Supporting Characters Also Need Some Love

SPECIAL CHAPTER 6

Part 128

 

When she answered that it was a small kingdom facing the border with the Duchy of Donovan, Ailene let out a long, pitiful sigh. Then she began to reveal her love story. The name of the naive young man who appeared at the orphanage run by Ailene last winter and introduced himself as a poor traveler with nowhere to go was Petro. He loved children and actively helped run the orphanage, so he hired her and hired her. After they sat down, Ailene and Petro began dating. The process of Ailene’s frozen heart slowly thawing was so moving that even I, who watched it from afar through a letter, was touched. Then, not long ago, Petro disappeared, saying he was going to visit his hometown for a while, and a few days before leaving the Nodovan territory to attend my wedding, he appeared as the king of Cocone Kingdom. Now he said he was the right person for you and proposed to you, but Ailene threw the ring away and came to Midok as if running away.

 

“I was told it was my destiny to be the queen. Now, I’m embarrassed by that and I don’t like it. I didn’t know what to do and got scolded so harshly. What’s the point of doing this twice?”

 

She bit her lower lip and spoke with a gloomy face, but she was scolded because she felt sorry and upset. Ailene left Midoc because she was going through a very difficult time after being swayed around by being called the ‘Queen’s Star’, but since she was asked to become queen again, her reluctance was understandable. However, regardless of that, she hoped Ailene would be happy, and the story between the two people written in the letter seemed warm, so she was really happy.

 

She held the hand of Ailene, who had a confused face.

 

“Ailene. I want you to be happy no matter what. I really hate being queen, so if you don’t have the confidence to be happy with that person, you don’t have to. Don’t do it. I don’t want you to suffer alone in a foreign country.”

 

“Damian…”

 

“But, even though I feel anxious and hate having to become queen, if I still feel like I would be more unhappy if I break up with that person, then get that person and just think about which would make you happier. I think if my friend is happy, I will be happy with other people. Because it’s a good thing.”

 

“I don’t know. He looks happy now, but I don’t know how things will change in the future.”

 

Ailene lowered his head and spoke softly. She patted the back of her hand and smiled broadly.

 

“Not knowing what the future holds is the same for everyone. It’s great that we’re married now, but until last year, I went through each day without even knowing whether Adrian was dead or alive. There’s no guarantee that something like that won’t happen again in the future, and I don’t know what else will happen. How do you know this will happen?”

 

“So, I can’t decide anymore.”

 

“So, you can do it. Just look at what you see now, you don’t know the future anyway. How would you have known that we would be doing this here and now when we were going to eat tteokbokki?”

 

When she brought up the story from Korea, Ailene, who had tears at the corners of her eyes, burst out laughing.

 

“Really, I never imagined that day. M. would become like this.”

 

“Really? But I think I did the right thing that day by not breaking up with you and telling you to eat tteokbokki. First of all, you decide whether to eat tteokbokki or not. Does it make sense not to be happy now because you might be unhappy later?”

 

Ailene, who thought for a while, slowly nodded her head.

 

“Should I eat it or not? Okay, I’ll think about it. Thank you, Damien, I feel much better.”

 

“Hehe, but Ailene.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Don’t you suddenly want to eat tteokbokki?”

 

Ailene laughed out loud at her question. She was completely sincere, but she guessed she brought up the topic of tteokbokki for no reason. She really wanted to eat it. Sweet, spicy and chewy. Because she was regaining her appetite, Ailene said with tears in her eyes.

 

“If it’s something like red pepper paste, it’s in the estate.”

 

“What?”

 

“There was something similar to the peppers we used to eat in the Eastern Empire, but it was difficult to adjust the consistency with flour and ferment it, but I made something that tasted quite similar.”

 

“Awesome, you’re a genius.”

 

How did people make red pepper paste? Wasn’t that something you could buy at the supermarket? She clapped her hands and looked up at him with respect, and Ailene smiled again and told her not to expect too much. At the same time, he secretly said that he was now trying to make soybean paste. She jumped up from inside the carriage. And they applauded even more passionately. This guy was a genius. Was he a god of cooking? To think of making something that was so popular in Korea, not even food, but seasoning. 

 

‘Oh my God, even if I had a recipe, I don’t think I would be able to do it. Can you eat things other than soybean paste, red pepper paste, and tteokbokki?’ 

 

He ran an orphanage in his estate and wrote books. When did he start cooking again? They talked non-stop in the carriage for four days. There was endless talk about food, love, family, books, work, etc. If they had laid a road all the way to the Donovan territory using their chatter, it would have been smooth enough for a high-speed train to run on. Arriving at the castle of the lord of the Duchy of Donovan on Thursday afternoon, she was treated as an honored guest thanks to her friend. After dinner, Ailene also made tteokbokki. Since she didn’t have any rice cakes, she made something similar to sujebi made with thick flour dough, and wow, she was so moved by the taste of her hometown that she ate it. In the living room where she was drinking tea and patting her bloated stomach, there was a knock on the door. With an embarrassed look on her face, the maid announced the arrival of another distinguished guest staying at the castle. When the King of Cocone Kingdom entered the drawing room, he almost spat out the tea he was drinking. What on earth is it like to meet the king of the next country while eating tteokbokki at a friend’s house?

 

Next to her, who was embarrassed, Ailene bowed her head politely, and she followed suit. However, King Cocone had a sad face as he received Ailene’s polite greeting.

 

“Lady Ailene, I told you not to do this.”

 

Ailene ignored King Cocone’s words and introduced him and her to each other.

 

“Damian, His Majesty the King of Cocone Kingdom, Your Majesty, she is the Duchess of Bigor.”

 

She was shocked to be formally introduced as the Duchess of Bigor for the first time, and King Cocone sighed and greeted her.

 

“Nice to meet you, Duchess.”

 

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

 

“We were just about to wake up. Then…”

 

Weren’t they about to talk about Her Highness Remina’s bitter love story? She was trying to follow Ailene, who was leading me with a fresh look on her face, but King Cocone grabbed her arm.

 

“If you don’t like it that much, I’ll throw away my crown!”

 

Huh?

 

“If I had known you would hate me this much, I wouldn’t have succeeded to the throne in the first place. If I were to become Petro, who has nothing, would you accept it?”

 

They said he was a simple young man, but he was powerful. Ailene, who was biting her lower lip, turned towards him and said:

 

“Your Majesty, you deceived me. How can I share my future with someone I cannot trust?”

 

“I didn’t lie about anything. I am just the Petro you know then, now, and always.”

 

‘Hmm, they both seem to be talking seriously with serious faces, but I guess they need to lighten the mood somehow. The king has declared that he will not be king if he cannot marry Ailene, right? He’s going to throw away his crown now? Yes, I think it’s time to leave this to the two of us and get out.’

 

She quietly walked to the side, leaving the two people behind. Ailene would make the decision, but she had a feeling that there would be a nice sightseeing trip to Cocone Kingdom soon, right? The next day, King Cocone was also there next to Ailene who came to see her off. When she asked briefly if the story went well, Ailene blushed and said, 

 

“I think I need to think a little more about whether to marry Petro or King Cocone.”

 

Anyway, she was talking about getting married. They laughed together as they saw King Cocone standing with his ears pricked up.

 

* * *

 

After finishing her business trip, she decided to stop by the Donovan territory again to talk, and she went to Viscounty Blanca. As she entered the entrance to Viscounty Territory, the administrative officers of the Inspection Department who had left a day earlier were waiting. Behind the two magistrates, thirty knights stood. She heard that the Capital Army was sending an escort for them, but it seemed Sir Cale was paying a lot of attention. But she thought she spent too much. Bigor led a total of 35 knights and entered the castle of the lord of the Viscounty. She was not here to attack the lord’s castle. Her aide, Nellia, who was very excited about her first business trip, ran towards her as she got off the carriage, her eyes shining. Before meeting the Viscount, he had instructed him to check the mood of the people of the territory, and he seemed to have worked hard.

 

“Chief! I arrived yesterday and looked around the residents, and as expected, the manager was right. The whole story about not being able to collect taxes because of the red harvest was a lie, but they actually raised the taxes because there were good harvests for the past three years? Moreover, there are iron ore mountains in the territory. It was also discovered that the amount of embezzlement must be enormous!”

 

This cute countess, who pours out words and then gently pokes her head towards her and looks up at her with bright eyes, was her aide. There were rumors going around that he had passed the exam last winter with flying colours, and that he had chosen me from the first day of training. She had hope for the future. It’s a bit embarrassing, but Tina was recruited to their inspection department as soon as the training period ended. And since spring, she had been her aide and was doing her best. Although she was shy and embarrassing sometimes, she was a smart and bright girl and she found her cute. She asked her how the calculations were so fast and treated her like she was some kind of god of arithmetic, so she told her the old club. Then she became even more embarrassed because they looked up to her even more and asked her how she came up with this, but she said she didn’t come up with it. 

 

‘After that, if you only see me for a while, let’s memorize the multiplication table! Let’s memorize the old club! And now, let’s all the administrative officers of the Inspection Department memorize the multiplication table together! They were walking around doing it.’

 

She stroked Nellia’s head and praised her.

 

“Good job, Nelia, our Nelia is the best.”

 

“Kya!”

 

Another magistrate, Lord Bourbon, who was watching Nellia writhing her whole body in joy, scolded her and told her to cut off her head.

 

“Instead of doing this here, you should go to the lord’s castle. If what we investigated is true, it will take a long time just to calculate the amount of embezzlement. I doubt that the Viscount will bring you the correct documents.”

 

“Our manager came, but that’s just calculation, it’s not a minute system!”

 

Nellia jumped up and down, and Bourbon looked at her pitifully and said,

 

“Of course, since the manager is here, the calculation is not a problem, but that is no reason to delay time here, newbie.”

 

Nellia chuckled and lowered her head, and Bourbon laughed. 

 

‘Okay, that’s all good, guys? Are you saying that all the calculations are mine again this time? Hehe, you still don’t know why I chose the two fastest people from our inspection department and brought them in.’

 

She spoke to the two people in a solemn voice, as befits a manager.

 

“First of all, we have to go to the lord’s castle as Bourbon said. Let’s leave.”

 

“Can I ride in the same carriage as the manager?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Kya!”

 

They entered the castle of the Viscounty of Blanca, listening to her praises being sung in silence right in front of them. When they got out of the carriage after crossing the border, the Gasols, including the Viscount, came out to welcome them, and, wow, there was an unexpected face there.

 

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Translator Note: