An hour had passed since the macaroon ban was imposed.
Then Elaine asked for some cookies without knowing that the macaroon ban also includes all other desserts and pastries. This was impossible.
The emperor indulged me in sweets and now he was banning all of them. This was wrong.
It’s tyranny, but she couldn’t beat an adult. In the end, she had no choice but to surrender. Sadly.
She might have given up, but she won’t be hasty in the future.
***
Eight hours have passed since the macaroon ban started.
Elaine was in big trouble. She couldn’t close her eyes even if she tried to sleep at night.
She thought she could even taste the macaroons without even seeing them. Now her eyes were red and her dark circles were more prominent.
The damn macaroon ban.
Please let Elaine’s face be seen by the world tomorrow to know the horrors of this ban, and give her a macaroon for god’s sake…!
***
It had only been two nights since the macaroon ban was imposed.
Damn it. Elaine had begged for macaroons several times, but the servants pretended not to hear her.
The only time she got what she wanted was a piece of chocolate a day if she brushed her teeth.
She couldn’t bear it. They must be training her. They don’t know how many times Elaine had been brushing her teeth every day since she got her cavities. They even reassured her that someday she will receive macaroons if she continues to do well.
As expected, adults are mean.
She needed macaroons right now.
Macaroons… macaroons…!
***
The third night after the macaron ban.
Elaine was turning into a zombie…
***
Late at night,
When everyone was asleep, a small figure crept around in the dark.
“Uh…”
It was none other than Elaine.
She had been so aggravated after the second day, looking down at her trembling hands under the moonlight.
She clenched her fists.
‘I can’t do this. If macaroons don’t go in my mouth right now, I might die like this!’
Elaine jumped off the bed in an urgent manner.
She lit the candle that Alice would put out before saying goodnight.
“Undine!”
-Mm?
In the process, she had burned her hand and called for Undine, who spat water and cooled off the burn.
Elaine looked at the Spirit of Water, Undine, and thanked her happily.
“Will all the chefs get off work soon?”
She picked up the candlestick and opened the door slightly with a grim face.
However, the sight soon forced Elaine to pause.
This was because the palace, when all the lights were extinguished, had turned pitch-back with terrifying darkness.
At that moment, the small child did not want to leave her room, but she soon shook away the fear.
‘I’m going to be a zombie sooner or later, so I can’t just give up on this.’
-Mm?
Yeah. It’s less scary when you have a cute spirit beside you.
So, Elaine scurried to find the kitchen.
She was dressed in white pajamas and moved like a zombie.
Even strange sounds and lights started swaying in the hallway.
If anyone saw this, they would think it was a scene where they would scream “It’s a ghost!” and faint.
Fortunately, Elaine walked down the hallway that was out of reach from the knights.
‘I wasn’t just hanging out waiting to rot for the last three days.’
The low-level spirit Undine did not know how to speak human words, but she was a spirit with intelligence.
She had been scouting the hallways every other night, so if Elaine just followed her, everything would be fine!
“Since you know the way around.”
Finally, on a familiar path, Elaie patted Undine’s head as she had done a good job.
It was the hallway she walked through the most.
In the past, she had stopped by this place several times and was only a few steps away from the kitchen.
As they walked a little longer, the destination was getting closer and closer.
The kitchen appeared.
But…
“Uh…?”
That’s weird. It was definitely time for everyone to get off work, so why are the kitchen lights still on?
Don’t tell me it’s a ghost…
In any case, in order to find the macarons Elaine had no choice but to check inside.
She swallowed her saliva and walked through the door with tension.
She looked into the kitchen.
And the sight was truly shocking.
“Eleven… twelve… thirteen…”
The one in the kitchen was neither a ghost nor a stranger, but the head chef.
He’s right next to the door.
Front the counter, Elaine could smell this sweet, subtle, and peasant scent that Elaine knew all too well.
She breathed in vain, alternating her glance between the chef’s apron and the smile on the chef’s face.
‘What am I even trying to look for? Are you saying that all my determination and hard work to get here was now going to plummet to the ground?’
It was a tense atmosphere.
And it had all started when Elaine, a mercenary in the past, woke up to this amazing new life with the emperor.
‘Didn’t you say you’ll make a slush fund a few days ago?’
The funds… Although she had been busy for a while because of the macaroon ban, how could she forget something so important?
The creation of slush funds. It was definitely set as the next goal after her cavity problem was settled.
Wide-awake Elaine watched the scene in front of her, troubled.
Maybe someone would hear Elaine and she would get in trouble.
Of course, she had no intention of letting the chef know she was here.
She was just so excited that she made a loud sound.
Elaine, who coughed heavily, grabbed the chef’s sleeve.
“What’s wrong with the princess?”
“Uhm, I’m a little hungry…”
“R-really…?”
Elaine didn’t understand why the chef wouldn’t give in to her.
No matter if the child is the emperor’s daughter or a commoner’s daughter, it didn’t make sense that the chef didn’t think children were cute.
But Elaine said that she didn’t know why the chef was like that.
Currently, the emperor’s daughter was Elaine, whom the emperor cherished very much.
If it’s for her, the emperor might exaggerate a little and be willing to pick out the stars in the sky.
“Macaroon?
“Yes?”
“Uh…”
Elaine, who shouted macaroons unknowingly, couldn’t speak anymore.
How crazy was she about macaroons, that she wanted to put them in her mouth as soon as she saw them?
Elaine shook her head in a hurry and made excuses.
“Oh no, that’s not it…”
“Are you talking about this?”
The plate stuck out in front of Elaine’s face.
Elaine smiled. She nodded blankly, drooling at the shape of the macaroon that made her dizzy.
“Yes!”
…Oh no.
She noticed her mistake too late.
It’s like picking up what you’ve already said.
Above all, the chef seemed to be nice.
“You can secretly give me macaroons every day and I will pretend I don’t know about it.”
“Princess…”
The chef trembled at Elaine’s words.
“Ugh! Mister, are you sure you’re not an angel?”
Her expression was filled with warmth.
“Yes! Trust me! No matter what happens, I’ll make sure to get your macaroon! At the risk of my own life!
“Oh no, I don’t want to risk your life…”
Elaine held her cheek with a grim face.
It was good to have a macaroon supplier, but really. Could she trust him?
She felt that he was unreliable without even knowing why.
But that was how the deal between a four-year-old child and an assistant chef went.
***
Recently, strange rumors have been circulating among the people.
The rumor centered around a very kind-hearted lady. She was like an angel. Actually…
If Elaine had heard this rumor, she would probably feel nasty and shout, “My hands and feet are cringing!”
And that rumor all started from the assistant chef.
Of course, he spilled all the stories he could before getting caught.
He said that he made a big mistake and the angelic lady had saved him. He made a rumor by sketching exactly what he had in mind.
And it is to set fire to the hearts of the people who were admiring the cute lady.
Thanks to this, the number of people who sympathized with the emperor increased, saying that they understood why he adopted the princess as his daughter.
Even the rumor spread so quickly that it became a daily news to the bureaucrats.
And at that time.
Elaine became the angel.
“Princess! What’s this in your hand? Did you secretly eat macaroons?”
“What! Really?”
Elaine, who was quickly caught by Alice, ran into the palace in a hurry to escape her.
The speed of an adult was much faster than the speed of a child running with all their might, but the surrounding maids and servants secretly moved aside after they noticed the urgent situation.
Alice, who was running towards Elaine, suddenly felt embarrassed when she saw a human wall in front of her.
“You guys, what are you doing?”
“Oh my, there’s so much dust here.”
“I see a lot of dirt on the floor today. You have to clean it up.”
“Do you clean with your bare hands without anything? Get out of my way!”
Alice’s cry resounded loudly in the palace.
In the meantime, Elaine, who fled very far away, gasped and laughed.
“Hehe. I don’t know what happened, but it’s a perfect win!”
She almost lost the two macaroons in her pocket.
As she slowed down, Elaine took out the macaroon and smiled.
But then.
FWOOSH-
“Ah!”
Just right around the corner, Elaine bumped into someone and stumbled back.
The macaroons rolled onto the floor, and Elaine’s expression frowned painfully.
Elaine shook her head as if to get rid of the dizziness and looked up to apologize to the person she bumped into.
But…
“Hmm. This is my son’s adopted child?”
A woman carrying an intense and heavy aura spoke out.
Behind her were a group of elegant maidens as she looked down at Elaine with cold eyes that reminded her of the Emperor.
~To be continued~