Chapter 6
Suddenly, I remembered a woman I had met there.
At the time, I was feeling hopeless about life.
Even though I had worked hard to get into college, the life I was given was one buried in part-time jobs, and it felt miserable.
I think I spent hours staring at the sea I had impulsively come to see.
I was sitting on the sandy beach all day, blankly watching the ocean, when a woman sat down next to me.
[I noticed you’ve been sitting here for a while. Are you okay?]
She spoke to me kindly, and I didn’t refuse.
Maybe because I was caught up in my emotions, I ended up chatting with her about all sorts of things.
She was two years older than me and wanted to become a novelist.
She said she loved traveling and someday wanted to write a book about her travels.
[What’s your dream?]
[Me…? Sending my younger siblings to college.]
[Hey, not something like that.]
When I joked bitterly because I was exhausted from endless part-time jobs, she asked me again in a serious tone:
[Isn’t there anything you want to do? Once your siblings are in college, there must be something you want for yourself.]
[…Ah. There is.]
After thinking for a moment, I answered:
[Travel abroad.]
[…]
[Once my siblings are in college, I want to travel as much as I want. Especially a train trip.]
Thinking about it now, I think that was when I first dreamed of taking a train trip.
As I recalled the old memory, a warm smile appeared on my face.
‘…I miss her. I wonder if she’s doing well?’
After that meeting, I became pen pals with her, exchanging emails regularly.
Although I never got to travel before I died, she told me she had fulfilled her dream.
I had begged her to tell me the name of her published work, but she had always refused, saying she was too embarrassed.
‘I hope you’re happy, unnie (older sister).’
Even though I was fulfilling my dream of traveling in another world after death, I hoped she would live a long life and continue chasing her dreams.
I would also fulfill my dream by traveling in this world.
“Look, Miss. That must be the entrance to the port.”
Ki-ruk, ki-ruk—
The cries of seagulls rang out. The loud voices of bustling people surrounded us.
As we approached the gate labeled ‘Risman Central Market,’ I saw a man clearly standing out from the crowd.
He didn’t blend into the background, as if he were a character from a novel.
‘…Is he a character from the novel?’
But the man had a rough impression. He definitely didn’t look like one of the male leads.
And then, he suddenly turned his head, and our eyes met.
‘What…’
A chill ran down my spine. I quickly turned my head away.
‘This feels bad…’
For some reason, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he would leave a bad impression.
“Fresh herring and squid just in!”
“We have salmon and cod too! We can even cook them on the spot!”
I began exploring the Risman Central Market in earnest.
The market was noisy with the voices of merchants and passersby.
“Wow, Miss. Look over there. A big ship is coming in,” Sophie pointed out.
I saw a huge sailing ship approaching—it was probably a trading ship.
Wow… it’s amazing.
In both my previous and current lives, I had never seen such a big ship.
There were countless smaller boats docked at the pier as well.
Fishermen unloaded boxes full of fish onto the ground. Auctions and bargaining happened on the spot.
Stalls sold freshly caught fish, and people came to buy them…
‘I get now why Risman Port is so famous.’
The scale of it was huge, even though the Risman region itself wasn’t that big.
“It’s so crowded,” Sophie said, holding onto me tightly as people brushed past our shoulders.
“There are a lot of people. Be careful not to get hurt, Miss.”
“Yeah, don’t worry,” I said with a small smile.
Just then, a familiar loud voice rang out.
“Oh, it’s the princess!”
I turned my head toward the voice.
…it was Finn.
Next to him was Harry, holding his hand.
‘Ugh, I thought I wouldn’t have to see them again…’
I guess it was inevitable since we were on the same train.
It looked like the two of them had also gotten off the train to look around.
“Hello, Princess!”
Finn ran up to me and greeted me. Sophie crossed her arms.
“Kid, I told you—she’s not a princess. She’s Lady Hartmann!”
“Oh, right! Lady Hartmann!”
Finn laughed and then handed me something.
“Lady Hartmann, would you like to try this? It’s really delicious!”
He handed me a small paper box filled with pickled fish.
Huh? It looked strangely familiar…
As I tried to remember where I’d seen it before, Sophie spoke up.
“This is herring, isn’t it?”
“Yes! There’s so much tasty food here! My brother bought it for me. Hehe,” Finn said proudly, pointing to Harry.
Sophie frowned.
“I’m sorry, but Lady Hartmann doesn’t eat cheap fish like herring—”
“…Wow. That looks delicious.”
“Excuse me?”
Oops. I had accidentally said my thoughts out loud.
Now I remembered.
This was a food I had seen before… in my previous life.
It was haring, a dish from the Netherlands made with pickled herring, one of the country’s signature dishes.
‘I had learned about it while searching for travel destinations when life was hard…’
It had become a habit after I started dreaming of traveling.
Because YouTube was popular in my previous life, I could easily watch travel videos.
‘This world has so many Western foods from Earth… probably because the author was Korean and based it on modern life.’
‘Anyway… I always wanted to try something like this when traveling abroad.’
“Lady Hartmann, do you really want to eat herring? You usually wouldn’t even look at food like this,” Sophie asked, puzzled.
“Uh… well, because I’m traveling?”
I gave her a sheepish laugh.
“It’s a commoner food I wouldn’t usually get to try, so it’s the perfect time to eat it here.”
In the end, my determination to avoid the male leads… was defeated by curiosity about herring.
“Thank you, Finn. I’ll enjoy it.”
I took the herring Finn offered me.
Not sure how to eat it, I just stared at it until Harry spoke.
“Lady Hartmann. Hold it by the tail, tilt your head back, and eat it whole. It tastes better that way.”
“Really…?”
I glanced at Harry, then followed his instructions.
I lifted the herring toward the sky, the fluffy clouds behind it, and—
Chomp!
I took a big bite, filling my mouth with herring.
Chew, chew.
At first, the soft texture felt strange, and there was a bit of a fishy smell.
But soon, the rich oils of the fish filled my mouth with flavor.
‘What…? This is actually delicious!’
It wasn’t just good. It was incredibly good!
It was kind of like dried pollack but different… either way, it was perfect for my taste.
“W-where did you buy this?”
Just as I hurriedly asked Finn and Harry, a commotion erupted nearby.
“Pickpocket!”
A woman’s loud voice echoed through the market.
