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Volume 2, Chapter 22: Her food tastes of a gentle happiness.

Zeke walked down a corridor with the maid and eventually stopped in front of a room. A knight stood on either side of the door. Zeke resisted the urge to salute to them; old habits die hard. The maid knocked and entered the room, followed by Zeke.

“My, the dessert is here! I requested a shortcake today.”

The woman who exclaimed joyfully was probably Her Majesty the queen. She leaned forward from the sofa and followed the maid with her eyes. On the sofa to the left sat Risa. She wore a light blue dress and was smiling at the queen, but she looked towards the entrance and her eyes met Zeke’s.

“Wha…Zeke? Why…”

Risa blinked, surprised, and she stood up.

“Risa, you know this person?”

“He is an employee at the café…”

“My, is that so?”

“Zeke, why are you here?”

“Mister Keith told me to help out… the person usually in charge of cake is on vacation.”

“Oh, does that mean you made the cake today?”

The queen said, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“Yes.”

“Oh my! That means this is a shortcake from Café Omusubi! I’m so happy, I don’t get the chance to eat it often!”

“The sponge cake was baked by a royal chef, but I did the decoration.”

“I’m still happy to try it. Show me, show me!”

Zeke hesitated in front of the queen, who chittered over the cake like a young schoolgirl. He looked over at Risa, who smiled wryly.

Zeke picked up the cake from the trolley and placed it in front of the table in between the two.

“It’s so gorgeous! So beautiful!”

“Zeke, you decorated this?”

“Yes.”

“Cute…”

Risa looked at the cake and smiled. The queen fidgeted with excitement, to which Zeke said, “Your Majesty, please pick a slice on the cake and I will cut it out for you.”

“I’ll have this part, with the flower and the fruit! Would that be too much to ask?”

“No. I shall plate it for you, then.”

The maid handed Zeke the cutting knife, and he cut out and offered the slice to the queen. The queen smiled happily.

“These flowers are also used in tea, so they are edible, but they are used as a decoration today. Please avoid them while you partake.”

He said, just in case, then looked at Risa, asking with his eyes which part she wanted.

“I think I’ll have this part.”

Risa pointed at a part opposite of the queen, and Zeke plated it. He placed the cake in front of Risa while the queen let out a “Mmmmm~” sound as she already started eating.

His Highness the crown prince was not with them.

Zeke looked around the room, but the only men here were the knights on duty outside the room.

Risa’s meeting with the crown prince might have already ended. Zeke thought about what to do next. His job was done, now that he had finished cutting the cake.

“I would like another slice!”

Despite having given her a bigger slice, the queen was already demanding another with her plate licked clean. Her keen eyes urged Zeke to hurry up. Zeke wiped the knife clean with a cloth and walked back to the cake on the table. The queen pointed at the part she wanted before he could ask, so he quickly cut and plated the slice and placed it in front of the queen.

He looked towards Risa to see if she also wanted seconds, but she still had more than half of her slice. For now, Zeke moved back to retreat to the trolley when he was stopped by the queen.

“Zeke, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you sit next to Risa?”

He was caught off guard by her words and glanced at Risa, who made a small motion towards herself. So Zeke sat down next to her.

The queen took a bite of her cake and set her fork down, determined to enjoy her cake at a more leisurely pace. Then she said, “I see Risa is not to be underestimated. You have such a wonderful person working by your side!”

“No, I-”

“Fufu, maybe you turned down my son’s proposal because of him?”

“N-no, uhm-”

She turned down the marriage proposal?

Zeke was taken aback by the queen’s words.

“Well, my son wasn’t interested in the first place, so it would have been impossible anyway. He was so angry at me, even when it wasn’t just my fault… Anyway, I’m really really sorry. I’ve caused quite the commotion…”

“No, no, please do not lower your head like that, Your Majesty.”

Her son…by which she means the crown prince? The crown prince never wanted to have marriage talks with Risa?

Unable to piece the puzzle together with the smattering of information he was getting from their conversation, Zeke butted in and said, “Uhm, about the marriage talks between Miss RIsa and His Highness…”

“It’s been canceled. Erased. Something I said in jest was taken seriously by the servants… I caused so much trouble for you, Risa.”

Canceled…

Zeke couldn’t help but let out the breath he had been holding, when the queen proclaimed loudly, “Let me make it up to you by introducing a perfect partner for you!”

“Wh-what?! I-”

“No, thank you!”

Before Risa could say anything, Zeke turned down the queen’s offer.

“What… Zeke?”

He couldn’t bear it anymore and he faced Risa on his left and took Risa’s right hand. Risa flinched at his sudden touch. Zeke ignored that and kneeled on the ground before taking Risa’s other hand and looking up at her.

“Miss Risa…No. Lady Risa Kurokawa Claude.”

“…Y-yes?”

Incredibly shaken by the suddenness, Risa squeezed out a squeak.

Zeke flung all care to the wind and continued.

“…I like you. Please go out with me.”

He held Risa’s hands tighter so she couldn’t escape.

“Oh me, oh my!”

The queen chittered excitedly, but her voice did not reach Zeke, who only looked at Risa.

Risa looked down at her lap, her cheeks flushed red.

Zeke waited with bated breath for her answer as his heartbeat grew louder and louder in his own head, so much that he worried whether she had heard his confession.

After a while Risa suddenly looked at him and shook her head. Zeke stiffened, thinking he was rejected, when she asked, “Do you really like me?”

“…Whatever do you mean?”

He said in a low voice. Risa shook at his unusually low pitch, but Zeke didn’t have the energy to analyze her reaction. He simply gazed at her and awaited her answer. Meanwhile Risa slowly pieced her words together while her eyes flitted to and fro, clearly anxious.

“…What Zeke likes, is… not me… but… the sweets I make, right?”

“Wha…”

“So that, that is to say… you might be confusing that… for feelings towards me, right?”

She said, finally looking away from him. His hands fell away from hers.

“In other words, because I like the sweets you make, I’ve confused that with liking you as a person? …Is that what you’re saying?”

“What if I couldn’t cook at all? What if I couldn’t make a single dessert? Even then, would you be able to say you like me?”

Risa said in a hoarse voice, as if her feelings could no longer be contained. She turned back to face Zeke, but her eyes were wet with tears threatening to fall.

If I back down now, she will never be mine.

Zeke’s gut told him he couldn’t let this chance go to waste.

“Miss Risa,” he called her name in a gentle voice.

“It’s true that I like the sweets and the food that you make. That’s because you put your heart into your food.”

Risa’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I cannot make the same flavor even if I try. Of course, my skills are nowhere near yours, but your food shows your personality and your feelings. It tastes of a kind and gentle happiness. That is why I like your food. Besides, it’s pointless to think about what would happen if you couldn’t cook. Your culinary skill is one of the many facets that make you Miss Risa; it is just as important as your appearance and your personality. I like all of you.”

Zeke elaborated fervently as he gently took Risa’s hands, those hands with short nails, again and gazed up at her.

Please, let my feelings reach her. Let her tearful face shine with a smile.

Risa flushed a deeper red, and she made a complicated face mixed with joy and uncertainty. She asked Zeke, “…Really?”

“Yes, really. Will you accept these feelings of mine?”

Zeke asked again, to which Risa cast down her eyes in resignation.

She whispered, “… Yes.”