“……Tenere. May I come in?”

Tenere didn’t answer. Leonard carefully turned the doorknob.

“I’m coming in, Tenere.”

He opened the door slowly, and there she was, lying on the bed with her back to him. Leonard approached her, his footsteps muffled.

“……are you sleeping?”

“…….”

“Tenere.”

“……I didn’t let you in.”

The fat voice sounded angry, as if it had been tightly wound. Leonard cautiously sat up in bed.

“……I was bad, Tenere.”

“…….”

“It’s because I wasn’t ready for this, and I was afraid you were sick and tired.”

Though Leonard was also making efforts to see the second child, when it came to actually hearing the news of conception, he couldn’t help but feel guilty about the unnecessary actions he had taken. Especially seeing the slender wrist between the sleeves made it even worse.

“I’m very happy to have a child. It’s just that I’m…… scared, so my excitement outweighs my worry.”

Tenere still had her back turned to him, but Leonard knew she was listening to him.

“I was wrong.”

With those words, Tenere pushed herself upright and turned to face Leonard. She stared at him for a long moment before she finally spoke.

“I’m not the only one you’ve wronged……am I?”

At those words, Leonard bowed his head quickly. He gingerly placed a hand on her flat stomach, which hadn’t yet swelled.

“I’m sorry, my dear.”

“…….”

“It’s not because I hate you…… it’s because I’m worried about your mother.”

It was ridiculous to have to make excuses for a child who hadn’t even been born yet, but Tenere opened her arms as if that was enough to make her feel better.

“……You can’t do that anymore, Leon.”

“Of course.”

Leonard pulled Tenere into a quick embrace and kissed her on the lips and cheeks, then bent down and planted a few kisses on her stomach. A tickling laugh came from above his head. Tenere ran her fingers through his hair.

“I’m worried about you, so please be better.”

“I will.”

Leonard smiled in satisfaction at Tenere’s answer.

“Tenere, is there anything else you’d like to eat?”

“Not really, but……. ……ah.”

Tenere mumbled something small, then let out a gasp as if she’d remembered something. She looked back at Leonard a little sheepishly.

“Back in the North, my brother used to make me a stew.”

“What kind of stew was it?”

“My brother wouldn’t let me in the kitchen, so I don’t know exactly, but the ingredients were different every time…….”

As if that was enough, Leonard rose from his seat.

* * *

“My lord, His Imperial Majesty has sent a letter.”

Eric Evan, Marquis Evan, looked up from buttoning his sleeves. He’d been preparing to hurry to the palace at the news of his sister’s pregnancy, which made the letter’s suddenness all the more puzzling.

Eric tore it open and scanned it with his eyes. After a long moment, he let out a huff of laughter. The butler asked cautiously.

“May I ask what it is, sir?”

“He wants me to give him a recipe for a stew I used to make in the North.”

“……?”

“I don’t know how he found out. It was just made with whatever ingredients were available at the time.”

Sure, he added some spices to the stew when he added something with a nasty odor, but it was basically recipe-less. Eric handed the letter back to the butler and quickly buttoned up his coat.

“Tell him I’m on my way to the palace now. What kind of person…… want to eat such a thing after all the good stuff?”

Eric grumbled as always, but his expression had softened, as if he were recalling old memories. The butler ruffled his hair without bothering to point it out.

* * *

After arriving at the palace, Eric was immediately escorted to the palace kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw Leonard with a white apron tied around his waist, and the imperial chef standing there, not knowing what to do.

“Your Majesty……?”

“Have you arrived?”

Leonard smiled at Eric in a friendly manner. Eric spat out a wry smile.

“What are you doing…… now?”

“I prepared in advance for your visit. Look around and let me know if you need any more ingredients.”

“It’s not about the ingredients right now…”

Well, actually, the ingredients were also a problem. Eric looked around the kitchen with a dumbfounded expression. The stacked items on the countertop were clearly not suitable ingredients for stew.

“Your Majesty, these… aren’t the ingredients you need for stew…”

“But these are all ingredients from the palace.”

“No, what…….”

Eric looked at Leonard like a madman, but Leonard merely touched the ingredients as if he didn’t know what was wrong. Eric sighed heavily as he watched.

“The soup I made then…… didn’t require any fancy ingredients, it was literally made with what we had at home.”

“But those were all ingredients in the palace.”

“No, it’s not that, the day we killed a boar, I added boar meat, the day we killed a bear, I added bear meat, the day the villagers brought us potatoes, I added a generous…… Your Majesty, isn’t that caviar?”

Eric, who had been describing it at length, was horrified when he saw Leonard pick it up. Leonard nodded nonchalantly.

“Aren’t we supposed to put this in?”

“No, what kind of madman would put that in a stew……!”

Eric shouted in exasperation and quickly covered his mouth. But Leonard didn’t seem to hear him, and he just set the tub of caviar down on the countertop. Eric took a deep breath and let it out.

“……Your Majesty. Didn’t the Empress…… say she wanted to try the stew she had in the north?”

“She did.”

“The north didn’t have such expensive and rare ingredients. Things like caviar…… No, caviar wasn’t the problem, seafood itself was hard to come by, Your Majesty.”

“But the Empress prefers fish to meat.”

“…….”

“Besides, since you’re making it,…… wouldn’t you mind adding a good ingredient or two?”

“Your Majesty, with all due respect,…… that kind of thinking is a shortcut to ruin a dish.”

The chef next to Eric nodded his head in agreement. Apparently, he was terrified that he might have to use the saved ingredients to make the stew. Eric swallowed a sigh and picked up the ingredients one by one.

“First, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, veal, and…… what kind of meat is this?”

“Veal, My Lord.”

“We didn’t often put beef in it… Ah, and we occasionally put eggplant and cabbage. There were times when we put in plenty of pumpkin.”

As Eric picked up the ingredients and placed them in the basket, the chef’s face lit up as if he had finally found someone he could talk to. When Eric had picked out all the remaining ingredients, he looked up.

“I’ve got the ingredients, now all you have to do is slice them up and boil them in a pot.”

“You’re leaving?”

Eric curtsied and turned to leave the kitchen, but Leonard’s call stopped him in his tracks. Swallowing hard, he tried to sound polite.

“It’s not that difficult to make a stew, and the chef here would know better than me.”

“But the Empress said she would like to try the stew you made.”

“…….”

‘So he wants me to make it now? And he’s wearing the apron himself? ‘ As Eric looked at Leonard incredulously, Leonard, as if sensing his confusion, gestured with his hand, as if to say that’s not it.

“She wants it made your way, so I need you to help me.”

“I’m afraid I can’t. I have to see Her Majesty, and also…”

Eric paused for a moment. Of course, he was here today to see his sister, who had been reinstated, but that wasn’t the only reason.

“I also… have to go see my lady.”

With a sheepish expression, Eric spoke, and Leonard’s eyes softened. It was a smile reminiscent of Tenere’s.

“If you help willingly, I’ll overlook what you said about me being crazy earlier.”

“…….”

‘Ah. You heard me.’ Eric flinched, but he supposed he wasn’t really wrong. It was a bit…… out of the ordinary for the Emperor to be down in the kitchen in the first place, wearing an apron.

Still, it meant he loved her sister enough to go to all this trouble. Eric chuckled softly.

“Well, I’ll just run my mouth without lifting a finger.” ……

“As you wish.”

With that, Leonard picked up his knife and began chopping the peeled onion into small pieces. Eric watched in disbelief, then opened his mouth.

“You could have cut it a little bigger.”

“But didn’t you say bite-sized? She has a small mouth, so I think this is about the right size…… for her to eat comfortably.”

The onion Leonard cut was the size of a pinky nail. Even Joshua’s food wasn’t cut this small.

“……I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but are you making baby food right now?”

“…….”

“The Empress is a full grown woman, not a 12-month-old baby. In terms of months, she’s about…… 324 months old.”

“……Is that so?”

“Oh, not ‘is she’, yes?”

Eric thumped his chest in frustration and snatched the knife from Leonard’s hand, then sliced the smaller onion without hesitation.

“You can use this size.”

“It’s bigger than I thought.”

“It’s for a 324 month old person.”

Looking at Leonard’s puzzled face, Eric replied as if it were obvious. Leonard nodded and sheathed his knife.