Sylvia couldn’t easily fall asleep in her bed. She couldn’t forget the expression she had seen on Felix’s face during dinner.
With a deep sigh, she turned over in bed. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had made a mistake. Had she taken things too lightly?
How serious must it have been for the Black Dragon to have sent Eryngium to her place as a last resort? Even though there wasn’t necessarily a solution there, sending someone to another dimension indicated that his aversion to eating was already dangerously severe.
It wasn’t anorexia, to be precise.
To delve more accurately, it was an aversion to food, a distrust of anything prepared by others’ hands, a betrayal by someone he trusted.
It was only natural for him to be guarded against all situations and environments. She had thought too lightly of his torment, having to shield himself with his own set of rules during the years she was unaware of.
“Sigh…”
She turned over again. Her mind was noisy with many thoughts, and his face was unforgettable.
“Ah, stupid Seo Yoo-jung.”
She murmured, rubbing her face with the back of her hand. Filled with remorse, her mind was noisy, and her heart was unsettled.
Thinking of Felix, whom she would see tomorrow, Sylvia forced her eyes shut.
Meanwhile, at that time, the fairies were out in the garden. Each holding one of their flowers, they huddled together.
[It seems Felix is very angry. What should we do?]
[More than angry… it seemed like he was sad.]
At Lupinus’s words, the other fairies fell silent. Indeed, it was a different emotion from when he had eaten poisoned food. It was dark, not just a simple darkness, but it felt like something sobbing somewhere.
Eryngium spoke with a worried look,
[What if Felix starts to dislike Sylvia?]
At that question, the fairies began to speak in anxious tones.
[That must not happen!]
[Without Sylvia, Felix won’t eat anything!]
[I like Sylvia!]
At Clover’s exclamation, Eryngium’s eyes widened.
[Sylvia is closest to me! You can’t compare her to you all!]
Clover, not to be outdone, retorted,
[Sylvia once gave me fruit separately!]
[Hmph, don’t delude yourself into thinking she likes you the most just because of that. I’ve been with Sylvia since she came here, no, even before that, we were always together.]
Vibrant green eyes clashed with mysterious purplish-blue eyes. Daisy, Poppy, Asta, Calmia, and Lupinus, watching the two, eventually turned away, losing interest.
Then, they each started boasting about their flowers.
[Look at my Daisy. Isn’t it soft and white, just like cotton fluff?]
[White is too plain, isn’t it? Nothing beats the passionate color of red.]
[Oh, you know, the most beautiful color among all is lavender.]
[Hmm, isn’t pink the prettiest for camellias?]
[There’s no color that can rival yellow for its warmth.]
They each pushed forward their own flowers, shouting that their flower was the prettiest.
[No, no! Sylvia is closest to me!]
[No, it’s me! I’m the closest!]
The voices of Clover and Eryngium, still arguing, echoed, while the other five fairies twirled around with their flowers.
The fairies, with their wings fluttering in the moonlight, looked mysterious and beautiful, but the two who could see this sight didn’t come out of their respective rooms.
As morning arrived, Sylvia headed to the kitchen with puffy eyes. She first searched for water and drank it. After sipping two cups of barley tea that had been kept cool, she let out a deep sigh and rubbed her eyes.
She needed to hurry and get ready because she had to visit the duke again today, but she felt suffocated.
It had been several days since she had sold any lunchboxes.
She couldn’t let this continue when she had waiting customers in mind. Today, she was determined to deliver her message to the duke and put an end to it.
She chose kimbap as the last lunchbox to give to the duke. The reason she hadn’t made kimbap, the first thing that came to mind when thinking about lunchboxes, was simple.
There is no seaweed here!
The crispy seaweed that could be eaten just grilled and lightly brushed with sesame oil and sprinkled with salt, the kind that tasted delicious even without any special ingredients, was nowhere to be found in the empire. Since seafood was scarce to begin with, Sylvia had always been disappointed in that aspect.
So instead of seaweed, she planned to make egg kimbap using eggs, which were as rare as ostrich eggs in this region.
First, she prepared the rice. She washed the white rice and adjusted the amount of water by adding spinach juice. In another pot, she added carrot juice. Carefully controlling the heat for the rice that wasn’t sticky, she sliced and stir-fried the carrots first. She also sliced the cucumber lengthwise, briefly soaked it in salt, and then squeezed out the moisture.
She prepared the burdock roots by cooking them with sesame oil and sugar, and instead of ham, she stir-fried beef in the galbi sauce she had made in advance. For the pickles, she used salted cabbage, sliced it long to fit the kimbap, and cut the pineapple into long strips.
The filling ingredients were roughly ready. Sylvia shredded pumpkin leaves and cabbage, arranging them neatly on one side. When the rice was ready, she added sesame oil and salt, mixed it, and let it cool. Then, she whisked the eggs with the magic of the wind.
She added a drop of vinegar and a pinch of starch to the beaten egg mixture and stirred it until smooth. After several passes through a sieve, she sprinkled oil on a square and wide pan and poured the egg mixture thinly.
After a few tries, she had a fine, colored egg sheet ready.
Using the magic of the wind, she laid the egg sheet first, then gently spread the green rice on top. She added the prepared filling ingredients one by one. Rolling it all up was the finishing touch.
Sylvia took a breath and wiped her sweat as she admired the successfully completed egg kimbap she made as her first attempt.
“Phew, it seems to have turned out okay… I couldn’t have even dreamed of this without magic.”
She was carefully handling the egg kimbap, which had been dried without losing its shape thanks to the magic of the wind. They were the perfect size to take a big bite, in her eyes. Once again, she diligently rolled the kimbap, using both the crimson rice and the green rice evenly.
She finely chopped the leftover filling and mixed it with rice. Then, she wrapped the green rice in steamed cabbage leaves, shaping them into round balls, and did the same with the red rice in pumpkin leaves, adding a spoonful of seasoning made from Galbus oil, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, chopped chili, green onions, and sesame seeds to each before wrapping. The finishing touch for the cabbage wraps was the same.
Sylvia neatly arranged the sliced egg kimbap in the square cypress wood lunch box, ensuring the green and red rice mingled aesthetically.
She placed the pumpkin leaf wraps and cabbage wraps in one compartment, sprinkling a little sesame on the wraps and evenly over the kimbap.
Pears, apples, and persimmons were placed in another lunch box. The packed lunch boxes were stacked in threes, wrapped tightly in cloth, and placed in a spatial leather backpack.
Sylvia began making egg kimbap and wraps for the mercenary band to eat.
“Mmm, tasty. It’s good.”
With the end of a kimbap roll in her mouth, Sylvia nodded her approval. The taste was better than she had expected, leaving her feeling satisfied.
Felix, having taken a short nap, woke up. He had fallen asleep out of fatigue but couldn’t sleep deeply due to his restless mind. No matter how much he thought about it, it was strange. He couldn’t understand why Sylvia’s expression kept haunting him.
Her face, more surprised than his own, carried a profound sense of apology.
Why did she look so sorry?
When he refused food, others simply accepted it as inevitable. It was as if they thought, ‘He doesn’t like food anyway, so it’s natural for him to act this way’ or ‘It’s a normal reaction.’
His subordinates, the palace servants, everyone had the same attitude.
But why was she sorry?
It wasn’t her fault in the slightest that he refused food…
Felix tried to shake off his suffocating feelings with a deep sigh, but it was futile.
The restless sleep left his body feeling sluggish.
Considering whether to go out to the garden for some fresh air, he jumped out the window without making a sound. Landing lightly, he caught the scent of something savory coming from the kitchen.
‘What’s this? Is she preparing breakfast already?’
Knowing Sylvia was the only one who would be in the kitchen, he didn’t need to ponder further. Although it was awkward to face her after yesterday’s incident, his curiosity got the better of him.
Moving silently closer, he peeked through the slightly open kitchen door and saw her. There was Sylvia, making some unfamiliar dish, sweating as she worked her magic.
He was amazed by her, not only because she possessed the Black Dragon’s power like him but also because she could use a variety of elemental magics.
‘What exactly are you?’
The only Black Dragon he knew was Aetherenum. Was there another Black Dragon? Or was she a descendant of that Black Dragon? Then why wasn’t her hair black?
The questions he hadn’t fully addressed before suddenly surged forward, eager for answers.
Being closer to the kitchen door, the savory scent became even more intense. Felix unwittingly sniffed, drawing the rich aromas of sesame oil, rice, and eggs into his nostrils. The sense of smell he had long forgotten was gradually returning to function.
As his sense of smell returned, saliva naturally pooled in his mouth. Even as he swallowed, he didn’t feel the desire to eat. However, watching Sylvia munch on the end of a kimbap roll, Felix found himself swallowing hard.
He didn’t feel hungry for the food itself, but strangely, seeing Sylvia eat stirred his appetite.
Why would that be?
Why…
‘Why did you look sorry for me?’
He was curious.
Felix straightened his stooped back and opened the kitchen door.
Sylvia, having finished making an enormous amount of egg kimbap, was wiping off sweat with a towel. The kitchen was heated from the fire magic. As she looked for cool water, the door connecting to the garden flung open.
Felix stood on the threshold, looking at her.
Still unsettled by yesterday’s incident, Sylvia was taken aback.
She couldn’t think of what to say upon seeing him. As she hesitated, lips quivering, Felix strode towards her.
“I want some water too.”
As she wished, a makeshift cup filled with water popped out of the spatial cypress box. Sylvia quickly handed him a cup filled with corn tea she hadn’t realized had appeared.
Felix hesitated for a moment before putting the cup to his lips. It was his first time drinking plain water, not created by magic. He had already had barley tea before, but since he hadn’t noticed that fact at the time, he thought this was his first.
Gulping down.
After a brief hesitation, the taste of the corn tea that trickled into his mouth made Felix drink it all in one go.
After finishing the water in the makeshift cup, he blinked.
‘Was water always this tasty?’
Felix was deeply startled by the taste of the corn tea, which was entirely different from the magically created water he was used to. His sense of taste, slowly reviving along with his sense of smell, allowed him to savor the corn tea’s nuttiness, leaving him wide-eyed and smacking his lips.
“Is there more of this?”
He asked, pushing forward the empty cup. Sylvia pulled out a bottle of corn tea and poured more into his cup.
Gulping down again.
Before Felix could offer his cup for a third refill, Sylvia intervened.
“You need to eat! You’ll fill up on water!”
Sylvia cautioned him against drinking too much water before a meal almost reflexively. Felix nodded without much thought upon hearing her advice.
“Okay, got it.”
Both Sylvia and Felix were surprised by his response, and for a moment, they just blinked at each other. Then, voices from the living room began to filter into the kitchen.
Sylvia couldn’t easily fall asleep in her bed. She couldn’t forget the expression she had seen on Felix’s face during dinner.
With a deep sigh, she turned over in bed. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had made a mistake. Had she taken things too lightly?
How serious must it have been for the Black Dragon to have sent Eryngium to her place as a last resort? Even though there wasn’t necessarily a solution there, sending someone to another dimension indicated that his aversion to eating was already dangerously severe.
It wasn’t anorexia, to be precise.
To delve more accurately, it was an aversion to food, a distrust of anything prepared by others’ hands, a betrayal by someone he trusted.
It was only natural for him to be guarded against all situations and environments. She had thought too lightly of his torment, having to shield himself with his own set of rules during the years she was unaware of.
“Sigh…”
She turned over again. Her mind was noisy with many thoughts, and his face was unforgettable.
“Ah, stupid Seo Yoo-jung.”
She murmured, rubbing her face with the back of her hand. Filled with remorse, her mind was noisy, and her heart was unsettled.
Thinking of Felix, whom she would see tomorrow, Sylvia forced her eyes shut.
Meanwhile, at that time, the fairies were out in the garden. Each holding one of their flowers, they huddled together.
[It seems Felix is very angry. What should we do?]
[More than angry… it seemed like he was sad.]
At Lupinus’s words, the other fairies fell silent. Indeed, it was a different emotion from when he had eaten poisoned food. It was dark, not just a simple darkness, but it felt like something sobbing somewhere.
Eryngium spoke with a worried look,
[What if Felix starts to dislike Sylvia?]
At that question, the fairies began to speak in anxious tones.
[That must not happen!]
[Without Sylvia, Felix won’t eat anything!]
[I like Sylvia!]
At Clover’s exclamation, Eryngium’s eyes widened.
[Sylvia is closest to me! You can’t compare her to you all!]
Clover, not to be outdone, retorted,
[Sylvia once gave me fruit separately!]
[Hmph, don’t delude yourself into thinking she likes you the most just because of that. I’ve been with Sylvia since she came here, no, even before that, we were always together.]
Vibrant green eyes clashed with mysterious purplish-blue eyes. Daisy, Poppy, Asta, Calmia, and Lupinus, watching the two, eventually turned away, losing interest.
Then, they each started boasting about their flowers.
[Look at my Daisy. Isn’t it soft and white, just like cotton fluff?]
[White is too plain, isn’t it? Nothing beats the passionate color of red.]
[Oh, you know, the most beautiful color among all is lavender.]
[Hmm, isn’t pink the prettiest for camellias?]
[There’s no color that can rival yellow for its warmth.]
They each pushed forward their own flowers, shouting that their flower was the prettiest.
[No, no! Sylvia is closest to me!]
[No, it’s me! I’m the closest!]
The voices of Clover and Eryngium, still arguing, echoed, while the other five fairies twirled around with their flowers.
The fairies, with their wings fluttering in the moonlight, looked mysterious and beautiful, but the two who could see this sight didn’t come out of their respective rooms.
As morning arrived, Sylvia headed to the kitchen with puffy eyes. She first searched for water and drank it. After sipping two cups of barley tea that had been kept cool, she let out a deep sigh and rubbed her eyes.
She needed to hurry and get ready because she had to visit the duke again today, but she felt suffocated.
It had been several days since she had sold any lunchboxes.
She couldn’t let this continue when she had waiting customers in mind. Today, she was determined to deliver her message to the duke and put an end to it.
She chose kimbap as the last lunchbox to give to the duke. The reason she hadn’t made kimbap, the first thing that came to mind when thinking about lunchboxes, was simple.
There is no seaweed here!
The crispy seaweed that could be eaten just grilled and lightly brushed with sesame oil and sprinkled with salt, the kind that tasted delicious even without any special ingredients, was nowhere to be found in the empire. Since seafood was scarce to begin with, Sylvia had always been disappointed in that aspect.
So instead of seaweed, she planned to make egg kimbap using eggs, which were as rare as ostrich eggs in this region.
First, she prepared the rice. She washed the white rice and adjusted the amount of water by adding spinach juice. In another pot, she added carrot juice. Carefully controlling the heat for the rice that wasn’t sticky, she sliced and stir-fried the carrots first. She also sliced the cucumber lengthwise, briefly soaked it in salt, and then squeezed out the moisture.
She prepared the burdock roots by cooking them with sesame oil and sugar, and instead of ham, she stir-fried beef in the galbi sauce she had made in advance. For the pickles, she used salted cabbage, sliced it long to fit the kimbap, and cut the pineapple into long strips.
The filling ingredients were roughly ready. Sylvia shredded pumpkin leaves and cabbage, arranging them neatly on one side. When the rice was ready, she added sesame oil and salt, mixed it, and let it cool. Then, she whisked the eggs with the magic of the wind.
She added a drop of vinegar and a pinch of starch to the beaten egg mixture and stirred it until smooth. After several passes through a sieve, she sprinkled oil on a square and wide pan and poured the egg mixture thinly.
After a few tries, she had a fine, colored egg sheet ready.
Using the magic of the wind, she laid the egg sheet first, then gently spread the green rice on top. She added the prepared filling ingredients one by one. Rolling it all up was the finishing touch.
Sylvia took a breath and wiped her sweat as she admired the successfully completed egg kimbap she made as her first attempt.
“Phew, it seems to have turned out okay… I couldn’t have even dreamed of this without magic.”
She was carefully handling the egg kimbap, which had been dried without losing its shape thanks to the magic of the wind. They were the perfect size to take a big bite, in her eyes. Once again, she diligently rolled the kimbap, using both the crimson rice and the green rice evenly.
She finely chopped the leftover filling and mixed it with rice. Then, she wrapped the green rice in steamed cabbage leaves, shaping them into round balls, and did the same with the red rice in pumpkin leaves, adding a spoonful of seasoning made from Galbus oil, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, chopped chili, green onions, and sesame seeds to each before wrapping. The finishing touch for the cabbage wraps was the same.
Sylvia neatly arranged the sliced egg kimbap in the square cypress wood lunch box, ensuring the green and red rice mingled aesthetically.
She placed the pumpkin leaf wraps and cabbage wraps in one compartment, sprinkling a little sesame on the wraps and evenly over the kimbap.
Pears, apples, and persimmons were placed in another lunch box. The packed lunch boxes were stacked in threes, wrapped tightly in cloth, and placed in a spatial leather backpack.
Sylvia began making egg kimbap and wraps for the mercenary band to eat.
“Mmm, tasty. It’s good.”
With the end of a kimbap roll in her mouth, Sylvia nodded her approval. The taste was better than she had expected, leaving her feeling satisfied.
Felix, having taken a short nap, woke up. He had fallen asleep out of fatigue but couldn’t sleep deeply due to his restless mind. No matter how much he thought about it, it was strange. He couldn’t understand why Sylvia’s expression kept haunting him.
Her face, more surprised than his own, carried a profound sense of apology.
Why did she look so sorry?
When he refused food, others simply accepted it as inevitable. It was as if they thought, ‘He doesn’t like food anyway, so it’s natural for him to act this way’ or ‘It’s a normal reaction.’
His subordinates, the palace servants, everyone had the same attitude.
But why was she sorry?
It wasn’t her fault in the slightest that he refused food…
Felix tried to shake off his suffocating feelings with a deep sigh, but it was futile.
The restless sleep left his body feeling sluggish.
Considering whether to go out to the garden for some fresh air, he jumped out the window without making a sound. Landing lightly, he caught the scent of something savory coming from the kitchen.
‘What’s this? Is she preparing breakfast already?’
Knowing Sylvia was the only one who would be in the kitchen, he didn’t need to ponder further. Although it was awkward to face her after yesterday’s incident, his curiosity got the better of him.
Moving silently closer, he peeked through the slightly open kitchen door and saw her. There was Sylvia, making some unfamiliar dish, sweating as she worked her magic.
He was amazed by her, not only because she possessed the Black Dragon’s power like him but also because she could use a variety of elemental magics.
‘What exactly are you?’
The only Black Dragon he knew was Aetherenum. Was there another Black Dragon? Or was she a descendant of that Black Dragon? Then why wasn’t her hair black?
The questions he hadn’t fully addressed before suddenly surged forward, eager for answers.
Being closer to the kitchen door, the savory scent became even more intense. Felix unwittingly sniffed, drawing the rich aromas of sesame oil, rice, and eggs into his nostrils. The sense of smell he had long forgotten was gradually returning to function.
As his sense of smell returned, saliva naturally pooled in his mouth. Even as he swallowed, he didn’t feel the desire to eat. However, watching Sylvia munch on the end of a kimbap roll, Felix found himself swallowing hard.
He didn’t feel hungry for the food itself, but strangely, seeing Sylvia eat stirred his appetite.
Why would that be?
Why…
‘Why did you look sorry for me?’
He was curious.
Felix straightened his stooped back and opened the kitchen door.
Sylvia, having finished making an enormous amount of egg kimbap, was wiping off sweat with a towel. The kitchen was heated from the fire magic. As she looked for cool water, the door connecting to the garden flung open.
Felix stood on the threshold, looking at her.
Still unsettled by yesterday’s incident, Sylvia was taken aback.
She couldn’t think of what to say upon seeing him. As she hesitated, lips quivering, Felix strode towards her.
“I want some water too.”
As she wished, a makeshift cup filled with water popped out of the spatial cypress box. Sylvia quickly handed him a cup filled with corn tea she hadn’t realized had appeared.
Felix hesitated for a moment before putting the cup to his lips. It was his first time drinking plain water, not created by magic. He had already had barley tea before, but since he hadn’t noticed that fact at the time, he thought this was his first.
Gulping down.
After a brief hesitation, the taste of the corn tea that trickled into his mouth made Felix drink it all in one go.
After finishing the water in the makeshift cup, he blinked.
‘Was water always this tasty?’
Felix was deeply startled by the taste of the corn tea, which was entirely different from the magically created water he was used to. His sense of taste, slowly reviving along with his sense of smell, allowed him to savor the corn tea’s nuttiness, leaving him wide-eyed and smacking his lips.
“Is there more of this?”
He asked, pushing forward the empty cup. Sylvia pulled out a bottle of corn tea and poured more into his cup.
Gulping down again.
Before Felix could offer his cup for a third refill, Sylvia intervened.
“You need to eat! You’ll fill up on water!”
Sylvia cautioned him against drinking too much water before a meal almost reflexively. Felix nodded without much thought upon hearing her advice.
“Okay, got it.”
Both Sylvia and Felix were surprised by his response, and for a moment, they just blinked at each other. Then, voices from the living room began to filter into the kitchen.
