I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother

“……”

I herded my shocked body back to the residence and tried to gather my dazed mind.

‘L-let’s come to our senses. That is not me. No matter how vivid the memory is.’

Once the dam of memories burst, the memories of me tormenting him since I was young came flooding back.

The whole ride back in the carriage, I struggled with shame. Why do I have to suffer so vividly for something I didn’t even do?

After much deliberation, I came to a conclusion.

It’s none of my business. Let me just do my thing. And let’s never meet that man again.

I never wanted to meet him because shameful memories came flooding back when I met him.

The mental toll was enormous.

After I shook my head to rid myself of the past memories that remained in my mind, I started to make rice cakes.

“Carl, did you get the honey?”

“Yes, of course.”

Repetitive labor was the best way to erase thoughts.

I made rice cakes by pounding the rice flour with my strong arms, scattering all my memories.

By the time I was completely back to my senses,

The rice cakes I wanted were completely made.

It was garaetteok¹Long cylindrical rice cakes.

With a bunch of rice cakes in my hand, I headed to the garbage dump, no, to the Black Hawk knights.

* * *

Conventionally, if you are someone who loves food, there is no way you can hate rice cakes!

Especially garaetteok. Not to mention the chewy and soft texture, the sweetness of honey and the savory flavor of the rice cakes mix together to create a fantastic taste. 

I definitely thought it would be successful.

But I didn’t know it would be this effective.

“Oh, oh. It’s so delicious!”

“What’s this chewy texture? I can’t stop chewing!”

“D*mn, I let my guard down. Was this guy’s low-key appearance a strategy to lower the wariness of the eaters?  I am now this guy’s slave!”

The huge men, each holding rice cakes in their hands, were carefully dipping the rice cakes into jars of honey and then devouring them hungrily.

Oh! Oh, oh! Oh, oh, oh! Loud and rough voices split the sky.

So delicious!

I took a step back from them.

Although I am the one who provided the culprit, and I’m glad that they are happy….

The sight of muscular men tearing at garaetteok with crazy eyes was not good for mental and physical stability.

I had no choice but to take a step back.

“Oh. It’s delicious.”

Still, the one who showed a normal reaction was Leon, who is the leader and (was) my favorite. 

He was not as excited as the others and was quietly, nom nom, eating his rice cakes.

Are grilling lamb skewers well and modesty the prerequisites for becoming the leader?

“What is the name of this?”

Unlike yesterday, it was a voice that did not seem drunk.

Fortunately, they hadn’t started drinking yet.

Although, like yesterday, there was no change in sitting down in the training hall.

I said with a good-natured smile:

“It’s called garaetteok.”

“Hm. That’s a unique name. Nom.”

Why on earth do you say such an onomatopoeia with your own mouth? Nom? Noomm?

He who no matter how you look at it, as expected, looks far from normal, chews his rice and asks with a serious face:

“What is this made of?”

Before I knew it, he had a notepad in his hands.

What caught my eye was the notepad’s cover, which had ‘The Path to Gourmet’ written on it.

I smiled and pretended not to see it.

“It’s a food made from a new foodstuff called rice.”

“Ri….ce?”

Leon’s eyes widened.

I nodded my head.

His hands quickly wrote down what I had said on his notepad.

Garaetteok. Rice. Delicious.

I tried my luck with an innocent expression.

“Ahem. I heard that Duke Shiaster ordered you to help me. Is that correct?”

“Mhm. He did say that.”

“The work you need to help with is making this rice.”

“Aha?”

Leon nodded as if he now understood.

His messy silver hair swayed as he nodded.

He said with his characteristic slightly blank expression:

“But our motto is sathie so…. Oh, did I mention this last time?”

Are you going to talk about sathie again to make excuses?!

“Before that.”

“Yes?”

I strengthened my gaze and held the rice cakes majestically in one hand.

“Think of the original purpose of this meeting!”

“!”

Leon’s red eyes wavered slightly.

I didn’t miss that chance and dug in.

“Gourmet. Isn’t it about eating delicious food deliciously?”

“T-that’s right….”

“Then you must help me fully.”

I squared my shoulders proudly, speaking in a tone reminiscent of a famous line from an old-timey drama that I watched before I transmigrated.

Before I knew it, the knights who had finished eating the rice cakes and satisfying their appetites had gathered around the two of us.

They were listening to my story with serious eyes.

“This garaetteok tastes even better if you put it on a skewer and grill it over a fire, just like how you cooked last time.”

“!!”

The context did not fit as I asked them to help me, but I suddenly started talking about grilling rice cakes.

They, who had sold their souls to garaetteok, stared at the rice cake in my hand with shocked faces.

“But this is all that’s left. You don’t have a chance to grill rice cakes.”

“!!!”

They looked like they were about to cry.

I jumped up from my seat and lit the bonfire with a match at the place where they had obviously roasted the skewers yesterday.

Then, I put a rice cake on an extra stick and began to carefully grill it over the flame.

The rice cake, which was turning golden, gradually hardened.

But the inside was incredibly moist and soft!

“But I am not so mean as to deprive you of the opportunity to taste it. First, try one piece at a time. It’s hot, so be careful.”

I gently sliced the rice cake with a knife I had prepared in advance and distributed it to them little by little.

Taking it with trembling hands, they carefully shoved it into their mouths.

“OMG.”

The bald man who threw salt last time covered his mouth with both hands and trembled like a fan club member welcoming their idol.

His eyes were saying: Major ahhh!

After witnessing the evolution of ordinary garaetteok into grilled garaetteok right in front of their eyes, they stared at me blankly, unable to continue speaking.

Now there were no rice cakes left.

“To… To eat this garaetteok again… What should I do?”

Right after, the long-awaited question came out.

It came from the copper-skinned man.

I replied with a bright smile:

“In order to eat this garaetteok… It’s simple. Like I said before, you just have to help me.”

“Is-is that all?”

“Indeed. Ah, of course, don’t worry. Because this is work for the sake of rice cakes, your sathie against the Duke of Shiaster is ongoing.”

“!”

Then Leon, who had been quiet until now, glanced at me with an enlightened face.

“This is something you do with me outside your work. It’s like a part-time job. You want to eat garaetteok, right?”

“Yes!”

“Huhu. The rice we make can be used to make endless dishes.”

There was anticipation in their eyes.

I whispered in a low voice as if I was telling a big secret.

“You can make alcohol too?”

“!!!”

They started making a fuss, saying they would go to work right away.

“Make us your workers! Nunim²Respectful term for older sister/woman!”

Who is your nunim? At face value, he looks 10 years older than me.

After calming their shouts, I briefly explained what they had to do next.

First, we need to create rice paddies.

Build ridges, connect irrigation channels, etc.

As the explanation was coming to an end, someone suddenly asked:

“By the way, has our lord tried this food as well?”

Even though it wasn’t garaetteok, he still ate rice.

Just as I was about to answer, someone intercepted my answer.

“Don’t you know that if the lord is eating, he starts with scorn? Why are you curious about that, you bastard.”

“But after feeling this chewy texture and amazing taste, he might suddenly become a glutton, right? We can’t have our garaetteok taken away! Competitors must be eliminated!”

It was a conversation that had a lot of things to tackle in many ways.

One of them caught my ear.

“What? The duke doesn’t like to eat?”

“Oh…. Ah, you didn’t know.”

Leon, who was writing ‘You can make alcohol too, it’s crazy.’ on a notepad, blinked and looked at me.

“Our lord has a strange disease that prevents him from eating well. He says everything tastes bad. Tsk tsk. Not knowing the joys of gourmet food. It’s a shame.”

Suddenly, I remembered a conversation I had with him earlier.

‘…..Yes, it’s delicious.’

After that, he ate until his stomach exploded.

I was thinking that this was strange when the bald knight scratched the back of his head and asked:

“Ah, but…. Who are you?”

“Huh?”

“I heard that you are a young lady, but I haven’t heard who you are. Haha.”

Only then did I realize that I had blindly fed them rice cakes without even introducing myself!

“Ah, my name is Celia Evanror. I’m Viscount Evanror’s daughter. Nice to meet you.”

“Aha! Would you like to join our Gourmet club?”

“I’ll refuse.”

I ignored the baldy, who seemed to have been hurt by my firm refusal and internally rejoiced.

Hehe. As expected, delicious food is the best.

Anyway, I got workers.

Although I don’t know how much of their share these trash will do.

---