LSOV Chapter 08 — [R15]

008. This Scent Feels Familiar

***

The food didn't agree with me.

Even after throwing up, the severe stomach pain wouldn't subside, and the maid bustled about anxiously as she brought me a cup of medicinal tea.

"You were at least able to digest your meals until yesterday, but vomiting today… this is really serious."

She wrapped a blanket around my shoulders as she spoke. Holding the warm cup in my hands, the chill lingering at my fingertips slowly faded.

It was only after coming to Owen that I realized how poorly my body handled Owen's food.

On my first day arriving in Deirton, every dish had been spicy. Even the white soup made my lips tingle with heat. Sitting at the table with Cedric, I often squeezed my eyes shut in the brief moments when I was sure he wouldn't notice.

From the next meal onward, the food was no longer spicy. Still, for me, the flavors were either too strongly scented or far too bland. The dishes with strong aromas were originally Owen's non-spicy specialties, while the overly mild ones were the chef's careful attempt to accommodate someone like me, who struggled with intense scents.

It was only after coming abroad that I learned the cuisine of the Kingdom of Lundra tended toward rich and sweet flavors, and that not every country pursued the same tastes.

I didn't want to suddenly appear at the duke's residence and act like a fussy princess. I thought I could slowly find food that suited my palate. Until just yesterday, I'd even felt a stubborn determination to challenge myself to find something I could eat.

But starting this morning, the nausea became overwhelming. I felt awful knowing I'd thrown up every carefully prepared dish the chef had made. Becoming a guest who caused trouble for the servants over something as trivial as food.

Right now, I truly looked like nothing more than a difficult princess.*

That thought made me feel a little gloomy, even as my stomach churned.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. After vomiting everything I'd eaten since morning, my face was pale and drained.

I couldn't possibly use magical communication to speak with my family looking like this. Still, knowing they'd be worried, I decided to write a letter instead.

I explained that I was still adjusting to life in Owen, and that going all the way to the city center where the magic communication hub was located would be difficult for now, so I was sending my greetings by letter. I wrote several times that I was adapting well and that they shouldn't worry. With magic, the letter would be delivered to the Royal Palace of Lundra within a day.

After the maid left to send the letter, I sat down at the table by the window. My room in the duke's estate was on the third floor, overlooking the garden. Flowering trees were visible outside.

If I went closer, would they smell nice?

As I let the breeze from the open window brush against me, the nausea seemed to ease slightly.

What should I do about dinner?

Knock, knock.

"Come in."

Thinking it was the maid returning from sending the letter, I answered without waiting to hear the visitor's voice. The door opened, then closed softly.

"If you're all right with it, perhaps another cup of medicinal tea-"

I turned around mid-sentence and found my eyes meeting Cedric's, who was standing by the door.

"I didn't realize it was you, Duke."

It would have been rude to simply stare. I blinked a couple of times, then smiled at him as I spoke.

"Would you like to sit here?"

"You told me to come in before I could say it was me, so I did."

Cedric walked over neatly and sat down across from me.

"Yes, that's true. I thought the person knocking was one of the servants. The one who was helping me stepped out for a bit. What brings you here, Duke?"

Cedric studied my face for a moment before replying.

"I had external engagements yesterday and throughout today."

"You must be busy, so you really don't need to worry about me so much. I'd feel like I was becoming an extra mouth to feed if I kept bothering you."

Cedric clasped his hands together. His pale knuckles caught my eye. Unlike the hands of other knights, there wasn't a single scar on the back of his. Though when I'd held them before, I thought I'd felt calluses.

"You're not a bother. And I don't consider you an extra burden."

"I see. Then… are you busy?"

"About as busy as any ordinary lord."

"Okaaay."

I laughed, deliberately dragging out the end of the word. It had been a joke, yet he countered every part of it. His stiff tone and overly precise answers struck me as oddly amusing.

"So, did you come all this way just to explain that?"

"I came to ask whether you'd like to go out for dinner."

"Go out?"

I tilted my head slightly.

"There's a restaurant in the busy district near the ducal estate."

It seemed Cedric had been paying close attention to the fact that I hadn't been able to eat.

"So you heard that I haven't been eating well?"

"Yes."

"Ah… that's embarrassing. I don't mean to be difficult. I didn't realize it myself, but I think I prefer sweeter food."

Phew. I let out a deep sigh inwardly.

"That's perfectly normal. Would you like to dine out together?"

I was hungry. Swallowing my embarrassment, I nodded.

The place Cedric brought me to was a restaurant specializing in Lundran cuisine. A soft "Wow…" escaped my lips. The server guided us to a private room reserved under the name of the Duke of Deirton.

"So there are restaurants themed around foreign cuisine! I wouldn't have known, I've never eaten outside the royal palace."

"Yes. There should be several others as well."

The familiar appetizers immediately lifted my spirits. I popped a syrup-glazed potato into my mouth.

"Then I suppose there are Owen-style specialty restaurants in Lundra as well?"

"Most likely."

As the main dishes arrived one after another, I felt my heart begin to race. I twirled the cream-laden noodles around my fork.

"This is delicious. It's even better than what I used to eat in Lundra. The sauce is especially good."

"Is that so."

The mulled wine served alongside the food was wonderful too. Chilled mulled wine, what a clever reinterpretation. The server refilled my empty glass.

"Were you comfortable with the food when you visited the Kingdom of Lundra, Duke?"

"All of Lundra's cuisine is familiar to me."

For someone who usually responded with nothing more than "Yes," "Mm," "Oh," or "I see," Cedric had given a surprisingly meaningful answer.

"Have you visited the Kingdom of Lundra before?"

"I know someone who enjoys sweet food."

Oh. Rachel came to mind. After studying at the academy for years, she'd had no trouble eating the food of the Kingdom of Lundra even while staying at the royal palace.

"You seem quite attentive to other people."

"I'm not particularly interested in others."

"But you even remember their food preferences."

Cedric's gaze drifted away.

"There was someone I couldn't help but notice, even without trying."

"That's rather romantic."

Cedric didn't reply. I finished my meal with a soft cookie generously topped with melted chocolate.

Afterward, Cedric and I left the restaurant and boarded the carriage.

Despite the vomiting and stomach troubles earlier, the day ended well. All things considered, it had been a happy day.

"Since this was practically my first proper meal today, I truly appreciate you giving me such a perfect dinner."

"Your first meal?"

"It's not literally my first. But since I threw up both breakfast and lunch, it might as well have been."

"Princess… you vomited?"

"Oh!"

Startled, I quickly covered my mouth with both hands. Earlier, he'd seemed aware that I hadn't been eating well, so I'd assumed he already knew about the vomiting too.

I'd just confessed—with my own mouth—that I'd thrown up all the food in his house. Had I now become an unbearably fussy princess even in the eyes of the master of the estate?

"The servants said only that you were having difficulty eating."

"Ah, that makes sense. It must've been hard to tell a gentleman about a grown woman's… vomiting."

At my response, Cedric smiled.

"Why are you smiling, Duke? Is it your first time hearing a princess confess something like that?"

"Was I smiling?"

"Just a little."

He lifted a hand to his mouth.

"I wasn't thinking about your confession of vomiting."

"Then what were you thinking about?"

"That you called yourself a grown woman."

Oh my, that is even more inappropriate to laugh about.

"That's rude. Just because you're a duke doesn't mean you've grown more than I have."

"Hmm."

I caught sight of his large frame sitting across from me, but deliberately ignored it.

Cedric knocked on the small window connecting to the coachman's seat and asked the carriage to stop. I looked out the window as the carriage slowed. The ducal estate was still some distance away.

"Princess. How about we walk from here?"

"Are you going to abandon me because I called you rude?"

The question was half joke, half sincere. The estate didn't seem too far, but for all that, I was still a princess who'd always been escorted everywhere. I'd never once gone on an adventure like finding my own way alone.

"I thought walking might be better, since you said you'd vomited."

"Ah, I see."

"It's not as far as it looks."

My stomach must have been unsettled from all the vomiting. In truth, I'd felt weak in my hands all evening. Walking probably would do me some good.

I took Cedric's hand and stepped down from the carriage. The crisp night air greeted us.

"Do you enjoy taking walks, Princess?"

"Yes. I do."

"I'm glad."

Cedric gently curled his fingers around mine. He matched his pace to mine.

The spring breeze of Owen brushed past us. The scent of flowers rode the wind. I'd only been smelling it for three days now, yet somehow, it already felt familiar.

Well… something like that.

🍓; *Looked like a spoiled princess.