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alpindale

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light-novels

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She stirred it again and tasted it. She squeezed her eyes shut, poured in some water, adding pepper once it was boiling. Then some more chopped herbs, just in case, before trying it again. The taste brought her quickly to her senses.

What have I done?!

Regret welled inside her. What a terrible decision, made purely out of exhaustion—inviting the crown prince to a kitchen so late and then making him soup.

“Um, Your Highness?” Rishe passed the bowl of soup from hand to hand. “I’m going to apologize in advance.”

“Advance of what? Wandering around the city again in the middle of the night?”

“Well, yes, I’ll apologize for that as well. Just…I should have thought this through, so I feel really bad about it, but…” She took a deep breath to ready herself for the admission.

Admitting weakness to a former enemy was difficult, not to mention embarrassing. Indeed, she was only doing it to prevent greater misfortune down the road. She struggled to find the right words. Finally, she managed to look Arnold in the eye and let out a strangled, “I-I’m bad at cooking!”

“Oh?” A fleeting look passed over his face, one Rishe had never seen before. It was gone too fast for her to divine its meaning. “Is that so?”

“I invited you here out of hunger and exhaustion, and I’ve made a huge mess of things. I shouldn’t have offered. I’m so sorry.”

“Well, I admit I was a bit confused,” Arnold said. “I don’t know any noblewomen who can cook.”

“Fair enough…” Rishe trailed off.

In her previous lives, she ate primarily to keep herself alive. She preferred food that tasted good, of course, but she’d take time to sleep over the time spent preparing a good meal. In her last life as a knight, she would at most boil a potato and add some salt. Easy.

From her time as an apothecary, Rishe knew that brewing medicines and cooking weren’t that different—you just added the right ingredients in the right quantities, chopping and boiling in a pot rather than a beaker. On the other hand, cooking was intrinsically different—you wanted it to actually taste good, and to do that, you needed to understand how to marry the flavors involved and the methods by which to enhance them.

She wouldn’t have cared if she were the only one eating this soup. She had gone this far with making this meal, but she felt too ashamed to feed it to Arnold as well. “It took so long, and now it won’t be good.”

Arnold said nothing.

“I’ll go fetch you something more edible from the main kitchens, just hold on a bit longer. Then we can talk about the Aria—”

Before she could finish, Arnold stood up, grabbed the dish from Rishe, and tasted the soup all in one smooth motion.

“Hey!” Rishe’s surprise momentarily delayed her reaction speed.

Ignoring her dismay, Arnold said, “This is actually pretty good.”

She gawked at him. “What?!”

Arnold finished off the rest of the dish. “I’m fine with soup.”

“You’re lying! I don’t believe you!” Rishe tried the soup again. It was just…bad. Certainly not worthy of praise, and definitely not something to serve a prince—or anyone else for that matter.

Why would he pretend to like it?

A memory popped into her head. Arnold, standing on the balcony and drinking the capsicum-tainted wine. It was just spicy but still not very drinkable.

Is there something wrong with his taste buds?

“Hey, you’re thinking something unflattering about me.” He pouted. “I can tell.”

Rishe, with a rush of fresh embarrassment, realized that Arnold was trying to be kind. She floundered for a beat.

“Thank you,” she said, rather nonsensically.

“You have me starving. Let’s get the dishes out.”

Moving automatically, Rishe quickly set the table. After that, there was nothing to do but dine on the…unique soup.

Typically, Rishe spent her meals alone. She’d never eaten with Arnold before, even during their journey. He was always busy with something or other, be it paperwork or directing the knights. This scene took on a sense of unreality, eating bad soup with a prince in the middle of the night.

They chatted a bit as they ate. When they were finished, Rishe felt sufficiently recovered to finally discuss the situation—the whole reason Arnold had come. Despite that, she insisted on clearing the dishes first.

“Basically, I need them to agree to my ‘unreasonable orders’—and to do that, I must make them a profit.” A rather vague explanation of her plan, but surely that was better than a long and boring one? Arnold was frowning, so she added, “The Aria Trading Company wants to expand its influence worldwide into a leading business, you see. I predict they’ll acquire unique, otherwise unattainable goods as they expand their trading routes.”

“Their track record over the past two years supports that, or so I’ve heard,” Arnold agreed.

“I want their cooperation. That’s why I contacted them, but they declined my business because my goals are opaque. Therefore, I…suggested different terms.”

“Which are?” Arnold asked with some trepidation.

“I have one week to bring Mr. Tully a business idea that will be popular in the imperial capital. If I can meet his standards, he’ll make me into a trading partner.”

Hearing this unvarnished explanation, Arnold subsided into silence.

No doubt he wanted a more robust story, but just like with Tully, Rishe couldn’t tell him everything. Arnold was the one who was going to start the war she sought to prevent; she couldn’t afford him catching on to her motives.

She braced herself for his response, but all he said was, “Fine.”

“Huh?!” she blurted, staring at him.

“Fine, I said. I understand your aims.”

Rishe didn’t know what to say. “You’re not going to ask me what my plans are for the Aria Trading Company?”

“You suggested these other terms instead because you’re hiding something, right? And I doubt you want to tell me.”

“Well, you’re right.”

“You won’t tell me, so why bother to ask? More pressingly, what deal do you plan to offer him?”

He’d touched a sore spot. Rishe hung her head. “I have a few ideas, but nothing foolproof. I don’t know the area or the consumer base. I haven’t been here long enough to know what’s popular.”

That kind of investigation took time, which Tully knew as well as she did. Hence the short deadline.

“In other words, this will cause you difficulty.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.” His tone held something she couldn’t glean, and she looked over to find him grinning slyly. “I look forward to watching this play out.”

I knew it! Rishe couldn’t see through to Arnold’s true intentions, but she was beginning to notice a pattern. He still looked good even when he was smirking arrogantly, the bastard.

Rishe stewed in her annoyance as Arnold rose from his seat. “Like I’ve told you before, you’re free to do whatever you like. I’ll retire to the main palace.”

“Very well. Have a good night.”

In the doorway, he looked back. “Rishe, have you met my brother yet?”

“Your brother?” This was the first she’d heard of him. “No, I don’t think I have. Well, I suppose it’s possible, since I don’t know what he looks like.”

“Good.” Arnold hesitated. “Should he approach you, I ask that you avoid speaking to him any way you can.”

“His name is Theodore, right? May I ask why I shouldn’t speak with him?” It wasn’t exactly an amicable way to act toward a future brother-in-law.

“It’s better if you don’t know.”

Rishe was quiet for a moment. “If that’s what you want.”

Arnold left, closing the door behind him.

***

The next day, Rishe headed out to her garden, despairing over how best to begin her investigation into her business plan. Just then, voices rang out behind her, catching her off guard.

“M-my lady! Please, you must return to your chambers at once.”

“His Highness will be so angry! Please, I beg you!”

Rishe surveyed the knights as they tripped over each other in concern. What in the world?

A boy lay sprawled in the freshly tilled dirt, apparently napping. Rishe did not recognize him from any of her many lives. He had hair as black as Arnold’s, and even asleep, he radiated an androgynous beauty.

Bewildered, she muttered, “And I just finished tilling this soil too.”

“My lady!” a knight yelped. “That’s not the issue!”

He was right. Black hair was unusual on this continent, so it was obvious who this boy was.

“That’s His Royal Highness, Prince Theodore!”

I thought so. The beautiful boy snoozing away in the dirt was indeed Arnold’s little brother. I can’t believe I have to deal with him literally the day after Arnold warned me not to.

She’d never known of Theodore’s existence before this life. Coming from abroad, she had no reason to study the makeup of the Galkhein imperial family. All she knew about the boy was what she had heard since her arrival.

If I remember correctly, he’s four years younger than Prince Arnold. Which means he’s fifteen, like me. There were six children in the Galkhein imperial family. Arnold and Theodore were the only male heirs, which meant the other four were all princesses.

“Mm.” Theodore began to stir, sending the knights back into a fuss.

“Lady Rishe, please! You must leave at once!”

The boy murmured, “Mmngh, did someone say ‘Rishe’?”

“Oops!” The knight slapped a hand over his mouth as his partner smacked him from behind.

Theodore’s eyelids fluttered open in response to hearing Rishe’s name. They were the same blue as Arnold’s, reflecting the sky. He put up an arm to ward off the sun, looking up at her. “You’re my brother’s…?”

It seemed he did know about her.

“It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Prince Theodore. I’m so sorry I haven’t greeted you before now.” Rishe smiled warmly, despite choosing her words with all appropriate caution. “My name is Rishe Irmgard Weitzner. As fate would have it, I shall soon join the imperial household. Flawed as I am, I will do my utmost to be a valuable member of your family.”

More like a lazy member of the family. But I digress.

Theodore blinked at her sleepily. She prayed the knights wouldn’t overreact again.

I don’t expect a warm welcome. Rishe was a hostage, after all. From Galkhein’s point of view, she was nothing more than a duke’s daughter from a minor nation.

As she awaited what move he’d make, Theodore sat up and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, my radiant sister-in-law!”

Rishe’s eyes fluttered in surprise.

His grinning face was unbelievably pretty, almost feminine. “What a stroke of luck, us meeting like this. I sent my brother so many notes, but he never replied. Although now that I see you, I understand why he’d want to keep such a lovely lady all to himself.”

“You flatter me, Your Highness.”

He laughed, delighted. “Please, no formalities. Be at ease.” His smile was frank and friendly.

These two brothers are like night and day. They were both exceptionally handsome, but Theodore’s bearing was utterly in contrast. She might not have guessed they were related if she hadn’t already known. Their features are the same in color, but their eyes and lips are just so different. Their manners certainly don’t match either.

“Whoopsie. Can’t shake your hand if I’ve got all this dirt on me.” Theodore rose to his feet, brushing the soil off himself. He was a bit taller than Rishe, but much shorter than Arnold. “I’m Theodore Auguste Hein, Arnold’s little brother and second in line for the throne.”

Theodore held out his hand. Rishe returned his friendly grin as she shook it. “A pleasure, Your Highness.”

From the corner of her eye, Rishe marked the knights’ nerves. They’d likely been ordered to keep Rishe and Theodore apart, yet they couldn’t openly force Rishe away from him.

“What brings you to this corner of the grounds? I myself was on a walk when I was overcome with drowsiness,” Theodore said.

“Ah! Actually, this is my field.”

“It is?” Theodore’s eyes widened. “That’s incredible! The soil around here is usually so hard! This spot gets the perfect amount of sun, and you can hear the birds too! The plants will no doubt love it as much as I do.”

“How gracious of you to say. I was planning to begin seeding today, Your Highness.”

“Then I can’t sleep here again, huh?” His grin turned cheeky. “Oh, I want to ask you something.” Theodore crouched down and pointed. “Would you mind taking a look at this?”