of course, it was at the very edge of the Grand Duchy, but for Robbie, the fact that he had been to Arnsberg was a great point of pride.
‘There are so many things tastier than roasted potatoes or white bread!’
Thus, whenever Robbie returned from Arnsberg, he would brag like that and hand Iris a bag of sweets.
Something like, "I picked this up on my way here"?
“Isn’t that funny? Why would he give me something he just picked up on the way? No matter how much of an orphan I am, I don’t eat things picked up off the ground.”
That’s not what that means.
Watching the indignant Iris, Rahan carved the name Robbie into a corner of his mind.
Because while there may be free bread in this world, there is no such thing as free sugar.
Kindness only goes as far as free honey. Like Priest Marid's wedding gift.
“So, did it bother you that I gave you potatoes?”
“Ah, of course, roasted potatoes are the tastiest thing in the world, but….”
Iris rolled her eyes and let her voice trail off. Rahan chuckled.
“They were delicious.”
“…Really?”
Iris looked so happy she almost leaped up. The man shrugged.
“I told you earlier. I’ve been through all sorts of things on my expeditions. Going hungry is common. Gourmet tastes are a luxurious hobby, young lady.”
Of course, that was half a lie.
While going hungry was common, Rahan himself was the savior of the gourmets in the Grand Duchy of Lacheize.
It was Rahan who had brought in mountains of all sorts of spices and ingredients, starting from cumin and cinnamon.
The reason given was that it was for Grand Duke Yvette Lacheize, who had a taste for fine dining.
‘Though there is another real reason.’
Rahan kept his mouth shut, choosing not to mention that reason. It wasn't something to say in front of such an innocent young lady.
‘…Seriously.’
If this lady knew even a little bit about how the Grand Duke had used Rahan Norwich, wouldn't she be welling up with tears?
He quietly watched Iris as she tore off small pieces of bread to feed the axolotl, asking, “Is it tasty?”
His heart was complicated.
Grand Duke Lacheize was a power-oriented person. And she was someone who didn't doubt that everyone else, except herself, was the same.
It was only natural. Was she not born into the Imperial Family?
Thus, while ordering Rahan to marry, she warned him that the marriage would be full of conspiracies and danger.
‘Even if she doesn't have the name Achen, she won't be a completely naive girl. She must know what marrying you means, so just go, have a decent honeymoon, and come back. For someone of the Achen Elector's rank, a divorce isn't that big of a flaw.’
That was how Yvette Lacheize thought. What would a girl who grew up in a poor monastery think if she suddenly found out she was the daughter of a Ducal House and in a position to receive the title of Elector?
Naturally, Yvette believed she would use any means necessary to obtain the title of Elector, no matter what.
She also believed the girl would naturally be prepared for a loveless marriage.
‘She’ll know very well that she has to cooperate with me to reclaim her position.’
‘Is that why you accepted the marriage? Why are you telling me this?’
‘Listen carefully, Rahan.’
Yvette snorted.
‘Think again about what Abbot Wilbert said when he proposed this marriage. About how he didn't want to send his adopted daughter to an old fogey like Philod Ahen.’
‘Why is that?’
‘Isn't it insidious? Mentioning an adopted daughter specifically when there is a biological daughter of House Achen.’
In other words, according to Yvette Lacheize, Abbot Wilbert was an ambitious man who wanted to become the Elector following Archbishop Victor.
And he had seized the opportunity presented by Iris Achen.
‘Once I use Iris Achen to become Emperor, he'll look to secure his own interests.’
‘…Is that how it is?’
‘Iris Achen is probably similar. How resentful must she be? Growing up stuck in the countryside for twenty years without knowing a thing about the share that should have been hers.’
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