“I’ll make a cake for you, Dirt-Dirt!”
[Kyahhh! Do you think I’ll feel better just because you’re making it now!? I won’t take it!]
“I was going to make it twice as big as Dirt-Dirt, but you won’t take it…”
[Well, since you’re being sincere, I guess I can’t refuse! I’ll make it right away!!!]
At Dirt-Dirt’s command, Charlotte and Julia quickly put on aprons and ran to the kitchen.
I brought the cake I received as a gift, sat down, and took some time to admire it again.
Even at a second glance, the sight was so pitiful that it made me chuckle.
It wasn’t like they didn’t have the tools, so why did it turn out in such a collapsed shape?
After briefly running a simulation based on Charlotte and Julia’s actions, the answer quickly became clear.
“To cut the bread into a circular shape… With the size, they must have used a tray. Since the tray was large, they must have placed it on the bread with both of them holding the tray and cut it. Julia is slightly taller than Charlotte, so the horizontal angle must have been skewed, causing the circular shape to fall apart.”
“Wow. How did you know? My Lord, you’d be great at criminal investigations too!” “…”
I didn’t respond to the excited maid’s amazement.
It’s only children’s actions that are so predictable, how would I know anything about criminal investigations?
…I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud.
“This…”
And I couldn’t hold back and took a bite. There were signs that someone had taken a bite earlier.
It looked like they hastily tried to cover it with cream.
Since there were fingerprints left behind, finding the culprit wasn’t very hard.
This fingerprint, is it Charlotte’s right thumb?
It seemed like she couldn’t resist after getting so excited while making the cake.
“Hmmm…”
After taking a bite, an overwhelming flavor hit me.
No matter how it looked, once it was in my mouth, it tasted just like any other cake.
The cream and bread were likely prepared by the maids, so it was strange if it tasted bad.
“Chocolate cake is done!”
“Dirt-Dirt, eat a lot!”
[Kyahhh! Let me have it! How much trouble did I go through to get this!?]
Before long, Charlotte and Julia came running out of the kitchen with the chocolate cake.
They said they’d make it twice as big, but it looked like they stacked my cake in an odd way.
In the process, they must’ve failed to balance it, as it leaned seriously like the Leaning Tower of Pisa as it went higher.
However, Dirt-Dirt didn’t care about the shape and cheered loudly while charging forward.
Dirt-Dirt didn’t care if there was chocolate cream on his face and took a big bite, his eyes widening with joy.
[It melts in my mouth even though it’s not ice cream! Why didn’t you make this for me sooner!?]
“Hehe. Cakes are special foods for special days!”
“Charlotte. Julia. By the way, when is your birthday?”
“…”
“…”
When I asked the question, the restaurant became quiet for a moment.
At that moment, I realized it.
Oh no, I made a mistake.
“Hehe, I was left at the orphanage when I was a baby, so I don’t really know.”
“I don’t remember either…”
“At the orphanage, no one really knows their birthdays. Even if they did, no one would celebrate it.”
“…”
That makes sense.
The children at the orphanage, living more miserable lives than anyone else, wouldn’t want to celebrate their births.
Normally, it’s the orphanage’s responsibility to take care of these things, but since the management is corrupt, none of the children have ever had a birthday celebration.
After realizing this, the aftertaste of the cake became bitter.
“How about you start celebrating your birthdays from now on? Pick a date and celebrate.”
“Does that mean we’ll get a cake too!?”
“Of course. If you want, we can choose today as your birthday.”
“Really!? Then…!”
“No, Charlotte! The date must be set properly!”
Charlotte was confused.
Julia pulled her to the corner and whispered for a while.
Then, Charlotte quickly exclaimed, “Ah!” and clapped her hands.
“We decided! We decided! We’ll both have the same birthday!”
“When is it?”
“Hmmm, it’s a secret. But I’ll let you know the day before! …! ”
“Not the day before, tell me three days before. I think there’ll be a lot to prepare.”
“Yes!”
Charlotte and Julia giggled at each other.
Did they really have a special day together that they could agree on so quickly?
But why they were keeping it a secret was a mystery, no matter how much I thought about it.
What should I prepare as a gift?
It seems like there’s no need to worry about it too much yet.
Usually, children start dropping hints about what they want as their birthday approaches.
‘I want to celebrate Yuri’s birthday too, but…’
By the way, I wonder if Yuri knows her own birthday.
I’ll have to figure that out later through a letter from Mr. Black.
I don’t want a big disaster where some of the fiancées get a birthday celebration and others don’t.
“Then, we’ll do it like that for the birthdays… Now, come over here and eat the cake with me. It’s really good.”
“Yay! Finally, I can eat…”
“No, no! This cake is for Aslan, we made it for him, so he has to eat it! I’m fine, I’ll eat it on our birthday! …!”
“Actually, I’m fine too!”
“….”
Charlotte, who had rushed forward in joy, stopped in her tracks after Julia’s words.
Is it really okay?
Charlotte’s mouth was dripping with saliva, though?
“Don’t just stand there, come and eat. Special days should be celebrated together, right? What’s the point of eating alone?”
“Well, if you put it like that, I guess I have no choice…!”
“Ch- Charlotte!”
In the blink of an eye, Charlotte grabbed her bowl and ran over, sitting next to me.
Then, she cut a large piece with a fork and moved it to her bowl.
Upon closer inspection, it was the part she had already bitten into.
A clear case of evidence tampering.
“Mmm! Mmm! Even though I made it, it’s so delicious!”
“Julia, are you really not going to eat?”
“Well, I… I will eat…”
Seeing Charlotte tremble in bliss like the happiest person in the world, Julia swallowed her saliva.
In the end, Julia dropped her tail and brought her own bowl.
After all the hard work, she might as well taste it.
She took a small bite with her fork, then sucked it off the fork, her eyes widening.
“D-Delicious!”
“Our cake is the best! Right?”
“Yeah! Yeah! We could sell cakes and make a fortune…!”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ smiles contentedly just by watching our Necromancer and Dark Knight eat so well.]
Watching the children eagerly devour the cake, I couldn’t help but smile.
Charlotte, with her chubby cheeks, made me want to feed her more, and Julia, though she appeared to eat elegantly at first, couldn’t help but eat faster when the food tasted good, which made it possible to estimate how much she was enjoying it.
It was truly a sight that would fill anyone’s stomach just by watching.
At that moment, the door opened and Sylvia entered.
“My Lord, are you already eating the cake?”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“It’s almost time for dinner.”
“Oh. For now, the cake is confiscated. You can eat it after dinner.”
“Ahh…!?”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ scolds you for letting our Necromancer and Dark Knight eat so much cake before dinner!]
The one who was just happily enjoying the cake…
Kali’s quick change of attitude caused a strong sense of betrayal.
“Hmmm…”
The palace attack incident was quickly dealt with.
Since the only casualties were a few injured soldiers, the major damage was just part of the palace buildings that had collapsed, which was a simple issue to repair.
The key issue was preventing a recurrence.
Since the incident stemmed from ignorance of magic, the imperial family was now promoting research into magic under their leadership.
It seemed that it wouldn’t be long before magic would be recognized as a legitimate academic field.
“My Lord, a messenger has arrived from the palace.”
“I’ll handle it.”
At Sylvia’s announcement, I immediately stood up and headed toward the front gate.
There was no need to change clothes.
I had already prepared for the messenger from the Empress, knowing it was about time for them to arrive.
As I stepped out to the front gate, the messenger greeted me with a slight bow.
Maybe because he had just returned from vacation, his complexion had clearly improved compared to before.
“Count Vermont. I have come to briefly deliver Her Majesty’s message.”
“Of course. Please, go ahead.”
“Ahem, ahem!”
After clearing his throat, the messenger’s voice suddenly changed to that of the Empress as his tone rose dramatically.
“Aslan Vermont. I owe you a great debt. After much consideration, I have decided to reward you, though there is no precedent for such a situation. I could find no example from the past to match this extraordinary act, so I decided to reward you according to my own wishes. First, I will provide funding for your research into Black Magic. The amount will be around 10 billion Lark, though I may increase it based on your needs.”
“…!”
Ten billion Lark.
That was a staggering amount that made my eyes widen.
The Empress’s decision to pour such a large sum into supporting Black Magic was, of course, for reasons beyond just rewarding me.
Given the recent events, the imperial family had probably become extremely cautious about ‘unknown powers.’
With powerful sorcerers emerging, it was possible that even the most powerful Black Magicians could appear.
Though I had to conduct research into Black Magic, it felt daunting to start from scratch.
So, it made sense that the support would be directed toward ongoing research.
It was a logical decision.
“Also, a recently discovered Neomium mine has been found, and I will give you all the rights to develop it. Use it as you wish. That’s all the reward that’s being given freely…”
“Yes.”
“Listen well. I will also grant you a villa near the Imperial Palace, the entire land of the former Sansonetti region, five hundred warhorses, and the title of Duke.”
“…!?”
This was an unexpectedly extravagant reward.
The main gift was the title of Duke, while the others were simply included to make the offer more attractive.
Since I only had one territory and little wealth, the title of Duke would otherwise have lost its prestige, so they included extra items to compensate.
But, a Duke?
Stopping an attack was undoubtedly a significant achievement, but was it enough to be granted a Duke’s title?
Just as I was pondering this…
“However, you must accept the position of head of the Imperial Intelligence Division in order to receive everything I just mentioned…”
“I will refuse.”
The chilling suggestion followed, and I was immediately startled and refused.
Damn it.
Being head of the Imperial Intelligence Division meant a lifetime position that couldn’t be resigned without the Empress’s permission.
I almost got caught up in the rewards and ended up becoming a sl*ve to the Empress.
