Sckellz’s plan to abduct the wizards ended in failure.

   Becoming aware of their plot in advance, Nayvel beat them to the punch and gained the cooperation of their ally of Vint to successfully spring a trap on group of kidnappers and the King of Sckellz’s private force.

   The Kingdom of Vint originally had nothing to do with the matter, but they could not close their eyes to trouble posed by the war-mongering Sckellz gaining a new weapon called wizards.

   Skirmishes had risen between the two kingdoms on countless occasions before, so Vint could not write off as none of their concern. If Sckellz were to bare their fangs, which one of its surrounding kingdom would they turn it toward?

   With the interests of Nayvel and Vint in alignment, they took this opportunity to declare war on Sckellz.

   To the north of Sckellz there was the Kingdom of Balt as well as the Kingdom of Schnee. To the south, the Kingdom of Flamme. These kingdom would declare their intentions to support the allied forces of Nayvel and Vint.

   With the sea to the west, Sckellz was now surrounded by enemies on all sides. No matter how specialized they were in warfare, there was simply too much of a difference in numbers.

   Furthermore, Nayvel and Lamme were both major powers endowed with twice the territory of Sckellz.

   No matter how they fought back, Sckellz had no chance of winning.

   However, the foolish king no doubt saw none of his kingdom’s dire straits.

   His close aides advised him to surrender, but he refused. It seemed like he had grand ambition to embroil the entire continent in large-scale warfare.

   By the hands of his own Order, the King of Sckellz was a.s.sa.s.sinated.

   It was a coup d’état.

   Sckellz declared its surrender the very same day, and the conflict that had spread over half the continent was over.

   However, even though we managed to avoid a large-scale war, it did not mean the chaos in our own kingdom had calmed down.

   Niklas has been imprisoned, and if a lengthy investigation were to be a conducted, I wondered if he’d receive a sentence that could be executed. Of course, Hilde was also subject to punishment, but because there was room to take the extenuating circ.u.mstances into consideration, I believe her sentence will be much lighter than his.

   I, Rosemarie von Werfald, could do nothing to influence politics. Secluded inside the palace with my guard knight glued to me, the only recourse I had left was to wait for the current state of affairs to calm down.

   I could finally feel peace returning by the time half a year had pa.s.sed since Lutz and Theo were abducted.

   My ever occupied older brother stopped by to see me, and I thought, Ahh, it’s finally over.

   “What…is this?”

   Sweets making…ahem. My older brother came around right as we finished up with magic training, and I was serving what we’d made for tea.

   The pastries our kingdom was familiar with were all baked sweets. The cream-shaped object I held out to him was the first of its kind he had ever laid eyes on, and yet he put it in his mouth without hesitation.

   Christof was indeed my older brother, but at the same time he was also the first in line for the throne. I voiced my concerns about tasting it first for traces of poison, but my brother declined.

   He put the scoop he’d taken with a silver spoon into his mouth, and turned to stone.

   A rare flash of emotion flickered over his expressionless face, his shock apparent to see. This was the point we returned to his question from above.

   After gulping it down, my brother stared fixedly at what I’d served him in the shallow plate, then he looked at me.

   “Frozen sweets.”

   Yup, Lutz and I made vanilla ice cream. I couldn’t get my hands on vanilla beans though, so I’m not sure if it was really okay to call it vanilla flavored.

   Once I’d gathered the ingredients I needed, I could only think, Let’s try it and dove into the process of making it. It was a tough battle. Magic was quite difficult to fine tune. If it was too cold everything froze over, and the moisture in the air began combine, splitting the air with the sound of ice breaking.*

   Theo had less power than Lutz, but he was adept at control and was quick to succeed. I remembered Lutz growling in frustration as he looked at the light-brown color of the baked sweets Theo had produced.

   Like he desperately trying not to lose out, I thought Lutz improved considerably at quite a fast pace. These two truly made a good combo.

   Like this and that, one way or another, the ice cream was made. Personally, I thought it tasted delicious, but… I wonder if it wasn’t to my brother’s taste?

   “Is it not to your liking?”

   “No, it’s good. This is merely the first time I’ve ever tasted this texture and flavor.”

   Scooping out another spoon, he put it in his mouth. It was only a little, but I saw his eyes narrow, and I was relieved.

   It was an expression that said, Yes, this is truly delicious. Great.

   At any rate, Nayvel does have frozen sweets.

   They froze fruit juice inside an ice house…in other words, something like sorbet.

   It was the same frozen sweet, but sorbet and ice cream were completely different, so I was a little worried how he’d receive it, but I’m glad it turned out fine.

   “I heard it was made using magic, but this is truly astonis.h.i.+ng.”

   “Yes. The two of them possess magnificent powers.”

   It wasn’t my achievment, but I was happy to hear his praise.

   They were words I also wanted the two of them to hear, but Lutz and Theo had been called away from their seats by Lady Irene.

   “I’ve heard it was your idea to put magic to practical use, but…”

   Maybe treating two genius wizards as cookwares may have been in poor-taste after all? Preparing myself for a lecture, I asked, “It was. I thought it would help to control their powers, so I proposed the idea to Lady Irene, but…should I have not?”

   “Not at all.”

   My brother shook his head, eyes closed.

   “If our ruler and everyone else in this kingdom were like you, the world would surely become more peaceful.”

   “…………”

   Erhmmm. What was he talking about?

   Was he praising me, or was he disgusted with me? No…as far as I could tell, he was praising me, and thinking very highly of me.

   Something warm got in my eyes.

   “Leonhard, why don’t you try it as well?”

   “!”

   My brother addressed the knight standing guard behind him, but the knight smiled wryly and declined with a very proper excuse.

   “I am in the middle of my duties.”

   I thought it was a bit of a shame, but instead of becoming disappointed, my good opinion of him increased. I was probably the only one who thinks it cool for a man to be so devoted to his work.

   After some more pleasant conversation, my brother stood up from his seat.

   He intended to return to work, so I got up to send him off, hesitating a little. The truth was, I’d wanted an opportunity to chat with Sir Leonhard, but…I knew his professional duties were of utmost importance to him, and I didn’t want to detain him back with my personal problems.

   Like my older brother, Sir Leonhard was a very busy, so if I lost this opportunity, who knew when we would next meet. But I also didn’t want to hinder his work.

   Losing courage, I told them to come back for another visit, waving goodbye like a good child. For some reason, a considering look came across his face as he looked me.

   “Rosé,” he said.

   “Yes?”

   “Do you mind if I borrow Klaus for a bit?”

   Huh? What for?

   I wasn’t the only surprised at his words. Klaus was also startled to have his name suddenly called out, and even Sir Leonhard couldn’t hide his bewilderment

   What in the world are you thinking, brother?

   “Who will guard Her Highness?”

   “I just want to have a little talk. As soon as I get to the office, I’ll be right back. Until then, I want youto take care of Rosé.”

   Sir Leonhard was only lost for a second.

   “By your will.”

   His confusion cleared, and he nodded. A big difference from my own nervous self.

   “Rosé, are you OK with that?”

   “Of course…”

   I’d hesitated to bring it up myself, but I nodded a.s.sent.

   Even if I didn’t know the reason why he was asking, this was what I’d wished for in the end. If this was my only chance to speak with Sir Leonhard, then I won’t let it slip from my hand.

   Klaus seemed very unwilling, but he couldn’t go against the His Royal Highness, so he reluctantly left with Chris.