Unlike the liveliness in the Rosewood summer manor kitchen, the cooks in the Schauss residence watched in trepidation as Lady Cassiopeia Schauss busied about. They were afraid she’d get hurt and they’d get blamed, but thankfully, nothing terrible happened.

The cooks hid their surprise about the Young Miss’s sudden baking ability (although she didn’t know how to use the ovens, but that meant one of the cooks could deal with that part, thus reducing the risk of injury). Where could she have learnt to cook?

The cooks relaxed a little when the Young Miss started decorating with creams and fruit and chocolate. The little designs that she made were unexpectedly aesthetically pleasing, unique and delicate.

“My Lady, your skill is amazing,” one of the cooks said.

Cassiopeia smiled brightly. “Thank you.”

Over the last few days, Cassiopeia had been settling her past and current memories together. The more she settled into her new identity, the harder it was to think about her past family, which always came with an unpleasant suffocating feeling.

She liked her current family a lot more, from her parents to her two older brothers. Her current family showed her exactly how families should be like. She couldn’t really pinpoint it, she simply felt more comfortable here.

One of the few redeeming factors of her past life was that she liked to eat a lot of different foods and was good at baking, so she decided to make some small things for her current family to enjoy.

Of course, canon was king, and she wasn’t one of those people who disrespected the canon. But baking was such a little thing, and there was nothing problematic about it, so Cassiopeia felt that it was fine for her to make these desserts.

After the decoration was complete, Cassiopeia laid each small cake on individual gold-gilt plates. She had one of her maids prepare tea.

The servants had called her family members to the Sunflower Sitting Room for her. Her father and mother sat on one sofa while her two brothers sat on the opposite sofa.

“Cassiopeia, what is it that you want?” Duke Schauss asked, concerned. “Did you encounter trouble?”

Cassiopeia shook her head and smiled. “No, I made something for you!” She walked smoothly over and lowered the tray of little desserts on the coffee table.

Duchess Schauss placed a hand over her mouth in surprise. “You made these, darling?”

“Yes! Father likes coffee, and Mother likes cherries, and big brother Orion likes apples and second brother Perseus likes cheese, so I made something for each of you!”

“Oh, darling!” Duchess Schauss felt distressed at the thought of her young daughter cooking, as did the other family members.

“They look good,” Orion said, clearing his throat.

“Please, big brother!” Cassiopeia carried each plate and gave the right desserts to the right people. She also took over the tea serving, her movements elegant and well learned. “I think they’ll be delicious, I feel that I’m good at baking. I also decorated them myself!”

The older Schausses looked at each other, silently agreeing to like the desserts no matter what. They picked up a small forkful to taste. To their surprise, it tasted delicious!

“Little sister, this is really nice! Not too sweet, the saltiness of the cheese is very good!” Perseus reached over and rubbed Cassiopeia’s head.

“This is delicious, we should give the recipes to the chefs to make,” Orion said.

“Darling, this is lovely, I do so love cherries,” her mother said.

“You should let the chefs cook…but you are very talented, Cassiopeia,” her father said.

Cassiopeia glowed with all the heartfelt praise from her family. She was so happy they liked and appreciated what she made!

 

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Ren Xiyang walked alone through the manor house, up the flights of stairs to his suite.

He expected to return to peace and quiet, but instead, there was a crowd outside his door. On one side was Prince Rian Azure with his group of guards, and on the other side was Kel.

“Young Master Rosewood, His Highness would like a private meeting with you,” Kel said, lowering her head. She had gone away on an errand, only to return and find that Young Master Rosewood had left! While she was trying to ask the nearby Rosewood guards if they had seen the young master, the Eldest Prince suddenly came!

“I was down in the kitchen,” Ren Xiyang said calmly. “Kel, you can go to the kitchen if you are interested. Your Highness, how can I help you?”

“Let us speak inside,” Rian said. This was the first time he had seen Ayden Rosewood with straight black hair. It suited him. Red hair was too bright for that serious little face.

“Hm.” Ren Xiyang unlocked his door and walked in first, leaving it open for the prince.

Rian walked in. He made eye contact with his guards and close the door, leaving his guards outside.

Ren Xiyang sat down on the sofa and made a vague motion to the prince. “What is it? Do you need to consult me on agricultural matters?” He wouldn’t mind that, earning money talking about farming was pretty good. Unfortunately, the prince shook his head.

Rian sat down opposite him, his eyes sweeping across the room. “An interesting selection of books you have there.” The room was smaller than the one assigned to Rian, so the desk and its contents were close enough to read the book titles.

“There are many things that should be read,” Ren Xiyang said. He looked at the prince pointedly, unspoken imperative of get on with it.

Rian relented. “I have received some news,” he said.

Ren Xiyang didn’t even blink.

Rian felt the urge to twitch his lips at that deadpan face. He wanted to pinch those cheeks and make Ayden show a different expression…But then again, maybe Ayden would remain deadpan even if he did that.

“As Earl Roland Rosewood is now dead, the new Earl Rosewood needs to be officially decided. The letter you wrote to Manager Gregory raised concerns and was handed over to the Capital Investigators. Tomorrow afternoon, a team will come to test your lineage.”

Ren Xiyang’s eyes darkened slightly. ‘Concerns’, hm? He inclined his head. “I see.” He looked at Rian directly. “You want a favour from me in return. What is it?”

Rian’s lips did twitch now, the corners going up slightly. “How can I define the terms of the favour immediately? What if my information is incorrect?”

Ren Xiyang gave him a bland look. “Then you wanted to offend me?”

“Should I be afraid of offending you?” Rian responded with the lightest smile. Unfortunately, the definitely un-cute Ayden didn’t smile back. Rian’s pinching fingers became twitchy.

“That’s your risk analysis, not mine.” Ren Xiyang glanced at his piled-up desk. “If you truly want a favour, then there is something you can do for me first.”

“Oh? Go on.”

Ren Xiyang gathered his words. “Historically, Sedaveria has faced major outbreaks of diseases every few hundred years. Last time, a Saintess rose and saved the kingdom, but not before many thousands of people died.”

Rian’s pupils narrowed. His heart started to thump.

Ren Xiyang noticed that the air temperature around Rian suddenly dropped, but his complexion remained the same, so he continued. “Angio Kingdom has good magical medical researchers. If Your Highness wishes a favour from me, then invite those researchers to Sedaveria so that our kingdom’s healers can learn the latest knowledge in preventing and treating disease.”

A hundred thoughts raced through Rian’s head, the biggest of which was WHO WAS AYDEN ROSEWOOD?

Rian forced his racing heart to slow down. “That’s a very big favour you’re asking for. Are you not afraid of what I would ask in return?”

“If it’s something damaging, you will’ve tied your fate with me,” Ren Xiyang said coolly.

Rian’s lips went up. “I’ll see what I can do, and ask for an equivalent favour in return.”

Ren Xiyang inclined his head. “Is there anything else, Your Highness?”

Rian had a hundred other things he could talk to Ayden about, but he needed time to think it through rationally first. “So eager? One thing at a time, Master Rosewood.”

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

Rian stood up. “We’ll speak more later.”

Ren Xiyang also stood up. He strode over and opened his door. “Let me pre-emptively thank you, Your Highness.”

Rian nodded. “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice, Master Rosewood.”

“Have a good afternoon, Your Highness.”

“And have a good evening, Master Rosewood.” Rian walked out. His Royal Guards flanked him again on the trip back to his own suite. The guards remained outside, leaving him alone in the suite.

He sat down on a sofa and clenched his fists, suppressing the magical energy in his body.

He analysed every piece of information he had gathered so far about Ayden Rosewood.

Ayden Rosewood hadn’t appeared in his first life. Ayden Rosewood was concerned about disease outbreaks. Ayden Rosewood was interested in the Angio kingdom.

However, Angio Kingdom wasn’t the only country with magical medical researchers. Sedaveria had many such researchers too, residing either in the Capital or in the Schauss fief. Other neighbouring countries also had their researcher mages.

It was very likely that Ayden Rosewood had some information similar to Rian and had at least one similar goal: preventing the plague-curse. Ayden’s request was not what Rian had in mind, but it still fit in with the overall direction he had been planning.

Maybe there had been an Ayden Rosewood in his last life, who had been sent away in secret. Maybe Ayden had died like Rian, and read the novel, and came back, and decided to do things differently.

Regardless…

There was another person who knew.

Rian wasn’t alone.

With another person, Rian felt there were so many more possibilities. The task of preventing the plague-curse suddenly seemed a lot less daunting—he hadn’t even realised how daunting it had felt.

Of course, Rian wasn’t naïve enough to blurt out his circumstances to Ayden right away.

Assuming that Ayden knew ‘the future’, Ayden must have mentioned the matter of Angio kingdom and diseases to Rian as a way to test him. After all, in his previous life, Rian hadn’t shown interest in the Rosewood murders, let alone accompany the Investigators out to the Rosewood summer manor. If Ayden had known Rian in his first life, then Ayden might even have noticed his personality changes.

Rian needed to scope out Ayden’s character some more, to understand his motivations precisely.

But deep in his heart, he felt he already knew which path he was going to take.

 

 

 

 

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Cassiopeia: I finally appeared again! *bright smile*

Author: Well, you are a main character *shifty eyes*

Cassiopeia:…Wait, ‘a’ main character? I’m the main character! What, who are these other people….

Author: *slides away*

 

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Also, do readers prefer “Young Miss Schauss” or “Young Lady Schauss”?