A few days later, on the day of my second practice session with Eden. Eden, having learned from our first experience that he had to teach me everything from A to Z, meticulously guided me through every step today, from mixing ingredients to whipping the batter.
In reality, I was more like an AI or a marionette, simply doing as Eden instructed, rather than doing anything myself. However, the result was satisfying. I burned it a little, but it at least resembled something that could be called bread.
"Okay, what's next?"
"We'll cut the sheet cake horizontally. About three layers should be good."
"Why cut it? Can't we just put the whipped cream on top?"
"Well… you can, but it tastes better if you cut it and add syrup and whipped cream between the layers, or even some fillings."
"Ah, I see."
Then I should do as I'm told! I cut the sheet cake just as Eden had demonstrated. Or, to be precise, I tried to cut it. If only the bread hadn't gotten squished.
"Why is it doing this again…"
"When cutting bread, you need to relax your grip a little and move the knife gently back and forth."
"Or maybe the knife is just dull?"
"No, it's not."
Eden was surprisingly firm. This was a disaster. At this rate, I wouldn't even finish the cake by his birthday. If I had known this would happen, I should have worked part-time at a bakery before I died…
The cake layer, now flattened by my knife skills, was unusable, so I tried cutting a newly baked one. As Eden said, I relaxed my grip and moved the knife back and forth like a saw, and it was a little better than before. Except it was still ragged and crumbly.
"If you move the knife that much… no, it's fine. You did well."
"Eden, don't give up on me."
"I haven't given up. We'll cover it with whipped cream anyway, so it'll be fine. Probably…"
Eden was right. A three-layer cake was out of the question. It would be a miracle if I could make something resembling a cake on the day.
"Right, there's still plenty of time."
"Yes… I'm sure you'll get much better with a little more practice."
"Yeah, thanks again today…"
I left the kitchen, leaving behind his soulless encouragement. Eden was probably wondering how to make a cake with someone as hopeless as me. I, for one, hadn't expected that even cutting the bread would be such a challenge.
With no progress and completely exhausted, I returned to the bedroom, where Theo had, for once, arrived first. It wasn't even dinner time yet, so it was definitely an early departure. Or maybe he wasn't off work, but just taking a break?
"Theo! Are you done with work?"
"You should hug me first."
At his prompting, I quickly ran over and hugged him tightly. However, his arms around me felt weak, and he seemed strangely subdued, so I asked again.
"Are you sick? Or was today hard?"
"Why?"
"I don't know, you just seem tired and not in a good mood."
Instead of answering my question, Theo tucked my hair behind my ear, looked at me for a long time, and then asked a different question.
"You said you were feeling cooped up being in the room all the time. I hear you've been going for walks often lately."
Oh, no, did he come when I was in the kitchen? Orca must have said I went for a walk.
"Oh, were you here earlier?"
I tried to sound casual, but my flustered expression must have been obvious. Theo just looked down at my face, which was clearly filled with embarrassment.
Did he find out I was lying? Actually, I was acting so suspiciously that it would be weirder if he didn't notice.
As I hesitated, Theo pulled me into a hug and muttered, "If there's anywhere you want to go, tell me anytime. Let's go together."
He didn't find out? His expression is the same, so I can't tell… There was something unsettling about it, but it didn't seem like he knew, so I answered cheerfully.
"Yeah, of course. Don't worry."
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Considering what happened last night, I figured that if I wanted my frequent absences from the bedroom to seem plausible, I really had to go for walks often.
That way, even if I was gone again, he would assume I had gone for a walk, and there would be witnesses around.
It was an alibi, so to speak, but the Imperial Palace's garden, unlike the glass greenhouse, was often visited by outsiders, so it was clear that a lot of care had been put into its design, and it was set up like a walking path, making it quite pleasant to look around. Of course, it wasn't as fun to explore alone as it had been when I was with Theo.
"Lord Divine Beast!"
I had been walking around the walking path several times, and was about to head back up as lunchtime approached, when I stopped at someone's call. It was Ariel, running towards me with her skirt in her hands.
Whether it was because she saw me or because she was running, her cheeks were flushed and she had a sweet smile. She must be getting tormented by Rosetta right now, but it was amazing that there wasn't even a hint of distress on her face. Is this the mental strength of the original sunshine heroine?
"Hello, Lord Divine Beast! I've been wanting to greet you. It's an honor to meet you!"
Even though she came quite close, I didn't feel the usual aversion I felt when meeting others. How strange. Is it because she has divine power? Feeling unpleasant sensations whenever I was close to someone was more tiring than I thought, so I was even happier to see Ariel.
"Just call me Shuian."
"Oh, would that be alright…? Then, Lord Shuian…"
I just meant for her to call me by my name… I didn't think that Ariel, as a priestess, would be disrespectful to the Divine Beast, the child of God, but it seems that even calling me by my name was too much.
Anyway, she didn't seem insincere, and she just felt like a fan meeting her favorite celebrity, so I decided to let it go.
"What brings you here?"
"I heard that you often take walks in the garden, so I came here hoping to see you. I was lucky today!"
'Today'? Does that mean she's been here several times? She was too cheerful for someone who had made so many wasted trips, and I felt sorry for her for no reason.
It would be politically difficult to formally request an audience, but as a saintess and a precious guest of the Empress, Orca and the knights wouldn't be able to stop her from entering the garden. Of course, it was also because I had said that the saintess wasn't a dangerous opponent, so they weren't very wary.
"Why did you want to meet me?"
"Actually, I just wanted to talk to you, and I also had something I wanted to say."
"What is it?"
Ariel hesitated for a moment, pondered, and then carefully began to speak.
"I don't know if I should even say this, but please listen with an open mind."
What could it be that she's building up to this much…? Is she going to insult me?
"Okay."
"Well… I can feel very pure divine power from Lord Shuian. Of course, that's to be expected since you're the Divine Beast… but strangely, it also looks like it's torn."
As I tilted my head in confusion, Ariel added a little more explanation.
"I'm glad that I don't feel any demonic energy or other evil energy, but I was wondering if there was something wrong. It seems like the shape and amount have recovered a lot since I first saw you, but it still looks like quite a bit has been torn off, so I was worried that you might be sick."
"Torn off?"
"Well… I don't really know. I've never seen anything like this before… It's just my feeling. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help…"
She looked genuinely apologetic, so I quickly shook my head.
"No, thank you for telling me."
I had never seen my own divine power. I heard that my divine power exploded when I transformed into an eagle at Count Elmore's exhibition, but I wasn't really conscious at the time, so I didn't see it properly.
In the first place, I don't even know how to release divine power, so I had no way of knowing if my divine power was torn or cut off.
Anyway, it wasn't something that would benefit Ariel, and she came all the way here to tell me that fact, even though she thought I might get angry when she told me, so I was really grateful.
"I'd like to treat you to tea for coming all the way here to tell me, but Theo doesn't really like me talking to you."
That was sincere. I wanted to treat Ariel to something, but I didn't want to upset Theo, so I decided to tell the truth and ask for the understanding of the kind and gentle heroine.
"Of course, it's not that Theo dislikes you. He just doesn't like me being with other people for too long."
I added that in case she misunderstood me, but Ariel blushed and replied, "I know. It shows. You two are very well-matched."
What's well-matched about…? Seeing Ariel blushing again, I vaguely agreed. Well, whatever, good is good.
"You're very kind, but thank you for saying that."
"Only to you. I don't dislike you as much as other humans."
Even though it wasn't that I liked her, but that I didn't dislike her, Ariel smiled brightly.
"I hope we can have tea together next time."
"Me too. I'll ask Theo for permission."
"You promised!"
Ariel, who laughed with a voice as beautiful as rolling jade beads, bowed and turned back. She's so lovely and cute, no wonder Ricardo likes her.
'Does Theo like women like that too?'
I shook my head at the sudden thought. No, let's not think about that! Even if Theo gets married, it will be much later… I tried to walk bravely.
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