~Chapter 7~
She smiled faintly even though the North must have felt unfamiliar to her.
Elkaian furrowed his brows.
Up close, Delfina looked smaller and weaker than he had imagined.
As he stared at her silently for a long time, Delfina assumed he was wary of her.
‘He’s not a bad person, but as the Grand Duke of the North, he has every reason to be cautious of someone from House Lycaeon like me.’
But she knew she had to get along with him to earn the trust of the Northern people and achieve what she wanted. With that thought, Delfina carefully opened her mouth.
“Your Grace?”
“……”
“I understand why you’re wary of me.”
Elkaian’s face stiffened at her words. He hadn’t expected her to speak so directly.
In his memory, Delfina was a fragile girl.
“I am from House Lycaeon. Even if you think I was sent under the Duke’s orders to find your weaknesses, I have nothing to say.”
Just as she said, most Northerners suspected her.
They thought she was the Duke’s puppet sent to cause harm to the Grand Duke’s castle.
At that moment, Elkaian realised what situation she was in.
‘She must have been betrayed by her fiancé and pushed away to the North.’
It was widely known how poorly the Duke treated Delfina. At the academy, within the family, and now here in the North… she had no allies.
But that didn’t mean Elkaian could feel sympathy for her.
As she said, Delfina could very well pass information to the Duke.
To protect the North, he could not trust anyone easily – especially someone from a rival house.
Delfina spoke again, her expression calm.
“You don’t need to worry. That’s what I came to say. I want to have a good relationship with you.”
“You want to have a good relationship with me?”
“Yes, I want to be of help to you, Your Grace.”
“A lady wanting to help me… that’s hard to believe.”
“……”
“You don’t want to help me without something in return, do you?”
“No, I also have something I want. I’m suggesting we simply help each other.”
Elkaian didn’t know how to respond. Why would someone from the Duke’s house want to help him? And how?
What was it that she wanted?
‘What kind of price does she plan to demand…?’
While Elkaian looked at Delfina suspiciously, a knight appeared and whispered something in his ear.
As soon as the knight finished speaking, Elkaian’s face hardened.
“Again?”
Elkaian, who had been sitting across from Delfina, quickly stood up.
He looked at her and said:
“Something urgent has come up. I must go. My apologies, my lady.”
“……”
“I will come find you once I finish this matter. We can continue our conversation then.”
Leaving those words behind, he left the room.
The butler spoke to Delfina apologetically.
“I’m very sorry, my lady. His Grace would not have left mid-conversation if it weren’t an urgent matter.”
To Delfina, it could have felt disappointing.
They were meeting for the first time as betrothed, and he had left after barely seeing her face.
The butler continued.
“Lady Delfina, I will show you to your room.”
As the butler led her to her assigned room, his face showed confusion at the sudden situation.
“I will also send a maid to attend you shortly.”
“There are maids from House Lycaeon with me.”
To this, the butler replied,
“They might not be familiar with how things work in the North.”
Delfina tilted her head in confusion.
‘Did they hear something else from the knights?’
The servants who came with her didn’t do their jobs properly. Seeing them neglect her, some of the knights had become angry.
Delfina shook her head.
‘No… they’re probably assigning me a maid to keep an eye on me.’
There was no other explanation.
“This is your room, Lady Delfina.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. The room the butler showed her was far too luxurious.
“Please endure this humble room for a while.”
Humble?
She hadn’t stayed in such a nice room since her parents passed away.
“Once your engagement is formalised, you will be able to stay in the Grand Duchess’s chambers.”
The butler added,
“Then, I will take my leave for now.”
Delfina gave him a faint smile and nodded.
‘Not that I’m hoping for that anyway.’
Though the butler looked apologetic, Delfina had no intention of becoming Grand Duchess.
She came to the North because of a quest and didn’t plan to stay at the Grand Duke’s castle forever.
‘Once I complete my quest, I will leave. And I will build my own restaurant.’
A Grand Duchess who runs a restaurant – there has never been such a thing in Imperial history.
She knew Elkaian wouldn’t want their engagement either, so after some time, she planned to leave.
She resolved to speak to him properly next time they met.
As she was thinking that, a system window appeared before her eyes.
<Emergency Quest Activated!>
Save Aris.
Aris Rohaim, the North’s head knight, has fallen into deep despair due to the deaths of her comrades. She refuses food and is wasting away. You must save her.
Your cooking skills are special. Blessed by the gods, your food can slow down Aris Rohaim’s deteriorating condition.
However, Aris currently refuses all food. You must make at least C-rank food to pique her interest.
Tip: Wouldn’t it help to have someone with strong divine power nearby?
Reward: Aris’s trust.
Aris’s trust will become a great strength to you. She is the North’s greatest knight and the Grand Duke’s head knight.
This is a chain quest that will lead to the next quest upon success.
Failure: Aris’s death.
If Aris dies, the Northerners’ wariness of you will grow. The North’s winter is harsh and brutal, leading to monster waves. To stop them, a strong knight like Aris Rohaim is needed. If she dies, the North will suffer great damage.
The Grand Duke’s head knight is ill?
It was puzzling.
‘I heard she was an incredibly strong knight.’
One of the biggest reasons Elkaian could rise as Grand Duke was because of Aris.
She wasn’t a Swordmaster yet, but if one were to name the strongest knights in the Empire, Aris Rohaim would certainly be among them.
She was that powerful.
And now, the system told her that such a person was ill.
‘Then everything makes sense.’
The tense atmosphere of the Grand Duke’s castle. Elkaian suddenly leaving.
‘Elkaian must be heartbroken.’
She didn’t know how serious Aris’s condition was, but if the system said it was dangerous, it must be quite severe.
Delfina had experienced losing loved ones.
Her parents had died in an accident, and she still couldn’t forget that day.
‘According to the quest, I can help Aris.’
She felt apologetic towards Elkaian.
He too must have been forced into this engagement.
Even without the quest to revive the North, she wanted to help him somehow.
The system said her food could slow Aris’s illness.
‘That means I can’t cure her completely.’
As if answering her question, another system window appeared.
<To fully heal Aris Rohaim, you need a companion.>
‘A companion? What does that mean?’
<This question is not allowed to be answered.>
Delfina let out a sigh. It seemed she wouldn’t get an answer for now.
‘I want to meet Aris at least once.’
Just then—
“Lady Delfina, may I come in?”
Delfina snapped out of her thoughts at the sudden voice.
“Come in.”
As soon as she spoke, the door opened and maids entered.
They were the ones the butler mentioned to attend to her. Following behind them was Sophia.
