by Yu Sakurai
Plus, there was the chance she would counterattack and claim I was trying to silence her after stealing her chiffon cake recipe. That would only leave me with a real mess on my hands.
If we were going to have a showdown, then it had to be today, when I’d made the necessary preparations in advance.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. I’d like to wish you a happy twenty-fourth birthday.”
“Yes, thank you. It’s a bit livelier here than at your villa, but I hope you’re able to enjoy the party.”
My seat was the queen’s throne to his left.
After we exchanged much lighter conversation than one would expect between a husband and wife, I took my seat next to the king.
I stole a glance at him out of the corner of my eye. The man was showing no sign of emotion on his face.
His straight silver hair framed his beautiful face like strands of ice. King Glenreed’s body was tall and visibly toned underneath that navy coat with gold embroidery, and he wore a black collared hood draped over his right shoulder. This regal outfit, fit for the ruler of Wolfvarte, was tied together by a white cravat around his neck, which bore a shiny blue-green gem—the same color as his eyes.
“We will now begin the birthday festivities in honor of His Majesty, King Glenreed.”
One of the noblemen gave the announcement to the room, and one by one, guests began to take turns presenting their birthday gifts to the king.
Most of the gifts were famous handicrafts or gems from the guests’ dominion within the kingdom. The line moved forward, and then it was time for Lady Natalie to present her imitation chiffon cake. The other nobles seemed a bit surprised by this.
“He doesn’t often receive food as a present.”
“She must be completely confident in the quality, don’t you think?”
“I tried that cake the other day. It was a texture I’d never quite experienced before.”
“The flavor wasn’t so impressive, but that texture she came up with is something in itself.”
“I haven’t seen a cake in that shape before either. As a present, it’s certainly memorable.”
As I suspected, these nobles were unfamiliar with the shape and texture of the chiffon cake. Giran, while being introduced to the king as the inventor of the cake, shot me a triumphant look.
I silently fumed over his lack of remorse until it was my turn to present.
As both the queen and the last person in the room to go, I could feel all the excitement from the onlookers about my gift.
I stood up. Gilbert and Lucian, both holding trays, followed me as I moved forward.
I bowed before the king. Lucian removed his tray’s lid at my command, and I heard a wave of commotion travel through the room. But everyone quickly fell silent at the sight of the king’s glare.
“What’s the meaning of this? That looks exactly like the cake Natalie just presented me.”
“It’s not the same. This cake is a delicious treat and a worthy gift for you, my king.”
“Oh? So, you’re saying Natalie stole your cake recipe?”
“Yes, I am. Chef Giran identified himself as the creator of the chiffon cake, but that is nothing more than an ugly lie, and it has no place here among the festivities.”
“I see. Chef Giran, let’s hear your response to the queen’s accusations.”
“That’s a bald-faced lie! Queen Laetitia is the only dishonest one here!”
Giran leaped out from behind Lady Natalie.
“The chiffon cake was first created by us, and we have proof! Just a few days ago, we treated many people to this cake at our party!”
“Right, I’ve heard of that. Laetitia, how do you explain yourself?”
“It may be true that they were first to reveal the cake to the world, but don’t you find that odd in itself? If they created the cake for your birthday, Your Majesty, then they shouldn’t be sharing it with so many people beforehand, lest they spoil the surprise of their brand-new creation.”
I heard a few whispers of agreement from the crowd of nobles.
“Chef Giran had only one reason for such an action—he wanted to claim credit for the stolen recipe by showing it off first.”
“That’s completely groundless! Have you no shame as a queen, trying to justify your plagiarism with false claims like this?!”
“Plagiarism? The only one guilty of that is you. This chiffon cake is something I’d been planning to make since before I even came to this kingdom, and I was the first one to complete it here in Wolfvarte.”
“You’re just uttering complete nonsense now!” Giran snickered at me. “Noblewomen in your kingdom don’t even cook. You’ll have to come up with better lies than that, I’m afraid!”
“You’re right, that’s the general culture of my kingdom, but I’ve taken to the kitchen as a hobby even before I came here. By all means, go and ask the chefs who used to work for me, and they’ll confirm everything I’ve just said.”
“That won’t be proof of anything! Of course your chefs are just going to lie to cover their employer’s story!!”
“Yes, that’s true. You might be right about that.” I let him have that one. “So, let me ask you. Do you have any proof that you created the chiffon cake before me? Aside from the tea party from five days ago, of course.”
“Lady Natalie, the other chefs, and I can all speak to the truth.”
“No, that won’t work. You’re the one who just said my own chefs have no credibility when it comes to this subject, so why would yours be any different?”
“I…!”
As Giran struggled to come up with an answer, Diaz took his place in front of the crowd.
“It’s not just our chefs. To create the cake’s unique shape, we had a special mold made by a blacksmith six months ago.”
“A blacksmith who works for your family, I assume? Once again, your employees could easily perjure themselves, so that won’t serve as proof.”
“…You don’t trust anyone, do you? It’s not as if you have any definitive proof of your own, Your Majesty. At the very least, we’re the ones who revealed the cake to the world five days ago.”
“If it’s proof you want, it’s proof you shall receive.” I smiled at Diaz and turned to look at the king. “Your Majesty, in order to prove myself, I’d like to perform a spell. May I have your permission?”
“…Very well. I’ll allow it.”
His blue-green eyes narrowed on me, looking interested.
Lucian handed me a cloth bag. It was a small pouch that could fit in the palm of my hand. Inside was…
“Iron scraps…?”
“What does she intend to do with those?”
The suspicious murmurs of the crowd of nobles served as background music while I prepared to use my magic.
Once again, I would be turning to transmutation—the spell that had proved most useful to me since regaining the memories of my past life.
“That shape…”
“Is that what she used to make the cake?”
I held up the doughnut-shaped chiffon cake mold to the murmuring crowd.
“This is proof that I came up with the chiffon cake recipe long ago.”
“…What could you possibly mean by that?” Diaz gave a mocking laugh. “Okay, I see you can use your little spells, but this isn’t the time for you to show off.”
“‘Little’ spell, is that right? What if I told you this transmuted cake mold will retain its shape for three entire days?!”
“Good heavens!!”
That cry came from a stout middle-aged man in the crowd.
“Pardon my interruption! Your Majesty, is that true?! Might I have a look at that mold for myself?!”
“Certainly. Be my guest.”
The man rushed up to me. I handed him the mold. He examined it closely, occasionally tapping at the metal surface and looking for any signs of wear.
“I can see this mold shows no signs of cracking, even when I tap it with my fingers… Does it rea
lly last for three days in this shape?”
“It does. It will last for three at least, but more likely four or five days in all.”
“How marvelous!”
With that declaration, he held the cake mold up to the sky like it was a gift from God. Everyone stopped and stared at this strange behavior.
Realizing how he was acting, the man cleared his throat and stood up straight.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty, for that shameful display. My name is Bodorey, and I work as the head sorcerer of the Wolfvartian royal court. I couldn’t help but be overcome by your marvelous act of magic, my queen.”
“…Marvelous? She only made that one little cake mold. It seems pretty ordinary to me,” Diaz remarked with suspicion in her voice.
Transmutation is seen as a minor form of magic, which is why Diaz didn’t seem to understand the value of what I’d made.
“Why, this is anything but ordinary!! Most transmuted objects only last a day at the very most. For this to last as long as three days is a tremendous achievement! Our queen’s impressive skill at such a young age can only be described as marvelous.”
“All right, thank you very much for the lesson. So was there some reason she had to show it off here?”
“There absolutely was. The strength and durability of transmuted items are physical expressions of the caster’s experience and imaginative mind. Her Majesty appears to be a skilled sorcerer, but even so, she could not create a cake mold like this at the drop of a hat. This could take years or more to master… Well, at the very least, it’s safe to say she learned to make this before she arrived in this kingdom.”
I mentally gave Bodorey my thanks, then took my turn to speak.
“Indeed, it’s just as Mr. Bodorey says. I began transmuting cake molds two years ago, and after dozens of failed attempts, I was able to make one that lasted a few days before it fell apart. That was about a year ago now.”
“Only a year?! Incredible!”
The glimmer in his eyes was a little too intense for me.
In truth, I’d actually succeeded in transmuting a cake mold that survived as long as a month, and after only a few days of practice too. The reason for my transmutation success was due to the years I’d lived two separate lives, which kind of felt like cheating. My presentation wasn’t entirely the truth, but since I really was the inventor of the chiffon cake in this world, I didn’t feel too guilty about it.
The mold I’d just made was purposefully weakened so as not to draw suspicion.
When I looked around the room, I could see that the nobles were now staring at me with more approval than before.
“She’s been practicing cake molds for two whole years?”
“That’s definitely before she came to our kingdom, then.”
“This makes Lady Natalie’s proof look rather weak…”
“With that strange shape, it’s hard to imagine they both came up with it on their own.”
Now that Diaz was feeling the accusing stares on her from all angles, her face twisted in fury.
“This is a farce! The queen’s head chef, Gilbert, got his job after we fired him from our kitchen! And then, to retaliate, he sold off our recipe!!”
“Actually, it’s the opposite. You couldn’t stand that Gilbert and I had such a success after you forced him out of your kitchen, and that’s why you wanted to hurt us. I have the proof right here, in fact.”
With that signal, Gilbert removed the lid from the tray he was holding.
A light-brown chiffon cake sat atop the tray, visible to all.
“For this cake, we added a bit of black tea to the batter. If we’re the ones who stole and changed your recipe, then you should easily be able to make a chiffon cake with black tea to show us, right?”
“I…”
Giran gave a frustrated grunt.
Despite this fuss, he was still an experienced chef. He knew all too well that as simple as it looked, altering a recipe wasn’t likely to result in immediate success.
The truth was that this black tea chiffon cake was the result of my past life knowledge, as well as Gilbert’s incredible skill as a chef, unrivaled even by Giran—a man who wouldn’t be able to re-create it on his first try.
“I haven’t brought them with me, but I’m capable of making many other flavors of chiffon cake as well. If you say I stole the recipe, then you should be able to create the same variations yourself, right?”
“…! That’s not true!” shouted Diaz.
“She based this black tea version and all the rest on the recipe she stole from us! And now she’s trying to blame us for— Eek?!”
I had Father’s sinister smile on my face as I approached Diaz and whispered to her. “Perhaps it’s time you admit your guilt? If you think I still lack proof, I can go ahead and put the final nail in the coffin.”
“Quit your bluffing. If you have proof, then show me, right now!!”
“I really thought you’d learn when to back down, but I guess not. Right now, in my closet drawer at home, you’ll find all the proof you need. Shall I have it brought here at once?”
“I don’t believe you!! I’m sure it’s just fake pr—”
“Diaz, be silent.”
Diaz’s shouts of desperation were interrupted by a quiet voice.
The room fell to a hush all at once.
It was none other than Lady Natalie, the girl who had gone largely forgotten so far, who had spoken.
“Stop making a fool of yourself in front of His Majesty. We’re the ones at fault here.”
“L-Lady Natalie? What are you talking about?”
Diaz had no idea how to respond to Lady Natalie, who was now talking.
Even I was a bit shocked.
Throughout this whole fight, Lady Natalie had stayed as silent as a doll.
“I didn’t order the plagiarism of the chiffon cake… But Diaz and Giran are both my responsibility, and I’d like to accept punishment on their behalf.” Lady Natalie’s voice wavered, but she managed to say the words.
“Lady Natalie?! What are you saying?! The queen is entirely to blame for this! We haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Are you telling me the truth?” asked King Glenreed, who had been observing this new development.
Diaz turned to offer a desperate explanation to the man who controlled both the room and the kingdom itself.
“Of course! We made the chiffon cake first!”
“I see.”
The king nodded, but…
“You must think I’m a real fool, trying to feed me such a ridiculous story.”
“What?! Whatever do you mean, Your Majesty?! I think nothing of the sort!”
“You’ve given me nothing but lies. See for yourself.”
His aide handed Diaz a single sheet of paper, then made his way around the room, distributing more of the papers to me and the other nobles.
Each sheet bore the king’s signature.
It contained a statement—testimony from Diaz’s blacksmith. “Miss Diaz instructed me to claim I made the cake mold six months ago.”
Diaz was now trembling in fear. She knew this was the truth.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Diaz?”
“I…”
“Surprised your blacksmith betrayed you? It’s simple. You used your family power to threaten him into perjuring himself, but when a greater power came along, he changed his tune. I ordered the investigation that resulted in this testimony because I knew you were up to something suspicious.”
Diaz collapsed at this declaration from the king.
Rather than “arrogant,” His Majesty actually appeared to be a clever man. He was prepared to question Diaz about the plagiarism well in advance, having the papers written up and everything.
Then he chose this opportunity to reveal her crimes to an audience.
This was so he could take the wind out of the sails of the conspirators from the western region, as well as display his power and investigative sk
ills to everyone else in the room.
If I had decided to roll over and let them get away with the plagiarism, His Majesty might have had his own plans in place to expose their crimes.
King Glenreed was still young at the age of twenty-four, and the lack of control he exercised over the Wolfvartian nobles was seen as a weakness by some, but maybe he was actually extremely capable when it came to governing after all.
“Compared with Lady Natalie, who tried to take the blame for her own subordinates, you, Diaz, completely disgust me. You and Giran have brought shame to your chefs, and there will be no escaping the punishment that awaits you.”
◇ ◇ ◇
“YOUR Majesty!!”
After the events of the birthday party settled down and I brought other matters to a close, I returned home to the villa and found Gilbert rushing out to meet me.
“I heard you proved that we were the ones who made the chiffon cake first!”
“Yes, everything managed to work out, thanks to the black tea chiffon cake we made together. Thank you, Gilbert.”
“No, my queen! I should be thanking you!” He shook his head from side to side. “Giran’s plot fell apart thanks to all the effort you put into revealing the truth!”
“Thank you, Gilbert. I’m so glad I get to return your letter of resignation.”
Lucian handed me the letter and I passed it back to Gilbert.
Gilbert first gave me this letter when the chiffon cake plagiarism came to light.
He knew he was an enemy in the eyes of Giran and Diaz, so if we were unable to prove our ownership of the recipe, he wanted to resign as my head chef and claim responsibility for the whole incident.
At first, I tried to refuse his resignation, but Gilbert didn’t back down.
He always seemed like the timidest of men, and he wasn’t exactly brave of heart deep down, but there was also a stubborn side of him that knew what he wanted. Even that first time we made the chiffon cake here in the villa, he’d tried to resign on me too.
“Hehe! It was quite surprising to receive two separate letters of resignation over such a short period of time…”
“…You have my sincerest apologies!”
