~Chapter 95~
Even after that, people kept coming up to talk to Delphina.
“Lady Delphina, welcome back.”
Delphina looked around.
It wasn’t just the Grand Madam who had come out to greet her. Most of the servants working in the Grand Duke’s castle had gathered to celebrate their return.
Sana leaned close and whispered in Delphina’s ear.
“This is the first time the northern servants have come out like this.”
“The first time?”
“Yes. His Grace doesn’t really like the servants coming out to greet. He always says he doesn’t want to trouble them. So the fact they came out here means they all really wanted to see you, Lady Delphina.”
Sana blushed shyly.
Delphina tilted her head, feeling something strange inside. Seeing the northern people welcome her made her feel like she had truly come home. Realizing this, Delphina was startled.
‘I’ve grown more attached to this place than I thought. I… I like this land, I like these people. I even feel like this is my home.’
Unknowingly, Delphina had already blended into their lives.
The god Frad seemed to bless her arrival in the North, as a system window appeared before her.
<The North’s influence rises.>
<As northern influence rises, the god Frad can interfere with his apostle.>
<Let us spread the taste of the god Frad!>
Don’t you want to make the North richer and stronger?
Frad gains strength the more people eat delicious food and feel happiness.
As his apostle, the more you make people eat happily, the more northern influence you will gain.
Tip: To spread the taste the god Frad loves, we recommend starting a business.
‘A business?’
As if to answer Delphina’s doubt, another system message appeared.
<The name of Delphina, Apostle of the god Frad, spreads through the Empire.>
“Did you taste the food served at the succession ceremony of House Fuat?”
“I wasn’t invited, so I couldn’t go. But Lady Yvonne, who attended, said the taste was truly amazing.”
“She bragged so much about it, saying it was a new taste she had never experienced before.”
“If I ever get a chance, I really want to try it too!”
“But Lady Delphina made that food, and she’s in the North now. Going there to eat it would take a very long time.”
For a while, the lively party continued. It was a small welcome feast for Delphina’s return.
At the feast, Delphina said she wanted to cook the food herself.
Walton expressed concern.
“Aren’t you tired? You can leave the feast to me, Lady Delphina.”
“No, I want to cook for the Grand Madam. There’s also something I need to check.”
From the moment she returned, Delphina had planned to remove the corrupt power inside the Grand Madam’s body.
‘If she eats my food, then Sestia can use her holy power afterward.’
Besides that, there was food she wanted to serve to the northern people.
The Grand Madam also looked worried.
“This is your welcome feast, yet you want to cook yourself… If it’s because of me, you don’t have to start today.”
“I want to. There’s something I especially want to make for you. I want to serve here the same food I made at the Fuat succession ceremony.”
Delphina wanted to be certain about the taste of tteokbokki and fried chicken. What she saw at the succession ceremony hadn’t been enough.
With Walton’s help, Delphina prepared the feast food.
And the reaction was explosive.
The Grand Madam muttered in shock.
“D-Delphina… what did you say this food was called?”
“Tteokbokki and chicken.”
“This flavor is beyond amazing. Eating the chicken alone was shocking, but dipping it into this broth made it even more powerful!”
There was chicken powder on the Grand Madam’s lips, and her mouth was swollen from the spicy tteokbokki.
‘As I thought, northerners like it too!’
The reaction to tteokbokki was better than expected. Curious about the northern people’s taste, Delphina couldn’t hide her smile at their positive response.
She also made fish cake soup, which she hadn’t shown at the succession ceremony.
Her food disappeared astonishingly fast. Even Elcayan, who usually ate little, and Alex, with his picky taste, enjoyed it heartily.
‘They’re eating more than I expected.’
Perhaps it was because of the northern climate. In the cold weather, nothing tasted better than tteokbokki and hot fish cake soup.
‘But the best serving must have been the one I gave the Grand Madam.’
She had given the highest-grade dish to her.
Just then, while the Grand Madam ate happily, Sestia quietly used her holy power.
A system window appeared in front of Delphina.
<Quest “Save Aris” completed!>
The poison inside Aris’s body has been completely removed! The threats approaching the North are reduced.
The presence of the great knight Aris will be a strong help in protecting the North during the coming winter!
Aris’s trust in you becomes firm.
Affinity +50
(Maximum reached, cannot increase further.)
Delphina looked at Aris.
Hearing the system’s confirmation, she finally felt relieved.
The Grand Madam was eating food as quickly as if she were in a contest with Calix.
When she met Delphina’s gaze, she smiled brightly.
“Wahaha! Delphina! It’s so delicious, really delicious!”
Days passed after the feast. For several days, Delphina was lost in thought.
Her uncle had stepped down from the title of Duke of Rikeion, but the threats against the North were far from over.
‘Rather, the Empress and Prince Fiaje will press harder on the North. To defend it, we need more changes.’
After every winter, the North weakened from constant battles against monsters.
The Rohaim family wasn’t poor, but it wasn’t wealthy either. That was because they always gave much to the North.
‘A business, they said?’
Frad had told her that the more people ate delicious food and felt happiness, the greater northern influence would become.
‘If I want to raise the North’s influence, it’s not a bad idea. If recipes spread and many people cooked, far more people could eat than if I cooked alone.’
One day, when she would have to leave the Rohaim family and stand on her own, business would be a great strength.
‘I also have the compensation money now.’
The Duke and Duchess of Fuat had given her the reparations ordered by the court.
Even though Ivelina was no longer part of their family, they still felt guilty toward Delphina.
‘Thanks to that, I have enough money.’
The more northern influence increased, the more Frad could help her.
‘Maybe opening my own restaurant is possible.’
She couldn’t be certain how influence was measured, but according to the system, she didn’t have to cook everything herself.
Delphina tapped the table.
‘First, I should file for patents and find people to help. But I must choose trustworthy ones…’
The Empire’s taste was quite similar to the Korean taste she remembered from her past life.
So Delphina was confident.
‘Chicken and tteokbokki will definitely be a hit.’
Her only problem was not confidence, but action. Opening a restaurant was her dream, but she was inexperienced in business.
Still, if she found someone to help, it could be possible.
Once she made up her mind, things moved quickly.
Delphina went to Elcayan.
“Elcayan, I came to ask a favor.”
“A favor?”
“Yes.”
His answer came immediately.
“I will do anything.”
“I want to open a restaurant.”
The moment Delphina said that, Elcayan froze.
‘She once said, when everything is over, she wanted to open a restaurant… Is she saying now that she wants to leave?’
Uneasiness filled his heart.
It adorable that that’s the the first thing he thinks of when she says she wants to open a restaurant…. UH OH DELPHINAS LEAVING!!!!