DGDITMIAE 29

Chapter 29

“Eat all your carrots.”

“……”

*Does that guy have eyes on the back of his head too…?*

Terestia grumbled inwardly.

He must have known that she usually sneaks and throws away tasteless things like carrots, so why was he being so spiteful today?

After thinking for a moment, Terestia recalled that a few days ago, she had dumped a pile of work and personnel decisions onto Argo.

*…Mhm, that’s right. If you didn’t like it, you should have said so.*

*But I hated working more, so nothing would have changed anyway.*

Quickly concluding that Argo was taking his irritation out on her, Terestia protested with the dignity befitting a Grand Duke.

“I don’t want to. I’m not eating it……”

Though her protest was a bit timid.

“If you don’t eat, there will be no cake today.”

“……”

At those firm words, she swallowed her tears and put the carrot into her mouth.

It felt like that guy was nagging her more and more about trivial things, but unfortunately, the reason he was acting that way was because of the cavity she’d gotten recently.

Of course, the cavity had disappeared quickly.

With her absurd healing power, Argo had said with a regretful look, *’If only your recovery were slower, you’d eat less sweets.’*

But after that, Argo started getting deeply involved in her eating habits.

Whenever she tried to have anything—no candy, no cake, no pudding!

*Do you know how precious carrots, eggplants, and broccoli are in the North?*—nag, nag, nag…

The day he flatly declared that if she didn’t eat those, he would never give her sweet desserts again—that was the day Terestia’s sky crumbled.

No matter how much she threw a tantrum, saying *I’m the Grand Duke, what business is it of yours?*, she couldn’t overcome Argo, who had joined hands with Lady Kiraldue.

In any case, Terestia had no choice but to accept a deal more vicious than any demon’s.

Thinking of the cake she’d finally be able to eat again, she squeezed her eyes shut and put the carrot in her mouth.

*Why on earth do humans eat carrots? They’re not even tasty.*

The carrot she’d timidly tried to sneak away ultimately made its way into Terestia’s body through her mouth.

While she was waiting for her dessert cake with a sulky face, a familiar voice reached her.

“…Ahem, Your Highness.”

“Zeo?”

It was Zeo who brought the cake.

Zeo’s ears perked up reflexively at the sight of Terestia.

His fluffy, bushy tail was already wagging excitedly.

But Zeo, maintaining a composed face as best he could, walked over to Terestia and carefully handed her the cake he’d brought, saying,

“I made this cake myself… would you like to try it?”

“You made this?”

*But you’re a gardener, aren’t you?*

Terestia’s eyes asked that very question.

Zeo scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

He couldn’t bring himself to say that he’d made it because he wanted to see Terestia’s face.

The Terestia that Zeo had seen all this time was completely different from the terrible rumors circulating in the world.

Of course, she was incredibly strong, and even now, if he were to genuinely spar with her, he knew he’d lose.

But regardless, she was a far more lovely and adorable person than he’d expected.

There were many reasons he wanted to make a good impression on Terestia, but the biggest one was that she was his benefactor.

As a beastman who valued debts of gratitude, working as a gardener after receiving an enormous sum of money felt somewhat removed from repaying that favor.

So he’d asked the people of the Grand Ducal Castle what Terestia liked.

Especially when he heard that she was someone whose heart melted at sweet foods, a thought struck him: *’This is it!’*

He’d immediately made a cake with care, putting in the carrots that Terestia hated, but…

Whether she noticed Zeo looking at her with nervous anticipation or not, Terestia immediately picked up her fork and took a bite of the cake.

The sweet cream numbed her tongue, and the moist bread was soft and chewy.

“It’s delicious!”

But something crunched.

Something crispy… it didn’t seem like a strawberry…

As Terestia looked at Zeo with questioning eyes, Zeo said shyly,

“It’s a carrot cake. I heard that Your Highness doesn’t like carrots… so I thought you might eat it well this way. Does it suit your taste?”

“Carrot cake? There was carrot in this?”

Terestia’s eyes widened.

The carrot she’d thought was so tasteless!

Seeing Terestia’s reaction, Zeo was sure of his success.

At the same time, Argo let out a dry chuckle as he looked at Zeo and lightly swirled his wine glass.

*He’s really using every trick in the book to win over His/Her Highness the Grand Duke.*

He hadn’t thought much of it before, but it was starting to get annoyingly on his nerves.

Anyway, with the arrival of the cake, Terestia’s eyes lit up.

Like a miner who’d struck gold, Terestia sprang up, beaming, and threw her arms around Zeo.

Zeo’s ears and tail shot up in surprise, but he didn’t dare push her away and just stood still.

Then, with a bright red face, he opened his mouth.

“Uh, Your Highness?”

“Wow! Zeo! This is so delicious. Want to get hired as a cook too?”

“Th-this is just my way of repaying Your Highness’s kindness…”

“I’ll pay you double!”

Zeo nodded blankly.

It wasn’t the money—it was the sight of Terestia meeting his eyes that left him unable to think of anything else.

*The Grand Duke is hugging me and asking me to become a cook with aegyo?*

At the sudden, unimaginable action, Zeo couldn’t collect his thoughts.

It had started as an act of repaying a favor, but seeing her bright smile, other desires suddenly welled up inside him.

The only thing that kept him from hugging her back was his last shred of reason.

And Argo, who had been clicking his tongue inwardly at the sight of the two, slowly rose to his feet.

He could have seen it as endearing, like children playing house, but it just rubbed him the wrong way.

But who was there to blame? It was his own fault for constantly coaxing Terestia into his arms day after day.

Argo didn’t have the confidence to convince Terestia that a gardener was out of the question but that hugging him was perfectly fine.

However, the news he’d been meaning to tell her after the meal was just the right thing to redirect Terestia’s attention.

Argo let out a sigh-like breath and called out to Terestia.

“Your Highness.”

“Hm?”

“The letter you’ve been waiting for has arrived.”

“The one I’ve been waiting for?”

Terestia tilted her head and pulled away from Zeo.

As she approached Argo, Zeo somehow felt that the aide had deliberately spoken up.

But did he have any proof?

All he knew was that he found the smug-looking aide displeasing.

Meanwhile, Terestia’s expression as she took the letter turned serious, then quickly brightened.

“What’s this? Northern Noble Alliance agenda convening… a motion to impeach Grand Duke Inyument? Oh, this is!”

“How fortunate. Your Highness’s provocation worked quite effectively, didn’t it?”

It was a talent in itself—responding to a lengthy petition with a mere three lines to stir up the Noble Alliance’s anger.

And if the result was an ‘impeachment motion,’ then this time, even if Terestia subdued them with blood and fear, no one could question it.

“Monopoly on monster byproducts after hunting, and the unreasonably low taxes of the Inyument territory causing residents of their domains to leak out… Well, for these reasons, they say they wish to impeach Your Highness from the head of the Northern Noble Alliance.”

“Whoa…”

*I barely said anything, so why are they so angry?*

*Humans really are hard to understand.*

*Anyway, this means my vassals are essentially staging a rebellion, right?*

It was the news and reaction she’d been waiting for, but when the word ‘impeachment’ came up, the ego of Terestia that she’d swallowed stirred within her.

What was interesting was that she hadn’t cared at all before Argo brought it up, but now that they were talking about driving her out, she felt a sudden *’No way!’*.

*You dare try to drive me out, the Grand Duke? How insolent!*

Terestia knew exactly what to do in times like this.

Because that was what the original owner of this body had been best at.

She didn’t even need to peek into those memories.

Terestia tossed the letter she’d been reading into the air as if scattering it and said in an excited voice,

“Prepare the guns!”

*Bullets loaded to the brim! With magic rounds!*

It seemed like a rather unfavorable situation, but Terestia was beaming with anticipation.

Argo shook his head, but she paid him no mind—instead, she even grabbed Zeo’s hand and said,

“And Zeo, prepare the cake. I like strawberries!”

“This is really a disaster… Huh? Cake? Strawberries?”

*I thought a storm of blood was about to blow in.*

He didn’t know exactly what the situation was, but it looked serious, and it seemed like something big was happening.

But seeing Terestia’s bright, beaming smile, Zeo couldn’t help but tremble.