A Divorced Evil Lady Bakes Cakes

Raymond stared at Serena for a moment, with an expressionless face.

When he was a teenager, Raymond had Serena by his side to kill time.

She was the most beautiful of the capital’s aristocratic young ladies, and she was also so eager to please him.

Raymond answered roughly that he understood, and tried to send her away.

“Brother.”

But at that moment, an unexpected voice interrupted them.

A young man stood at the end of the hallway.
All eyes immediately turned on him.

He looked to be about 23-24 years old.
He had jet-black hair and deep blue eyes that sparkled brightly like the sky.

He slowly approached Raymond, with an innocent smile spread across his beautifully shaped lips.

Raymond frowned slightly, as if annoyed, and called out his name.

“Calix.”

Calix.
Raymond’s only brother and the second in line to the throne, the Archduke of Royten.

Calix was not originally Raymond’s biological brother.

The Archduke of Royten had long been branched off from the imperial family, and for generations had been treated as if they were royalty.

Calix’s biological father, the previous Archduke, had died defending his friend, the Crown Prince.

To honor his friend’s sacrifice, the Crown Prince adopted the orphaned Archduke’s only son, Calix.

As a result, Calix became a member of the imperial family with the title of Archduke.

Calix was picturesque in appearance, but as befits his age, he retained some boyish features.

Raymond was a full-grown man, but Calix was still a young man with a touch of youth in him.

And he was also more handsome than him.

Calix, who was approaching his elder brother, smiled brightly as always.

“It’s been a while, brother.”

“I thought you were by His Majesty’s side?”

Despite not being his biological grandson, the old emperor pampered Calix around and adored him.

The emperor always wanted to keep him by his side.
But Calix was always wandering off on his own.

If he wasn’t wandering around somewhere, he was playing on his estate and rarely came to the capital.

But this time, when he heard that the emperor was going to battle after a long absence, he traveled south with him.

‘That was three months ago.’

At Raymond’s stiff question, Calix rolled his eyes and answered casually.

“I came to the capital first because the atmosphere was getting gloomy there.
My grandfather was in a bad mood as well, and everyone was turning away.
It was so stifling that I had to hold it in.”

At those words, Raymond’s aides immediately stiffened.

It was no secret that the emperor was in a bad mood and everyone knows why…

Raymond, however, remained impassive.
Glancing between the two siblings, Serena inclined her head towards Calix in a belated attempt to break the tense atmosphere.

“It is good to see you, Your Highness.
It’s been a long time since you’ve been in the capital.”

Serena bowed, but Calix didn’t even look at her, instead he turned to Raymond.
He tilted his head slightly and asked.
In a tone that was almost innocent.

“So where is my sister-in-law now?”

“…….”

A heavy silence descended on the hallway.

Raymond’s expression turned grim.

“Why would you want to know the whereabouts of my wife?”

“Well, she’s lived with you for almost nine years, it’s natural for me to wonder where she’s gone.
Right?”

Calix paused after the question, his picturesque appearance deepened his smile.

“My grandfather was also wondering.”

“…….”

Even as he watched the atmosphere around him grow chilly, Calix smiled leisurely and turned to face his brother’s rigid expression.

He didn’t mind a bit that Raymond’s blue-gray eyes was like trying to bore a hole into him.

“Tell him to find out for himself.”

Raymond spat out coldly and turned away.

“Your Highness, I—”

“Not today.
I have an appointment.”

Serena called after him in a panic, but Raymond waved her off and disappeared down the hall.

Those left in the hallway said nothing, still engulfed in a cold silence.

In the midst of it all, Calix asked, genuinely curious.

“So where did my sister-in-law really go?”

⚘

Erin opened the oven and pulled out the tray.

“I haven’t made this in a long time, but it’s pretty good.”

She was worried that it wouldn’t work out, but when she pulled the tray out of the oven, it was filled with perfectly baked macaroons.

They were also different in variety and quite colorful.

There’s Pastel pink strawberry flavored macaroons.
Sweet beige macaroons filled with vanilla flavoring.
A fragrant mauve macaroon with ground blueberries.
And a minty color one with pistachios.

She smeared sweet cream on the inside of each macaroon and wrapped them up.
She then placed the finished product on a plate.

The plate was piled high with colorful macaroons, and they all looked beautiful and delicious.

She carried the plate full of the fresh delicacy through the garden and into the shop.

After coming here, Erin and Melly had been sweeping, mopping, and organizing the shop.
They stayed up all night preparing the whole place, wiping down every single table and chair that had been ordered.

The result is that the place is now unrecognizable.

All the dirt and grime was gone overnight, and it was now sparkling brightly.

The floors and ceilings, which were stained and moldy in every places, looked like they were freshly painted.

A pre-ordered carpet was laid on the center of the floor, and a round table and chairs were also set up for guests to sit in.

Every Table was covered with crisp tablecloths, with Cherry wood chairs, Small vases and scented candles to top it off.

In the corner of the room, where the dusty clutter was located, were a number of potted plants from the two-story house huddled together.

It was like a completely different shop altogether.

In just a few days, the dusty shop front was transformed into a beautiful new cafe.

“Ms.
Erin, did you make macaroons?”

Just as Erin set the plate full of macaroons down on the table, Melly came out from the kitchen behind the counter.

She had converted the small storage room behind the counter into a café kitchen, and had put the tools for making coffee in there.

Melly had arrived with a small tray full of hot coffee in white mugs.

“It’s still hot.
It was made with the last remaining beans.”

“So we’re drinking the last cup?”

As soon as Melly set the cups down, she could smell the rich aroma of coffee.

“I’ve already ordered the coffee beans, so they should be here soon.”

She had ordered as many ingredients as she could in advance, but the coffee beans were the most urgent.

‘Afterall Coffee beans were very precious.’

“At least Melly brought some beans so we could have coffee early.”

“These were the beans I was given to practice with at the palace, and I didn’t want to leave them behind.”

Beans were considered a precious commodity at the palace, but as a beverage maid, Melly was often given extra beans so she could practice making coffee.

Erin took a sip of the black-brown coffee from her pure white teacup.

It was smooth with a deep flavor.
She closed her eyes and slowly savored the taste of that bitter-creamy scent.

“Melly makes the best coffee.”

Erin sipped her coffee and picked up a macaroon.

Even before she put it in her mouth, she could smell the fragrant strawberry flavor.

She took a small bite, and as the smooth surface of the material crumbled gently, the sweet taste instantly spread inside her mouth.

The bittersweet flavor and aroma of the coffee paired perfectly with the macaroon that was sweet enough to induce a headache.

“Erin, your macaroons are too pretty to eat.”

Melly took the macaroons one-by-one and cut them into small pieces, she then ate them little-by-little as if reluctant to waste it.

With each bite, she closed her eyes and savored the ecstatic sweetness on the tip of her tongue.

“Ah… So delicious…”

“Eat up, it’s just for practice.”

Outside, the afternoon sky was already tinged with the sunset.
The warm sunset permeated the large glass window facing the street.

As Melly stared at the window, she turned her head as if something had immediately occurred to her.

“Oh, I have an idea.”

She then pointed to the large glass window in front.

“That’s the glass in the front of the shop where they would display things.”

When it was just a general store, there used to be a row of shelves right behind that glass window.

It was often used to showcase the store’s products to passersby.

“What if we put desserts in there? However we shouldn’t use real desserts, they’ll spoil quickly, so instead we’ll make models out of cotton wool or plaster and display them as pretty as the real thing.”

Just like a clothing store would make sample dresses and display them in the store window to showcase them to the passersby, this is a dessert cafe, so it’s best to display dessert models instead.

“That’s a great idea.”

I thought it would be pretty to make and decorate one.
It would also be good publicity.

As we were talking about what to make, there was a sudden knock on the door.