“I’ll say it again, you’re a genius.”
“You too, Camilla.”
She had even tried giving some to the chef ghost Ferol, and he’d gone absolutely wild with excitement, saying it was the first time he’d seen a dessert like this.
The only problem was...
“It’s a shame we don’t have any customers.”
It hadn’t even been half a month since they’d opened, but their luck was awful.
The interior, the way you ordered, the menu—everything about the place was unfamiliar, so there wasn’t anyone boldly stepping in to place an order.
“Our desserts are really good, though...”
“They are.”
“What if we go under at this rate?”
When Laila pulled a dejected face, the other employees nearby all drooped their heads along with her.
“Don’t worry. We’re not going under. I already took some measures.”
“Measures?”
DING-A-LING, DING-A-LING—!
Right on cue, the shop door opened and some familiar faces stepped inside.
“Huh?”
Laila’s eyes went round when she spotted them.
“What brings you two here?”
It was Petro and Arsian.
“Camilla called us over.”
“Why did you tell us to come here?”
At their entrance, the employees stared, mouths hanging open. Both Petro and Arsian looked extremely polished on the outside.
That reaction is exactly what I wanted.
She was planning to use the two of them as shills. Time to squeeze every last bit out of those eye-catching looks. First you pull customers in, then you can worry about the rest, right?
“Laila, take those two to that window seat over there.”
After she had them shown to the seat that stood out most when you looked in from outside, she personally carried over some macarons and a few of the new items.
CLACK!
“Please enjoy.”
The two men stared at the things set on the table for a while without saying a word.
“Dessert, huh.”
“...You’re telling me to eat this right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey! This kind of sugary crap...!”
“Eat.”
“......”
“If you don’t want to eat it, at least pretend you are.”
Her face was full of a business smile, but her eyes were blazing.
The moment they sensed that one more expression of not wanting to eat would get them thrown out on the spot, the two of them clamped their mouths shut.
“You’re supposed to smile. Are you really going to make such a funeral face while eating delicious dessert? Do you want to see someone else’s shop go under that badly?”
When she even started criticizing their expressions, Arsian looked at her like he couldn’t believe this, and Petro let out a small laugh.
“And what is this?”
Petro was the first to show interest in the dessert.
The macarons, and the dessert in the pretty glass bowl, were both shapes he’d never seen before. The bowl was piled high with fruit and ice cream, and a chill mist drifted up from it.
“In summer you eat shaved ice.”
“Shaved ice?”
“I specially cut back on syrup and condensed milk as much as possible. It won’t be that sweet, so try a bite.”
She’d gone through a lot of trouble getting this shaved-ice machine made. There weren’t many people who could build a machine just from having the principle explained to them.
Fortunately, one workshop had managed to produce something fairly decent. When she froze milk and shaved it, the grains that came out were reasonably fine.
“It’s shaved ice.”
After taking a spoonful of shaved ice, Petro’s expression turned rather satisfied. Arsian, on the other hand, seemed to dislike even the sweet fruit and only pretended to gently scrape at the ice.
“But why did you suddenly open a café?”
The Ghost Trading House alone should be more than enough, shouldn’t it?
“Because after shopping, you have dessert.”
Camilla answered Petro’s question simply.
The real reason she opened a café was simple. She figured the place people sought out most after shopping was a café.
So she set the café up right next to the Ghost Trading House. That way, people coming out after shopping there would naturally stop by the café.
“Who says people eat stuff like this after shopping? I would never eat it.”
“Have you even been shopping?”
“......”
“Just eat your dessert.”
Watching him sneak his eyes away, Camilla clicked her tongue briefly, like she’d known it. If you used your standards to think about this, every shop in the world would go bankrupt!
“Anyway, I’m asking for your cooperation.”
“Understood.”
Just then, a few young ladies passing in front of the shop recognized Arsian and Petro sitting by the window and stopped in their tracks.
As his eyes met theirs, Petro’s lips curved into that characteristic gentle smile of his in an instant.
Oh.
The people who had already been sneaking glances at the new shop were drawn in by that smile and promptly opened the door and walked inside.
DING-A-LING—!
“Welcome.”
Looked like she really had found herself a good shill.
...Even if one of them’s a failure.
Seeing Arsian still picking at his food and furrowing his brow as deeply as he could, Camilla gave a small shake of her head.
“Give me that.”
Camilla snatched Arsian’s spoon from his hand. Then she scooped up a big spoonful of shaved ice in his place and brought it to her mouth.
“Mmm—”
She used every facial muscle she had to make the happiest expression she could. As if she were eating the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) most delicious food in the world!
She didn’t need any lines. Her expression said it all.
Arsian and Petro stared at her with slightly dazed eyes.
It was exactly what they had been eating just a moment ago—so why did they suddenly want to eat it so badly now?
Well, I used to be a CF queen, after all.
Do you have any idea how many companies boosted their sales off my commercials?
“Um, we’ll have that too, please!”
“What’s that one? I want to eat that!”
The reaction came immediately. The customers who had just come into the shop saw Camilla eating and put in orders for the exact same menu.
“See that? That’s how you do it. Like this.”
Camilla shoved the spoon back into Arsian’s hand and left the table.
“......”
Once she’d walked away, Arsian stared holes into the spoon in his hand. Then he moved his hand toward the shaved ice.
CLACK.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
But because Petro snatched his hand away, Arsian had no choice but to stop mid-motion.
“Could we get a fresh spoon over here?”
Keeping his eyes fixed on Arsian, Petro called out with a pleasant smile.
“What the hell are you doing? Do you want to die?”
“You weren’t seriously planning to use a spoon someone else already used, were you?”
“......”
“Put it down quietly.”
“Shit...”
Muttering a small curse, Arsian ended up putting the spoon back down.
He wanted to make a scene, but he could see Camilla over there, practically firing off looks that said if they fought in the shop she wouldn’t let them live, so he had no choice but to hold it in.
“Here’s a new spoon.”
Watching the employee come by to switch out the spoon, Arsian let out a short sigh, and Petro’s smile only deepened.
*****
“Huh?”
On her way back from checking over the shop, Camilla spotted someone standing in front of the residence.
At first she thought it was the Duke of Sorpel, but it wasn’t him.
“That person is...”
It was someone she knew.
Was his name Belac? She had briefly run into him at the hunting tournament last time.
He had approached like he had something to say, gotten stepped on by Arsian, and then bolted as if fleeing.
“Ah! Lady Camilla! You’re back?”
He came hurrying over with a delighted greeting.
“What are you doing here?”
“I-I was waiting for you, Lady Camilla.”
“For me? Why?”
“I have something I wanted to say.”
How long had he been waiting? On this hot day, he seemed to have been outside for quite a while; beads of sweat stood out on his forehead.
What on earth does he want to say so badly he waited like this?
When she stared at him out of curiosity, Belac’s face flushed red in an instant.
“Um...”
With an expression full of awkwardness and nervousness, he carefully brought out something he’d been hiding behind his back.
“It’s a token of thanks for helping me last time.”
They were roses. Bright red roses at that.
“Thank you very much for helping me back then.”
Looking at the man holding out flowers with his face red, Camilla’s expression turned a little blank. It was a strange feeling.
This is a first.
Receiving flowers like this from a man.
Of course, at award ceremonies or events, or from fans, she’d gotten bouquets almost every single day.
But this really was the first time she’d ever received a bouquet filled with romantic interest.
“I-I thought they would suit you very well, Lady Camilla...”
The hand holding the bouquet out toward her was visibly trembling.
Seeing that, a smile tugged at the corner of Camilla’s mouth. Well, it was just a bouquet.
SWISH!
Huh?
Someone else snatched the bouquet away quickly in her stead. Camilla’s eyes lifted slightly.
“We have a rose garden at home, too.”
“Brother?”
She had no idea when he’d gotten there, but Ravi was standing there holding the bouquet instead, gazing steadily at Belac.
“Ah, h-hello!”
Startled by Ravi’s appearance, Belac bowed his head.
“You call this thanks? What kind of thanks ends with just a bouquet?”
“No! I also meant to give her flowers and treat her to a meal—”
“A meal? You don’t know our head chef is the best in the empire? Are you saying there’s someone who cooks better than the head chef of House Sorpel?”
“N-no, that’s not...”
“Where is this place? Can you be a hundred percent confident?”
“Sorry?”
“I asked if you can be a hundred percent confident.”
“N-no.”
“Then come back when you can.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m telling you to get lost.”
“Y-yes!”
And so, yet again, Belac fled the scene in a hurry without achieving anything of note.
“What the hell? He’s really just leaving over that? Spineless guy.”
“...Brother.”
“What?”
“What did you just do?”
“Pest control.”
“What?”
“Make sure you tell that guy. That I did my share.”
“What are you talking about?”
That guy? Did his share?
“I just earned myself a Mana Stone.”
“I said, what are you talking about.”
A Mana Stone? Why is a Mana Stone coming up here?
“More importantly, what about these flowers? Throw them away?”
“Why would I throw them away? What a waste.”
Camilla went to take the bouquet of roses back from Ravi.
Slide.
But once again, someone snatched the bouquet away before she could.
“Throw it away.”
“Brother?”
It was Ludville. He flung the bouquet back over his shoulder.
Then his aide standing behind him swung his sword and shredded the bouquet into pieces.
Both Ludville and Ravi watched that with very satisfied expressions.
What is wrong with all of them?
Why were they taking their anger out on an innocent bouquet!
Looking at the roses scattered all over the roadside, Camilla let out sigh after sigh.
