“For the black sauce noodles, add these cucumbers and sautéed onions, and mix again. For the red broth noodles, add these greens, bean sprouts, peanuts, and raw scallions. And for the ‘Noodles and Broth Not Getting Along’, try adding these bamboo shoots to the broth. This is chili oil, it’s spicy. You can add it to the red broth noodles or into the broth. This is apple vinegar, sprinkle a little on the black sauce noodles to cut the greasiness.”
Following her rapid instructions, the mercenaries quickly added the vegetables to their dishes.
They realized why the flavors were lacking.
Sylvia’s cooking always included vegetables and fruits alongside meat. There had never been a meal with just meat. Her meals were balanced with a variety of side dishes, often followed by refreshing fruits or unseen desserts.
Thanks to her, their palates had evolved beyond just roasted wild boar, explaining their dissatisfaction with the meat-only noodles.
“Wow.”
Jordan exclaimed in amazement after adding cucumbers and onions to the black sauce noodles, surprised at the drastically different taste. Carl added peanuts and chili oil to the red broth noodles, marveling at the completely changed flavor.
Sylvia personally added vegetables and vinegar to Felix’s bowl, mixing it for him.
“Try it like this. It should be less greasy than before.”
Felix felt like a child being pampered whenever Sylvia took care of him this way. Despite his sulky expression, he was happy, especially since she only did this for him.
The ‘Black Blood Pork Noodles’ tasted entirely different with the added vegetables and vinegar, reaffirming Felix’s belief in Sylvia’s skills.
***
The next day, Sylvia finished preparing and left the inn. Felix, wearing a robe matching Sylvia’s, walked alongside her.
“The way to the market is this way, right?”
Having asked the waiter for directions the previous day, they were now headed to the market.
“First, we should buy all kinds of meat. And since the noodles here are famous, let’s buy various types of those too.”
“Alright.”
Felix was in a great mood, even forgetting the encounter with the royal knights from the day before. The reason was clear: being with Sylvia.
And it was her first time going to the market alone with him, so she was looking forward to it.
Sylvia hummed a little tune and bounced along beside him. Felix, seeing her do this, curled his lips up in a broad smile and reached out his hand, saying,
“Siri, give me your hand.”
At his request, Sylvia softly blinked and clasped his hand. It had become quite natural now. Thanks to Felix, who grabbed her hand eagerly without any pause, she had gotten used to it.
Of course, Sylvia wanted to hold his hand too.
Realizing her feelings, her eyes kept drifting towards Felix. Consequently, their eyes met often, and each time, Felix smiled with a twinkle in his eye, as if pleased.
Sylvia felt the summer under the clear sky, feeling the hot wind blowing. Although she didn’t feel the heat because of her robe, just the change in weather made her excited.
Moreover, this was her first time in the Caudatismum State, and she was looking forward to it. The market, with an atmosphere entirely different from the Corpora Empire, welcomed her and him. The building styles were very different from the start, making the sights a pleasure to see.
By Sylvia’s standards, if the Corpora Empire was Western-style, then the Caudatismum State had a more Eastern feel. The wind chimes at the ends of the eaves made a beautiful sound as the wind passed through them.
However, there were similarities with the empire too. Even after looking around the entire market, they couldn’t find a fruit and vegetable store. Instead, there were various kinds of noodles and spices and seasonings she had never seen before. Sylvia bought plenty of meat, noodles, and bread, which she barely found, and filled her space bag with salt, pepper, butter, milk, and more.
Whenever Sylvia was intently looking at something, Felix didn’t hesitate to pull out gold coins from his subspace and offer them to the owner. Sylvia was startled and tried to stop him, but eventually, as she kept buying various ingredients, the quantity kept increasing.
After buying the necessary ingredients and while looking for a clothing store, Sylvia spotted a hairpin at a street vendor. The design was simple, but it was made of polished obsidian and shone brilliantly.
Seeing Sylvia with her eyes wide open looking at the hairpin, Felix immediately pulled out a gold coin and said,
“I’ll take that.”
Before Sylvia could stop him, the vendor quickly handed over the hairpin and snatched the gold coin.
“Oh! You have a good eye! It’s originally two gold coins, but since you two look so lovely together, I’ll only take one.”
“What?”
Sylvia blushed at the word “couple.” Felix blushed too, but he was very pleased.
Very pleased indeed.
As Sylvia walked towards a distant clothing store, holding the hairpin, she grumbled,
“How can you just hand over gold coins like that? Saying it costs two gold coins must be a lie. Otherwise, they wouldn’t reduce the price to one.”
Even though she muttered complaints, Sylvia couldn’t take her eyes off the hairpin. Seeing this, Felix smiled contentedly and responded,
“Got it.”
“Ugh, really.”
Sylvia couldn’t say anything more to him, who responded so docilely, and entered the clothing store. Since she had given all her clothes to the children before, what she was wearing was all she had. So, she intended to buy only what was necessary.
Before she could choose anything nice, Felix again took out a purse of gold coins, this time handing it to the owner, and said,
“Bring out the best items you have.”
Hearing the heavy thud of the purse on the counter, the owner sprang to his feet.
“Oh! Who will be wearing it? The handsome man? Or the cute lady? Our store handles both men’s and women’s clothing.”
“Hey!”
Before Sylvia could protest with her hands and refuse, Felix quickly took the lead again.
“For the cute lady.”
***
Sylvia kept stealing glances at Felix, who was holding her hand and walking slowly beside her on the way back to the inn.
They had purchased high-quality shirts, leather pants, vests, chemises, boots, and shoes from the clothing store they had just left. Indeed, the texture of the expensive shirts was very good, and smiling about it was a mistake.
Felix took out a second purse of gold coins and asked the owner to bring out even better-quality shirts. And he asked the owner for something else in a whisper. She was curious, but assumed Felix also had something to buy and let it go.
Felix seemed to be in a good mood, smiling gently.
As they neared the inn, Sylvia remembered something she had forgotten.
“Ah! That’s right.”
“Huh?”
“I forgot about the bean paste!”
In this country, they ate a lot of food made with bean paste. Of course, they didn’t call it bean paste but by another name, yet Sylvia thought of it as bean paste.
“I’ll be right back.”
Before Sylvia could release his hand to go, Felix was about to say ‘let’s go together’ when Hubert’s voice reached them.
“Captain!”
Felix turned his head at the urgency in the voice. Sylvia released his hand and pushed him towards Hubert.
“Go see Hubert. I’ll be back soon!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she hurried off.
“Captain!”
In the meantime, Hubert ran up to Felix.
“What is it?”
Felix asked, stubbornly watching the teal back of her head as she ran.
“That, that is!”
Hubert approached Felix closely with a surprised and pleased expression and continued.
“A knight from the Sabesillus Ducal House has come looking for you.”
Felix, watching the teal hair disappear down the alley, tilted his head and asked again.
“Sabesillus?”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Where is he?”
“I have brought him to my room.”
“Let’s go.”
Felix hurried his steps, hearing his uncle’s name for the first time in years. He had often seen him as a child, but after his father’s death, he had been unable to meet him.
Henry, the captain of the knights of the Sabesillus Ducal House, kneeled on one knee and saluted as Felix entered the room.
“I greet His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of the great Capitis Kingdom! I am Henry Bluash, captain of the knights of the Sabesillus Ducal House.”
Henry, with his blue hair, pulled a wax-sealed envelope from his bosom and offered it.
“The Duke wishes to see His Royal Highness.”
Henry looked up at Felix with a serious expression and said,
“I have truly… truly searched for you for a long time, Your Highness.”
At his sincere words, Felix clenched his mouth and took a short breath before receiving the envelope.
***
Sylvia purchased plenty of the sauce she presumed to be bean paste and another sauce she thought might be oyster sauce.
“Sell me a lot!”
“Please come again!”
She left the shop with the owner’s cheerful farewell. Just then, children laughing and scrambling passed by next to Sylvia’s legs.
“I’m first!”
“No, I got here first!”
“Then, I’m second!”
She showed a proud smile at the sight of the children who only came up to her waist. She remembered the children she had met at the third lake.
“Kids, let me pass for a moment.”
The children were coincidentally arguing at the very path she needed to take, so she spoke with a troubled expression.
“Hey! I told you I’m first!”
“No, you’re not!”
The store selling sauces was located at the very corner of the market, blocked off by one side by a wall. In front of the wall seemed to be a playground for the children. Standing in front of the bickering kids, Sylvia couldn’t help but laugh. So, she leaned against the wall and waited for the children to make way.
“Hmm, but why did this kingdom fall?”
Suddenly, she remembered the Caudatismum State, which had fallen even before the empire. It was clear that the empire had some connection with Felix, and that had led to the war.
“Hmm…”
While she was deep in thought, suddenly a loud noise rang out, and the ground shook.
“My goodness!”
Startled, Sylvia pushed herself off the wall as the stone path rippled and cracked like waves.
“Ahhh!”
“Mommy!”
The children screamed in fright and fell to the ground.
“Kids!”
Before Sylvia could run and grab the children, the wall she had been leaning against crumbled down.
Screeeeech!
“Aaaaaah!”
“Wow!”
Screams spread from all around.
“A monster!”
“A monster has invaded!”
Sylvia turned her head with a chill, recalling the reason for the nation’s fall mentioned in a single sentence in the novel.
[As the lifespan of the Black Dragon neared its end, monsters became more rampant. The barrier the Black Dragon had maintained was weakening unbeknownst to humans. The Caudatismum State, once famed as a fortress, was futilely destroyed by monsters.]
Dust clouded the air between the crumbled walls, and from within, black, tentacle-like legs emerged. Several legs crawled towards Sylvia and the children like predators.
“Mom!”
The children, unable to move, just sat there flailing. At this sight, Sylvia unknowingly channeled all her magic into her ring.
Screeeeech!
A strange sound accompanied a flash of golden light from Sylvia’s ring.
Vines sprouted from in front of her, intertwining wildly across the ground and walls. These vines were vastly different from any she had created before.
Although they were vines, they shimmered brilliantly. Diamonds and various gems glowed in the shape of leaves, and the stems writhed solidly, made of black diamonds.
Screeeeech.
At the slightly different scream of the monster, Sylvia regained her senses and dashed towards the children.
Boom!
The sound of the vines clashing with the monster was deafening. The vines writhed like living creatures, climbing the walls.
Screeeeech.
Like threads weaving cloth, the vines intricately intertwined, filling in the crumbled wall.
Crash, bang!
The beast struck the walls with its tentacle-like legs, but the walls did not budge, firmly anchored below by the vines.
“Johan!”
“Seri!”
People presumed to be the child’s parents were hurrying over. Sylvia released the children she had been holding as she saw them. Startled, the children clung to her as if they had no one else to rely on, then ran towards their parents’ voices, crying.
Sylvia gasped for air, her eyes wide as she looked up at the perfectly restored walls. The walls, black and transparent, shone brilliantly in the sunlight that turned red at sunset, radiating a diverse light.
“Huff, huff.”
The voice she longed to hear reached her ears as she staggered, unable to rise from her spot due to the exhaustion of her magical power.
“Siri!”
Seeing Felix and the fairies from afar, Sylvia collapsed.
“For the black sauce noodles, add these cucumbers and sautéed onions, and mix again. For the red broth noodles, add these greens, bean sprouts, peanuts, and raw scallions. And for the ‘Noodles and Broth Not Getting Along’, try adding these bamboo shoots to the broth. This is chili oil, it’s spicy. You can add it to the red broth noodles or into the broth. This is apple vinegar, sprinkle a little on the black sauce noodles to cut the greasiness.”
Following her rapid instructions, the mercenaries quickly added the vegetables to their dishes.
They realized why the flavors were lacking.
Sylvia’s cooking always included vegetables and fruits alongside meat. There had never been a meal with just meat. Her meals were balanced with a variety of side dishes, often followed by refreshing fruits or unseen desserts.
Thanks to her, their palates had evolved beyond just roasted wild boar, explaining their dissatisfaction with the meat-only noodles.
“Wow.”
Jordan exclaimed in amazement after adding cucumbers and onions to the black sauce noodles, surprised at the drastically different taste. Carl added peanuts and chili oil to the red broth noodles, marveling at the completely changed flavor.
Sylvia personally added vegetables and vinegar to Felix’s bowl, mixing it for him.
“Try it like this. It should be less greasy than before.”
Felix felt like a child being pampered whenever Sylvia took care of him this way. Despite his sulky expression, he was happy, especially since she only did this for him.
The ‘Black Blood Pork Noodles’ tasted entirely different with the added vegetables and vinegar, reaffirming Felix’s belief in Sylvia’s skills.
***
The next day, Sylvia finished preparing and left the inn. Felix, wearing a robe matching Sylvia’s, walked alongside her.
“The way to the market is this way, right?”
Having asked the waiter for directions the previous day, they were now headed to the market.
“First, we should buy all kinds of meat. And since the noodles here are famous, let’s buy various types of those too.”
“Alright.”
Felix was in a great mood, even forgetting the encounter with the royal knights from the day before. The reason was clear: being with Sylvia.
And it was her first time going to the market alone with him, so she was looking forward to it.
Sylvia hummed a little tune and bounced along beside him. Felix, seeing her do this, curled his lips up in a broad smile and reached out his hand, saying,
“Siri, give me your hand.”
At his request, Sylvia softly blinked and clasped his hand. It had become quite natural now. Thanks to Felix, who grabbed her hand eagerly without any pause, she had gotten used to it.
Of course, Sylvia wanted to hold his hand too.
Realizing her feelings, her eyes kept drifting towards Felix. Consequently, their eyes met often, and each time, Felix smiled with a twinkle in his eye, as if pleased.
Sylvia felt the summer under the clear sky, feeling the hot wind blowing. Although she didn’t feel the heat because of her robe, just the change in weather made her excited.
Moreover, this was her first time in the Caudatismum State, and she was looking forward to it. The market, with an atmosphere entirely different from the Corpora Empire, welcomed her and him. The building styles were very different from the start, making the sights a pleasure to see.
By Sylvia’s standards, if the Corpora Empire was Western-style, then the Caudatismum State had a more Eastern feel. The wind chimes at the ends of the eaves made a beautiful sound as the wind passed through them.
However, there were similarities with the empire too. Even after looking around the entire market, they couldn’t find a fruit and vegetable store. Instead, there were various kinds of noodles and spices and seasonings she had never seen before. Sylvia bought plenty of meat, noodles, and bread, which she barely found, and filled her space bag with salt, pepper, butter, milk, and more.
Whenever Sylvia was intently looking at something, Felix didn’t hesitate to pull out gold coins from his subspace and offer them to the owner. Sylvia was startled and tried to stop him, but eventually, as she kept buying various ingredients, the quantity kept increasing.
After buying the necessary ingredients and while looking for a clothing store, Sylvia spotted a hairpin at a street vendor. The design was simple, but it was made of polished obsidian and shone brilliantly.
Seeing Sylvia with her eyes wide open looking at the hairpin, Felix immediately pulled out a gold coin and said,
“I’ll take that.”
Before Sylvia could stop him, the vendor quickly handed over the hairpin and snatched the gold coin.
“Oh! You have a good eye! It’s originally two gold coins, but since you two look so lovely together, I’ll only take one.”
“What?”
Sylvia blushed at the word “couple.” Felix blushed too, but he was very pleased.
Very pleased indeed.
As Sylvia walked towards a distant clothing store, holding the hairpin, she grumbled,
“How can you just hand over gold coins like that? Saying it costs two gold coins must be a lie. Otherwise, they wouldn’t reduce the price to one.”
Even though she muttered complaints, Sylvia couldn’t take her eyes off the hairpin. Seeing this, Felix smiled contentedly and responded,
“Got it.”
“Ugh, really.”
Sylvia couldn’t say anything more to him, who responded so docilely, and entered the clothing store. Since she had given all her clothes to the children before, what she was wearing was all she had. So, she intended to buy only what was necessary.
Before she could choose anything nice, Felix again took out a purse of gold coins, this time handing it to the owner, and said,
“Bring out the best items you have.”
Hearing the heavy thud of the purse on the counter, the owner sprang to his feet.
“Oh! Who will be wearing it? The handsome man? Or the cute lady? Our store handles both men’s and women’s clothing.”
“Hey!”
Before Sylvia could protest with her hands and refuse, Felix quickly took the lead again.
“For the cute lady.”
***
Sylvia kept stealing glances at Felix, who was holding her hand and walking slowly beside her on the way back to the inn.
They had purchased high-quality shirts, leather pants, vests, chemises, boots, and shoes from the clothing store they had just left. Indeed, the texture of the expensive shirts was very good, and smiling about it was a mistake.
Felix took out a second purse of gold coins and asked the owner to bring out even better-quality shirts. And he asked the owner for something else in a whisper. She was curious, but assumed Felix also had something to buy and let it go.
Felix seemed to be in a good mood, smiling gently.
As they neared the inn, Sylvia remembered something she had forgotten.
“Ah! That’s right.”
“Huh?”
“I forgot about the bean paste!”
In this country, they ate a lot of food made with bean paste. Of course, they didn’t call it bean paste but by another name, yet Sylvia thought of it as bean paste.
“I’ll be right back.”
Before Sylvia could release his hand to go, Felix was about to say ‘let’s go together’ when Hubert’s voice reached them.
“Captain!”
Felix turned his head at the urgency in the voice. Sylvia released his hand and pushed him towards Hubert.
“Go see Hubert. I’ll be back soon!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she hurried off.
“Captain!”
In the meantime, Hubert ran up to Felix.
“What is it?”
Felix asked, stubbornly watching the teal back of her head as she ran.
“That, that is!”
Hubert approached Felix closely with a surprised and pleased expression and continued.
“A knight from the Sabesillus Ducal House has come looking for you.”
Felix, watching the teal hair disappear down the alley, tilted his head and asked again.
“Sabesillus?”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Where is he?”
“I have brought him to my room.”
“Let’s go.”
Felix hurried his steps, hearing his uncle’s name for the first time in years. He had often seen him as a child, but after his father’s death, he had been unable to meet him.
Henry, the captain of the knights of the Sabesillus Ducal House, kneeled on one knee and saluted as Felix entered the room.
“I greet His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of the great Capitis Kingdom! I am Henry Bluash, captain of the knights of the Sabesillus Ducal House.”
Henry, with his blue hair, pulled a wax-sealed envelope from his bosom and offered it.
“The Duke wishes to see His Royal Highness.”
Henry looked up at Felix with a serious expression and said,
“I have truly… truly searched for you for a long time, Your Highness.”
At his sincere words, Felix clenched his mouth and took a short breath before receiving the envelope.
***
Sylvia purchased plenty of the sauce she presumed to be bean paste and another sauce she thought might be oyster sauce.
“Sell me a lot!”
“Please come again!”
She left the shop with the owner’s cheerful farewell. Just then, children laughing and scrambling passed by next to Sylvia’s legs.
“I’m first!”
“No, I got here first!”
“Then, I’m second!”
She showed a proud smile at the sight of the children who only came up to her waist. She remembered the children she had met at the third lake.
“Kids, let me pass for a moment.”
The children were coincidentally arguing at the very path she needed to take, so she spoke with a troubled expression.
“Hey! I told you I’m first!”
“No, you’re not!”
The store selling sauces was located at the very corner of the market, blocked off by one side by a wall. In front of the wall seemed to be a playground for the children. Standing in front of the bickering kids, Sylvia couldn’t help but laugh. So, she leaned against the wall and waited for the children to make way.
“Hmm, but why did this kingdom fall?”
Suddenly, she remembered the Caudatismum State, which had fallen even before the empire. It was clear that the empire had some connection with Felix, and that had led to the war.
“Hmm…”
While she was deep in thought, suddenly a loud noise rang out, and the ground shook.
“My goodness!”
Startled, Sylvia pushed herself off the wall as the stone path rippled and cracked like waves.
“Ahhh!”
“Mommy!”
The children screamed in fright and fell to the ground.
“Kids!”
Before Sylvia could run and grab the children, the wall she had been leaning against crumbled down.
Screeeeech!
“Aaaaaah!”
“Wow!”
Screams spread from all around.
“A monster!”
“A monster has invaded!”
Sylvia turned her head with a chill, recalling the reason for the nation’s fall mentioned in a single sentence in the novel.
[As the lifespan of the Black Dragon neared its end, monsters became more rampant. The barrier the Black Dragon had maintained was weakening unbeknownst to humans. The Caudatismum State, once famed as a fortress, was futilely destroyed by monsters.]
Dust clouded the air between the crumbled walls, and from within, black, tentacle-like legs emerged. Several legs crawled towards Sylvia and the children like predators.
“Mom!”
The children, unable to move, just sat there flailing. At this sight, Sylvia unknowingly channeled all her magic into her ring.
Screeeeech!
A strange sound accompanied a flash of golden light from Sylvia’s ring.
Vines sprouted from in front of her, intertwining wildly across the ground and walls. These vines were vastly different from any she had created before.
Although they were vines, they shimmered brilliantly. Diamonds and various gems glowed in the shape of leaves, and the stems writhed solidly, made of black diamonds.
Screeeeech.
At the slightly different scream of the monster, Sylvia regained her senses and dashed towards the children.
Boom!
The sound of the vines clashing with the monster was deafening. The vines writhed like living creatures, climbing the walls.
Screeeeech.
Like threads weaving cloth, the vines intricately intertwined, filling in the crumbled wall.
Crash, bang!
The beast struck the walls with its tentacle-like legs, but the walls did not budge, firmly anchored below by the vines.
“Johan!”
“Seri!”
People presumed to be the child’s parents were hurrying over. Sylvia released the children she had been holding as she saw them. Startled, the children clung to her as if they had no one else to rely on, then ran towards their parents’ voices, crying.
Sylvia gasped for air, her eyes wide as she looked up at the perfectly restored walls. The walls, black and transparent, shone brilliantly in the sunlight that turned red at sunset, radiating a diverse light.
“Huff, huff.”
The voice she longed to hear reached her ears as she staggered, unable to rise from her spot due to the exhaustion of her magical power.
“Siri!”
Seeing Felix and the fairies from afar, Sylvia collapsed.
