Vol 1 Chapter 29 – The Spoiled Princess’s Cookies【Vol 1 – Spoiled Princess Arc】

Phew… I’m beat.

Flump.

Debora flopped onto the fluffy bed.

She was certainly tired, but it was a very pleasant exhaustion.

Indeed, a smile graced her lips.

“This is all thanks to you, Erik. Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

Glancing towards the door, she saw Erik standing there with the pest, Miriam. In contrast to Erik’s pleasant expression, Miriam was obviously in a foul mood.

Now that they’d arrived at the royal castle, she probably wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. But Debora wouldn’t let that happen.

Erik was her knight, after all.

“…Are we done here? Erik needs to receive treatment now.”

Miriam tried to pull Erik’s hand and leave. But Debora wouldn’t let him get away.

“Hold on. You can go wherever you like, but leave Erik here. Papa seems busy, and I have some time before my audience. Let me talk with Erik to kill time.”

“…Huh? I detoxified Erik with my healing magic, but he still needs a proper examination, just in case. We can’t stay in a place like this.”

She wanted to report the attempted assassination of Debora to King Rei, but it seemed it would take some time due to his official duties. Still, as it concerned his daughter, King Rei’s work speed seemed to have increased significantly.

Alfred had apparently gone to Prince Orace. Therefore, it seemed the bored Debora was trying to amuse herself with Erik.

But Miriam wouldn’t allow such a thing. She tried to quickly pull him away from Debora under the pretext of a medical examination, but…

“Who are you going to have examine Erik?”

Miriam’s body froze at Debora’s question.

“W-Well… a town doctor…”

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to have a physician from the royal palace examine him? He can talk with me while he gets his check-up. Our doctors aren’t quacks, so you can rest easy, you know?”

Nnnngh…!

Unable to find any flaw in Debora’s argument, Miriam gritted her teeth.

Indeed, if it was a physician serving the royal palace, their skills would undoubtedly be reliable.

It was also a fact that some town doctors barely understood medicine. Within Miriam, the desire to pull Erik away from Debora clashed with the desire to have a skilled physician examine him.

And the one that won out was…

“…P-Please do.”

Miriam had yielded.

Seeing her, Debora grinned smugly.

“Yes, yes, very good. For someone with such an empty head, you can make surprisingly good decisions. I shall even praise you.”

“…Don’t need it.”

Miriam turned away.

Normally, Debora would have been quite irritated by such a reaction, but being in a good mood now, she decided to let it slide.

“Now then, Erik. Tell me all sorts of things.”

“Sigh…”

What on earth should I talk about…? Erik wondered, but still nodded.

All the while, he savored the thrilling suspense of just when she might make him explode.

◆

“Wow, something like that happened! The outside world really is interesting, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s stimulating.”

Debora’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Erik.

They were talking about the time King Rei had sent Erik to retrieve the goblins’ hidden treasure, said to be located within their nest.

Goblins were known as extremely dangerous monsters because they would abduct females of other races to violate them for the sake of reproduction.

Of course, since he couldn’t take the combat-inept Miriam to such a place, Erik had infiltrated the nest alone.

Miriam had nearly fainted when she saw Erik return, bloodied, battered, and accompanied by the women who had been captured.

Miriam was once again reminded that the sensibilities of these two, who called such things “interesting” or “stimulating,” were quite different from those of ordinary people.

Just what you’d expect from the Altruistic Hero and the “Spoiled Princess,” she thought.

“Excuse me.”

The one who knocked and entered was the royal castle physician Debora had summoned.

“Ah, I’ve been waiting. Could you examine Erik for me?”

“Certainly, Your Highness.”

The physician bowed to Debora and approached Erik.

Then, he began to examine Erik’s body by channeling magical energy into him.

“Well, he’ll be fine if we leave it to him. His skills aren’t on par with your healing magic, but he’s very knowledgeable, you see.”

“…Yes.”

Miriam meekly complied with Debora’s words.

It was true that she, originally a peasant, could only use powerful healing magic and hadn’t actually studied medicine.

Although Miriam detested royalty, she obediently followed those words.

(Though, from my perspective, it’s more surprising that she can use such aberrant healing magic,) Debora thought.

She would never say it out loud, but Debora held a certain respect for Miriam.

The reason was that Miriam’s healing magic was abnormal.

It could heal any kind of injury, and furthermore, its healing speed was unbelievably fast.

The physician currently examining Erik was also a skilled user of healing magic, but not to Miriam’s extent.

She was truly a figure one could call a goddess of salvation.

However, its drawback was that it apparently inflicted excruciating pain, and it was said that almost no one could endure it.

(If it weren’t for that drawback, Papa would have definitely made her his subordinate,) Debora mused.

Such were Debora’s thoughts, but she quickly shifted gears.

“Alright, then. Erik can’t talk right now anyway, so I’ll give you my special treat.”

“…Yes?”

Miriam watched suspiciously as Debora got off the bed and briskly walked towards the door.

“What are you planning to do? Please don’t do anything unnecessary.”

“You really don’t hold back with me anymore, do you?”

Debora added, “Well, it’s fine, though.”

Feared by everyone except her father and older brother, she found it refreshing to have someone express their feelings so honestly towards her.

Well, when it was annoying, it was annoying.

Thinking this, she informed the half-lidded Miriam.

“I thought I’d make some sweets for you.”

……Huh?

Miriam stood there, mouth agape.

It was so unexpected that she couldn’t react.

Leaving Miriam like that, Debora quickly exited the room.

“W-Wait a minute!”

Miriam desperately chased after Debora.

Left behind in Debora’s private room were only a puzzled-looking Erik and the physician using magic.

◆

Pant, pant…

Even after a series of battles against ogres and bandits, Debora’s steps showed no sign of fatigue.

She was, after all, an active child.

Miriam finally managed to catch up because Debora had stopped in the kitchen.

“P-Please wait…!”

“Oh? Did you follow me?”

Debora finally noticed Miriam.

She had a bandana tied over her voluminous hair and was wearing an apron.

She looked like a child helping her mother with cooking.

Miriam’s eyes widened at this appearance, so unlike the “Spoiled Princess.”

“W-What are you doing…?”

“Hm? Making sweets.”

“S…Sweets…?”

Such unbelievable words came from Debora’s mouth again that Miriam was dumbfounded.

Sweets? Who was making them? Princess Debora?

Various thoughts surfaced and vanished in Miriam’s mind…

“A-Are you planning to poison him?!”

“How did you even arrive at that conclusion?”

Debora shot her an exasperated look.

“B-But…! A royal from the nefarious and tyrannical Kingdom of Vilemse, who can barely do anything for herself, baking sweets…”

“You know, if you weren’t Erik’s companion, you’d seriously be executed for lèse-majesté, right? Do you understand?”

Debora glared at Miriam, who was muttering with a pale face.

However, without letting her own temper explode, Debora efficiently began her preparations.

“Well, anyway, that’s what’s happening, so you’re in the way. Go away. You’re annoying.”

Debora immediately started making the sweets.

Miriam had been staring at Debora’s back as if witnessing the impossible, but then, with a huff, she roused herself.

“I-I’ll help too!”

“Huh?!”

This time, it was Debora who was surprised.

She glared at Miriam, who had suddenly started standing next to her.

“I don’t need your help! I told you, you’re in the way!”

“I can’t let Erik eat sweets made by a royal who doesn’t even take care of her own personal needs! I will supervise properly!”

“I don’t need it! I read about it in a book, so I can do it!”

“You can’t cook just by reading a book! You need actual practice!!”

“I can do it!”

“No, you can’t!”

“I can!!”

“No, you can’t!!”

Hearing the shouting match coming from the small kitchen, the knights on guard duty and passing maids exchanged glances.

“…What’s going on?”

“…Who knows?”

◆

“There are no particular abnormalities to speak of.”

“Is that so?”

The royal physician said so and dispelled his magic.

“…Did the Hero-dono truly fight ogres and bandits?”

“Hmm?”

Erik tilted his head at the physician’s question.

“No, it’s not that I doubt you. Her Highness the Princess mentioned it, and I also heard it from Alfred-dono. However…”

The physician tilted his head, looking puzzled.

“From what I’d heard, Erik-dono was supposed to be critically injured. He apparently took an ogre’s attack directly and was also afflicted with a potent poison. I am considering that Miriam-dono provided appropriate treatment, but for there to be no abnormalities at all is…”

According to what the physician had heard, Erik should have suffered considerable damage.

The matter of being afflicted by a potent poison was one thing, but since the type of poison was unknown, he wasn’t placing too much importance on it.

More than that, what he considered problematic was the ogre.

A demonic beast, an ogre, that wielded strength many times that of a human.

One might be able to defeat it with magical attacks, but there were probably very few even within the Kingdom of Vilemse’s Knightly Order who could defeat such a monster in close combat.

He had heard that Erik had taken such an ogre’s attacks multiple times.

Kicked in the abdomen, his body stomped on repeatedly…

An ordinary person would undoubtedly have lost their life.

(No, even if not an ordinary person, it wouldn’t be strange for some aftereffects to remain. But the Hero-dono…)

Erik didn’t even have any aftereffects.

No matter how excellent Miriam’s healing magic was, could something like this truly be possible?

“It’s thanks to Miriam. Because she’s here, I’m greatly helped.”

Erik said so with a smile.

“And besides, I also have a bit of a special skill, you see.”

“…I see.”

A skill that allowed him to survive an ogre’s fierce attacks even when taking them head-on.

The physician was also very interested, but one look at Erik’s face told him that Erik wasn’t likely to elaborate.

He was a physician, not a researcher, so he had no intention of doing more than the job assigned to him.

He meekly backed down.

“Oh, are you done?”

Just then, Debora entered the room.

The two stood up to greet her, and the physician then excused himself from the room.

“Looks like there were no abnormalities.”

“Yes, I apologize for worrying you.”

“You bet you did. I’m going to have you accompany me on even more extreme adventures from now on, you know.”

It wasn’t pure concern for Erik, but rather concern for Erik born from her desire for even more stimulating adventures.

Jolt, jolt.

Erik twitched.

“Well, isn’t it great that nothing was wrong? To celebrate, I’ll give you this.”

Beam.

Debora, smiling broadly, brought out what she had been holding behind her back.

And Erik gasped.

“Th-That is…?”

Something was on the plate.

It appeared to be a solid object, but it was a bizarre, mysterious color.

Not a single color like black or brown, but a mysterious object emitting various hues. The color changed depending on the viewing angle.

Could it be a new type of poison created by magic or alchemy? Erik rejoiced at such a stimulating gift—poison as a recovery celebration!

But Debora laughed as if to mock him, wondering what on earth he was on about.

“Can’t you tell by looking? They’re cookies.”

“Coo…kies…?”

Erik stared intently at the bizarre, mysterious solid object.

This was a cookie?

Erik, raised in a poor village, had never eaten sweets called cookies before, but so this was what cookies were like.

Since becoming a Hero, he had once given Miriam cookies, thinking he’d let her eat something delicious, but those had been brown and had a fragrant aroma.

Apparently, real cookies were things that shone with rainbow colors and emitted a strange odor.

“Don’t worry about the taste. I had Miriam try one, and she fainted from how delicious it was!”

“Oh-ho.”

Looking at the boastful Debora, Erik nodded.

At this moment, he understood.

(No, that’s absolutely not possible.)

He had never heard of someone eating something and fainting from sheer deliciousness.

There was only one reason someone would faint after eating food.

Yes, poison.

“Princess Debora… for my sake…”

Erik was moved to tears.

To think she would go to the trouble of making poison just for him…

He was a little worried about Miriam, but she was an excellent healing magic user.

Her life wouldn’t be in danger.

The problem was himself.

He would be able to suffer to his heart’s content before she recovered.

“Come on, don’t hold back, eat up! There are seconds, too!”

“Ooh…!”

Not just one, but there was even more poison.

Erik was even more moved.

“Then I shall partake!”

“Mm-hm….You seem awfully enthusiastic. Do you want my cookies that much?”

“Indeed I do!”

“H-Hmph…”

Debora turned her face away, looking a little embarrassed.

Ignoring her, Erik triumphantly took the poison dubbed “cookie” in hand and tossed it into his mouth.

“――――――?!”

Immediately after, an unknown taste assaulted his palate.

And then, pain.

For some reason, the cookie caused pain.

It was as if Debora were rampantly using her explosion skill inside his mouth.

Gack…

Erik somehow managed to swallow the blood that had risen to his mouth without spitting it out.

Th-This is horrendous…

“How is it? How is it?”

Debora looked at him with sparkling eyes.

Towards her, Erik forced his pain-stricken face into a smile.

“They are wonderful… cookies…!!”

“Hmph, of course they are! When I’m the one doing it, making sweets is a piece of cake!”

Beam, beam.

Debora smiled broadly and puffed out her chest.

Erik proceeded to greedily devour the cookie-like abominations in pursuit of further agony.

Incidentally, Miriam, with the whites of her eyes showing, would be discovered collapsed in the kitchen a short while later.