Chapter 37. Dilemma

The aroma of freshly baked bread filled the air as Ken walked into the fanciest bakery shop in the city after telling Franklin his plan to get Clare a birthday cake.

Like Genesis had told Ken before, for a large city like Yelwraek, it’s extremely common to see people of different races walking about due to its plentiful job opportunities and while the bakery staffs were eyeing Ken suspiciously, it was not because he was a human but the way he was dressed.

While Cecilla wanted to go clothes shopping with Ken and get him to wear more upskilled clothes and wanted her personal stylist to give Ken a total makeover. Clare absolutely refused and prohibited any of them from paying for Ken to buy any fancy clothes or let him have a professional makeup done.

Since Ken himself didn’t really care about what he wore or spending money to get a haircut when Emma was more than capable of trimming his hair when needed. Compared to the other patrons at the fancy high end bakery, Ken looked extremely out of place.

“Hello sir, is there anything in particular you are looking for today?” One of the staff asked, while looking at Ken suspiciously not sure if he could afford any of their products.

“Yes! I want to buy a birthday cake, as fancy as you can make it look I guess. Don’t really know anything about cake decoration or anything. Oh, also needs to taste good, she likes strawberries a lot and not too sweet.”

“And you would need the cake now or is it for a later pickup? And what size would it need to be?”

“I need it now. Let me think, should get a bigger one so that everyone can have some, so enough for ten people should be good.” Ken replied, thinking that he should include the servants and Franklin so they could also have a slice of cake.

“Let me confirm the order, you are needing a cake for ten with strawberries and less sweet, correct?”

“Yep, the best quality one.”

“Our top quality cakes are made with the finest of products and for one that will feed a party of ten, it would cost 15 silver coins, are you okay with the order?”

“15? That’s one expensive cake.” Doing some quick math in his head, the average cake he would pay at the academy was 20 points and 15 silver coins is worth 150 or a month and half of allowance at school.

“Yes sir, we offer the highest quality and best produce in all of Yelwraek and our cakes are fit for the royal family.”

“Well, it better be for 15 silver coins.” Ken replied while pulling out the money bag he got from Franklin and handed over a gold coin to the shocked staffer.

Getting 35 silver coins as his change, Ken wandered around the bakery looking at all of the fancy cakes and desserts and wondered if he should get some as well.

“Excuse me sir, what personalized message would you like for us to write on the cake?”

“You can write on the cake? I guess the shop is fancy for a reason isn’t it. Let me think. I guess you can write. Happy Birthday Clare, Love you forever.”

Fascinated by the strange human who dressed like he was a nobody but had a bag full of coins, many of which were gold. The staff couldn’t help but wonder who exactly this young man was.

“Clare spelled the same way as the princess?” The staff asked to verify the spelling of the name.

“Yep, the cake is for the very same princess so your cake better be good and fit for the royals like you promised or I will come back for a refund.”

Letting out a laugh at Ken’s joke, the staff looked at him for a reaction but realized the young man was being serious.

Walking back to relay the information to the cake decorator, the staff couldn’t help but giggle and share the story told by the delusional human boy.

As she walked back out to help any other customers while the cake was getting prepared, she heard someone talking excitedly.

“You are Ken aren’t you! I can’t wait for you to join the tournament next semester. You think you have a good shot winning the whole thing or should I not waste my money bidding on you?”

“I definitely don’t think I will be good enough to win yet. Luke, Clare and Lovetta are all out of my league for now but I will catch up so maybe in another year I will be worth bidding on.”

When she walked out, she saw one of their biggest VIP clients chatting happily with the young man and rushed up to see what he needed.

“The king is hosting a royal ball in honor of princess Clare’s birthday today. I am needing 200 servings each of your finest desserts in the next hour to serve the servants and butlers of our guests. Oh I forgot to ask you Ken, what brought you here to Yelwraek?”

“Clare invited me over to explore the city and celebrate her birthday. I am leaving tomorrow though. Great city for sure, more than I could have ever imagined coming from a small rural town.”

“You are the lover the princess brought home that everyone in the castle was gossiping about? What about all those other girls that you are with during the tournament?”

“Yea, I am kind of in a relationship with a few different girls.”

“Take the advice from someone who knows a thing or two about having too many lovers after working in the palace for all my life and dealing with the love affairs of royals and nobles. It’s tempting for sure when you see a beautiful girl but it’s not going to be easy especially when you are dealing with the likes of a princess.”

“Thanks for the advice! It’s not easy trying to balance all the different personalities, that's for sure, and trust me when I say this, I am not actively trying to get any more lovers.”

“I guess even if the princess is in love with you, you just can’t get invited to the ball can you.”

“Nope, not invited to the ball and I won’t fit in anyways. I got Franklin to drive me around today while Clare was supposedly taking the whole day to get ready.”

“Mister Bruce, we have got your request and our full staff is now working on getting your order ready. Please have a seat and enjoy some of our desserts and tea.” The staff hurried back to Bruce, the head butler of the main palace missing the whole conversation he had with Ken.

“Sorry sir, due to the importance of our VIP guest here, we would have to take longer to finish the cake you ordered.”

“It’s fine, I got time to kill and Clare won’t be back soon anyways.”

“You are getting the princess a cake from here? Should have got Franklin to get one of the head pastry chefs in the palace to make you one instead.”

“I didn’t even think about having the palace chefs making the cake! It’s fine though, they told me the cake here is fit for the royal family and it cost me 15 silver coins for a single cake!”

“Only 15? What cake are you all making for him? Did he tell you it’s a cake for princess Clare?” Bruce turned to the staff and demanded.

Unable to respond due to the shock at his words and the fact that this commoner looking human was telling the truth, she couldn’t respond or tell them that she didn’t think he had the money and the cake was nowhere near their highest quality.

“I told them to make me a super expensive one that cost like 15 silver coins. I guess that’s not a lot? But it’s fine, I pay like 2 silver coins for cake at the academy and Clare is perfectly fine with it. She is not the stuck up princess type.” Ken answered quickly, and didn't want to cause any unneeded drama.

“Even if you told them to make something at that price, I still feel like they should have at least offered something more fitting for the princess. But it’s not my place to interfere with the relationship between you and the princess.”

Running back to the prep area to inform them that the young man was telling the truth and that the cake was indeed for the princess, the busy kitchen staff who were already under pressure to create 200 servings of the desserts Bruce ordered are now all out scrambling.

While Bruce and Ken chatted about different topics as the pair waited, right at the one hour mark, the workers walked out with elegant trays of desserts packed and prepared and carried out to Bruce’s carriage as the two said their farewells.

“I am so sorry for not honoring your request of making you the highest quality cake. I really didn’t believe it was for the princess. Thank you so much for not getting me in trouble with one of our biggest clients and I have asked the kitchen to remake the cake with the best ingredients we have.”

“Don’t worry about it! I am a country bumpkin anyways, won’t have noticed the difference. So how much is the new cake?”

“As much as I would have liked to not charge you any extra, I am sorry to say that I don’t make enough money to cover the cost of the cake. The total cost for the cake will be one gold coin.”

Telling the apologetic girl to not worry about it, he handed her the 35 silver coins back and walked out happily with the decadent cake and headed back to the castle with Franklin.

Once Ken returned to the castle, he greeted Mary and Sarah and showed the pair the cake he ordered.

“Wow, I wish a guy would get me a fancy cake like this for my birthday and tell me he loves me.” Mary said enviously.

After chatting with the two for a little bit, the girls had to go get their chores done for the day so Ken decided to hang around the garden while he waited for the girls to return from the ball.

Laying on the grass lawn in the giant garden gazing at the stars on a warm breezing night, Ken was jolted awake by faint noises after dozing off in the silent evening.

Noticing the noise was coming from Cecilla’s wing next door, Ken decided to hurry over and see if he was hearing things or if something had happened.

Finding broken china scattered across the floor as Ken entered the main hall, He was greeted by a servant who was cleaning up the shattered pieces and told him that Cecilla had just returned from the ball and had returned to her bedroom.

“GO AWAY!” Cecilla screamed as she heard her door open.

“You really want me to go away?” Realizing it was Ken and not one of the servants.

“No.” Cecilla replied softly.

Closing the door behind him, Ken sat down on the bed next to the sobbing girl with bloodshot eyes and tried to comfort her and figure out what happened.

“What happened? Did that Xandrian get mesmerized by your beauty and realize how stupid he was to reject you?” Ken asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Nope, he rejected me in front of everyone and my father decided I will no longer be offered to him as a bride either.”

Flopping down on her bed, Ken laid there with his arms wide open and facing the ceiling of her grand luxurious room.

“Geez, I thought something bad happened. Turns out, you were just playing with me after all and got all upset now because you actually wanted to marry Xandrian but got turned down again.”

Instead of lightening the mood as he had hoped, his comment only made Cecilla more upset as she cried uncontrollably.

“At least tell me what happened so I can try and comfort you instead of feeling so useless.” Ken asked softly.

“I did everything my father asked. I dressed up more than anyone else, I looked better than anyone else, I was the center of attention just like my father asked. I made sure the entire party had their attention on me and offered myself to Xandrian like my father asked.

He rejected me coldly and wanted nothing to do with me but up to that point I was perfectly fine and happy. Sure getting rejected in front of all the important people is humiliating but I was more than happy with that so I could be with you instead.

But instead of letting that be the end, my father, with everyone’s attention still on me, decided that I was no longer going to be of use and removed my protection spell in front of everyone.”

Not understanding why she was so upset when nothing she had said sounded terrible to Ken, he had to ask the sobbing girl to explain further.

“Sorry Cecilla. You know I don’t understand anything at all so you have to be more specific.”

“He removed my protection spell in front of everyone, Ken. Do you not understand what that means? The protection spell is our symbol that we are pure, that we are desirable, that we are not tainted. To have it removed when it’s not my wedding night. Do you not understand what it means?

My father had basically told the whole world that I am no longer a worthy chess piece for him, he showed everyone that I am now no longer someone who needed protection to be kept pure.”

“And why is that a bad thing?”

“KEN! Do you know what people will say when they see me? What they had already said behind my back? If they see you with me, how they would laugh at you for being with someone that’s been discarded?

Did you know I was the prodigy of the family? Did you know that before the selection I was the one everyone had their hopes on? I was the one who learned everything the fastest, I was the one always in the spotlight, I was the one everyone thought was for sure going to get selected and one day surpass Zishell.

Clare was just another princess, the best friend of the prodigy. No one expected anything from her, I was the one under all the pressure. I was the one who had to overachieve and try to not let anyone down. But in the end, I wasn’t the one who had the potential and now, I have been completely discarded by my father and deemed worthless because I couldn’t even offer myself to this guy for a arranged marriage where he just had to say yes, get married and never see me again but I wasn’t even worth of that.”

Before Cecilla could say another word, Ken grabbed her waist from behind and pulled her on top of him and hugged her tightly. With his face near her ear Ken whispered.

“Do you want to be mine?”

“Ken. Didn’t you hear what I said? I’m”

“Yes or No question, don’t care, don’t want to hear anything else. Do you, yes or no, want to be mine?”

“Yes.” Cecilla answered faintly.

Rolling over on top of Cecilla and staring into her purple eyes with faint tear marks on her flawless face, Ken knew right there and then, he had no way of stopping himself.

After an exhausting day at the ball, Clare and Chloe returned home drained and ready for bed. When Clare saw the birthday cake on the living room table, her exhaustion suddenly went away as she happily looked around for Ken, wondering where he went.

“Did he go to Cecilla’s place? I can’t believe he’s not here waiting for me! It’s my birthday and he’s still hanging around Cecilla!” Clare thought out loud while telling Chloe to wait around and walked towards Cecilla’s wing.

After reaching Cecilla’s room, Clare called out nonchalantly as she opened the door.

“Ken? Are you here with Cecilla?”

What she saw next could only be described as two people passionately making love and seeing her sister who’s also her best friend and the man she loved in the middle of such an act, Clare lost all of her senses.

“KEN! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH HER!” Clare screeched as she slammed the door back shut.

“Come out now and apologize! Come out now and apologize!” Clare repeated to herself over and over again while kneeling outside of Cecilla’s room unable to process what had happened or how to proceed. Hoping and wishing that Ken would open the door any second now and offer her a way forward, the stunned princess was at a loss for direction.

Stopped in the middle of their act, Clare’s screech had snapped Ken back to reality and made him remember how it must have felt from Clare’s perspective. Wanting to chase after Clare and apologize and explain the situation, Ken looked down and saw Cecilla with her head turned and eyes closed expecting him to do just that, looking more vulnerable than ever before.

Knowing what Cecilla had to go through today, Ken was at a crossroad. Chasing after Clare and abandoning this girl who’s already been discarded by her father and feeling like she’s worthless, or stay and make up with Clare later. When he thought logically instead of rushing to act, he realized the decision was obvious.

“I should have locked the door shouldn’t I.” Ken whispered.

Opening her eyes and shocked to see that Ken had not moved.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t go after Clare?”

“Am I that bad you don’t even want me to finish? I am not leaving you tonight.”

“Okay.” Cecilla replied simply as the two continued where they left off.

Instead of her prince coming to her rescue, Clare stayed on her knees outside of Cecilla's room in despair as she started hearing muffled noises from the other side of the door.

Eventually realizing that Ken was not going to come out and comfort her, Clare slowly got up and walked back to her wing, totally dejected.

“What’s wrong Clare? Did you not find Ken? I’m getting sleepy! Let’s hurry and have some cake so I can go to sleep.”

Looking at the cake with love you forever written in icing, Clare slammed down, smashing the cake and the table underneath and headed to her room ignoring Chloe. Slamming her door shut and locking the door, Clare curled up in her bed sobbing uncontrollably.

“Ken. You should get up and go take a shower and go talk to Clare before you go home.”

Opening his eyes to see Cecilla staring intensely at him, Ken had to recall what happened last night and how he should move forward.

“Morning Cecilla.”

“Go take a shower, we still have some things to talk about after, before you leave.”

Looking at the elf girl in confusion why they need to wait to talk, Ken hoisted her over his shoulder and walked towards the bath having more than just talking in mind.

“Morning Clare. I am leaving soon, can you open the door so we can have a talk?”

After taking a shower with Cecilla and discussing their plans for the future, the pair walked over to Clare’s wing and were told by Mary and Sarah about the smashed table and that Clare still hasn’t left her room.

“You really won’t talk to me? I am getting teleported soon you know. I know you are mad and you have every right to be but at least hear me out okay?”

After trying to get a response from Clare without success, Ken’s trip to the kingdom of Yelwraek that started out great but somehow became the current mess had come to an end.

“Try and come visit me as soon as you can, okay? Don’t make Clare mad and try to get her to calm down.”

After leaving Cecilla with a few final words and a kiss and hug, his necklace activates and the young man disappeared from the kingdom of Yelwraek and was back home where he was able to spend the rest of break with his family but no matter what he did, Clare was always on the back of his mind.