IHTTOFR CH 10

Chapter 10

“Should I call you Lord Hale?”

This time, Leon fell silent for a moment. Yuliana noticed his eyes distant, as if he were searching through forgotten memories. She calmly waited for him to answer. After a short pause, Leon cautiously asked her:

“Are you perhaps a friend of Ihwa?”

“We were friends, and she was like a sister to me.”

Not only that, but she had also been a disciple, a teacher, and family.

The three years spent with Ihwa were the time Yuliana had traveled across the Empire, barely sleeping and enjoying every moment. Now, Ihwa was no longer by her side, a person whose whereabouts were unknown.

“Ihwa’s friends are my friends too. If you don’t mind, just call me Leon.”

“Ihwa called me Yus.”

“Nice to meet you, Yus. I apologize for being rude in our first meeting.”

“From now on, call me by my name, Leon.”

“Hmm, you’ve already forgiven me, Yus?”

As the boundaries between Yuliana and Leon softened thanks to Ihwa, Dillon piped in with a hiss. It seemed he didn’t like Leon, especially remembering how Leon had harshly grabbed Yuliana’s wrist on their first day. It seemed he wasn’t warming up to Leon just yet.

“Well, he apologized, didn’t he?”

“Hmph.”

Dillon grumbled, puffing out his feathers with an annoyed posture. He usually acted sharply around people he didn’t like.

Yuliana smiled and patted Dillon‘s feathers. The soft feathers slipped between her fingers, giving her a sense of calm. Dillon, seemingly pleased with her touch, lowered his neck slightly.

“Thank you for letting me know that Ihwa is safe, Yus.”

“You don’t seem like someone who would try to harm Ihwa.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, you were the first to ask about Ihwa’s well-being. If you didn’t like her, would you ask that?”

“True. It seems we’ll be talking for a while. Let me order some tea.”

Leon called a servant to order tea. A moment later, the servant brought a teapot and tea cups.

On a night with a full moon, the tea was made from leaves that glistened silver only on that particular night, steeped under the moonlight. The tea leaves sparkled in the cup, reflecting the moon’s glow. This was Ihwa‘s favorite tea.

The winter apple pie served alongside was also delicious.

“The scent is wonderful.”

“It’s delicious. Ihwa and I used to eat this often when we came here.”

“It would have been nice if Ihwa were here too, so the three of us could eat together.”

A brief silence followed. If Ihwa had been here, there would have been someone to answer. It was Leon who broke the silence.

“You mentioned that you were curious about Countess Edith.”

“That’s right.”

“What are you curious about, Yus?”

“Huh?”

“Just say it casually.”

“Does that mean we’re friends now?”

“Yes.”

“If we get closer, that’ll be quite a problem.”

Yuliana blinked in surprise. Without any warning, it felt like a carriage rushing at full speed without any signals. She thought Leon’s approach was much subtler than Ihwa’s, who had taken years to get closer. Leon had slithered up without notice, and now he was comfortably settled next to her, almost like a snake coiling up beside her.

But for Leon, the fact that Yuliana had allowed him to speak casually was already a significant gesture of friendship. He had made an effort to reach out to Ihwa‘s friend.

However, Yuliana, raised in the rural village of Orbes, where nobles didn’t come by and where the lord didn’t make any visits, took it all in stride. To her, nobles were like dragons—she knew they existed, but she had never met one before.

“Why are you so curious about Countess Edith?”

“Well… For you, it may not be a big deal, but for me, it is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because she’s my first customer.”

Since Countess Edith had been a childhood friend of Leon’s mother, he had seen her often growing up. The Hales had invited Countess Edith and her husband to dinner several times.

Leon knew what it meant to Countess Edith when it came to meals.

“It’s difficult. Countess Edith doesn’t enjoy eating… or rather, doesn’t enjoy food itself.”

“Yeah, it seems like that. That’s why I’m worried.”

“If you use only the best ingredients, you shouldn’t make her angry.”

“But she said Ihwa‘s cooking was delicious.”

It was clear that Countess Edith had found Ihwa‘s cooking delicious. After three years, as soon as Ihwa’s restaurant reopened in Grand Blanco, she came back to visit. There must have been many reasons, but Ihwa’s cooking was certainly one of them, even though she didn’t say it outright.

“Countess Edith was a guest at Ihwa’s restaurant. I want to make her happy.”

At Yuliana‘s words, Leon silently nodded, lost in thought. He wanted to give Yuliana some useful information but couldn’t think of anything helpful at the moment.

Countess Edith, even at the grandest feasts, never ate much. She would take just a little, like a bird picking at crumbs.

“But how did Leon know Countess Edith?”

“As I said, Countess Edith and my mother have been close friends for a long time.”

“How long?”

“Since childhood. Before they came to the capital.”

“They came to the capital?”

“Yes. My mother and Countess Edith are from Syarvi.”

The name Syarvi sounded familiar to Yuliana. It was definitely a place she had been to with Ihwa. Syarvi—where was that again? Yuliana tried hard to recall.

“Countess Edith was really good at archery when she was young. She used to always beat my mother when they competed. She would always brag about it when we met.”

At the mention of archery, Yuliana’s mind cleared. It was like walking out of a narrow street to see a wide, open sea. She had the answer. Syarvi, the farthest north of the Empire, where Ihwa and she had gone wearing woolen clothes and thick socks. The place where the sea froze.

Yuliana remembered meeting young girls practicing archery there. At the inn where they stayed for an extended period, the innkeeper had remarked that it had been a while since he’d seen a girl who couldn’t handle a bow, treating Yuliana like a child. That same innkeeper had also taught her how to handle a sword.

“Archery…”

“That’s right. The women in the capital don’t usually handle weapons, but my mother, being from the Hale family, was always good at archery.”

“Does being from the Hale family mean you need to be good with a bow?”

“It’s good to have a weapon you can handle, whether you’re a man or a woman. There’s even a saying that Hale sons handle swords, and Hale daughters handle bows.”

This was the first time Yuliana had heard such a thing. The capital had many such sayings. Suddenly, Yuliana became curious. If Countess Edith was such a good archer, then what happened to her?

“What happened to Countess Edith?”

“They didn’t praise Countess Edith for being good with a bow, but she became famous for using a fan and her tongue like a sword in high society.”

In high society, Countess Edith was like the waist—neither too high nor too low compared to the wives of the kings, dukes, or marquesses.

She had guided young ladies entering society, sometimes scolding them or mediating disputes. Over time, it became common knowledge that it was difficult to move through high society without her touch.

“Well, that’s quite a burden to carry.”

“You didn’t think you’d understand anything about high society, did you?”

“I do, actually. Ihwa told me a lot about it. It’s a battlefield.”

Yuliana‘s knowledge of nobility came entirely from Ihwa.

Ihwa often shared interesting stories, mostly about the love lives of the nobility, though many of them weren’t true. The nobles in her stories were often exaggerated for entertainment, and Yuliana, fascinated by them, believed that mistakes in high society could lead to someone losing their head.

Leon carefully offered advice after hearing her words.

“No, it’s not as harsh as that. It’s still just people living their lives.”

“But it’s become more important now. If I mess up this meal, Ihwa’s restaurant will close.”

“That’s true. The rumors in high society won’t be favorable.”

“And for serving bad food, my head will be on the chopping block.”

“You might be exaggerating.”

Even with Leon correcting her, Yuliana sighed repeatedly. The pressure still weighed heavily on her. But Yuliana could see one clear path ahead: Countess Edith had grown up in Syarvi, enduring the coldest winters for twelve months of the year.

“I have to go to Syarvi.”

“To Syarvi?”

“It’s urgent. I’ll leave first.”

“Are you going alone?”

Yuliana looked at Leon blankly, as if asking, Do you expect me to lead an army there? Since Ihwa wasn’t with her, it was clear she would have to go alone.

“I’ll be going with Dillon.”

“Who’s Dillon?”

“It’s me.”

Dillon hissed and flapped his wings.

Leon was taken aback by the idea of Yuliana going alone to Syarvi. The journey itself wouldn’t be hard, since there was a long-distance portal to Syarvi from the capital.

The real issue was Syarvi’s security. While it was a place where people lived, it wasn’t an easy place for a woman to go alone.

“Is that feathered snake growing any bigger?”

“No.”

“You’re not a beast, right? No poison, I assume?”

“Are you criticizing me for being weak, Yus?”

Dillon hissed again, annoyed.

“That’s right?”

“Isn’t it reckless? How can you think of going alone?”

Yuliana, half standing, took Leon’s hand. After all, she was a girl with a deep connection to Ihwa. Leon, worried she might encounter some danger on her own in Syarvi, decided to escort her.

“I’ll request leave from the knights. I’ll escort you.”