Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy-Chapter 28: The Chilling Morning Begins

《Elden~ Come here honey~ If you can’t avoid it, then enjoy it! Isn’t that what you had told me back then?》

《Fufufu-! You’re going to suffer just as I did~》

《How does it feel? It hurts, doesn’t it? Ah, but don’t even think about running away~ We’re husband and wife now~ You’ll never be able to run away from me.》

Jolt-!

That was how I awoke this morning.

It seemed that the cursed note was still effective even when I had buried it under the sacred symbol.

What a horrifying object, to give me nightmares from a single touch.

Of course, this might have been a nightmare conjured by my brain, but this only strengthened my resolve to escape.

Thankfully, the probability of me actually marrying the Heroine is steadily dropping, making it possible for me to escape should I stay put.

“Ugh.”

Regardless, this morning was a chilling one, in many senses.

Standing by the window, I shivered as I looked at the spot where I had sealed that great evil, then, after a few moments, I started my preparations for today’s event.

After taking a refreshing bath, I lay on the sofa.

And proceeded to put my feet on a nearby table.

I may have even started to hum, as I opened a book.

Soon enough, a content smile found its way to my face.

That was all the preparation a withdrawer needed.

Training my body and mind for a useless evaluation would be an insult to the sacred act of withdrawing.

It should be enough if I simply went through the motions.

As I spent a great part of this chilling morning enjoying myself, the knocking on my door announced that it was almost time.

Knock, Knock-.

“Come in.”

At this hour, the person knocking must be Rendler, coming to urge me as the promised hour approached.

As expected, the old butler opened the door and bowed his head.

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“My Lord.”

“I’ve been waiting for you. Let’s go.”

“A moment, My Lord. It appears that you have a guest.”

“What?”

“Before you go, there’s something the guest wishes to convey.”

At this early hour? Who could it be?

While I put on the fur coat Rendler offered me, I voiced my question.

“Who is it?”

Then, my emotional butler looked at me with a mix of pride and joy.

His eyes were already moist.

“...Why.”

“M-My Lord, today might be the happiest morning I had while serving you.”

“What nonsense are you spouting now?”

Access to the finalists’ annexes was strictly forbidden to anyone outside their houses, and only the organizers of the Grand Ducal Betrothal could enter it, but from Rendler’s behavior, it couldn’t be either Lumia or Gelwood.

With tearful eyes, Rendler wiped his nose and said.

“During all this time I’ve served you, My Lord, this is the first time someone introduced themselves as your ‘Friend’. Truly, if I died now, I would go without regrets.”

......It’s good you’re having a good time, old man.

However, considering what will happen in the future, those events might balance out your happiness.

“A friend you say.”

“Indeed, My Lord. She is a very pretty and polite young lady.”

“...Young Lady?”

Pretty and polite. Such descriptions were rather common here at the Grand Duchy, but the only person who would fit these descriptions and still have a motive to visit me would be Ariel.

With her golden bun-hair, Ariel was certainly ‘pretty’, but she was supposed to be at the library at this hour.

Furthermore, since she knows I withdrew, Ariel shouldn’t have had a reason to come here and ‘cheer me up’.

With such doubts, I followed Rendler to the annex entrance.

“Ariel?”

And there she was.

“Ah, Elden!”

Ariel approached me with a bright smile, and I noticed that she hadn’t stopped by the library today since she was clutching a book she had lent yesterday.

Her whole presence seemed to scream ‘I have something important to tell you before your evaluation starts!’

“Well? What is it? For a bookworm to skip her morning ritual, it must be something significant.”

“Yes! It’s something really important!”

hee, hee-.

From her cheerfulness, it doesn’t seem to be bad news...

“Gimme your ear!”

Leaning down, Ariel covered her mouth with her hands as she whispered something in my ear that seemed to recreate the nightmare I had this morning.

“Last night I met our classmate, Erenscia! She works for the Third Northern Duchess too! Oh! And she said that the Duchess loves you and wants to marry you! So don’t give up now! Fight on~!”

...

...

...

...

...

Hm-.

I see.

This morning is a chilling one indeed.

**

“Elden! Give your all!”

“I’ll think about it. Now, take care of yourself, Ariel.”

With a carefree smile, Ariel raised her clenched fist whilst cheering me on, and Rendler smiled as he looked at her and me alternately.

As such, I boarded the carriage under their misunderstood gazes.

Anyway...It seems that our dear heroine has been very busy.

I could clearly imagine Lumia wracking her brains trying to find a way to convince me to seriously participate in the Contest.

From love letters of encouragement to even visiting Ariel in the middle of the night......

Since she was doing all of this, there was no way I could simply tell her that I was actually someone from another world who had hijacked Elden’s body. Indeed, telling her this wouldn’t go well.

So, all I could do now was try to enjoy this situation while remaining as an observer.

Just like now,

I was currently reading the [ Monster Cuisine Encyclopedia].

“Ah...Drake’s tail stir-fry...Hey, Rachel? Have you ever tried it?”

Rachel accompanied me in the carriage heading towards the northern mountains where the evaluation would be held.

My mouth watered simply by reading the name - Drake’s tail stir-fry.

So, out of curiosity, I asked Rachel.

Given her childhood penchant for monster meat and her travels across the Kingdom, she might have eaten this already.

“I have.”

Oh!

“Could you describe the taste?”

“It’s good.”

“......”

Right,

It was the fault of this foolish pupil to expect an articulated description from his stoic master.

Clearly, I needed to taste every single recipe in this Encyclopedia personally.

With such thoughts, I resumed my reading, but after some time I looked at Rachel once more.

“My Lord...Why are you even training for this...Culinary Journey?”

“...Did you become bored of training me?”

“Wouldn’t it be far more convenient to simply hire mercenaries to accompany you?”

Of course, if my only worry had been about my [ Safety ] there would be no need to train.

Even a declining county had enough funds to cover my Culinary Journey, and hiring mercenaries as escorts was a convenient solution.

Simply traveling around some cities with an escort and enjoying their delicacies would suffice for most people.

But for me, this journey wasn’t a simple affair.

My journey would be an [ Adventure ] filled with a [Men’s Romance]. A journey through this Medieval Period, where life was harsh, and ingredients were rare.

Thus, as I gazed beyond the carriage’s window, towards the northern expanse, I said.

“Even the most luxurious meal wouldn’t match the taste of a freshly cooked fish caught by my own hands.”

“...You plan on hunting the monsters by yourself?”

“Yes. There’s nothing better than eating the fresh meat of a recently slayed monster.”

“You’re willing to risk your life for...food.”

Exactly.

I snapped my fingers and nodded affirmatively.

“However, My Lord, I have never seen you cook once in your life.”

“A very astute observation, Rachel.”

“......”

I had also thought about that.

Should I invite an expert cook to accompany me, or should I simply rely on my past life memories of cooking?

For poor salary-men, delivery food was a luxury, and I had to cut off costs by eating food that tasted like cardboard, with the help of an absurd quantity of seasonings.

I considered applying that knowledge here, but, of course, it was impractical.

Not only was it impossible to find modern seasonings, but the cooking tools and techniques available here were too crude to replicate those flavors.

The memories and methods from the modern world were meaningless here.

I thought about learning to cook myself, but for someone like me, splitting the day between enjoying a good book and rigorous training, there simply wasn’t enough time.

Cooking skills aren’t something that can be perfected overnight.

It was a tough situation all around, but since I had asked Rendler to look into inviting an expert, I should be hearing good news soon.

So, for now, I decided to put that idea aside.

Creak-.

Then, the carriage, which dazzled through the snowfield, stopped.

This evaluation was something featured in the last free Chapter of the Novel.

In the original story, the evaluation had been a ‘hunting competition’, but strangely, Lumia referred to this as ‘tag’.

No reason was given, and since it was the last free Chapter, I hadn’t been able to read what followed.

Of course, I had no reason to be worried or tense, but I was curious.

Curious about why a ‘hunting competition’ would be referred to as ‘tag’.

“I’ll be waiting for your return here, My Lord.”

“Alright.”

After getting out of the carriage and dismissing Rachel, I began walking towards the snowy mountain.