One week after the hunting competition ended.

I was sitting alone in the kitchen organizing the ingredients that had just been delivered.

At that time, Robert burst through the kitchen door, swinging the newspaper that had been delivered to the front door in his hand.

“Good morning, Heidi!”

As soon as I saw the newspaper in Robert’s hand, I shouted at him.

“Robert, is that a newspaper?”

“Oh, it is. Why?”

“Read me the newspaper! Quickly!”

Robert, who was unfolding the apron he had neatly folded yesterday to start the day, looked bewildered.

“Why are you asking me to do it when you can read it yourself!”

“Because I’m too busy right now!”

I pointed with my eyes at the heavy onion bags I was holding in both hands.

At the signal of ‘Do you want to do this?’, he quickly grabbed the newspaper.

“Hey, why have you been looking for the newspaper so often these past few days?”

Robert grumbled but still spread out the newspaper.

I shrugged my shoulders lightly and replied in an nonchalant tone.

“Just some news I’m curious about.”

I didn’t bother mentioning that the news I was curious about was Princess Ariana’s marriage.

It seemed that the bomb the Emperor had dropped at the hunting competition hadn’t spread to the public yet.

It was better than causing trouble by talking about it, so I feigned ignorance.

Robert, who had flipped through and read the newspaper first, yawned loudly.

“Yawn, Heidi. I don’t think there’s any news you’d be interested in?”

“Read from the front page.”

“It’s an article about the winner of the hunting competition held at the Imperial Palace.”

“What?”

My eyes lit up. It was exactly the news I was curious about.

I slapped Robert’s shoulder, urging him to read it quickly.

“Um, it says Young Lord Charles Anderson won.”

I already knew that. I urged him to read more.

“The Emperor granted 30,000 pyeong of fertile eastern land to the Anderson barony located in the western part of the empire. This is undoubtedly the most lavish prize in the history of hunting competitions.”

Robert cleared his throat and gently put down the newspaper. Then he folded it neatly as before.

“Is that all? Just granting 30,000 pyeong of land?”

“Yes. I’ve read all the parts you asked me to read earlier. By the way, 30,000 pyeong is really enviable. I wonder what they’ll do with such a vast area.”

Robert put on the kitchen apron again, smoothing it out.

I picked up the newspaper again and stared at it closely, almost burying my face in it.

It really was written like that in the newspaper.

‘Then was the incredible prize of marriage to Princess Ariana really canceled?’

Wow, he really seems like a jerk.

Of course, I was glad that the kind and gentle Princess Ariana wouldn’t be married off like a traded commodity.

Anyway, the Emperor was a pathetic person who said two different things with one mouth.

When things didn’t go his way, wasn’t it just like childishly shouting ‘I take back what I just said!’?

‘Well, it’s fortunate that it turned out well for everyone.’

Neither Dietrich nor Princess Ariana suffered any harm, so this was fine.

I slipped my arms into the apron next to Robert. It now fit me perfectly, as if it had been prepared for me.

Now that I had heard the news I had been waiting for, it felt like I could start the day’s work with vigor.

And that morning.

When I tried to bring breakfast to Dietrich, I heard that he wasn’t in the mansion and spent all day concentrating on making soup.

After the hunting competition, Dietrich became a bit busier.

Dietrich used to eat meals about once every other day, but during the past week, he had breakfast only once.

Where was he going so busy?

He wasn’t even seen at the training ground where he usually spent almost every day.

Even when I went there on the pretext of bringing leftover sandwiches to Blaine, Dietrich wasn’t there.

I stirred the soup and quietly looked down at my hands.

Dietrich’s hand that said those words was warm, unlike his cold tone.

When I stopped stirring the soup, the bubbling soup splashed over the ladle.

But I absent-mindedly recalled the feeling of Dietrich’s hand.

‘Let’s go home, he says. Sometimes he really knows how to sweep me off my feet.’

Dietrich probably didn’t mean to make me flutter. To him, I was just the ‘Sword Spirit’ or ‘the maid of the Delgado mansion’, nothing more, nothing less.

But my foolish heart started beating rapidly like it was broken the moment I recalled Dietrich’s beautiful appearance.

‘Get a grip, Harpe.’

There’s nothing more miserable than feeling romantic towards Dietrich.

I know better than anyone in this world that he has a predetermined fate.

I came back to my senses as the soup started to stick to the bottom of the pot.

‘Maybe I’m a bit envious of Princess Ariana.’

The bold princess who, even if she didn’t love Dietrich, had clearly expressed her desire for him more than anyone else.

Although her marriage to Dietrich didn’t come to fruition, it was obvious that she would try to find other ways.

It was almost lunchtime, but I was still thinking only about Dietrich.

“Heidi! Turn off the heat for that soup and come help me here, we need to make steaks!”

The head chef, who had just entered the kitchen, wiped the sweat flowing down the side of his forehead and spoke urgently.

I tilted my head, holding the ladle dripping with soup.

“Steaks?”

The confusion was quickly resolved. A big smile spread across the head chef’s face.

“Princess Ariana Jeneger is visiting our mansion!”

What? I nearly dropped the ladle.

I recalled the conversation I had with Princess Ariana a week ago.

It was easy to guess the purpose of the lovely princess who said she needed Dietrich visiting the Delgado mansion in person.

‘To seduce Dietrich!’

The head chef was so excited he was even clapping his hands.

“It’s the first time we’ve had a guest from the imperial family! Come on, let’s show them how delicious the food of the Delgado family is!”

It seemed he was happy to be able to show off his culinary skills to the princess.

But that wasn’t all, as the head chef continued.

“And you know what? She said she came to see Young Master Dietrich personally, so we need to be extra careful. Don’t you think there’s something unusual between the two? Hahaha!”

“There isn’t!”

…Ah, this damn mouth of mine.

I kept my mouth shut in the silence that followed.

I couldn’t help but get upset when he talked as if a secret love had sprouted between the two.

I need to control my temper. But sometimes, don’t we get angry when we hear things that aren’t true?

Anyway, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and made excuses.

“Ahaha, I meant there is something unusual.”

“Heidi, get a grip.”

Robert, who had somehow approached my side, poked my ribs and gave me a look.

For the kitchen staff who were tired of the same daily routine, occasionally serving guests was a refreshing and invigorating experience.

Ruining such an atmosphere was like eating rice mixed with tact.

Luckily, my excuse was quite effective on the excited head chef.

He laughed heartily and walked towards the cellar entrance next to the hearth.

“Right, of course! If things go well between the young master and the princess, wouldn’t it be a blessing for the family! I’ve worked in this family for a long time, but Young Master Dietrich has always been difficult. Still, these days he seems to show affectionate sides like when he was young. He’s become much softer.”

The cellar door opened with a creak, and unlike the hot summer kitchen, a cool breeze seeped out.

The head chef, who had gone down to find good quality steak beef, came up with his arms full of meat.

The meat, wrapped in white cloth, looked premium at a glance.

But the head chef muttered with a serious expression, as if troubled.

“Hmm, what should we do. We’ve run out of butter. I forgot that I was supposed to buy some after finishing the morning preparations.”

Hearing the head chef’s words, the kitchen staff quickly pretended to be busy with other tasks.

It would take quite a walk in this hot weather to get to where the market was open.

It was clear that by the time they returned with the butter, they would be drenched in sweat.

I quietly watched as no one volunteered, then raised my hand.

“I’ll go!”

“Oh, Heidi? Can you do that for us?”

“Of course.”

I thought I’d go for a walk to shake off my troubled feelings.

It was obvious that if I stayed in the mansion, I’d just be thinking about Ariana and Dietrich’s meeting, which was said to happen soon, all day long.

And running an errand for butter shouldn’t be too difficult.

How hard could it be to carry a few sticks of butter?

I nodded willingly and smiled brightly.

“How many should I buy?”

The head chef rolled his black eyes upward.

He seemed to be roughly estimating how many were needed.

As the best chef, the head chef would surely give me an accurate number if I waited and trusted him.

I looked around for a basket to put the butter in.

I was sure there was a rattan basket under that table.

‘Ah, found it!’

As I slung the rattan basket that could easily hold ten sticks of butter over my shoulder, I heard the head chef exclaim, “Oh, right!”

‘Come to think of it, it’s my first time going to the market alone.’

I wonder if I’ll be able to go and come back without getting lost?

As I was feeling half worried and half excited, the head chef snapped his fingers and said.

“Right, just buy 50 sticks of butter!”

…What?

This seemed like an ominous sign that it was going to be a rough outing.