Chapter 2
Kitty raised a hand and touched the small cut on her cheek.
What a pity.
How unfortunate that someone could fail to understand the value of cake.
Emperor Theodore’s anger only deepened as the little princess continued staring blankly at him.
Just look at that vacant face, he thought. She doesn’t even understand what’s happening to her.
At that moment, Head Maid Garnet hurried into the kitchen.
Spotting her, the emperor made his declaration in a chilling voice.
“I ordered you to raise her into a proper imperial princess, yet this is the pathetic result. Effective immediately, the Second Princess’s Palace will have its entire budget revoked.”
“…!”
“…!”
The punishment struck everyone like a bolt from the blue.
Head Maid Garnet, the head chef, and every servant in the Second Princess’s Palace stared at him in stunned disbelief.
They had certainly wanted Princess Katrina punished for her reckless behavior.
But never like this.
Once the emperor had finished speaking, he strode out of the palace without another glance.
As the servants remained frozen in shock…
Princess Katrina quietly took out a fresh plate…
…and served herself a third slice of cake.
*
Ah…
This felt nice.
The daytime weather had been growing warmer lately.
Perhaps the long winter was finally ending, and spring was beginning to bloom.
Eating warm food after so long filled Kitty’s heart with a peaceful warmth.
Taking advantage of the chaos Emperor Theodore had left behind, Kitty decided to make strawberry jam.
The servants of the Second Princess’s Palace—who normally criticized every little thing she did, even the way she breathed—had suddenly fallen into complete panic.
No one paid any attention to whether the foolish little princess was making jam or syrup from the remaining strawberries.
Regardless of rank, everyone abandoned their work, huddled together, and whispered frantically among themselves.
Since things had come to this, Kitty figured she might as well turn every fresh strawberry in the palace into jam.
It would be much easier to hide.
And she could enjoy it for a long time.
Considering she’d probably be forced to eat nothing but dried bread again, it wasn’t a bad plan at all.
After all…
Every kind of bread tastes delicious with sweet-and-tangy strawberry jam.
Searching through the now-empty kitchen by herself, Kitty found a pot of the right size and dumped in every remaining strawberry along with all the sugar she could find.
The proper amount of sugar was…
“…until you start wondering if you’ve added too much.”
That was exactly right.
With practiced hands, she set the pot over the fire.
Just as she had done while making the meringue, she carefully stirred the contents with a wooden spatula so nothing would burn.
Making jam required extraordinary patience and persistence.
As the sugar melted, it coated the strawberries, releasing a rich sweetness that made her mouth water.
She desperately wanted to forget about making jam and scrape every last bit straight out of the pot.
But, behaving like the mature eight-year-old she was, she patiently restrained herself.
Just then, the youngest servant in the Second Princess’s Palace, Cindy, hurried into the kitchen.
“What are we going to do, Your Highness…? Forget our wages—we’re not even sure we’ll have enough food for next week…”
Despite her worried words, Cindy carefully took out a tube of ointment she had managed to find and gently applied it to Kitty’s cheek.
Only now did the wound left by the emperor’s shattered plate begin to sting.
“Everyone’s furious—from the head chef to Lady Garnet. At this rate, something terrible is bound to happen… Your Highness… do you… have some kind of plan?”
Judging from everything she had overheard while fetching the medicine, Cindy looked utterly exhausted with worry.
Wanting to reassure the maid only four or five years older than herself, Kitty proudly showed her what she had been working on.
“Strawberry jam.”
Once strawberries were made into jam, they would stay delicious for a very long time.
And if there wasn’t any bread…
You could simply dip your finger into the jam and eat it by itself.
Jam was truly one of the greatest foods ever invented.
“I suppose you’re right. If we make jam, these strawberries really will last much longer.”
Kind-hearted Cindy forced a smile before letting out a quiet sigh.
Instead, she blamed herself for burdening such a young princess with such impossible questions.
Princess in title or not…
She was only an eight-year-old child who had been in the Imperial Palace for barely two weeks.
What could she possibly do?
The poor girl had only sneaked into the kitchen to satisfy the hunger she’d endured for so long…
Yet the punishment she’d received in return was unbearably cruel.
At that moment, the jam finally began to boil.
The little princess hurriedly grabbed a ladle and skimmed the pink foam bubbling to the surface.
After stirring the pot one more time, she finally relaxed and turned back to Cindy.
“And you can help too.”
Behind her oversized glasses, Kitty’s black eyes were completely free of fear or worry.
They resembled a baby bird that trusted only its mother.
She’s still just a child who knows nothing…
Cindy’s heart ached even more.
“You really think I could somehow get the Imperial Palace’s budget back…?”
she murmured.
As she spoke, she gently brushed Kitty’s messy white hair behind her ear.
Meanwhile, Kitty picked up a clean spoon, scooped up some of the bubbling pink strawberry syrup, and held it out to Cindy.
“Would you taste it?”
Cindy obediently accepted it with both hands and took a sip.
“Oh, right…
You’re a spy, aren’t you?”
Cough!
The completely unexpected remark made Cindy choke instantly.
“Did it go down the wrong way?”
“C-Cough!”
Watching the maid clutch her throat and cough violently, Kitty finally showed the slightest hint of concern.
“I mean… if you explained things nicely to your real master, couldn’t you secretly bring back a few potatoes or something?”
“W-Water…!”
Ah.
Right.
Kitty hurriedly poured her a cup of water from the kitchen, placed it into Cindy’s hands, and firmly patted her back.
After several more coughs, Cindy finally recovered.
Her face was bright red, but she managed another gentle smile.
“Your Highness… d-do you happen to know what that word means?”
“What? A spy?”
“Someone who sneaks into another person’s palace, secretly watches everything, steals information, and reports it to someone else… isn’t that right?”
She was correct.
Princess Katrina understood perfectly well what a spy was.
“Y-Yes… cough… that’s right. But… how could I possibly do something so terrifying? Don’t you think so?”
Now calmer, Cindy pointed to herself.
She was only twelve years old—the youngest servant in the Second Princess’s Palace.
Objectively speaking, her circumstances were hardly any better than Princess Katrina’s.
Among all the unwanted people gathered in the Second Princess’s Palace, Cindy occupied the very lowest position.
She washed dishes.
She cleaned toilets.
She survived by carefully reading the moods of the adults around her, and whenever something went wrong, she was usually the one blamed.
To make matters worse, her thick hazel-colored hair and dreamy violet eyes often attracted the unwanted attention of ill-mannered young noble boys.
Looking at such a pitiful and fragile little girl…
Who would ever imagine she was a spy?
“No…
You really are.”
But Princess Katrina muttered the words with absolute certainty.
“Haha… Your Highness must have had a rather strange dream.”
Cindy denied it so firmly that Kitty tilted her head in confusion.
She scratched her head thoughtfully.
After thinking for a long moment, she nodded confidently.
“No.
It definitely wasn’t a dream.”
“Because I left a special mark on the documents you secretly took.”
“If we find those documents later and compare them, we’ll be able to prove it wasn’t a dream.”
I’m doomed…
A mark…?
Just hearing those words made chills run down Cindy’s spine.
Yet Princess Katrina remained perfectly calm.
“Shall we go check?”
Still wearing an awkward smile, Cindy watched the princess climb down from the wooden stool she had been standing on, looking as though she genuinely intended to search for the evidence.
Maybe she’s bluffing…
But…
Could an eight-year-old really bluff so naturally?
That vacant expression behind those glasses…
I can’t tell what she’s thinking at all.
A true poker face.
After a long moment of hesitation, Cindy decided not to gamble.
Instead, she reached out and grabbed Kitty’s arm.
“W-Wait a moment…”
Kitty obediently stopped where she was and quietly waited for the maid to continue.
