He bit the inside of his lip.

‘Is that woman going to end up in serious trouble before long?’

Kyle set down the newspaper and pressed his fingers to his forehead. He wasn’t ordinarily someone who paid much attention to other people’s affairs, but if that baker disappeared, he would never be able to eat her bread again.

His large hand reached for his teacup.

His gaze rested on the tea, half-finished in the cup. It was a blend the imperial physician had prepared, known to strengthen stamina.

*

In the early hours before dawn, when the nobles and servants of Montewarre Castle were deep in sleep, Kyle transformed into an eagle and slipped out of the palace in secret.

He landed in a deserted back alley and drank down the potion he had brought in one go.

Instead of short taloned feet, golden hair cascaded and curled over his shoulders. His red eyes shifted to emerald, and a rough beard covered his jaw.

Jingle.

Kyle pushed open the shop door and looked around.

Shiloh came out from the kitchen in the back, tying her apron, and stared at Kyle with startled eyes.

Thud thud thud.

Their eyes met and Kyle looked away immediately. He tried to appear indifferent, but the palm of the hand he had shoved casually into his tunic pocket was damp with sweat.

“Don’t you sell ‘premium’ bread?”

The tension made Kyle frown without meaning to.

“……”

Kyle was wearing a grey tunic with the hood pulled up over his head.

Seeing the wariness that flickered in Shiloh’s eyes, he softened his voice as much as he could.

“Just asking.”

The tension in Shiloh’s face eased slightly.

“You’ve come all the way here before dawn for the ‘premium’ bread.”

“Yes. Ahem.”

Kyle gave an awkward cough.

The ‘premium line’ bread made with pabua powder was sold at a higher price than regular bread due to its superior taste and effects, but it sold out quickly with so many people wanting it, making it difficult to get hold of. So many customers bought it on special occasions, for someone they cared about.

“Is it a gift? Or for yourself?”

“A gift.”

He answered with a reddening face, and Shiloh nodded with wide eyes.

“If the recipient cares a lot about their skin, what about a blueberry tart? If they’re in poor health, the six-clove garlic bread is good too.”

Shiloh showed him the premium bread menu. It ranged from stamina recovery to bread that slowed the aging of the eyes.

Kyle looked down in thought for a moment, then spoke carefully.

“Is there a bread that’s good for someone who’s sensitive and unpredictable?”

“Sounds like a lover’s personality.”

“Well…… sort of……”

Kyle trailed off and looked away.

She smiled far more brightly than she did when she was alone.

“The banana line would be good. I happen to have freshly baked tart shells, so I was thinking of making a banana caramel cake…… what do you think?”

“Whatever you recommend.”

“Please wait just a moment. I’ll make it right away. While you wait, sit down and have some of these.”

Shiloh set a plate of long, crisp almond biscotti in front of him and went back to the kitchen.

Kyle sat in the small chair, snapping off pieces of biscotti with his teeth and stealing glances at her as she worked.

The soft light fell on Shiloh’s profile. Her round forehead, her neatly upturned nose, her slightly parted lips, all of it was clean and lovely.

Gulp.

The back of Kyle’s neck flushed.

He couldn’t eat the biscotti properly and instead turned over the ‘stamina-boosting tea leaf pouch’ he had tucked into his tunic.

Kyle had been stealing glances at Shiloh baking when he blurted out.

“It’s for me, actually. It’s not as though I have a lover to give it to.”

Shiloh kneaded the dough in silence, then pressed it with her index finger to gauge the firmness. After a long pause, she asked.

“People probably don’t believe you when you say you don’t have a lover, do they?”

Kyle flinched and turned toward her.

“Pardon?”

“It seems like a lot of ladies would be drawn to you. You’re very handsome.”

Kyle’s lips twitched for a moment before he quickly composed them into a neutral expression.

“I wouldn’t know.”

He took a sip of oat milk with a flushed face, set it down, and cleared his throat.

Kyle was, in a way that didn’t match his striking looks, uncomfortable around women. He was the emperor of the Empire and an uncommonly handsome man, but his expression and manner were so rigid he looked perpetually angry, and the strange rumors that followed him meant only a woman with considerable nerve could approach him. He wasn’t the type to approach women first either, and the women who did come to him tended to be the calculating sort, and they never managed to break through his solid defenses. No woman had ever developed a deeper relationship with him.

“I’d think there are plenty of men who treat you well.”

“Pardon?”

“You.”

At Kyle’s offhand remark, Shiloh placed the dough on the tart shell and replied.

“There aren’t. And even if there were, I don’t have the time for romance right now.”

“……”

Her certainty made Kyle pause.

“I took on a lot of debt to open the shop. Until it’s paid off, I’m only going to work.”

“How much is the debt?”

“Pardon?”

Shiloh looked at him with a puzzled expression for a moment, then answered.

“It’s not a small amount, but the shop is doing well so I think I can pay it off in about half a year.”

The atmosphere had grown awkward, and Kyle quickly changed the subject.

“That’s good to hear. When did you get your baker’s license? I’ve heard it’s hard to get through unless you’re made of tough stuff.”

“License?”

Shiloh froze.

‘Do you need a license here too?’

The back of her neck flushed red.

“This is not an unlicensed operation, is it?”

Shiloh had been biting her lip, and she answered belatedly.

“Ah…… recently! I got it.”

“And the baker’s guild membership?”

“That…… I’m planning to do gradually.”

Her voice trailed off, and Kyle’s eyes sharpened.

She asked in a trembling voice.

“What happens if you don’t have a license?”

“……”

“Just out of curiosity. I’m not well-versed in imperial law…… they’re not prison, is it?”

Kyle studied Shiloh with a furrowed brow.

Shiloh had stopped working the dough.

Bakers were responsible for feeding the citizens of the Empire, so the Empire regulated them. Those who aspired to become bakers would work and train under a licensed baker, and once they passed their master’s examination, they would submit the master’s signed and sealed endorsement to the imperial court, which would then issue a license.

However, some bakers abused this system, deliberately withholding official recognition from their apprentices for years and exploiting them as underpaid employees.

As a result, there were many cases of opening bakeries without a license or forging documents to create fake ones.

If Shiloh were ever reported for operating without a license, it would be a disaster for Kyle as well. He might never be able to eat her bread again.

“I believe the fine is quite substantial. The person who reports the violation also receives a reward.”

“Ah……”

“The person in question is banned from working as a baker for seven years, and obtaining a license is also prohibited during that time.”

Shiloh looked down and said nothing for a long while.

‘I haven’t even paid off the debt yet. What am I going to do? This is the only thing I know how to do……’

Shiloh steadied her breathing with a stiff expression, then pulled the freshly baked tart shells from the oven and picked up a bowl of milk and sugar, rotating her wrist to whip it into a foam.

Kyle leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching her whip the cream with a flushed face and labored breathing.

“Doesn’t your arm hurt?”

Shiloh glanced back and answered between quick breaths.

“I have to whip it fast or it won’t become cream.”

Kyle took off his tunic and draped it over a chair, then held out his large hand.

“Let me try.”

“I do this all the time, it’s fine.”

“Hand it over.”

“Please, just relax.”

“That would make me more uncomfortable.”

Kyle grimaced and took the bowl of milk and sugar from her, and Shiloh flinched.

Her long, slender fingers had brushed against Kyle’s hand for a moment.

While Shiloh stood there in a daze, Kyle took the bowl without asking further. With his large hands gripping the whisk and bowl, the large bowl suddenly looked small.

“I can do it……”

Shiloh stood a little apart, shifting anxiously and moving her lips.

“Saving strength you don’t need is wasteful.”

“……”

“Am I doing it right?”

“Yes. Just rotate quickly in one direction. Until the peak doesn’t droop when you hold the whisk sideways.”

Kyle set the bowl of milk on the counter and whisked with intense focus, brow furrowed like a man on a mission.