The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House

<Oh, no! No! Alexei! Listen to me! Alexei!>

Phoebe’s violent laughter echoed through the embroidery on the left sleeve, and candle wax dripped like tears from the candle on the right.

In the midst of that, Asha’s face turned white.

“Oh, you can’t hear… him?”

“What… do you mean?”

“Fah, Fafnir… What he just said…”

“You just talked to the spirit?”

Did she have to nod? Or should she just call it a joke now?

Alexei’s eyes turned to the candlestick while Asha was at a loss. A candle that burns unnaturally violently and drips candle wax.

“…Fafnir?”

<Y, yes! Alexei! It’s me! Can you hear me? Huh? I won’t be immature anymore, so please… >

“…”

“…”

Alexei still stared at the candle without saying a word.

<Hmmm… I feel a little sorry for you at this point.>

<Alexei>!>

It seemed that Alexei could not hear Fafnir.

‘Why, why can’t he hear?’

<You succeeded in bringing out the voice of that fiery lizard to this point, but it seems like it’s another thing for the landlord’s grandson to hear Fafnir’s voice.>

<Oh, how could this happen!>

‘Then what should I do to get Alexei to hear Fafnir’s voice?’

<Didn’t I tell you? As long as they sense and recognize it properly, they can talk to the spirit even if they are not a contractor like you. The power comes from you, so you can feed them what you made.>

“Sure…”

Asha tried to sort things out slowly.

Somehow, Fafnir succeeded in raising his voice in the human world.

However, it was a separate matter for Alexei to hear Fafnir’s voice. That’s something Alexei needs to be ready to listen to.

There’s a fix – all Alexei needs to do is eat a load of Asha’s snacks-It’s impossible right now.

‘Then, is it a situation where I’m the only one who’s been caught talking to the spirit?’

She had been trying so hard to save herself, but did it all go to waste after trying to do something nice like this?

“Can you hear Fafnir’s voice, Anastasia?”

Asha flinched at Alexei’s confirmation.

‘How should I say it?’

Should she try to talk him out of it?  Make it a joke? Asha suffered from such temptation for a moment, but it became difficult to say such a thing when she faced Alexei’s clear blue eyes.

“What did Fafnir say?”

And before Asha could lie, Alexei asked softly. Asha held her hands together and hesitated, and eventually decided to tell him honestly.

“He says he’s sorry. He says he’ll be better now.”

“What is he sorry about?”

“You made the palace hot on your own, and Alyosha had a hard time because of that. It won’t happen in the future.”

“Really? Then I should prepare winter clothes and fuel. It will take some time to get it in time, so can you keep me warm this winter?”

The candle suddenly flared violently, and Fafnir exclaimed, ‘I’ll do as you say!’ in an ardent voice heard only in Asha’s ear.

“Well, he said he would. As Alyosha said, he’ll do anything.”

Alexei nodded with a faint smile. And as there was an awkward silence between the two, Alexei slowly made eye contact with Asha.

“Asha.”

“What?”

“Can you speak to your spirit, too?”

Say yes or no? Alexei asked another question without even listening to Asha’s answer when Asha was just clapping her lips.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t mean to keep it a secret.”

Asha smoothed her parched lips.

“It’s just… I don’t think anyone will be curious. I thought I didn’t need to say it either. Because I.”

Asha said so far and inhaled.

And.

I’m not interested in things like the imperial throne, but Alexei smiled as soon as she was about to say so.

“Yes, I see.”

“I, Crown… What?”

Asha blinked her eyes. Alexei rubbed Asha’s eyes gently with the back of his hand.

“I understand how you feel. So you don’t have to worry about anything now.”

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

Asha, who returned to the room, tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

<Why is that?>

“No… what Alyosha said.”

<The words that he knows your heart feels?>

“Yes…”

Is it true? Does he really believe in her? It seemed so. There was a gentle, soft light that was seen around Alexei saying so.

But how could that be?

“To believe me that quickly…”

To the point where she had been so nervous until now was in vain.

At Asha’s words, Phoebe jumped from the embroidery on the sleeve and made a somersault.

<What do you think the senses are?>

“Um, how you feel?”

<Yeah. Feeling something, noticing, accepting. To do all that completely means to understand everything completely. What do you think it is to fully understand?>

Asha tilted her head.

“That you know completely?”

<Yes. And it can be said that you know completely only when you can fully understand what you know.>

Asha opened her eyes wide when she heard that.

“Does it mean that people believe everything I say?”

<You stupid Asha. One of your abilities is to be able to convey your true feelings to people without misunderstanding!>

“That’s what I mean.”

So it meant that Alexei perfectly understood Asha’s feelings that she had no interest in the throne.

“Oh, my God, what a relief. I was so worried that there might be a misunderstanding…”

<Well, it’s all a skill that was triggered by a random chance.>

Asha breathed a sigh of relief and stood tall before she climbed onto the bed. Next to her, Phoebe laid aside the bedposts.

“What?”

<Just now, the ability was triggered by accident. You stupid Asha. When you weren’t quite sure until this moment what the landowner’s grandson thought of you, did you think you could use your powers at your disposal now?>

“…”

<Pahahaha! Were you going to run to the landlord right away and tell him you weren’t interested in that big chair?>

“…”

Asha’s expression was distorted into tears. Until now, she couldn’t even bring it up because she was afraid of inevitable misunderstanding if she came forward and talked about the succession of the throne.

It was because she was worried that if a 10-year-old was smart enough to seriously discuss the right to succeed the throne, it would encourage unnecessary expectations and conflicts around her.

But what if you could convey the words without any misunderstandings? Even if the issue of succession to the throne was finished right away, all of Asha’s worries would be resolved.

But all that was just a coincidence?

“Really? But still…”

<Then you should go talk to the landlord right away. You’ll see from the landlord’s reaction.>

“…!”

And then what else?

She already made a mistake with Alexei about Fafnir once already.

“Then what should I do? Is there any way to use your strength more skillfully? a trick or something.”

<There’s a way.>

“What is it?”

<You said you liked making sweets, right?>

“That’s… right.”

<Then, as I said before, make a lot of snacks first.>

“…”

<And feed it to the people around you.>

“…is that it?”

<Yes. That’s how to make your ability more freely available and contribute to the world.>

“I don’t need to contribute to the world, but yes. Okay. The more sweet things there are, the better the world will be. I’ll forgive you for giving it to me and taking it away.”

<Who gave you something and took it away!>

Phoebe seemed unjust, but Asha did not listen any more.

Alexei, who had a fever and recovered cleanly, looked as if he had let go of his burdens. And with that face, he invited Asha to enjoy refreshments together. Alexei seemed to have prepared the tea table

There was a tea cup with a blue grid pattern engraved on a white background and a gold string around the edge. The teapot had the same pattern. A small bird sat on the top of the lid of the teapot. The tea was bright in color and had a refreshing cinnamon scent.

On a plate lined with lace doilies, there are two scones Asha baked today, along with butter and three kinds of fruit jam.

And the reason she could look around so leisurely alone was because Alexei was called by the Emperor as soon as he poured the tea. Did the Emperor say he had something urgent to say to Prince Alexei…

‘Oh, I don’t know either Alyosha or Grandpa.’

Alexei’s feelings for her now weren’t very negative, and the original Princess Anastasia lasted five years in the palace. No matter what happens, she would be safe for about five years.

Asha repeated “five years” to herself and jumped out of her chair. She was tired of sitting still.

She looked around without touching anything. It was very beautifully decorated like the room of the Crown Prince.

Paper was spread out on a large desk by the window. Asha stepped up and looked down at one of them.

“Is this a map?”

In the middle, it was a map with the name of the empire written in large letters, ‘Kayeruth’, and several areas above the border marked. Asha read one of the regions whose name was exceptionally long and grandiose.

“Lumen Vasilice?”

<You really like shiny things, too.>

“Huh? What?”

Asha tilted her head to Phoebe’s voice.