Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Lady from Piesita Barony
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The train came to a stop.
They had arrived at the Claudia Duchy platform.
"Ugh...! There's no place like home."
Stretching out his stiff body from the long train ride and taking deep, ragged breaths, Enri savored the air of his homeland, feeling utterly refreshed. The air couldn't possibly be that different, yet every time he returned home, it always felt distinct.
Was it just because he was so used to the local air around here?
Eve watched Enri stretching with open disdain before promptly arranging a carriage back to the mansion. It wasn't long before a servant from the duke's residence arrived, leading the carriage.
"Lady! You're back!"
"Yes. Any trouble while I was gone?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. Please, board. I'll escort you."
The coachman loaded Eve and Enri aboard and set off toward the duke's residence. It was midway through the ride when...
The coachman, diligently handling the reins, suddenly turned back as if something had just occurred to him.
"Oh, right—a guest came looking for you at the mansion."
"Me? Who was it?"
"The lady from Piesita Barony."
Eve abruptly fell silent and fixed the coachman with a piercing glare. Sensing her stare, he flinched and began trembling before immediately offering apologies.
"—You definitely said nothing happened?"
"S-Sorry, Lady! I should've remembered right away!"
"How long has she been there?"
"A week? Something like that. She arrived right after you left the territory..."
"...Just to confirm. She still hasn't left?"
The coachman nodded slowly. Seeing this, Eve clutched her forehead and let out a heavy sigh. She desperately wanted to turn the carriage around and flee right then and there.
Unfortunately, the carriage had already arrived.
Upon reaching the mansion, Eve sighed deeply at the servants who had come out to greet her. They had calculated her arrival time the moment they heard of her return and been waiting in advance.
Why did their usual dutiful service feel so resentful this time?
With all this fuss, how could she possibly hide her return?
"—Welcome back, Lady."
"...Yes. Nothing happened, right?"
"A guest is waiting. Cordelia, the Piesita Barony Lady."
"I heard. Sigh..."
"Is something wrong?"
The head maid's sharp gaze shifted from the sighing Eve to the frivolous man standing behind her. The one who was the cause of trouble ninety percent of the time.
This time, Enri—who had somehow dodged that ten percent—shrugged his shoulders innocently.
"No, it's nothing. Where's the Piesita lady now?"
"She headed to the dining hall when she heard you were coming. She insisted on feeding you herself..."
"I'm exhausted..."
It would've been easier if Cordelia were the sinister type to slip poison into her cooking. No—she was the kind of woman who poured love into her dishes even for her enemies.
And Eve, who viewed her as an enemy and boiled with rage every time she saw her face, was no exception.
But she couldn't outright ignore or chase her away. It would violate noble etiquette and completely snub her powerful backers.
"Ah—! Lady Eve! Sir Enri!"
From afar, Cordelia came running barefoot, fresh from cooking. Clutching large bowls in both hands, she bounded toward them like a Golden Retriever thrilled to see its owner.
Eve lightly lifted the corner of her mouth and offered a greeting.
"Lady Cordelia. Sorry for being away so long. If I'd sent word ahead, you wouldn't have had to wait..."
A subtle jab at showing up unannounced like some rogue.
But Cordelia brushed it off without a care.
"It's fine! Waiting wasn't boring at all!"
"Ah... I see."
"Oh, have you eaten? I prepared a meal when I heard you were coming!"
With that, Cordelia held out the bowl she'd carried from afar. Inside was rice mixed with all sorts of vegetables, a fried egg, and a slightly red sauce.
Watching from behind, Enri swallowed hard and let out an unwitting exclamation.
"Oh, bibimbap..."
"Ah—you know it!? It's our territory's specialty, 'bibimbap'!"
As the fragrant aroma of sesame oil wafted up from the veggie-packed bowl, Eve silently alternated her gaze between the bibimbap and Cordelia.
"...Ah, this. Is... food?"
"Yes!"
"This—no, it's all grass... Humans don't eat..."
To Eve, who had lived her whole life as a noble lady, the dish looked utterly daunting. No exaggeration—even the food she'd eaten right before her execution in her previous life had looked more appetizing.
But she couldn't bluntly refuse the beaming lady staring at her. Eve opened her mouth with a sweet smile.
"I can't eat it."
"Huh?"
"Exhausted from the long trip. Not in the mood for food. Sorry..."
"Ah... W-Well, can't be helped... But you know, replenishing energy is even more important when you're that tired?"
"Yes. I'll keep it in mind, Lady Cordelia."
Eve eyed the food like livestock feed, elegantly refused it, claimed she felt unwell, and swiftly slipped inside the mansion.
Cordelia, rejected after all her effort, tried her best not to show her gloom.
"Lady Cordelia?"
"Y-Yes?"
"I'll eat it fine."
"Ah... Yes! Here!"
"Oh, thanks."
However.
Enri soothed the gloomy Cordelia.
More precisely, he smoothly took the bowl from her hands under the guise of comfort.
Bibimbap perfectly mixed with sesame oil. Rice that somehow existed in this world, and gochujang of mysterious origin.
Enri took a light bite, savored the umami exploding in his mouth, and slowly closed his eyes.
"Did you make the gochujang yourself?"
"Huh? Uh... Yes."
"Delicious."
"Thank you... But you know it surprisingly well...?"
"I've had it before."
Hearing Enri, Cordelia tilted her head, wondering if he'd visited her territory once. Naturally, he never had. It was just from his previous life.
The two missed each other once more, but no major issues arose.
Only Eve, watching from afar as they enjoyed the bibimbap, scowled deeply.
"—So."
Refreshed from her fatigue, Eve met Cordelia privately and asked.
"What brings you to our territory?"
"Ah, well..."
Cordelia recalled the warning from the 1st Prince who had sent her here. Something about Eve Claudia being a man-eating snake and how she must never let her guard down.
Meeting her in person, Eve was nothing like that—and the Eve in Cordelia's memory wasn't either.
As a result, Cordelia unwittingly let her guard down while still maintaining the poise of a noble lady, not fully revealing her heart as they chatted.
"I-I heard you were attacked, Lady Eve! I was so worried, I just..."
"...Ah, I see. Thank you for your concern."
However.
From their brief exchange, Eve had already grasped Cordelia's true purpose in coming.
'The attack on me is top secret, not known outside. Did the prince tell her?'
That she'd been assaulted by a lady from the Ars family was classified information unknown to most. A noble attacking another noble—an incident the Ars family had gritted their teeth to cover up for their honor and reputation.
They couldn't hide it from the royals, of course. But it wasn't something a mere baron's lady like Cordelia should know.
Not unless someone close to her had tipped her off.
'Why tell her?'
Eve knew she sometimes acted like a brainless bimbo, but she wasn't truly empty-headed.
She was royalty, after all. From birth, stuffed full of imperial studies and every manner of scholarship. A creature engineered to consider the political ramifications of every single action.
She'd just been blinded by the big-breasted monster before her eyes. Absent that, it was safe to assume some political motive behind sending her here.
"Lady Cordelia?"
"Ah... Sorry. I was lost in thought."
"It's fine! Rather, you're tired because of me, aren't you?"
'If you know, then leave.'
"Of course not? Seeing a friend after so long is invigorating—I'm enjoying it."
"R-Really? Hehe—I'm happy just knowing you're pleased—"
Oblivious to her real feelings.
Oblivious to the diplomatic flattery laced in.
Eve suppressed the sigh welling up inside as she watched Cordelia grin vacantly.
She gazed out the window, turning her head toward the distant capital.
'...Should I just dump Enri there?'
Imagining foisting Enri onto the capital that had sent this tiresome envoy... she somehow endured the time.