The Villainess Is Being Doted on by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Country 141
- Wedding Cake
The preparation for Philiane’s wedding ceremony has been going smoothly, and it’s going to take place soon… when her younger brother Alan came over from the Lapis Lazuli Kingdom, ahead of the rest of the family members.
“Alan! You’ve done well coming here. Were there any problems on your way here?”
“No. It was a very comfortable journey on the wagon horse.”
The person who answered with a smile was Philiane’s younger brother Alan Sunfist.
He has yellow-green hair like Philiane and a gentle look. He’s the eldest son of the six siblings and he’s sixteen-year-old, five years younger than Philiane.
With capitals from Tiararose and Elliot, he currently manages a sweets store catered for commoners in Lapis Lazuli. The sales have been increasing exponentially and it’s doing well.
Philiane prepared black tea when Tiararose and Aquasteed happened to arrive.
“King Aquasteed, Lady Tiararose. It has been a while.”
“You have arrived well, Alan. Please enjoy your stay leisurely here.”
“Welcome, I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again.”
Actually, Tiararose planned to meet him when she went back home the previous time… but she discovered her pregnancy then and had to resolve the problem of the growing magic power that she’s so busy and could not make time for it.
She actually wanted to have a meeting about the sweets store then but she could only pass the new recipes via Philiane.
“I’m sorry I could not make time to discuss about the sweets store before.”
“No, Lady Tiararose’s health is the most important. I can’t wait for the baby to be born.”
“Thank you.”
After they greeted each other, they sat down and enjoyed their talk.
Philiane has also not been home often, so she looked like she’s excited to meet Alan.
Listening about the stories about her younger siblings, Philiane looked very happy.
After Alan has finished talking about their family members, he looked at Philiane and said “Actually-”
“Alan?”
“…Um, there’s something I’d like to ask Big Sis Philiane for.”
“Me?”
Alan looked serious and Philiane looked at him worriedly. He has been talking with joy earlier, so perhaps there might be some trouble going on at home.
After Philiane nodded, Alan continued his words.
“Would you let me make the wedding ceremony’s wedding cake?”
“Eh?”
Philiane thought that the topic would be serious so her jaw dropped.
“I’d like my sweets brand “Flower Sugar”, which Lady Tiararose and Mister Elliot has invested in, to make it!!!”
“Cake…?”
In this world, it’s common for wedding ceremonies to be held in the chapel, so there’s no custom of making wedding cakes.
Therefore Philiane thought that it was strange to have a cake.
“In Lapis Lazuli, it has become a trend to eat wedding cakes in wedding ceremonies; the sweets industry has promoted special luxurious cakes for wedding ceremonies and it has become a big hit…”
“If that’s the case, I don’t mind it…”
For Alan, he also probably wanted to prove to Philiane that his work is doing well to make her relieve.
Philiane has no reason to refuse him and readily agreed.
However, Tiararose interrupted.
“Mister Alan, I cannot just listen to that and not say something.”
“Lady Tiararose?”
Even though the wedding cake’s for his elder sister’s wedding ceremony, she’s going to marry the noble of Marineforest, Elliot.
Alan began to worry if she’s against him making the cake.
“Of course, I need to be a part of this! For the sake of Philiane, let’s make the best wedding cake ever!”
“Lady Tiararose…”
The unexpected response left Alan’s mouth wide open. Right then, he recalled that this person, Tiararose, is someone who loves sweets and his elder sister.
Of course, she’d want to make the best cake ever.
“Of course! I’m sure I can make the most wonderful cake in the world if I’m going to have Lady Tiararose’s help!”
Alan pumped his fist and Tiararose nodded repeatedly.
However, there’s one problem and that’s pertaining to Tiararose’s health condition. Her morning sickness wasn’t that bad, but it cannot be said that she’s completely fine either.
Tiararose looked at Aquasteed who was sitting next to her and examined him.
“Philiane’s wedding ceremony would be one month before the expected date of delivery, so I actually want you to be resting but…”
“Well… that’s right.”
Tiararose suddenly felt down at Aquasteed’s words.
She knows very well his intention for that; she’ll be attending the ceremony too. If she’s not pregnant, he’d definitely give his approval, but the timing is bad now.
However, Aquasteed knows very well how precious Philiane is to Tiararose, so he understands her feelings.
“Please do not force yourself and leave the tasks all to the chefs… if you could promise me that, I’d let you do it. To me, Tiara’s health condition is the most important after all.”
“Sir Aqua… Thank you very much!”
Tiararose’s face lightened up at the thought of making Philiane’s wedding cake. Her smile was very cute that it makes Aquasteed gives in to her.
However- Philiane, who was sitting opposite to her, seemed to be waiting for her turn to say something.
“I’m very, very happy about Lady Tiararose’s feelings, but, please give that up. It’s one month before your expected date of delivery after all.”
“B-But! Sir Aqua has given his permission…”
“What’re you going to do if something happens to your body when you over exert yourself? I wouldn’t be able to marry with a peaceful mind like that.”
“Philiane…”
Tiararose could not say something to refute those thoughtful words.
Indeed, if she forces herself and something happens, it would cause big troubles to everyone around her. Furthermore, Philiane would blame herself for that.
-However, I want to make Philiane’s cake too.
Tiararose was thinking about what she could do when Alan thought of an alternative plan.
“In that case, why don’t Lady Tiararose draft out the ingredients and design for the cake? I’ll think of the recipe and make the cake based on that.”
In that case, she could do the task while sitting down and it would not be too much.
Furthermore, she could look forward to the cake too, what a great idea.
“Let’s do that! In that case, it’s fine, right? Philiane.”
Tiararose asked happily and Philiane was a little overwhelmed with that.
Well, there’s nothing she can do about that. Philiane likes Tiararose a lot and has served her since young… Someone like that wanted to celebrate for her after all.
“…I got it. However, make sure you only think of the design when your health condition’s good, alright?”
“Yes, of course. I’m not going to do anything to make Philiane worry.”
Tiararose looked at Philiane and laughed saying that she promise.
***
Since then, Tiararose has been thinking of details for Philiane’s wedding cakes on days her body condition was good.
However, there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to drafting; that’s because she decided to match it with the dress design.
Since she’s going to wear a flower-patterned lace dress, she decided to match that with whipped cream in the shape of laces.
-Since it’s thin, it might be quite difficult to make…
But Tiararose has faith that Alan would be able to make that.
“What fruits shall we use for the cake? I want to add strawberries for sure, but other than that… hmm~”
Tiararose thought that it might be a good idea to use plenty of strawberries too.
However, since there’s a lace design, it might be good to put fewer fruits on top for the luxurious design.
In place of that, she decided to put plenty of fruits inside the cake sponge.
“…great, that’s great!”
Designs for the cake kept coming into Tiararose’s mind and she immediately drew them on the paper.
There’ll be three layers to the cake. The bottom-most one would be decorated with strawberries on the base and whipped cream would be used to illustrate the laces.
The second layer would be decorated with chocolates on strawberries where it would look like the faces of the fairies.
The uppermost layer would be made with cut strawberries which resemble roses. White chocolates would be hardened to make lace-like patterns and it would be placed over like a veil.
“…it has become a relatively difficult design.”
Even though she thought about it herself, she began to worry if it’d really be fine. Perhaps, it might be better for her to hold back on the design?
Whipped cream might be fine, but since they’re not used to detailed works with white chocolates, it might be difficult. Furthermore, it’s placed on top like a veil and that’s even more challenging…
Even so, there’s no point in thinking about it alone. She’ll discuss with Alan and decide tomorrow.
“It’s time to sleep…”
After checking the clock, it has been past ten at night.
Ever since she’s pregnant, she has been scolded by Aquasteed whenever she stays up late. Aquasteed has not returned yet though.
Tiararose lied down on the bed, took a slow deep breath and relaxed. She gently rubbed her stomach and sang so that her baby could sleep in peace.
“Rocking the flower basket, sweet child, sweet child, go to sleep♪ The forest fairies lay down a bed of leaves, the sea fairies play music with coral instruments, and the sky fairies drop by during the peaceful night～♪”
She rarely had the chance to sing lullabies before she’s pregnant. She was recently taught to sing the lullabies of Marineforest and often sing them now.
It’s a song by the fairies to make children sleep and everyone within Marineforest knows about it.
After Tiararose has finished singing, she heard applauses.
“Eh?”
“That lullaby is so nostalgic.”
“Sir Aqua! When have you returned…? I didn’t notice you at all…”
Tiararose was embarrassed of being heard and she hid herself in the bed.
“I can listen to Tiara’s singing voice forever; would you sing for me, not just for the child too?”
After saying that, Aquasteed too followed Tiararose and entered the bed.
He gently hugged her and gently whispered into her ear “no?”
“No… it’s okay.”
Tiararose was caught so she gave up and hugged Aquasteed tightly. She could smell his shampoo.
“However, I want to hear Sir Aqua’s lullaby too.”
“Mine?”
After Tiararose said that, Aquasteed thought that he never really had the chance to sing before.
He probably only sang when he was younger with his mother.
“…in that case, shall we sing together?”
“Together?”
“Yes. After the child’s being born, let’s sing together for it?”
Aquasteed proposal made Tiararose smile and she nodded saying “that’s great!” If the both of them were going to sing, the baby would definitely calm down.
-There’s another thing to look forward to after the child’s born.
I want to meet it soon.
Thinking about that, Tiararose and Aquasteed fell into slumber together.