Chapter 6

There could be no more accurate title than that.

“Surely, you’re not asking me to call you ‘Father’ or something?”

“Michael. Call me Michael.”

“…Well, fine.”

Michael adjusted Kanis’s crooked pajamas and continued speaking.

“If I fail to change your mind by then, I’ll let you return to the Mage Tower.”

“That’s only natural. After that, don’t show up in front of the Master of the Mage Tower.”

Michael, who had been silent, asked a question.

“Is it okay if I watch from afar?”

“Don’t you know how keen the Master of the Mage Tower’s senses are? If you’re within visible range, she’ll obviously know.”

“She didn’t seem to know.”

“Do you really think she didn’t?”

“…”

Kanis clapped her hands loudly.

“Then it’s a deal.”

“Wait a moment.”

“What? If you’re scared, just give up.”

At those words, one of Michael’s eyebrows arched slightly.

“If, on the contrary, those words come out of your mouth, will you fully cooperate to ensure Kanis Riventi doesn’t dislike me?”

Despite the sharp expression with which he spoke, the content of his question was rather pitiful.

Kanis nodded cheerfully.

“Of course! I guarantee it. I’ll even take responsibility and make sure you two get married.”

Given that she was the subject of the matter, it might have been better not to guarantee it so confidently…

“Very well.”

By the time Kanis noticed the change in Michael’s gaze, it was already too late to turn back.

Uh… well… it should be fine.

As long as I don’t say those words, it shouldn’t be hard, right?

Michael stood up.

“You must be tired today, so rest.”

“Am I sleeping here?”

“Yes.”

Michael ruffled Kanis’s hair so thoroughly that her eyes almost closed before bidding her farewell.

“See you tomorrow.”

Kanis, her hair a mess, nodded reluctantly.

And precisely at noon the next day, the two met again in the dining room for lunch.

That was when it all began.

***

Jehel witnessed a strange scene on her way to work.

At a time when the chefs should have been busy, they were all outside basking in the sun.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well… His Highness said he’d use the kitchen.”

“Who?”

“His Highness.”

“Why?”

“Uh…”

So Jehel went to the kitchen.

And there, an even stranger sight awaited him.

“Stop it! Stop cooking already!”

Kanis was sitting alone at a table piled high with food, yelling in frustration, while Michael continued his one-man cooking show in front of the stove, pretending not to hear.

“Hey, who’s going to eat all this?!”

“But haven’t I prepared only half of the dishes you mentioned wanting to eat earlier?”

“Are you saying you’re going to cook all of this today?”

“Is there a problem?”

“…”

Jehel heard it.

Kanis muttering quietly under her breath, 

“Madman…”

Honestly, even if she had said it louder, Michael wouldn’t have had the right to complain.

Jehel didn’t know that Kanis had lost her right to call Michael a “madman” the night before.

Nor did she know how many more nights Kanis would spend muttering those words.

Noticing Jehel’s arrival, Kanis turned to her without surprise.

“Come over here and stop this guy.”

“What power do I have to stop him?”

“You must have some kind of trick, don’t you?”

“I’ve never tried stopping His Highness before, in case he orders me to be his aide for life.”

“…”

Kanis, giving Jehel a look that said she was just as hopeless, gestured toward the food on the table.

“Then at least distribute this to the others. It’d be a waste.”

“How did it come to this?”

“…”

Kanis couldn’t bring herself to explain.

How was she supposed to admit that she had tried to make things difficult for Michael, only to end up in trouble herself?

‘I don’t eat bell peppers.’

When Kanis had said that, Michael, who was about to take a bite, had set his spoon down with a smile.

‘Then what do you want to eat?’

She shouldn’t have listed off a bunch of dishes in response.

Michael had even gone so far as to write them all down.

The head chef, standing beside him, had resigned himself to his fate with a grim expression.

So Kanis had snapped at Michael, accusing him of showing off using others’ labor and asking why he was writing things down when he wasn’t going to cook himself.

But Michael had silently stood up and rolled up his sleeves.

As her gaze followed his upward movement, Kanis thought, 

…Surely not?

And, of course, here they were.

Michael, who had brought even more food, was now forcing dishes onto an already full table.

Worried that Michael would return to the stove, Kanis waved her hand hurriedly.

“Alright, fine. Just come over here and eat. Share some with the servants too.”

Michael, caught by the apron strings in Kanis’s hand, let himself be pulled over with a slight smile.

“Kanna, does this mean you’re admitting this is enough?”

“Yes! I admit it. Sit down, quickly.”

When Michael grabbed a chair, Kanis let out a sigh of relief.

“Then why don’t you at least taste it? It shouldn’t be inedible.”

Michael turned his chair toward Kanis and sat down.

Crossing his legs, he rested his chin on his hand, propped up by his arm on the table, and looked at her.

It was a natural pose, purely for the sake of making eye contact. Kanis didn’t even glance his way.

“Kanna. Why won’t you look at me?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

Ignoring Jehel’s interjection, Michael touched the edge of the soup bowl with his index finger.

“It seems to have cooled a bit. I’ll go heat it up.”

“If you even think about getting up…”

Kanis glared at him, her eyes sharp, and Michael smiled.

He looked like someone who always did illegal things and ate unhealthy food, but it turned out his hobby was cooking, and he occasionally smiled just like that.

What kind of smile was it? Well… how should one put it?

It was simply… carefree.

Yes, it was the kind of smile that didn’t even seem to realize it was smiling.

Michael often smiled at Kanis like that. Just now, his face had looked so familiar, as if it had been taken straight from those moments.

Kanis quickly turned her head away.

Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good for her.

Yes, Michael wasn’t harmful because of what he did but because his mere existence was harmful.

Still, leaving him alone made her feel even more irritated.

She had to pick a fight somehow.

But how could she, when she’d never picked a fight with anyone before?

Usually, when Kanis Riventi encountered an annoyance, she killed it.

There was no need to pick a fight. Most of the time, it was a monster anyway.

So how could I make this guy’s face twist in embarrassment?

While Kanis was lost in such thoughts, her initial purpose morphing into something else, Jehel asked casually.

“Your Highness, may I take some of this to go? My nephew would love it.”

“If Kanna allows it.”

“Take it.”

“Great.”

***

The staff of the Crown Prince’s Palace got used to such scenes in about three days.

Wherever they went, they could see Kanis angrily yelling about something, while the Crown Prince diligently did something in front of her, seemingly unaffected by the scolding.

Of course, the staff interpreted this scene as a “shy daughter playing with her father.”

“They seem to get along well.”

“Indeed. It must be the bond of blood.”

Whenever Jehel overheard such remarks while walking through the halls, she had to stop for a moment, utterly dumbfounded.

It seemed that, apart from Kanna herself and Jehel, everyone in the palace had fallen for Michael’s lie.

Ironically, it was Kanna’s behavior that reinforced the staff’s belief.

After Michael had grown up, children hadn’t been present in the palace for a long time, so the staff treated Kanna with extra care.

Polite, cautious, and kind.

But Kanna couldn’t stand it.

If someone tried to wipe her mouth, she’d flinch and pull her head away. If someone tried to tug a blanket over her at night, she’d wake up immediately, looking uncomfortable.

Once, she had even looked up at a servant who came to check on her in her sleep, wondering if they were a monster.

As this pattern repeated, Kanna began to ignore the servants and eventually started avoiding them altogether.

Seeing Kanna “playing” with her supposed father, Michael, the staff consoled themselves with thoughts of familial bonds.

Jehel, delivering documents for Michael’s approval, cautiously brought it up.

“By the way, Your Highness, do you know Kanna has been avoiding the servants?”

“I do.”

“She doesn’t seem to act that way around you or me. Why is she like that with the servants? Is she just uncomfortable being cared for?”

Michael handed the signed documents back to Jehel and replied.

“She doesn’t know how to handle kindness.”

“Pardon?”

“She didn’t need to take after that.”

Hearing that, Jehel sighed knowingly.

“You’re talking about the Master of the Mage Tower?”

“She has the same habit of disappearing when people try to be hospitable.”

Since Kanna and Kanis were alike, their conversation was only natural.