Chapter 57: CH 56

Grooowl—

Perhaps because she went out looking for Luke all day…

“Ha. I’m going crazy.”

She couldn’t sleep because her stomach kept growling.

Eventually, Reina jumped out of bed and went to one corner of the room to get a robe, which she then put over her nightgown.

“It’s late at night, but… I wanna make something to eat.”

If she had been at the Chantra estate, the head maid would have asked her what kind of snack she would be eating when it’s this late at night, but y’know, this is Cressen.

“No one would tell me anything here.”

At this rate, she’d end up staying up all night anyway because she was so hungry.

Determined, she snuck out of the room, tiptoeing.

After a little while.

Clatter—

“Maybe it’s here…”

Clatter—

“Not here either, no. Maybe there’s no stock.”

Thud!

“Omigosh!”

When the slightly opened cupboard closed with a huge sound, the startled woman fell backwards.

“Ugh, seriously… Where the heck is the flour… I wanna eat kalguksu…”

One’s cravings were like a product of one’s experiences. Therefore, there’s actually no way that she was missing Korean food that she had never eaten while she was in Reina’s body.

Strangely, however, after she realized that she had once been Han Jaehee, she craved for ‘very light, very refreshing soup’ with the same sentiment of homesickness.

Even so, the Pluntria Empire did not have an eastern cuisine, but rather a western one.

Far from Korean food, there’s no way that there’s any serviceable chili pepper in this place.

“Ha… If the cuisine is similar to what’s on Earth… Shouldn’t there be eastern cuisine in this world, too?”

Of course there was. It’s just that Reina was living too far away, and she didn’t know much about that distant continent.

“Seriously… How can I even make kimchi…”

It’s possible for her to find a vegetable that’s similar to cabbage and season that with salt, scallions, garlic and stuff, then she might be able to make white kimchi.

But there were some hurdles that she could never overcome.

The first was the matter of soy sauce. And apart from that, it’s going to be impossible for her to get a large quantity of chili peppers.

“Even if I get diarrhea, the chili peppers that are commonly used in the Empire are similar to Thai peppers, so…”

It’s possible to make a dark red sauce that’s similar to Korean red pepper paste, but that’s a trap. You’d just end up getting a level of spiciness that humans could simply not eat.

“And the same goes for soybean paste…”

Well even if she knew how to make fermented soybean blocks, it was practically impossible because the type of beans in this world was different.

Then, the next challenge was ramyeon. It’s supposed to be easy to do that because it’s the most convenient and common food.

However.

“…How in the world am I going to make the soup?”

How indeed. She used to just put in some MSG.

However, there’s no way that the artificially made MSG could be made in the Pluntria Empire when even the ‘sci’ in ‘science’ hadn’t even been developed in the country yet.

Still, she did not back down.

At a fast pace, she had started developing dishes without those special ingredients. It was the Korean food that students on exchange programs could make while they’re living in other countries—kalguksu, sujebi, white kimchi, buchimgae, chikin, and sogeum gejang[1].

“Ha… On a day like this, it’s only right to eat a bowl of kalguksu.”

Given that it was so windy, thick soup was the best.

“But I can’t even find the flour anywhere.”

As she had been grumbling to herself for a long time, Reina again rose to her feet.

“Wherefore art thou, Mr. Flour? Please come out. I’ll make you into something delicious, yeah?”

She mumbled more like this, pointlessly trying to persuade an inanimate bag of flour to come out.

Creeeak—

“Reina?”

Then, the kitchen door opened, and an indifferent face popped out.

“Uh… Hi, Luke…”

Dang it. Why did they have to bump into each other when she was wearing her ugly nightgown? And her hair was a mess, too, since she had been lying down in her bed until not long ago.

‘Why did he come down to the kitchen at this hour when he’s supposed to be sleeping?’

Likewise though, Reina came down here to the kitchen instead of sleeping, but she got flustered and instead started to blame the other person who came.

‘If I knew this would happen, I should have at least put a bit of lip tint…’

“What are you doing here?”

Approaching closer to Reina, Luke asked her.

“Ah, well… I got a bit hungry.”

“Is there anything you want to eat?”

When he said that, he sounded like someone who’d cook something for his friend.

Reina looked up at him, blinking dazedly, but he asked again.

“Is there a specific dish that you want to eat?”

‘…No way, are you really going to cook for me?’

Judging by how he said that, it really looked like he was ready to get her some food.

Still though, it’s imperative to knock on a stone bridge before crossing it.

“Are you really going to cook for me?”

She didn’t want to seem overzealous, so she asked just to be sure. But he just shrugged lightly.

It was a positive sign that he really would cook for her.

‘Huh? Seriously? You’re gonna cook for me?’

“…Why?”

Reina and Luke weren’t close enough that they’d cook for each other. Especially considering the only conversation they’ve had thus far.

“I found Luke!”

“?”

“Let’s go, Luke! Everyone’s looking for you!”

“Ah… Okay.”

That was all. And it happened during the game of hide and seek.

But what was he saying now—he’s going to cook for her all of a sudden?

‘As it turns out, maybe I’m… a seductress?’

Like perhaps a hidden wildflower beneath the sun that was Lehman?

‘What the heck… Come to think of it, I won everyone over too easily…’

Except for Ethan’s case, all the others were won over as soon as she talked to them—Eli, Letis and Fran. If she talked about this in terms of a sport, her win rate was almost 90%.

‘Daebak[2]… Now that I think about it, it’s really like that, huh?’

This meant one thing: she wouldn’t have to try so hard.

“It’s my job to cook for the hungry. Don’t get any ideas. There’s no meaning.”

…Yeah, guess not. Of course not.

‘Right, right. I should know my place. Seductress? Seductress, my butt…’

Rather than a gentle, dainty little thirsty deer, she had to act like a huntsman who needed to work re~eally hard at digging up a well so that she could survive, whether it rained or snowed.