Chapter 37

At the celebration of His Majesty's birthday, the head chefs, including Gilan, were discovered to have used a plagiarized recipe for the chiffon cake.

Although there were no casualties, the place where it was discovered was the problem.

Using a plagiarized recipe for a gift to His Majesty was tantamount to insulting him by implying that a plagiarized version was sufficient.

That was why Deaz also collapsed and trembled.

Natalie, her mistress, was also shocked, but while her complexion did turn slightly pale, she stood firm until the end.

I had thought of Natalie as a lifeless doll without will, so her composed appearance was unexpected.

It seemed that I wasn't the only one with this impression, as there was a strong current of sympathy for the young lady who tried to take the blame for her subordinates.

While she might not be completely exonerated, expelling her from the royal palace could cause the balance of power among the princess candidates to collapse, leading to chaos.

Even two days after the birthday celebration, the specific punishment was still under discussion.

"Krona, I'm invited to a party at a noble's residence outside the royal palace today, so I'll be back quite late. If my cat, Ichigo, is locked in my room, please check it once at night, okay?"

"Understood. Have a safe trip~"

Seeing me off, Krona, I got into the carriage and left the palace.

The destination was the residence of a noble outside the royal palace.

Or so I thought.

"Exactly as Lady Letitia predicted, they've come out."

Lucian whispered softly.

Above us, the sky was filled with stars.

I had gotten off the carriage and secretly returned, hiding in the woods near the palace.

In front of me, a shadow wearing a cloak emerged from the palace.

This palace was guarded by soldiers, and the royal palace's security troops also patrolled regularly.

Since the shadow had avoided being caught by the soldiers and the patrol times, it must be someone related to the palace.

However, there were no plans for anyone inside the palace to go out at this hour today.

"It's a hit. Let's follow them."

Lucian and I quietly trailed behind.

Although I had a hunch about the traitor, I wasn't entirely sure, so today I was only with Lucian, someone I trusted.

The cloaked figure walked into the forest, heading towards an uninhabited area.

Even in the royal palace, the grounds were vast.

Areas away from the main buildings seemed to have no patrolling guards.

We moved quietly and soon reached a slightly open area.

It seemed this was the meeting place.

The cloaked figure was talking to a few men, and a large beast with shining fur in the starlight was there.

"Griffin... So, it's true..."

It was a mythical creature.

A rare existence, I had heard that Natalie's faction had brought it to the royal palace.

If the plagiarized chiffon cake didn't work out, they intended to use the Griffin as a birthday gift.

The Griffin had the claws and beak of a bird of prey, the soaring wings, and the powerful hind legs of a lion.

To prevent it from attacking humans or beast people, it was kept in an uninhabited area.

"I heard Griffins are proud and relatively gentle creatures..."

The Griffin was pacing around, clacking its beak and stomping the ground.

It seemed to be in a bad mood, perhaps because it was tied to an iron stake with a thick rope.

The bird of prey's eyes scanned the area restlessly—

"Kiyooohhh!!"

Oh no. It seemed to have detected our presence with its superior senses.

The men turned to look at us as the Griffin let out a warning roar.

"L-Lady Letitia?!"

A familiar voice reached my ears.

It was Krona, the maid.

As a beast person, her senses were sharp, and she had excellent night vision, so she spotted us first.

"Why is Lady Letitia here...?"

"Because I suspected you."

With no reason to hide anymore, I stood up from the bushes and stepped forward.

The men were taken aback by my sudden appearance and seemed unsure of how to react.

"How... Why? I haven't done anything to be suspected of..."

"Yes, that's true. You were an excellent maid, and as a spy, you didn't make any direct mistakes."

"Then why...?"

"The reason was that I thought your personality didn't fit a maid."

Krona muttered, looking puzzled.

Her reaction in this tense situation was, in a way, typical of her laid-back nature.

I actually quite liked Krona's laid-back personality.

But it made me wonder why someone with such a personality would volunteer to be a maid, a job that involves taking care of others.

Could she have been forced by someone to use her position as a maid to infiltrate as a spy?

It was a baseless suspicion, but there were other reasons I was suspicious of Krona.

First, the imitation chiffon cake that Gilan's head chef presented was of poor quality, even though it was plagiarized.

All the chefs in my palace were supposed to know the detailed recipe for chiffon cake.

If the chefs had betrayed and leaked the recipe, the quality shouldn't have been so poor.

Of course, the skill of the person making it and the quality of the cooking utensils could vary.

However, Gilan's head chef, while not as good as Gilbert, was still a top-tier chef.

The most distinctive feature of the cooking utensils, the chiffon cake mold, had been successfully replicated by the excellent blacksmiths on the other side.

Although the whisk had not been stolen or replicated from the palace, it could be substituted.

When I asked Gilbert to try whipping the batter with a wooden spoon or fork, the success rate was lower, but a decent quality chiffon cake was still possible, so substitution should have been feasible.

Despite this, the taste of the chiffon cake was significantly worse, which was puzzling.

If the spy was not a chef, this would make sense.

If the spy was not a chef, it would be difficult to observe the entire cooking process.

If the only sources of information were peeping into the kitchen or hearing from the chefs, the recipe would inevitably be incomplete.

The number of servants who could know the recipe for chiffon cake, other than the chefs, would be limited.

Bogan, the head of the palace staff, the head maid, and Krona, who had appeared in the kitchen on the day the chiffon cake was first made, all fit the criteria.

In Krona's case, she was in the kitchen when the ingredients and utensils were prepared but left during the cooking process, so she wouldn't have known the detailed cooking method.

Assuming Krona was the traitor, the low quality of the imitation chiffon cake made perfect sense.

...I suspect, Krona, that you misunderstood the use of the oil I prepared?

The imitation chiffon cake I tasted was identical to a failed attempt in my previous life where I forgot to add oil to the batter.

Adding oil to the cake batter instead of butter is a rather uncommon method in this world.

Krona probably misunderstood the oil I prepared as something to grease the cake mold and told Gilan's head chef that.

...But let's put the details aside for now.

There are a few things I need to confirm with Krona.

"Krona, I investigated your background. You come from a noble family, but you lost your parents three years ago, right? And unfortunately, your merchant parents died in an accident that also involved their goods, leaving behind a debt. It's not unnatural that you, with a young sister, would aspire to be a maid in the palace, which pays a relatively high salary... but the person you owe money to is a bit concerning."

"...The person my family owed money to was someone under the influence of Lady Deaz's family."

"...I see."

Given that Deaz's family looks down on beast people, it's not surprising that they might have been cruel in their debt collection, threatening Krona to become their pawn if she couldn't pay.

Krona's role as a maid was likely convenient for her infiltration.