Chapter 9

In an instant, a deep silence  filled  throughout the room.

Wessler looked at Daphne with a shocked face.

“…You ate the wild fruit?”

“Yes.”

“When did you eat it? I don’t think they  would starve you of  your meals in the imperial palace…”

Hup.

The commander of the knight suddenly shut his mouth.

It was an obvious answer just by looking at Daphne’s physical condition.

“I didn’t eat it at the imperial palace.”

Daphne laughed as if it was  amusing  to see Wessler’s hardened expression.

“I usually ate it when I was in the nursery.”

‘The nursery where it was always short of budget because the director was so nice.’

Although the number of people exceeded a lot, they could not pretend not to know the abandoned child.

Thanks to this, the meals provided to the children were poor.

So the first thing that young children who can’t work did was.

“I brought this. Look at this. It’s good.”

Among the abandoned ones, I put the most easy-looking one in my mouth and saw it.

“How did you know that you can remove the seeds and dry them?”

“The oldest members told me. If you just eat it raw, your stomach hurts as if you’re going to die, but if you dry it, it becomes tolerable.”

“It’s not that you’re sick, but it’s bearable?””

“Yes. As I get used to it, it gets better and better.”

Daphne smiled brightly, and silence fell in the room.

“Why didn’t everyone know that the wild fruit could be eaten?”

Selma, who was looking at the dried oil fruit, asked.

“The capital city is full of food.”

Thanks to the warm weather, there has always been a good harvest, so there has been no shortage of food  in  the capital and its vicinity.

Therefore, no one paid attention to the fruit discarded  due to  poison.

Except for people like us.

“Well, by the way.”

While stuttering, Wessler continued to ask questions.

“May I ask how you know this fruit can be medicine for this incurable disease?”

The more questions were asked, the more polite the knight’s question became.

“By chance.”

Daphne nodded.

The ribbon at the end of her hair shook.

“There was a child in the nursery who was suffering from the same disease as him. But it got a lot better after eating this.”

That was a lie.

‘Actually, I saw it in the original.’

It was the achievement of the heroine Flora.

Flora, who suddenly appeared and became close to Alan, was presented with the fruit by a villain.

With the lie that it was good for her health, the villain made sure she took it.

Flora, who believed in the words of the villain, gave the fruit to a woman’s husband who was suffering from the disease.

But God was on Flora’s side.

‘By chance, the man was suffering from the same disease as the Duke.’

The husband, whose illness had improved thanks to Flora, was delighted and promised to help Flora’s business.

In addition, Flora’s popularity for discovering the only cure for the disease soared in an instant.

And the villain who tried to hurt Flora by lying was punished.

‘Phew.’

When I thought of the original work, I felt frustrated.

Daphne sighed softly.

Wessler’s face turned dark.

The silence that could not be easily broken  filled  deep into the room.

“…”

“Do something!”

“What do I do?”

The knights’ eyes rolled around.

The brown-haired knight tapped Wessler’s foot.

“Didn’t she get hurt? Wessler poked into her painful past?”

“She’s already sad because she lost Jane from her mother.”

“Your words were harsh. I think she would’ve been honest with you even if you didn’t ask that openly…”

“Hey! You have to check it out! By the way, who is Jane?”

Tap tap tap.

The knights began to kick each other from the side while muttering to each other where Daphne couldn’t see.

“Before the leader came, Selma thoroughly analyzed it…”

“Wait a minute!”

Everyone stopped in an instant at a quiet cry of a knight.

Their posture to kick each other’s calves became stiff as they stopped. 

It was an awkward posture  even though they  did not fall.

“Is her Highness crying?”

“…!!”

Daphne was lowering her head as they barely kept their balance and turned their eyes.

~pls read only at pinkmuffintl~

Seeing that her body was shaking so hard…

‘Is she really crying?’

“Are you sick?”’

“Stop being noisy! She’s right in front of you!”

“I’m hungry.”

A small voice silenced the roar.

Daphne, who raised her head slightly embarrassed,  was looking at the knights.

“I know it’s not polite, but can we eat now?”

‘Because I’m so hungry…’

Daphne,  sheepishly who said so, had a red face.

~*~

“It’s because you can’t eat anything.”

Daphne sat in the middle of a huge dinner table and blinked.

She couldn’t eat dinner yesterday because of the fatigue of a long trip.

Breakfast was also skipped due to the duke’s sickness.

In addition, after the commotion passed, it was the time to eat late lunch and early dinner.

‘In the past, skipping one or two meals didn’t affect my stomach  so much that it would  i make a sound.’

Maybe her stomach will growl again.

Daphne grabbed her belly with all her might.

‘I hope I can grow as tall as my previous life.’

Maybe it’s because I’m still young, so I had good stamina.

However, it was difficult to overcome the sudden drowsiness and hunger as if her battery was running out.

‘I often fall asleep suddenly even in the imperial palace.’

“Sigh…”

Daphne narrowed her eyes.

She  could control  all other situations, but she couldn’t control her body.

‘It could be dangerous here.’

No matter how she was before, she would be in trouble if she suddenly fell asleep in a dangerous place like here.

‘But since my stamina got better, the chronic pain has  disappeared.’

When the headache that came dissipated , she felt like she was really going to live.

While Daphne  was making  a commitment, food began to come out.

There was one plate with a huge grilled meat on it.

One more plate with soft steamed fish with herbs.

Green gratin made with a lot of cheese came up next to it.

In Bertrand, salads with a lot of rare vegetables occupied a spot on the table too.

After stirring the meat thinly and frying it, a dish with a separate sauce was followed.

A dish made by mixing eggs to digest well…

“Huh?”

Daphne’s eyes became round.

Even though more than a third of the table was already filled, the  tray containing more dishes was still coming in.

She thought it was too much  from  the first plate.

Daphne, who was thinking of a simple sandwich at the most, raised her hand to call a servant who put down a new plate.

“Excuse me.”

“Is there a problem, your highness?”

“I thought I was eating alone. Who else is coming?”

Whether it’s the Knights Templar, all the servants, or even if there was a party, or there’s something else…

If it wasn’t for one of those reasons, this much food wouldn’t be served.

The servant gave a good laugh.

“All dishes are made only for the Princess. Ah! Desserts will come later.”

There’s more?

“I wouldn’t be able to eat all of this.”

Daphne’s pupils trembled.

She lived three times, but she was only full from eating for a few days.

She always ate simply in small portions because of Alan’s words that she should set an example.

Daphne hastily pulled the pumpkin soup bowl in front of her.

“I will only eat this soup and sandwich. The rest of it-“

“Your Majesty the Princess.”

As she was about to take them , someone stood in front of Daphne.

‘Hey.’

He was a scary looking man. His torn eyes were sharp, and his stout body and arms with rolled up sleeves were full of scars.

If it wasn’t for the cook’s uniform he was wearing, he was a person who could be firmly misunderstood.

“My name is Bree, the chef at Bertrand Castle.”

Even his voice was very low and somehow creepy.

Daphne swallowed her saliva.

However, her tension was relieved by the following words.

“Your Majesty, this is our gratitude and our apology.”

“…Apology?”

“Because you saved the duke. And again, we apologize for being suspicious of Her Majesty the Princess.”

Wasn’t it obvious?

‘I am a princess.’

The moving shackles sent by the emperor to grab Kael’s ankles.

‘He’s going to apologize like this…’

Daphne blinked.

“Wessler will see you tomorrow.”

‘What should I say here? What should I do? Can I say ok?’

“But it’s precious food.”

Daphne spoke awkwardly.

“I know vegetables are expensive in Bertrand. Fruit too.”

Was it worth it? She was about to ask.

Bree spoke first.

“Yes, that’s right. Food is especially precious in our territory.”

Bree nodded his head.

“But not as precious as people.”

“…”

“In my opinion, you should eat a little better. To overcome the cold of Bertrand.”

With that said, Bree placed the soup that smelled savory in front of Daphne.

Daphne looked at the soup for a moment and then nodded.

“Okay, I’ll eat.”

Raising the spoon, she took a sip of the soup.

It was warm

She felt like she was going to live when the hot soup went into her empty stomach.

Delicious.

Really delicious.

Although it already looked delicious on the outside, her first proper meal at Bertrand turned out to be much more delicious than she expected.

And on that night, past midnight.

“Good job, sir.”

Kael returned to the castle.