A Divorced Evil Lady Bakes Cakes

“I’m going to open a dessert cafe.”

At first, he thought she’d lost her mind.

‘Had the shock of our divorce caused her to go crazy?’ 

But she didn’t seem to have lost her mind.
The dessert cafe was not a joke.
As soon as she signed the divorce papers, She ordered cooking utensils and supplies, and even went scouting for decent cafe spots.

“I wonder what she was thinking…”

‘Is she doing this to protest against our divorce?’

He wondered if she was simply trying to pretend to be poor in front of everyone, because she was kicked out without receiving alimony and so she was forced to bake and sell cakes.

Otherwise, he couldn’t believe that a former duchess would start a business selling cakes and coffee.

He was looking out the window when the door opened with a gentle knock.

“Your Highness.”

Mael, an aide, stepped inside and bowed his head to salute.

“What’s going on?”

Mael’s gray eyes showed a hint of anxiety.
He held out a small envelope, and stared at Raymond’s eyes.

Mael’s voice was anxious.

“His Majesty the Emperor has sent a telegram in haste.
Perhaps he already heard about your Highness’s divorce…I’m sure….”

‘He must be very upset.‘

He couldn’t bear to say the last words…

The Emperor had gone south to attack the Kingdom of Artheon four months ago.

The war with Artheon was now in its final stages, so the Emperor traveled there himself to negotiate and deal with the aftermath.

Raymond divorced Erin while the Emperor was away.

‘You even pushed ahead with the divorce without his Majesty’s permission…..’

Mael sighed inwardly.

Artheon was so far away that if it were any closer, the Emperor would have returned to the capital immediately or summoned Raymond.

But Raymond paid no attention to the emperor’s letter.

“Your Highness…… won’t you read it?”

“Why should I read it when I know what’s already written? It will probably be something that will spin me around and order me to ‘Cancel‘ the divorce and take Erin ‘Back‘ in a polite and civilized term.”

Seeing that Raymond didn’t even bother to look at the letter, Mael picked it up again with a worried look on his face.

Raymond hadn’t gotten along with his grandfather for a long time.

There were so many reasons for the feud, but the biggest one was, of course, Serena, Raymond’s lover.

In Mael’s opinion, Raymond’s dislike of his wife Erin was also largely due to the emperor.
Erin was a granddaughter-in-law chosen by the emperor himself.

‘But that didn’t mean he could just divorce her when the Emperor was away…..’

His Majesty will be back soon, and he thought and wondered how the hell this is going to work out.

The Emperor was a kind and gentle man, but he was by no means an easy going person.

Just then, a servant knocked on the door and entered the office.
She then put down the plate he had brought on the desk.

On the plate, which was decorated with green leaves, was a cake with a refreshing lemon scent.

“It’s from Lady Serena.”

Raymond frowned at it.
A sudden wave of irritation washed over him as he looked at the sweet treats on the table.

He turned his attention back to the papers and ordered nonchalantly.

“Put it away.”

⚘

She gathered her things and left the palace, but she had nowhere else to go.

There was a marquis’ mansion where her parents lived, but it had been sold as soon as her mother died.

She had good memories of that mansion, but she didn’t want to live there because it would remind her of her deceased parents.

So the first thing she had to do was find a place to live.
As soon as Erin left the palace, she and Melly went to see a real estate broker.

“I want a house that’s connected to a shop.”

Her budget was tight so she can’t get a house and a shop separately.
It was her first time running a business, and she didn’t want to live too far away from the shop.

Since she’ll be living alone with Melly, it would be nice to have the shop downstairs and a room upstairs.

The broker listened carefully to Erin’s needs and budget, and then said that he had a great place in mind.

“There’s a duplex with an attached general shop for sale on Wiltrout Street.”

Wiltrout Street was on the eastern side of the capital.

It was home to the lowest-ranking officials, mostly commoners, and merchants of modest means.
It was a peaceful and quiet street with small shops and brick houses.

Erin followed the broker with Melly.

The shop the broker led them to, was located at the eastern end of Wiltrout Street.

It was a two-story building with a sign in fancy cursive script.

There was a large glass window to the front facing the street as well.

Various items were displayed behind the glass for passersby to see.

From the outside, it looked like a normal closed shop, but when she went inside, it was actually in worse shape than it looked.

The shelves were stacked high with bottles of glossy pomade that were so white with dust that it was hard to make out the labels.

At the bottom of the shelves were shovels and hoes that were about to rust, with bottles of insecticides and herbicides rolling around next to them.
Next to the door was an assortment of seeds, dried herbs, and root vegetables.

It was a very old, crude, and dusty shop.

‘I don’t think the business went well.’

“The shop owner is moving out of town in a rush, so he’s putting the shop up for sale as it was, and it’s a very great deal.”

Judging by the shriveled vegetables in the box next to the checkout counter, it seems that they have not been able to sell the shop for a long time even after it were put up for sale.

This was a quiet residential neighborhood.
A house with a connected shop probably wouldn’t sell easily.

While looking around at the store, Melly spotted a door in the back and called Erin over.

“Erin, there’s a garden at the back.”

At Melly’s words, Erin moved towards it.

Behind the shop was a small garden.
Erin inadvertently opened the back door to go out to the garden and stopped.

‘Oh my…….’

The inside of the shop was a dirt pit, but when I opened the small side door attached at the back, I found a whole other world.

This was a structure with two buildings in the front and the back, with a small garden in between.
On both sides in between the street and the buildings, there were high stone walls blocking the neighboring buildings.

A small path from the back door led through the center of the garden.

On both sides of the path, vegetable fields divided into squares like checker boards were huddled together.

They were leafy greens and herbs, tomatoes and strawberry bushes.

Some of the vegetables had wilted from the lack of care, but the leaves that grew haphazardly covered the dry vegetables with rich green leaves.
The fresh leaves glowed brightly in the sunlight.

‘This is so nice.
It makes me feel at peace.’

It wasn’t an elaborate, beautiful garden, but it was fresh and peaceful, something you don’t often see in the city.

Beyond the small garden was a white brick house with a green roof.

It was a small, cozy two-story house, like the one you see as a model for toy houses.
Next to the house was a leafy apple tree which stretched its branches up to the top of the chimney.

It was a small and cute house with a square garden full of vegetables.
There were flowerbeds full of grass and a chimney poking out of the roof.
The sun is shining brightly above it too.

‘It was like a fairy tale.’

Melly, who came out with me, was also very impressed.

“Wow… It’s a beautiful house.”

“I know.”

Behind the small two-story house were two side-by-side lemon trees and a white picket fence.

There was a small forest at the end of Wiltrout Street, and the house was just in front of it.
I could see the greenery beyond the stark white fence.

It was more like a small park than a forest, but the green leaves glistening in the sun made for a beautiful view.

Erin grabbed her luggage and headed up to the second floor.

There were two small bedrooms on the second floor.
They were the rooms of an ordinary family, simple and neatly decorated.

There was an old bed with white sheets, a wooden table and a chair, a worn vanity mirror and dresser, and a wooden bookcase with floral carvings.

The carpet on the floor was worn and fluffy, and there were no pictures on the walls, but the room felt cozy in its own way.

“Can I use the furniture in here?”

“Yes.
It’s what the shop owner put together anyway, and it would cost more to transport all this furniture if they were going far away.”

Indeed.
They’re pretty and cozy, but they’re all old furnitures and not worth spending the money to move.
They’d rather sell it with the house instead.

The second floor was the bedroom, while on the first floor, there was a living room, dining room, and a cute kitchen.

Erin peered into the tiny kitchen.

“I guess we’ll have to cook here.”

There was no room for a kitchen in the shop front.
They had no choice but to cook here.

Both the shop and the house are small, but after taking a closer look, she realized that it would be fine.

“Erin, I think this place is great.”

Melly seemed to have fallen in love with the place, too.

Melly looked around with a happy face and said belatedly, a little worried.

“But will it be okay? It seems a little out of the way, and if you’re going to set up a shop, you might as well go further downtown…”

“It’s fine.
I don’t think I can afford a shop on the main street with my current budget anyway.”

Erin didn’t have a lot of money right now.

The dowry she’d gotten back was even less than she’d expected.
Even the furniture inside the palace was nine years old and not worth its original price.

This was the capital of the empire, and the popular downtown area was so expensive.

Even if she spent all her money, she wouldn’t be able to buy a building on the main street, and even if she gave up the house and bought a shop instead, there was a high possibility that she still wouldn’t be able to afford it.

“I can’t afford anything too crowded or big right now anyway.”

For the time being, she had to run the shop alone with Melly.
No matter how hard she worked, she could only do so much.

This is just about as good as it gets.

She wanted to open a small cafe and only make and sell as many desserts as she can handle, so she doesn’t want the shop to be too big.
She also liked the fact that it’s a quiet street instead of the noisy downtown area.

“I’ll take it here.”

So Erin used half of the money she had and bought the two-story house that’s connected to a shop.