I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 38: Nephew and Niece

After finishing lunch, I headed back to my room in the detached quarters. As soon as my eldest brother Albert got married, both Cyril, my second brother, and I were moved to rooms in the estate’s detached quarters.

At the age of nineteen, having been recruited from the Vandière Marquisate’s knight order and becoming the leader of the Third Knight Order in the capital a year later, I hadn’t returned. While the building seemed to be cleaned occasionally, I wondered about my room.

Opening the door gently, I was surprised to find it neatly maintained. Perhaps they cleaned it because they sent for me.

By the way, when Cyril gets married, this detached quarters will become his new home. Since he hasn’t married yet, it’s either because there’s no one willing to marry him or he hasn’t given up becoming an adopted son somewhere.

If this becomes Cyril’s new home, I won’t be able to use this room anymore and will have to stay in the main house’s guest room. If that happens, I’ll have to buy or rent a house in the capital… No, it might end up becoming a gathering place for my subordinates to drink.

It might be easier to just throw all my personal belongings into my magic bag and continue living in the barracks. I did go to the trouble of setting up a mini kitchen.

“Oh, since meals are prepared in the main house anyway, this kitchen isn’t being used. I couldn’t decide on a souvenir for my nephew and niece, so I ended up not buying anything. Maybe I should make something.”

Peeking into the kitchen, it was a bit dusty, probably because it wasn’t being used. I cleaned only the areas I would use with a purification spell and took out the necessary tools and ingredients from my magic bag.

“Let’s make some eggless cookies for now.”

The cooking utensils were all there, and as long as I had the ingredients, I could make them. Unlike in the barracks, I could secure enough for myself here. With the wheat flour mostly being bread flour instead of cake flour, maybe making cream buns instead would be appreciated. Kids love sweet bread, and I remember my brothers often made me make animal-shaped bread.

“Let’s see, custard was made with egg yolks, sugar, milk, and cake flour, right? I only remember the ingredients vaguely… Maybe it’s written in that recipe book… Oh well, let’s just stick to making cookies for today.”

Since the last time I made them wasn’t too long ago, I think I did quite well. While the dough was chilling, I checked the recipe book, but there was no custard cream recipe. A few minutes after I started baking in the magic oven, I heard light footsteps approaching.

“This is it!”

I heard a cute child’s voice, and before I knew it, the kitchen door swung open energetically. It was a toddler with silver hair like mine and green eyes like my sister-in-law Julia.

“Wait, Alexei! Mr. Justin is here, too, you know…”

The maid chasing after Alexei froze when she saw me.

“Alexei… So he’s Albert’s son. Seems quite mischievous.”

“I-I apologize!!”

The maid, whose face turned pale, bowed her head, but since Alexei was coming towards me, I raised my hand to stop her. When Alexei reached me, he looked up at me with curiosity.

“Aren’t you Uncle Cyril? I came here because I smelled something nice.”

Looking around, but unable to see the cookies in the magic oven, I picked Alexei up. He’s surprisingly light.

“That’s right, I’m Justin. What Alexei is looking for is in there. I’m making it because I couldn’t buy you guys souvenirs.”

“What are you making?”

“That’s a surprise for after it’s baked. Doesn’t it smell good? Make sure to share it with your sister Angel. It’ll be ready soon. Can you prepare tea and wait?”

“Yeah! You’re staying at Uncle Justin’s room in my room! Let’s go, Anne!”

“Yes, let’s. Excuse us then.”

Anne, the maid, showed a relieved expression and left the kitchen with Alexei. Once the cookies were baked, I let them cool for a bit and placed the nicely shaped ones in a wooden bowl.

The edges might look a bit odd when stretched, so I’ll either eat those myself or give them to my knights when I return to the order. I popped one of the misshapen pieces into my mouth.

“Yeah, I still prefer these. I was thinking of making cocoa too if I had time…”

For two kids, this amount should be enough. After casting a purification spell on the items used, I headed back to the main house with the cookies.

One of the maids in the main house guided me to Alexei’s room, but she kept glancing nervously at my hands. Perhaps it was strange to have the scent of freshly baked cookies when they came from a separate building with no cook.

“Master Alexei, Mr. Justin has arrived.”

Upon arriving at Alexei’s room, the maid informed my visit through the door.

“Wow! Uncle’s here! Hurry, hurry!”

Though puzzled by Alexei’s excitement, the maid opened the door. Inside the room, Alexei and Angel were seated on small chairs at a children’s table, and Julia, my sister-in-law, looked bewildered as she sat on the sofa with the nanny.

“Um, Mr. Justin, did you come to prepare tea for Alexei…?”

“I apologize for intruding, sister-in-law. I made some sweets for the children to enjoy as a little treat. It’s like a souvenir. May the children have some cookies?”

“Um, y-yes… Rather, let me make some now.”

“Hurry up, Uncle Justin, hurry up!”

Excited, Alexei urged me on. I could tell what my sister-in-law wanted to say; she couldn’t believe I had made them.

“Haha, alright, alright. But don’t eat too much or you won’t be able to eat dinner, okay? Sweets alone won’t make you grow big.”

“Yes!”

“…”

“Angel seems to be shy. Nice to meet you, Uncle Justin brought some sweets.”

Placing the cookies in the middle of the low table, Alexei immediately reached out for them. He made a cute crunching sound as he ate, widening his eyes even more.

“It’s delicious, Uncle! Uncle is amazing! To make something so delicious!”

The cookies, with their simple and homely taste, must be just right for children. My brothers always enjoyed them. Watching Alexei happily munching away, Angel tentatively reached out for one… but couldn’t reach. I sat next to Angel and brought the cookie to her mouth.

“Here, Angel, say ‘ahhh.'”

“Ah…?”

Curiously, Angel opened her mouth. I placed the cookie inside, and she chewed while still retaining her baby-like round cheeks. How cute.

“Yummy! More!”

“Haha, alright, here you go.”

Handing her another one, Angel grabbed my hand and eagerly reached for the cookie. Were a two-year-old’s hands always this small? They seemed even smaller next to mine, perhaps because my hands were bigger than average, even compared to my previous life.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that I noticed my sister-in-law and the nanny watching this heartwarming scene with bulging eyes, clearly amazed.