Looking for My Fiancé's Lover

T/n: back to the main storyline~

“Oh my, look at these apple muffins. How nice they look! They are like a work of art!”

“That’s true. They almost look too good to be put into my mouth.”

“Can I see the chef who made these muffins?”

“I wonder who he is too.”

Why would you be curious about that?

I picked up a muffin on the fancy porcelain plate, decorated with red and yellow. But the garnishments did not look appetising at all. It even smelled bad. I bet it would taste like old rubber when I chew on it.

I then shook my head, trying to hide my displeased expression and put the muffin down again. Seeing me like that, Caron, who was sitting next to me, covered her mouth and giggled.

“You overrated it. Hey, Marie?”

At Caron’s call, a maid, who was standing inside the chrysanthemum flower garden, approached.

“Yes, please speak.”

“Can you bring Mr. Gred? The young ladies really want to meet him.”

“He’d love that. I will bring him right away.”

Caron smiled and picked up the teacup. As her personal maid, Marie, disappeared with quick steps, the girl who was staring with twinkling eyes drew a smile.

“Is his name Gred? I’ll have to secretly ask him to write down the recipe when we meet!”

“It looks like the chef’s special recipe. Will Mr.Gred reveal it?”

“It doesn’t matter even if he does not tell me. It’s already enough to see such a beautiful dish.”

“Oh-ho-ho, you’re right!”

They had a good laugh. The three aristocratic ladies, plus Caron, sitting together, were busy laughing for whole two hours without getting tired. Could there be a cramp in the corner of their mouth? Looking at their joyful face, it was obvious that at some point they would collapse grabbing their stomach from laughing too much.

“By the way…I guess lady Katrina doesn’t like the muffins that much.”

The atmosphere at the table, which used to be friendly, became quiet in an instant.

The first hardship came sooner than I thought.

I took a deep breath and quickly rolled the wheels in my head. How should I answer to make the tea party go smoothly?

‘Oh my, how is that possible? I love these muffins too. Speaking of which, should I try one as well?’ (The answer Kate thought of)

And then I would have to swallow this rubbery bread. But in consideration of the well-being of my taste bud, it wouldn’t be a very good answer.

‘Ah, yes. To be honest, I don’t really like desserts with a lot of sugar on them. But they indeed look very nice! And I also want to meet Mr. Gred.’

Not a bad answer. But what if they think that I am ignorant and do not have good taste because I don’t agree with them? No, even though I don’t have much pride left to throw away, I couldn’t afford to hear such words within the Entera Castle. It’s a tea party that Caron prepared for me. This is not any ordinary tea party, but a tea party that invites women who were known for being especially beautiful in the wide social circle of the empire!

Of course, they were also candidates for Nezar’s lover. In order to make them the crown prince’s woman, I had to get close to them. For that purpose, I was willing to kill my temper. After much consideration, the option I chose was the first.

“That can’t be true. I love these muffins too. It’s so colourful that it looks like a pretty little toy. Its scent also smelled good. Speaking of which, I will try it!”

“Wait, lady Kate? That muffin has carrot in it…”

I quickly put the piece glittering with red sugar in my mouth. Contrary to the thick rubber smell, the sweetness on the tip of my tongue was quite good. But just when I tried to chew the bread with a satisfactory feeling, a familiar obnoxious sensation burst into my mouth.

“Ugh.”

Damn it, why does this smell like carrots?

I stopped chewing and quickly turned to spit the food out of my mouth. The muffin bite, in a half-dry state, as it could not even reach the roof of the mouth, fell onto the grass.

“Kya!”

“Oh-, oh my.”

A small scream was heard from the table. Then, with the sound of a chair being pushed, Caron ran to me, grabbing the hem of her dress.

“My-, my lady, are you okay? Did you swallow it?”

“No, I spat it out before swallowing, so it’s okay.”

Actually, it’s not okay. Although I was a good eater, there were two foods that I could not digest: bell peppers and carrots. The former was just a vegetable I didn’t like one bit, so I avoided it, but carrots were purely an allergy. It was a food that I had to keep away because of the immediate swelling of my throat and face after swallowing.

“I’m-, I’m so sorry. Actually, the muffins for lady Kate were prepared separately on the plate next to you. I should have told you in advance… I’m so stupid…”

Caron, aware of the fact, was restless. She looked like she was about to cry. No wonder that plate was so far away from me.

“I’m fine. Can…can I excuse myself for a moment? Unfortunately, I’m allergic to carrots. I’ll just cool down and come back soon.”

I hurriedly cleaned my mouth and turned around. It smelled bad, and I thought I should stop since I didn’t feel good. The woman who frowned at my words nodded hastily. Out of the three, she was the least talkative and I couldn’t remember her name.

“Sure! Go ahead.”

“Then, excuse me for a moment.”

I turned around and headed to the castle. Perhaps it was because I was startled, but my heart was palpitating. It was such a misfortune that I had to go through such a nightmare again after a long time. I didn’t swallow it, but I did gulp down some crumbs in panic. Guess I wouldn’t be able to sleep because my body would be itchy all night.

“Lady Katrina has always stood out. Sometimes I wonder if she does that on purpose…”

It was when I was walking around the garden to calm my stomach from nausea. Perhaps not aware that I had moved past the bush not far from there, a loud voice came from across the chrysanthemum flower garden.

“Actually, I sometimes think that, too. Sir Lockheard Ezelot will return as a war hero, and Rick Ezelot has been honoured as the youngest professor at the Royal Academy this year… How could only lady Katrina feel a little distant?”

“She doesn’t look mature enough for her age, does she? Well, sometimes that’s cute though.”

“Oh ho ho! So it turns out that lady Malia has that kind of taste?”

“Oh my, I’m just kidding. It must be His Highness Nezar’s preference, not mine.”

Capricious will be on a 2-week break. See you on Easter (9th April) !