Chapter 66

Chapter 66

“You seem to have the basics down already, so let’s first look at the magic circles that you need.”

Albert opened a book and showed me the magic circles for one magic spell at a time. The round circles were chock-full of geometric patterns. Just looking at them made my head swirl.

“You can wield genuine power only after memorizing and drawing each stroke of the magic circle correctly. And the intensity of your power will depend on the mana that you already have.”

Albert emphasized that it’s not allowed to skip a single stroke or warp a single curve of the magic circle arbitrarily.

But they all look the same to me.

“They all look similar though…”

“The pattern to the west of the magic circle represents nature, and on the right side of that western pattern represents water. They have a completely different meaning. If you draw even one line wrong, you won’t be able to manifest the spell. And of course, there could be side effects too if it’s wrong. That’s why you have to memorize it all properly.”

It felt as if I was doing math and chemistry, not magic. My enthusiasm to learn, which had reared its head after a long while, blazed like fire.

“Wait a second, Prince.”

When trying to memorize something, it’s better to write it all down.

“Blanc, come here!”

I called Blanc as he was reading a book from a distance away.

I took some books and stacked them side by side on the floor, then I placed a blanket atop it to successfully make a makeshift table. It’s a good thing I got some books again this time.

“Blanc, let’s sit here and study together.”

Running to my side, Blanc smiled broadly and sat down next to me. It’s cute how he was turning the pages carefully with his front paws.

Seeing the simple table that I made, Albert chuckled as though he couldn’t believe it. He then stood opposite the table where Blanc and I were sitting side by side.

“Why don’t you sit at the desk, Rosé?”

He tilted his head to the side when he saw me sitting cross-legged on the floor. It seemed like he couldn’t understand why I was sitting like this instead of with him at the desk.

I shook my head.

“No, it’s alright. It’s comfortable here, too.”

I didn’t say it because I thought Albert would be angry, but… It’s because I know Blanc wouldn’t be able to sit with me on the desk.

I immediately dipped the quill to the inkwell and started drawing the magic circle. I decided to memorize the circles that I think I’ll need the most.

With the mindset of the artistic kid I once was who had a good aesthetic sense, I soon started studying that magic circle.

I was staring hard at all the strokes of the magic circle I was drawing, and Albert guessed exactly which one it was.

”Forget… Not bad, but I don’t know how long that would last.”

Forget. It was an anesthetic spell to trick the mind to overcome unbearable pain. If you can’t get rid of the pain, then the next best thing is to forget it.

“But after my spell wears off, I know that you’ll be there to help me, Prince!”

I sneakily asked Albert.

“…Yes, I will.”

Albert stared at me for a moment, and the corners of his lips tugged up. I already thought I’ve built up some immunity to that face, but I was as mesmerized as ever when I saw his sincere expression.

“I always think that…”

“I believe I already know what you’re going to say.”

When I trailed off for a bit, Albert’s eyes curved as though he knew. The smile that graced his lips once more was as deep as the setting sun amidst the coming twilight.

I know what Albert meant here. But what I wanted to say wasn’t ‘you’re handsome’.

“I always think that your smiling face is really beautiful.”

Compared to a budding sprout coming up during spring, his smile was just so much brighter. I like it when he smiles. I like the genuine emotions that could rarely ever be seen on his face whenever he smiles.

“I hope that there can be more things that you can sincerely smile about, Prince.”

I know how, all his life, he had just been lifting the corners of his lips to pretend to laugh and smile with a seductive expression. He was in such a position that he couldn’t easily let himself be vulnerable and show his emotions to other people.

I’m not saying that I want him to smile even while he’s having a difficult time, but I don’t want him to ever lose this smile.

“Sincerely, you say.”

At the heartfelt words that knocked at his heart, Albert slowly opened his lips to say this. His eyes, as he stared at me, blinked unexpectedly. Then slowly, they curved into two crescent moons.

“…Isn’t that something I should say instead?”

He whispered with a deep voice, and with the smile that I liked.

“I have been sincere though,” I replied.

“Then to this person who already has, how much more are you going to make him fall for you?”

Sitting opposite me, Albert leaned down and propped his elbow on the table to cradle his chin. His languid eyes stared deep into mine.

“…Should I refrain from saying things like this?”

“No, don’t. I’ll punish you if you refrain from doing so.”

Albert answered right away. Hearing his determination in this, I felt relieved, and my heart skipped a beat as well.

I giggled.

“Prince, how can I stop praising you anyway? You’re so perfect.”

“Do I seem perfect to you?”

“Of all the people I know, you’re the one who fits the word ‘perfect’ the most.”

As he stared at me, Albert placed a hand over my head, and he soon gently patted me.

“Being the perfect person only in your eyes is already enough.”

And these words immediately became embedded straight to my heart.

As always, he made my heart flutter.

* * *

Unfortunately, the tower still had many restrictive binds on magic, so the only spells that could be performed with the wand was controlling Albert.

Like making him kneel, tying him up…

…At this point, I kinda got the gist of Rosé’s tastes from before I took over her body. I gave the wand to Albert right away back then, so I never found out that the only kinds of spells preset in the wand were like this.

In any case, Albert handed the wand over to me.

I held the wand in my hand and swung it around as if I’d been possessed by the spirit of H*rry Potter. Having the weight of the thin wand in my hand felt a lot better than I first expected.

Although I didn’t go to a school of witchcraft and wizardry back when I was eleven years old, I managed to learn magic! As if I was transported back to my school days when I was an eager student, I studied diligently for a long while, which made me lose track of time.

When I then came to my senses, it was already evening and dusk had already settled outside. I forgot about lunch completely as I studied.

This was embarrassing. I shouldn’t have forgotten my duty as a maid.

“Prince, you should have told me…”

“I didn’t disturb you because you were so focused. I wasn’t that hungry either.”

Albert responded to my guilt-laden voice without even taking his eyes off the book he was reading. I couldn’t say anything back because he was being so considerate of me, so I decided to whip something up right away.

Come to think of it, Blanc didn’t say anything either. As he was still reading, I whispered to him.

“Blanc, aren’t you hungry?”

Hearing this, Blanc also seemed to have come to his senses at last. He glanced up at me with round eyes.

“Uh… I forgot… Because the book was so fuuun…”

I was so touched to see Blanc changing right before my eyes. It seemed like entering the contract with me gave him more motivation to live.

“I’ll have our dinner ready soon.”

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“There’s no need to rush.”

“I wanna watch beside youuu!”

When Albert saw Blanc jump straight into my arms, one of his eyebrows twitched. I pretended I didn’t see that and hurriedly went down to the kitchen.

* * *

Most of the ingredients we still had were vegetables. I took some potatoes, a pumpkin and a few onions and placed them in a basket. Then, I stared around the pantry and thought hard.

We skipped lunch, so I’m planning to cook the pancakes that I was supposed to make earlier. Then, I’ll also make another main dish.

The pork caught my eye. The portion wasn’t going to be enough for even one serving, but that’s not going to be a problem.

“I should add the meat in and make red pepper paste stew.”

Bringing together pork and red pepper paste was always a winning combination. Veggie pancakes were delicious on their own as they were deep-fried, but then it might get too greasy because of the oil. It’s a good idea to have it together with spicy soup. I also usually crave soup whenever it’s raining…

After deciding on the menu, I took all the ingredients I needed and placed them in the basket, then I went out of the pantry.

“…Huh?”

And there, I found Albert sitting on a chair in the kitchen. He was in the middle of a staring contest with Blanc, who was sitting on the kitchen counter.

“Prince, how did you come in here?”

With a shameless expression and with his head tilted to the side, Albert replied.

“I came here because I got upset about the fact that I couldn’t come here all this time.”

“Um…”

“Is it so strange that I can go inside the kitchen when I can even leave the tower?”

“…But you said that you can’t come into the kitchen.”

He couldn’t come into the kitchen all this time, but how could he come and go now…? As I asked myself, Albert smiled brightly.

“The mages that are supervising the tower had been called in to prepare for battle. I can go in here now because the barriers were loosened.”

Certainly, since Rosteratu was set on mobilizing everyone he could get his hands on to kill Albert, it’s only natural that the mages were called in as well.

His explanation was reasonable enough. But I could tell—Albert came here because he was bothered by Blanc. That staring contest was proof enough of this.

Blanc also stood up against Albert, and so he glared at the prince as much as he could. He wasn’t avoiding Albert anymore.

…I wonder. Were they going to continue on with their lives while treating each other like enemies?

I thought about it seriously, but Albert just took the basket from my hands and carried it to the table for me.

“Rosé, I want to watch you cook.”

Albert’s gentle voice echoed in my ears.

His voice was like music to my ears, but I snapped out of it and thought that I should finish cooking right away so that we can eat. It’s going to be difficult to mediate between the two of them if they break out into a fight while I’m cooking.

“There’s not much to see. I’ll try to cook as fast as I can then.”

Fortunately enough, the staring contest between the two stopped as soon as I started cooking. It was just burdensome to have eyes watching me while I was just cooking the usual food of a single woman, but… It’s better than them fighting.

I started chopping the vegetables and then rinsed them in water. I started with the potatoes. After that, I cut up the pumpkins and also peeled the onions.

“Oh gosh¹…”

Tears soon welled up in my eyes because of the onions. I looked up high, but the tears flowed down nonetheless.

Uuugh, my eyes hurt. Seeing me wipe away the tears with the sleeve on my upper arm, Albert’s expression grew serious.

“…It seems like cooking is a difficult thing.”

“No, not always. The onions are just especially strong today.”

“Strong?”

“Who doesn’t shed tears while peeling and mincing onions?”

It’s impossible unless you wear goggles. As I replied to him, I blinked a few times to stop the tears.

But Albert didn’t seem to like even that.

“Let me do it.”

“No, you don’t have to—”

Where on earth can you even see a prince who cooks! It’s a huge burden to watch your own boss cook!

I shook my head and tried to stop him, but Albert moved much quicker than I could react.

Taking the knife in my hand, Albert then stood beside me. The entirely peculiar image of Albert inside a kitchen with a knife in his hand finally became reality.

“Please give it back…”

I pleaded for the knife, but Albert was much taller than me and he had long arms.

As I huffed and puffed, my eyes grew wide, trying to warn him.

“…Prince, you can’t. Just having the Prince here in the kitchen is already a tricky enough combination, but how can Your Highness even go as far as cook?”

“I’ll be able to finish it faster than you.”

“I’ve been cooking far longer though.”

I’ve lived alone for a while now and I’m good at wielding a knife! What’s the big deal about tearing up while peeling an onion!”

I muttered to myself and tried to push him back, but there’s no way on earth that I could beat Albert in strength. Blanc helped me out and tried to snatch the knife back from Albert’s hand, but even with the both of us, we could never beat Albert.

…I don’t want to witness the strength and agility of the male lead in a situation like this!

“I-I’m going to help!”

“You, fledgling dragon?”

Albert dogged Blanc’s white front paws with ease. And the dragon cub’s face gradually flushed red.

“I can do it later… If I turn into a human being, I can help Rosé…”

How can Blanc know only pretty words? I patted Blanc on the head because he was being so kind to me.

After that, I looked back at Albert and said with determination.

“Then, Prince, I’ll leave it to you.”

Honestly, I don’t know how well Albert could wield a knife. In the first place, the way he was holding that knife right now was kinda weird, so I wasn’t expecting much. The kitchen wasn’t exactly his usual haunt, and this was only natural.

However, compared to the awkward knife-handling posture, he managed to slice up the onions perfectly, as if he was an artisan whose main medium was a knife for all his life.

“…I didn’t expect that Your Highness would be perfect even in a place like this.”

“A blade is a blade after all.”

…I never thought that a munchkin’s² power could also translate in a place such as a kitchen. More than that, he didn’t even shed a single tear.

“It’s too bad I couldn’t see you cry, Prince.”

“I didn’t know you wanted to see me cry.”

“…I mean, a little? I have this thought that the Prince will be pretty when you cry.”

It’s the same as how it’s mesmerizing to see a beautiful woman cry. Albert stared at me for a moment, then with the knife still in his hand, he whispered into my ear.

“Unfortunately, Rosé, you should be the first one to cry.”

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“…Are you telling me that you’ll give me a hard time once we leave the tower?”

“No, I meant while in bed.”

…Albert spoke with a hushed voice. Paired with my favorite smile.

My entire face flushed bright red in an instant.

——