Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy-Chapter 78: Lugan Village (9)

“......”

Early morning.

Just as dawn broke, Lumia Winterfell awoke and stared blankly at the ceiling.

As soon as she drank the medicinal concoction, her mind fogged up and she fell asleep.

And it was the next morning by the time she opened her eyes.

She had slept so deeply that no nightmares plagued her, and her body felt incredibly refreshed.

Feeling a little perplexed, Lumia lifted her torso and looked around.

Then,

“......”

She touched her body with a bewildered expression as if she could not believe what was happening.

Light.

If before her body felt like a heavy rag, soaked with water, now it felt light and the muscles that used to scream with pain at every movement were silent.

A strange warmth coursed through her previously cold insides.

The surroundings that felt blurry and groggy before were now being perceived clearly.

“......”

Lumia was aware of the Red Mandrake’s existence.

A root that grew all over the Elpherion Kingdom unaffected by the climate or soil, it was also called a ‘miracle root’ due to its powerful vitality and was considered the finest of medicinal herbs.

It was particularly effective in reviving depleted vitality, and Lumia, who had never tried it before, couldn’t help but feel astonished.

Just yesterday, she had felt nearly lifeless, and to recover this much from a single root was beyond her expectations.

Compelled by her newfound strength, Lumia got out of bed and stood there, a bit unsteady.

Her legs still quivered like a newborn calf, but she managed to stand.

Moreover,

Grrr-!

Perhaps due to the restored vitality, she felt hungry for the first time in a long while.

There had been days when she swallowed scraps only when her stomach ached with hunger, and having forgotten what it felt like to be hungry, Lumia was startled by the sudden rumbling and stroked her stomach.

It was common knowledge that the older a Mandrake Root was, the better the efficacy.

Since her vitality had been restored to this extent, Lumia deduced that the Mandrake root used to heal her was quite ancient.

Such realization ignited a fierce need to repay the debt of gratitude toward Elden and Ariel.

Their grace was something too generous for a sinner like her.

A grace too bright for a tainted woman.

And now that she could move on her own.

She wanted to repay such kindness to the best of her ability.

Even if she despised herself and thought her actions to be contemptible, she couldn’t let the efforts of those who risked danger to procure medicine for her go to waste.

It would be like betraying the promise she had made to Marien twice.

Thus, pacing around her room, Lumia finally decided to act and opened the door.

During her days with them, she learned that they found her while they were heading to the Marquisate of Eris, intending to continue their Culinary Journey in the East.

While Lumia couldn’t do much to repay them as her body was still rather weak, she knew of one method.

Preparing a delicious meal.

The moment Lumia saw the names of the Villainous Quartet in the list of possible finalists, she and Marien began their intense(?) training to master the art of monster cuisine.

And Lumia was someone who always gave her all to accomplish something.

Since she planned on torturing(?) the Villains through monster cuisine, she had practiced a lot of cooking skills.

That was when Lumia realized she had an innate talent for cooking.

Possessing a natural inclination for exploration and research, she found the process of combining various ingredients to successfully create a dish utterly enjoyable.

Click-.

Lumia quietly closed her room door and silently headed to the kitchen on the first floor.

It was still early morning, and the lodging was quiet.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, Lumia carefully checked the ingredients and tools available.

Thankfully she had the necessary conditions to cook a good dish.

Grumble-!

Her empty stomach growled at the sight of the ingredients.

Pushing down her own hunger, Lumia prioritized making a meal for her benefactors over satisfying her needs.

As such, she began to cook.

Lumia still struggled to move the pots and wield a knife to trim the ingredients, but if it was for those who saved her life from unbearable hardships and kept her from breaking her promise to Marien, then it was a toil she was duly willing to endure.

Thus.

Lumia, who once honed her monster cuisine skills for vengeance, was now putting them to full use to repay those who had shown her kindness.

**

《Hmm! This is quite good!》

《Really?!》

Hmm....

Ariel’s best dish... marinated Direwolf foreleg...

Well... She had used some of the spices prepared by Chef Nelon who left us after finding his fated partner, but still...

It was quite good...

Slurp....

Ah...I want to eat that again...

《How was it......Lord Elden?》

That pig’s feet... Mnnn-....

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So crispy....

A whole leg....

Mnn...

Slurp....

A delicacy Jun-Woo rarely indulged in because he didn’t have money.

Gulp...

《......Won’t you take a single bite then? Even if I assure you that no misunderstandings will arise?》

That pig’s...No...Red Lounger’s leg I ate in the Grand Duchy...

If there is one thing I regret, it is only taking a single bite from that heavenly dish...

Had I not declared my withdrawal...

I would have demolished that dish in seconds...

Chomp-.

Slurp-.

Perhaps it’s because I only had a single bite, but I’ve never encountered a grilled Red Lounger’s leg that came close to the flavor that I had on the first meeting of the Grand Ducal Betrothal.

Hmm...

Hmm...

Um...?

Ahh....

I can even smell it...

That rich meaty fragrance...

Jerk-!

I opened my eyes.

A familiar ceiling greeted me.

From enduring a White Storm, taking shelter in a cave, and having a spar with Rachel...it’s no wonder I collapsed just after dinner.

But now, I opened my eyes to a sunny morning.

Sniff-.

Sniiiif-.

“...What’s with this smell...?”

The scent I thought was exclusive to my dreams persisted even after I woke up.

Entranced by it, I rose from my bed and followed the dreamy scent.

I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

Gulp-.

An irresistible aroma.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one drawn by the smell.

Click.

From the opposite room, Ariel, still wearing her pajamas, rubbed her eyes as she emerged.

Our eyes met, both reflecting the same question.

“...What’s that?”

“Smells like it’s coming from the kitchen?”

“But, who?”

Ariel was the one responsible for making our meals.

Rachel simply had no interest in cooking, while Rendler would manage to produce eldritch abominations when he tried to fry a single egg.

This meant someone else was cooking in the kitchen on the first floor.

Though I had my suspicions on ‘who’ it might be, it was a bit far-fetched.

So, both Ariel and I cautiously made our way downstairs.

Clank-.

Rustle-.

As they approached, faint sounds emerged.

Someone in the kitchen was clearly cooking, and they were being very cautious about it.

Sometimes after a loud noise, a period of tense silence ensued.

And after a moment, the faint sounds reemerged.

Whoever was cooking was trying to minimize noise, presumably to avoid waking us on the second floor.

Eventually.

When we reached the first floor, the strong and flavourful aroma of food was overwhelming.

And the scent was strangely familiar.

This smell...Could it be...Red Lounger’s leg?

Rendler was the one who pointed it out.

While my nose was horrible at distinguishing smells, this didn’t apply to monsters.

It was almost as if I had a unique talent for sniffing out monsters.

Thanks to that, even during the harsh month of November, we never ran out of food.

My nose was telling me this was indeed a Red Lounger, and since we hunted a few of those on our way here, securing some good ingredients I could be sure of it.

Soon,

Ariel and I arrived in the kitchen and were met with an unbelievable sight.

Lumia Winterfell,

There she was,

Cooking.

Her face, once as lifeless as a moving corpse, now had a glimmer of life, and her body, previously paralyzed, was moving, albeit rigidly.

She was placing a large Red Langer’s hind leg roast in the center of the table when she noticed us.

“...!”

Lumia, almost spilling the dish onto the tablecloth in surprise, quickly set down the food and hastily scribbled something on her notepad.

[I’m sorry. I tried to be as quiet as possible...Did I wake you up?]

Technically we woke up not because of the noise, but because of this amazing smell.

So it was somewhat true that Lumia ‘woke us up’.

Not that it mattered.

“Y-You...Are you alright?”

[I’ve gotten a lot better thanks to both of you. I...Felt like I had to do something...So I tried cooking...Though I’m not sure if it will suit your taste.]

Just the smell alone clued me in that this dish would be exquisite.

So, I had a grand total of zero worries about its taste.

The fact that Lumia also recovered was also good news, regardless of how the food turned out.

Clap!

“AMA-ZING! Eren-I mean, Your Grace, the Third Northern Duchess prepared this? You know how to cook monster meat?!”

Ariel seemed delighted to have found another enthusiast of monster cuisine.

“It’s truly a relief to see you recover.”

While I was simply happy to see someone who went through a difficult time making a recovery.

Soon after,

“Ah, Your Grace! You appear very well!”

“So you’ve woken up.”

The kitchen grew noisy as Rendler and Rachel joined us, allowing us to partake in the breakfast prepared by the Third Northern Duchess herself.

[I wanted to thank all of you.]

Taking a hold of the Red Longer’s leg.

I eagerly bit into it.

“............!!!”

It tasted just like that one six months ago.

The heavenly taste I had been forbidden to indulge.

But now, I have no such limitations.

Now, I had no more regrets as I started to devour the wonderful meal before me.