Chapter 16
Chapter 16
[Hey, Irina, there’s something behind that curtain.]
It’s never bad to listen to the system.
As I approached the window and lifted the curtain, I saw a shiny coin.
It was a jurang coin, but it looked different from what I knew, seeming to be an old version.
“…Is this a 1 jurang commemorative coin?”
As I unconsciously looked out the window to examine the coin, I spotted a familiar face.
I grinned and quickly opened the window, leaning my upper body out.
“Lord Roen!”
Roen, who had been standing with his arms crossed as if waiting for someone, raised his head at my voice.
As soon as our eyes met, he frowned deeply and moved his lips as if saying something.
“I-can’t-hear-you.”
After waving his arms widely a few times, Roen sighed and shook his head.
The cold breeze brushing my face felt good.
Where else could I encounter such refreshing air?
The tingling sensation at the tip of my nose was something I could never experience in the south.
As I closed my eyes and enjoyed the breeze, an arm stretched out from behind me.
That arm closed the window, and I turned around in surprise to see a familiar face.
“Lord Cassis?”
When Cassis shut the door with a thud, the room became as quiet as if it were cut off from all noise.
“It’s dangerous.”
“It’s fine!”
“I’m not fine with it.”
He briefly surveyed my attire, then fetched a thick shawl draped over the couch and handed it to me.
“Even people born and raised here don’t try to endure the northern winter in a summer dress.”
I wrapped the shawl around my shoulders at his words.
The chilliness became much more bearable.
Unable to properly refute Cassis, I found myself pushed to stand in front of the fireplace. Watching Cassis cautiously, I subtly extended my cold hands to warm them.
I heard Cassis sigh behind me.
[Maybe he was impressed by how you collapsed that time?]
Ah, is that why?
“I really…”
I turned around abruptly to make an excuse, only to meet Cassis’s eyes as he was staring at me intently.
As I stopped speaking upon meeting his red eyes gazing at me, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Go on.”
“…I’m healthy.”
“Is that so?”
His eyebrows shot up and then down, clearly showing his disbelief.
“Really…”
“Yes, we’ll leave it at that.”
But it’s true!
“Where did Betty go?”
“I asked her to bring some tea.”
He sighed deeply as he approached me.
Despite the considerable distance between us, he stood in front of me in just a few steps.
He tightened the shawl that was carelessly draped over my shoulders.
“If you catch a cold as soon as you arrive in the north, I’ll lose face.”
“If I catch one, why would you lose face?”
“Because you came here for me.”
I corrected his words.
“The contract we made was written to benefit both parties.”
He, who had been looking down, rolled his eyes to look directly at me.
“I mean, I didn’t come specifically for you, Lord Cassis.”
I smiled brightly at his cold face.
The Cassis I saw in the south seemed somewhat worn out and tired, but he gives off a different impression in the north.
I could understand why he was called the Northern Grand Duke.
Even bankrupt, a Grand Duke was still a Grand Duke.
He seemed much stronger in the land where he had people to protect.
“…”
He silently looked down at me for a while before slowly opening his mouth.
“People’s feelings don’t change so simply.”
“That’s true.”
“I think it would be better if Irina stays healthy and doesn’t get sick.”
“…I’ll try.”
Only then did he smile lightly.
Then he stepped back a few paces and checked his wristwatch.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“Okay.”
With that, Cassis opened the door and left.
Before the door closed, he turned his head and said:
“And the dress suits you very well.”
“…Thank you.”
“I’m looking forward to summer.”
The door clicked shut, and I was left alone in the room again.
I thought of Cassis, who had gently placed the shawl on my shoulders, the fireplace warming the room cozily, and how he had stood right in front of me to adjust my shawl without a single finger touching me.
“…System, are you there?”
[Did you call?]
[Yep~ We’re here~]
I absent-mindedly cupped my cheeks with both hands.
“I think I understand why Cassis is the male lead!”
[Did you get excited?]
“Yes! I really did!”
If Cassis didn’t have so much debt, I might have imagined confessing to him and getting married right away.
“I prefer someone endlessly kind over someone cold and arrogant after all.”
I like that kind of Cassis.
If I’m going to help pay off his debt anyway, wouldn’t a kind Northern Grand Duke who knows how to smile be better than an ill-mannered one?
I shook my head, laughing “Haha!”
If I pay off all his debts, thus prevent the empire’s downfall, and if Cassis becomes a hero.
I suddenly became curious about who he would end up marrying.
“It would be the female lead, right?”
[Well, the original story has already deviated so much that even we don’t know.]
“What do you know, System?”
In response to my playful retort, the system spoke as if offended.
[That our Irina is the protagonist?]
“I don’t want to be the protagonist.”
[Then you don’t have to be.]
[Irina just needs to be the protagonist of her own story.]
[That’s right, if Irina lives her own life, the rest will naturally sort itself out.]
I felt relieved at the systems’ kind responses.
As I sat in the chair in front of the fireplace, warming up and chatting with the system, Betty returned.
“The tea is delicious.”
“Thank you.”
Betty asked while attending to my clothes.
“Miss Irina, it’s almost dinner time. Would you like to stop by your room briefly?”
“No, it’s fine to go directly.”
“I understand.”
I changed back into the dress I had brought.
Betty, who was wrapping a shawl around my shoulders saying I’d be cold, suddenly opened her eyes wide as if she had discovered something.
“Oh, um, miss. Where did you get this?”
Betty was referring to the 1 jurang commemorative coin I had found by the window.
“This? I found it by the window… Was it originally yours?”
“Yes! I must have lost it while cleaning.”
“I see. Here, take it.”
I casually handed it to her.
At my words, Betty, looking both extremely grateful and apologetic, handed me a thick piece of paper from her possession.
Ding!
[SYSTEM | Exchange ‘1 jurang commemorative coin’ with ‘Healer’s Greenhouse Invitation’ completed!]
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘Letter from ■■■ ■■ ■■’ has been updated.]
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘Letter from 1 jurang commemorative coin’ 01 completed!]
“It’s an invitation to the healer’s greenhouse. It’s not expensive itself, but only five are released each week!”
I received the thick paper.
By healer, does she mean the Grand Duke family’s healer?
“It’s a greenhouse in the city center. The tea is delicious, and it’s also a good date spot!”
“Is that so?”
“I already went last week, so if it’s alright with you, I think it would be nice for you to go and take a look.”
“Thank you.”
[You could go with Cassis.]
[That’s right.]
I was more interested in the quest than the invitation Betty had given me.
When I first received this quest, I was nervous thinking I had to do something more, but if it progresses like this, I think I can worry less.
It seems like things will progress step by step on their own without me having to take the initiative.
[Instead, Irina will have to diligently explore the Grand Duchy.]
‘Will the quest end after successfully hosting the banquet then?’
[Probably?]
I thought I could finish it quickly since it was a quest received at the beginning, but it seems it will become a long-term quest.
* * *
“My stomach feels heavy.”
Yesterday’s dinner was worse than I expected.
Even though I didn’t eat much, it feels like it’s not digesting well, as if it’s sitting heavily in my stomach.
I wasn’t feeling too well for my first morning in the North, so I just stretched a few times and opened the window for some fresh air.
[Was it that bad?]
“Yes.”
Or is it that my standards have become too high?
[That could be it too!]
Anyway, it was bad.
I missed my chef I left back in Seike.
First of all, the ingredients didn’t seem that fresh, and it felt like they tried hard to make fancy dishes with inadequate ingredients but failed miserably.
I think I ate reluctantly, thinking that even a noble Grand Duke eats such terrible food when the family goes bankrupt.
I found out the full story of this terrible meal not long after.
Betty informed me, who was feeling under the weather from the morning, about the absence of Orsha Palace’s head chef and sous chef.
The person who was in charge of cooking this time was someone they found in a hurry, but they were so terrible that they were fired immediately.
“They’re gone…?”
How is that possible?
Just as I was wondering why, I heard the familiar ‘ding!’ sound.
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘Find a Head Chef for Orsha Palace (Grand Duke Luwin’s Mansion)!’ has arrived.]
I remained silent for a moment while Betty was tending to my hair, then managed to ask:
“If there’s no one, why don’t they hire someone new?”
“I’m sorry. We haven’t been able to find anyone.”
“For just a head chef?”
Betty in the mirror was professionally maintaining her expression.
“It seems to be because of the rumors about Orsha Palace.”
I completely closed the book I had been slowly flipping through and placed it on the dressing table.
Betty glanced at me cautiously before starting to speak in earnest.
“…So the problem is Lord Cassis’s uncle, Marquis Cloi.”
It seemed necessary to properly check later what kind of person Cassis’s uncle, who led this Grand Duke family to bankruptcy, was.
Starting from the binding contract for the mana stone mine excavation, it appeared he had done quite a lot in the Luwin Grand Duchy.
“But why would such a high-ranking person interfere even with the head chef?”
“…”
Betty closed her mouth, seemingly finding it difficult to say more.
I got the gist of it even without hearing more.
It seems Marquis Cloi didn’t just want the wealth and power of the Grand Duke Luwin family.
It appears he wants Cassis to suffer and for everything in Luwin to fall into chaos.
I wondered if there was some personal grudge.
“So currently, Luwin has no power, and the Marquis Cloi family has power, so they’re intentionally interfering?”
“You could understand it that way.”
Hmm… Is that so?
I checked the quest I had just received.
