Chapter 1: You Can Do Anything If You Have Strawberries
HELT gazed at Amelia solemnly. “You don’t have to go through all that effort to make an extravagant dress, my princess. You are more than adorable even in tattered rags.”
Appalled at the man’s statement, Amelia reflexively sighed. She was born with silver hair and strawberry eyes, but the fourth consort and Prisca called them “elderly white hair” and “eyes of blood.” The fifth consort and the servants had complimented her on her beauty, but familial bias likely played a large part. In fact, she felt that there was only bias in that judgment.
She’d like to believe she wasn’t so hideous that others would avert their gaze from her, but she had trouble gauging the assessment of the general public. And that was all because of Helt, who unconditionally lauded her appearance.
“It’s been four years since our betrothal,” she muttered. “I haven’t even received replies to my letters so far, much less gotten to see him, but he’s still my first crush. Anyone in my shoes…would want him to think that I’m at least a little cute.”
Helt swiftly covered his mouth with his hand.
Amelia blinked in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It is dangerous when your cuteness attacks my nose. Even if the chances are slim, I can’t afford to have a nosebleed in front of you, my princess.”
“Helt… Sometimes, you act just like a pervert.”
“I shall take that as a compliment.”
To Amelia, Helt was a diligent and kind man who was both a brother and a father figure, but the strange statements he sometimes spouted stumped her.
That aside, as someone who barely interacted with any other humans, it didn’t matter much whether her appearance was superior or inferior in the eyes of the public. What was important was that she wanted to win Luke’s affections, even if a little…but she didn’t even know his taste in women.
Amelia crossed her arms. “Hmm, I don’t remember much about Lord Luke other than the fact that his eyes were gold.”
She knew it sounded outrageous, but in her defense, she’d only met Luke once. Combined with all the time loops she’d experienced, she hadn’t even seen his face for seven years. It was unavoidable.
The time loops begin with the fourth consort declaring that Amelia’s debut in high society was called off, then lasted until the ball on the king’s birthday a year later.
For better or worse, because she was basically a prisoner, Amelia had hardly met Prisca during the previous time loops and had gone about her life as normal. So she didn’t know the details, but Prisca’s saint status would be discovered at some point this year. Prisca already overflowed with the glorious traits of a heroine, but she was going to gain yet another weapon on top of them, which was a terrifying thought.
Still, Amelia might be able to make a stand somehow if she figured out a way to see Luke before the ball a year later, which might turn into a forced proposal event.
She hummed to herself in thought. “I don’t even know the market price or how to sell strawberries, so for now, I’m thinking about heading out into town and doing some research before anything else.”
It was time for her modest and stiff dress to shine. No one would expect a princess to walk around the streets in such a garment, and her face wasn’t well-known either, so she should be able to move around freely.
“May I ask how you intend on heading into town?”
“The hole in the wall on the far side of the garden,” she replied immediately.
The man’s eyes widened slightly. “Why do you know of that…?”
“You were the one who took me into town from there during a previous time loop, Helt.”
Amelia had learned that when a handful of servants were still around, they’d head outside to purchase food from that exit.
“I see. It seems that you were telling the truth about these ‘time loops,’ as you call them.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Did you doubt what I said?”
“I didn’t doubt you, no. I simply had trouble believing it.”
Isn’t that the same thing? Amelia thought. But now wasn’t the time to be picking at minor details. “Back to strawberries. Normal strawberries wouldn’t fetch much money, would they?”
“Oh, so that is the reason you mentioned ‘added value.’”
Perhaps she could generate a decent profit by marketing them as strawberries straight from the fourth princess’s hands, but she’d be dragged back to her gilded prison if someone discovered her. Even if no one discovered her identity, she might be charged with insolence against royalty. A strategy that was a little more novel and fit in with the commoners would be her ideal option.
An idea sprang into her mind. “So, how about making strawberry sweets instead?”
Until now, she’d never questioned the fact that she could summon strawberries or thought of trying to make any alterations. But in the present, Amelia’s mind was brimming over with knowledge of Japan’s colorful and gorgeous sweets. If she were able to produce confectionery that was just the right mix of unusual and delicious, she should be able to gain the interest of customers.
She proceeded with that train of thought. “Let’s see, as a start… Maybe cookies?”
She’d never manifested anything other than strawberries until now, so she figured she should begin by making something that was easy to picture.
Strawberry cookies… Pink, aromatic, crunchy cookies that are just a tad golden brown on the edges… Her mouth began to water. I’m craving some right now.
Amelia’s usual diet mainly consisted of the grains that were delivered to the gates and the vegetables that she was cultivating in the field, which meant that sweets were more like a concept from a whole other world.
I want to eat light, crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth sweet cookies.
At this point, her thoughts were practically the voice of her gluttony. As if responding to it, a single cookie appeared on Amelia’s palm. She popped it into her mouth without hesitation. The aroma and sweetness of strawberries were heavenly.
Helt stared at her hand in a daze. “You truly…managed to summon one.”
“It’s so good… I’m in bliss… If I knew this was possible, I would have tried way earlier.” She used to think that nothing good could come out of her being dragged into the time loops, but this was a splendid discovery. “I’m thirsty now. Right, would it also be possible to summon strawberry milk?”
If she could even manifest beverages, the amount of room she had to work with when it came to strawberries would balloon magnificently. Her heart dancing in anticipation, she envisioned strawberry milk.
The next moment, pink liquid appeared out of thin air and splashed noisily onto the ground.
After a pause, Helt muttered, “It appears that your powers don’t involve summoning containers.”
As Amelia smelled the sweet fragrance that permeated the air and stared at the wet soil, she nodded. Selling liquids would be difficult unless she prepared containers, so she would have to put that on hold for now. With this discovery, it was probably best for her to summon sweets that could maintain their own shape to a certain extent.
She crossed her arms. “Parfait and ice cream are showy and attractive, but I need containers for them, and they’d melt. Hmm… What about traditional Japanese confectionery then? Like strawberry daifuku.”