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that-girl-at-the-corner · 7 years ago

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The Unexpected Occations

Chapter 3 of “The Royal Engagement” Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Previously:

The door opened—much to his surprise—and instead of seeing the purple eyed princess, he was met by a stranger whose eyes twinkled with mischief the moment it landed on him.

“My, my. And who do we have here?”

“Alice!” Erina cried as she jumped from her bed to stop her cousin from opening the door—only to no avail. She had a pretty good idea on who was outside her room and frankly, she wasn’t that excited to introduce him to the other princess. Of course, she knew that she couldn’t not introduce the two but she was hoping that their meeting would be much later. While she didn’t have any problem with Yukihira, her cousin was a whole other matter—and a whole lot trouble.

“Uh. Hi?” The redhead greeted with confusion clearly written on his face. He had his eyebrows scrunched together and his head tilting to the side as he regarded the white haired lady who had just came out of her room.

“So? Are you going to introduce yourself or were you planning on tilting your head all night?” Alice asked innocently and if it were any other day, Erina might have smirked and give her cousin a reward for telling that to his face.

“Uh,” Yukihira started but Erina steeped out between the two before he can say anything unnecessary.

“Alice.” She first said to her cousinin a warning tone. She then cleared her throat and turned to the prince.

“Yukihira, this is Princess Alice Nakiri. She’s a cousin of minewho’ll be staying here for a while.” She said indifferently as an introduction and a way of explanation on Alice’s presence inside her room. She then turned to her cousin without enthusiasm.

“Alice,” she started gravely which caused the other girl to raise her perfectly trimmed eyebrow.

“This is Soma Yukihira.” She said simply. Recognition flashed onto Alice’s eyes and a devilish smirk curved on her mouth.

“Oh. So you’re the infamous Yukihira!” Alice said cheerfully, extending her right arm to the still confused prince. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise, Princess Alice.” Yukihira replied as he was finally able to compose himself andshook the other princess’s hand.

“Please, call me Alice,” the white haired princess said as she waved a hand in front of her face. “So how do you find the castle, so far?”

“It was lovely. I assure you that I have nothing but praise for this place.”

Erina rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as the two of them indulged in a small talk. They talked about the servants, the guards and Yukihira’s apparent interest in cooking.She usually didn’t like it when she was being ignored but she had no interest in joining their discussion.

Their conversation shifted from mundane topics whenAlice, with her hands behind her back, circled Yukihira like a child examining a piece of an unfamiliar statue. For his part, Yukihira remained standing with his hands tucked in his front pockets, calmly letting her cousin do whatever she wanted.

“I had to admit,” the girl started as she finally looked at him. “You’re not quite what I had imagined.”

Yukihira raised his scarred eyebrow at this while Erina gave her a wary look.

“I didn’t expect that you’d know anything about me,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, I heard soo much about you.” Alice said, playfully looking over the blonde. At this point, Erina wanted nothing more than to sew her cousin’s mouth and maybe ban her from ever entering her room again.

“Oh really?” Yukihira mused as he also sent her an amused look. She glared in response but she found out early on that her glare had little to no effect when it came to this man.

“And what kind of things have Princess Erina said about me?”

“It’s a secret.”

He turned his gaze away from the blonde and grinned at the other Nakiri.

“A secret, huh? And I suppose I cannot bribe you into spilling the beans?”

“A secret makes a woman woman.” Alice statedin mock seriousness.

“I just hope that there was at least one good thing that she had said about me.” Yukihira said as he put his hand behind his neck.

“I’m sure there will be one day.”

The prince couldn’t help but laugh and Erina thought that it wasn’t even funny.

Above them,the bell chimed and resonated around the palace, signaling that the clock has struck to eight.Yukihira straightened up and composed himself before facing the two.

“It’s getting late so I should probably leave you two.”Erina mentally sighed in relief. She was about to reply to the redhead when suddenly, soft lips werebeing pressed on her right cheek—so unexpected that it left her momentarily stunned and speechless.

Yukihira pulled back with a satisfied grin and if Erina was in her right mind, she wouldn’t have let it pass.

“Good night, Princess.” He said before turning to Alice.“You too, Alice. It was nice meeting you.”

And then he was gone.

It was a few moments before Alice turned towards the blonde with a little mischief dancing on her ruby eyes.

“Well, I didn’t expect that. I thought you didn’t like him? Or, have I misinterpreted the things you’ve told me?”

;

“How many times do I have to tell you that it was mainly political?” Erina said for the third time that night.

Long after Yukihira have left and they reentered her room, Alice kept bugging her about their “relationship”. She was getting frustrated. If there was one things she doesn’t like about Alice, it’s her inquisitiveness. She wouldn’t stop her questions until you gave her the answer that she wanted to hear.

“And that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“So earlier, where did that blush came from?”

“Wha—? He caught me off guard!”

“Uh huh.”

“I don’t like him.” She stated, repulsed by the very idea. Meanwhile, Alice just gave her an unamused and disbelieving look.

“I don’t.” She insisted.“Couldn’t you see that he’s so arrogant? Smug and overconfident?”

She started pacing as she listed the things that she disliked about the redhead.

“He thinks he’s a great chef and grandpa seemed to be fond of him! But he’s so oblivious—obtuse, at times. Like he doesn’t see really obvious stuff,like the way people feel, even when you’re giving him hints and being totally blatant.”

“And I meant that it the most negative way possible.” She added pointedly when she saw the teasing smirk that Alice was sending her way.

Alice was about to open her mouth but the look on the blonde’s face stopped her from saying what she wanted to say. Instead she sighed and raised both of her arms in defeat.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Erina internally sighed in relief as she mounted her bed to get ready to sleep.

“Now scoot over.” Alice said as she grabbed one of her pillows. Erina just stared at her cousin in confusion while Alice waited expectantly.

“You have your own room, Alice.” Erina said slowly.

“And?”

Erina sighed.“I don’t want to share my bed and my pillows to you.” She said frankly.

“Mou! You’re so cruel Erina.” Alice whined, puffing her cheeks and pouting at the blonde before stomping towards the other room.

Erina wasn’t worried. Alice has always been the dramatic one between the two of them. Besides, the very reason why they built a room connectedto her own was because their twelve year old selves were already too big to be comfortable in sharing a single bed.

“Good night, Alice.” She called, nonetheless.

“G’night.” She heard her say before she closed the door connecting the two rooms.

Erina smiled as she turned off her lamp.

;

She woke up at the sound of Alice’s cheery voice as the girl entered her room.

“I’m going to borrow your hairbrush. I can’t seem to find mine!” She said and she heard her sit at her cabinet where her cosmeticswere neatly organized.

Erina tried to get back to sleep but the clinking of vials and her cousin’s voice humming an off-key song made it impossible.

She slowly opened her eyelids and let her eyes adjust to the light streaming from her window.Alice was already dressed in her cream colored gown and Erina wondered what got her up so early in the morning.

A knock resounded from the door followed by a maid announcing their breakfast.

“Come in!”Alice called as she applied mascaras to her eyelashes.

The maid came in strolling the trays containing their meals.

Erina got up from her bed and went to her bathroom while the maid was setting up the table. When she came back, Alice was already seated as the maid poured tea onto their cups. She took her seat and the servant retreated, presumably to prepare her bath.

“She’s a shy one.” Alice commented.

“She’s new. Only been here for a couple of weeks. Mrs. Fumio thought that she’ll need additional hands to prepare for the upcoming ball.” She said as she sliced through her bacon.

“Speaking of upcoming balls,” Alice started and Erina looked up, knowing that she’ll hear another one of her cousin’s scheme.

“I’m planning to throw one tomorrow night!” she told her excitedly.

“And why, may I ask?” Erina asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Because I can.” Alice replied like it should be obvious.

“No.” Erina simply said as shedirected her gaze to her plate and used her fork to lift the bacon to her mouth.

There was a silence that followed and she knew that the other girl was throwing her one of her childish pouts.

“Why?” Alice whined.

“Because it is completely unnecessary. You couldn’t just write an invitation saying that you’re throwing a ball just because you wanted to—even though, we can. That would reflect badly on us.”

“But it’s Totsuki’s ball. No one would be crazy enough to reject an invitation from Totsuki. They would be thanking us for even inviting them.”

“I know.” She said as she continued eating. She took a sip from her teacup and when she lowered her hand, she finally raised her eyes. “But unless you could come up with a better reason, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to do what you want.”

“I’m sure Satoshi could think of something.” Alice told her desperately.

Erina stopped.

“What? So you already had Satoshi to take care of the invitations before telling me?” She exclaimed.

Alice, at least, had the decency to look sheepish.

;

After Erina had showered and dressed, the two of them went down and headed towards the Royal Kitchen. Alice had to talk to Julio, and to a lot of the other servants, regarding the menu, the theme for the palace, instructions for the decorations, the music and other minor details for the ball.

She was still a little annoyed so she intend to let her do all the work—though Erina doubted if she could even call this a punishment. If there was one thing her cousin loves more than meddling with her life, it would be parties, social gatherings and royal balls.

Despite her childish acts, Alice plans a party into perfection and would settle for nothing less. Truth be told, she was initially upset that she didn’t have full control on planning over Erina’s birthday party, or the “Grandest Ball of the Century” as she dubbed it, but even the ruby eyed princess had admitted that she would need help for a ball that grand and for such an important event, not just to Erina but also to the kingdom.

If she wasn’t annoyed, Erina would’ve been touched by Alice’s gesture of setting aside her selfishness for her.

But she was still annoyed.

So she would only settle for ignoring the blabbering princess beside her, let her do whatever she wanted, and only interfere if things got out of hand.

;

Their heels made clinking sounds as they neared the kitchen but given that it was a busy day, it was no surprise that only a handful of chefs have noticed their presence as they entered the main kitchen area.

The Royal Kitchen have ten cooking stations, five to the left and five to the right, and fifteen long tables that were strategically placed in areas that would be convenient for the cooks.

Erina scanned the huge room for any sign of the head chef but it seemed that Julio couldn’t be found, a fact that she found odd since he would always be the first to greet her on the occasions that she visited the kitchen. But she did see a cluster of four or five cooks huddled together at the very end of the room.

She led Alice to that direction.

As they passed each station, the chefs momentarily stopped what they were doing to bow and throw greetings at the princesses. They acknowledged each greeting but when they neared their destination, Erina frowned as she heard the unmistakable voice of her least favorite person in the castle.

“I hope you’re not saying that just to butter up my ego.” She heard him say in an overly enthusiastic tone.

“Of course not. This is delicious, Price Soma. Is this the first time you’ve made these?” Said another one though she couldn’t be sure on who among them had spoken.

“Ah,” he started, a little bashful. “I’ve made this back at home but it was a disaster.”

“But still, this actually quite good. Maybe even better than what I’ve made.” She was surprised when it was Julio who spoke and more surprised that it was Yukihira who was being surrounded.

She had known that he was interested in culinary and frequented the kitchen but it was still a shock to find him here, much less in a chef’s outfit. Though she shouldn’t have been. This was where she first saw him, after all.

Yukihirawas the first one to notice their presence, given that he was the only one facing at their direction.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise.” He said, genuine surprise laced on his voice. The implication that he had thought that she had never set foot on the kitchen caused her eyebrows to twitch.

The others turned and immediately bowed.

“Princess Erina. Princess Alice,” they greeted but Erina paid them no mind.

“I come here once in a while, just so you know.” Erina saidover their heads. By the looks she was receiving, Erina was quite sure that she had said it forcefully than intended and that she wasn’t able to mask the irritation from her voice.

She took a deep breath and tried to recompose herself. She hated how she can easily lose her temper in front of this man. She was usually calm and collected but Yukihira always seemed to know how to set her off. When she was sure that she had regained her mask of indifference, she addressed the other palace cooks.

“There seemed to be something going on in here for this many cooks to cluster in one place.” She commented. “I hope we weren’t interrupting anything important.”

“Not at all, Your Highness.” Julio said. “Prince Soma was just—“

“Oh, it’s nothing you should worry yourself about, Princess.” Yukihira interjected, cutting off whatever Julio was about to say.

Her purple eyes narrowed at him and she stopped herself from hurling another remark on his brazen attitude. Her eyes slid down on the table and she noticed a lidded container that he was holding with his right arm.

“What is that?” She found herself asking before she could stop herself.

“Oh, this?” he asked, tapping the container. He flashed her a grin and the all too familiar mischievous glint returned on his eyes.

“This is just something that I made yesterday.”

Erina waited but he made no move to elaborate further. Yukihira only continued to flash her with a smile that she knew was too innocent to be real. She briefly recalled him saying that he had cooked something the day before but he never mentioned what it was, or rather, he didn’t have the chance to.

Looking back at him she saw that his smile has evolved into a smirk and that’s how she knew. He was goading her! He wanted her to ask more information. He knew that she was curious but she wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of being right.

“Very well then,” she said instead. “We were here to talk to Julio. So please continue, whatever it is you were doing.”

Julio led them away from the group and to a more private and less busy area in the kitchen. He and Alice immediately launched into discussion about the party—what should be served, what shouldn’t be served, the selection of the wine, the desserts, and how fancy should be the menus.

She dutifully followed their conversation, ready to shot down anything if it weren’t in her preferred selection but it wasn’t necessary. These two knew her so well that she didn’t have to worry. Her eyes briefly diverted from them and she unconsciously scanned the area until it landed on a certain red hair.

He was currently at another cooking station, probably making them taste his creation. She was again plagued with curiosity but she couldn’t see what was inside that container he was holding mainly because he had his back against her and was blocking her view. If she didn’t know any better she would think that he was doing it on purpose. Or maybe he was?

His left hand was now on his chin and he was nodding his head as the chef in front of him talked. He seemed to be giving Yukihira some sort of advice.

She tried to figure out what kind of food he had served based on the movement of the chef’s mouth but all too soon, Erina realized what she was doing, where she was looking and who she had been observing that it took her less than a second to avert her gaze.

She refocused her attention in front of her.

“There should always be wine in sight and also that little chewable desserts if possible but not too many servers roaming all at once, it would distracting. But I’ll just leave it all to you. You know the drill. Just make sure that the newly hired servers will know what they were doing, but I’ll also talk to Satoshi about this matter so you shouldn’t worry so much.” Alice instructed. “Now for the desserts.”

Once again, her eyes drifted elsewhere but this time, she found herself gazing at the golden orbs that were also trained on her.

She abruptly turned her face away, her cheeks heating in embarrassment.

Alice wrapped up her conversation with Julio and it wasn’t very long before they were thanking the head chef and exiting the kitchen.

Erina never once looked back.

;

Her feet were starting to hurt.

She had never felt this exhausted when she was the one handling all the preparations. She hadn’t realized that doing nothing was more tiring than actually doing the planning and organizing.

So after she accompanied Alice as she talked to the orchestra, ordered the flowers, selected the colors for the curtains and table napkins, and gave instructions for the placement of the banquet, Erina dragged her cousin towards the staircase that would lead to the Royal Library for her much needed rest.

When her back finally hit the sofa, she released an audible sigh and her posture goes slack. Alice was still muttering about her plans but Erina closed her eyes and briefly allowed herself to relax.She welcomed the cozy silence and let the smell of books and the library’s ambiance to overwhelm her senses and calm her nerves.

It was after a few moments that she opened her eyes, got up from the sofa and went to her favorite section of the library—the area only a few steps from the rounded rectangular table where the sofas were located. Placed there was a huge shelf that was distinctly separate from the lined shelves that arcsthe central area of the room.

It took her a while to select a book but after she did, instead of sitting at her personal study table like she usually would’ve done, she chose to go back at the sofas where her cousin was now working on a journal. She looked up when Erina finally seated herself besides her.

“Shouldn’t you be reading something along the lines of spices and condiments and stuffs like that?” Alice asked when she read the title of the book Erina was holding.

“Shouldn’t you be working on your preparations for the tomorrow night’s ball?” Erina replied which earned her a grumble and an eye-roll.

They sat side by side and occupied themselves. Erina read her book while Alice made a checklist for the party. That’s how the head of the household staffs had found them.

“Ah! And here they are.”

“Mrs. Fumio!” Alice exclaimed excitedlyupon seeing the familiar face of the head servant that had been at the palace for as long as they could remember.

“Hello, Princess Alice. I can’t say that I’m glad to see you here. You’re always making my job harder by adding extra work on my hands.” Mrs. Fumio told her teasingly.

“I tried to stop her.” Erina informed and Alice sent her an unintimidating glare.

“The two of you were always such a bully. You know I only had a few days of freedom before Ryo get here.”

“And I couldn’t wait for that lad to get here.”

“Mou.”

Erina secretly hid her smile behind her book. It was always amusing when Mrs. Fumio was around. She would always be on Erina’s side and would always help her torment her cousin. For once, Alice wouldn’t be the one teasing but the one being teased. It was refreshing to have the roles reversed.

But they all knew that Mrs. Fumio didn’t came looking for them, for Alice in particular, just to have a chat. Like the older woman said, she had a lot of work to do and if Alice wanted to make this party into perfection then she’d have to double her efforts to fit a three-day worth of effort into one.

So after eating the lunch that Mrs. Fumio had brought, Alice went downstairs with the head maid while Erina chose to remain where she was. She would only look like Alice’s aide if she kept following her around.

She slipped off her heels and tucked her feet under her gown as she adjusted to get comfortable on the sofa. She immersed herself between the pages of the book, for once, uncaring of her surroundings since she was safely at the comforts of what she could consider asher sanctuary and away from prying eyes.

She didn’t know what time it was when Mrs. Fumio returned carrying a plate of pastries and a teacup. She set the snack at the table and didn’t bat an eye at Erina’s improper position.She had seen Princess Erina at her worst and she knew that Mrs. Fumio wouldn’t mind it even if she ate while reading. Nevertheless, Erina lowered her feet and worn her heels, smoothing out her gown as she neatly bookmarked her book and placed it at her side.

Mrs. Fumio hung back with the empty tray on her hand and Erina sent her a questioning glance. She could always call a maid to clean up the plates after she’s done eating so there was no reason to wait for her to finish.

“Julio wanted to hear your opinion about the food, your Highness” Mrs. Fumio explained.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” She said dismissively. “If Julio was worried, you could tell him that he wouldn’t be working here if I didn’t approve of his cooking and believe in his capabilities. He has nothing to worry about.”

“He insisted,” Mrs. Fumio said with a hint of a smile.

This is just a snack, Erina thought as she eyed the macarons that were served in front of her. She could understand it if Julio wanted to hear her opinion about a certain dish but this was just—

Oh.

He served her a batch of macarons.

French macarons.

And the last time he made one of these, she made a mistake of saying that it didn’t taste like her mother’s. She knew that her mom wasn’t the best cook in the world and later realized that the comparison wasn’t impartial but the head chef must have took her comment at heart since he never made these again. She wondered what changed.

She picked an ashen colored macaron from the plate and slowly lifted it towards her mouth. Black sesame seeds, she thought as the aroma of the baked good assaulted her sense of smell. When she took a bite, it was as if she was transported to a place where fireworks were shooting up to the night sky, just like how the flavors burst inside her mouth. She could taste the sesame, the chocolate, the sweetness and a bit of sourness but they all balanced each other as it made contact with her delicate tongue. She took another bite, and then another, expecting the flavors to clash but it didn’t. She opened her eyes that seemed to have closed on its own as she finished the cookie.

“The macaron itself was good.”She said in a professional tone. “Perfecting the taste was a little tricky since most people have their own preference of sweetness but the flavors in here were well balanced as it is. He made good use of the black sesame seeds and white chocolate. Although, the texture and firmness of the shell could still have a little improvement.” She finished but then she remembered that she was only talking to Mrs. Fumio and not to a client. She softly coughed to cover her embarrassment.

“And?” Mrs. Fumio prompted and Erina raised a quizzical eyebrow. She didn’t know what else was there to say. She had just stated her opinion.

“How did it compare to Queen Eri’smacarons?” Mrs. Fumio asked kindly but Erina almost flushed. She was again reminded of her unprofessional critique from a few years ago.

“To start, this dish was clearly done by a professional.” They both know that there was a ‘But’ hanging from that statement but Erina was hesitant to voice it out loud. The expectant look that Mrs. Fumio gave her made her sigh and open her mouth.

“But it just… gave off a different sensation. I… I couldn’t really explain it.” She finished slowly.

Mrs. Fumio seemed satisfied and bid her farewell, leaving Erina a little bit confused as she finished her snack.

It was all soon forgotten when she picked up her book and continued where she left off.

;

At dinner, Alice wouldn’t stop talking about tomorrow’s party in which she’d called The Grand Gala. Their grandfather was supportive while Erina just wanted to curl up on her bed.

“And you, Prince Soma Yukihira!” Alice said dramatically in between monologues, pointing her fork at the redhead. “You should dress to impress!”

Their grandfather released a boisterous laughter and turned to Yukihira. “Alice invited all of Erina’s former suitors so you had to outdo all of them.”

Yukihira chuckled. “You’re putting too much pressure on me, your Majesty. They weren’t supposed to know who I am yet.”

Erina merely kept quiet. She just wanted this day to end.

;

Yukihira dutifully escorted them towards Erina’s room after dinner ended. Alice walked ahead of them and made a show of winking at their direction before she entered the room.When they reached her door, Erina turned to her fiancée and crossed her arms.

“Good night, Princess. I’ll be looking forward for a dance with you tomorrow evening.” He said with a grin.

She scoffed before she ran her hand to the lengths of her hair, flipping it to the side. “As if, Yukihira.”

She stood there as she met his gaze. He was waiting if she would say anything else.She debated for a moment but throwing caution aside, she leaned in and pressed her lips on his cheek, much like what he did the night before.

When she pulled back, she reveled in the sight of the dumbfounded look on the redhead’s face.

Revenge is sweet.

“Good night, Yukihira.” She said with a wide smile before entering her room and shutting the door.

;;;

|| Next Chapter ||

#that girl scribbles #tre #royalty au #sorina #soueri #yukihira soma #nakiri erina #soma x erina #fanfic #food wars #shokugeki no soma

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