I came here because I wanted to come out naturally and have a quick chat with the knights in this excited atmosphere, but what is this?
The restaurant became so quiet with my appearance that even the sound of breathing was heard, and I felt like crying.
I looked for Callius, the only person who could help me, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Where is Callius...?”
Hawick answered calmly.
“The lord said he would be late.”
"Ah..."
There's no Callius.
Although I was embarrassed, I tried to keep a calm expression and looked around at the knights.
'As the hostess, I should at least say an appropriate greeting at a time like this.'
I looked around at the knights and smiled softly.
“Let’s all sit comfortably.”
Then everyone sat down and looked at me.
"I appreciate all of your hard work for Ronheim. You've worked hard to carry out your assigned mission. Enjoy your time."
I've never done anything like this before, but I've seen my mother do it a few times when I was little.
I sat down, feeling proud of myself for doing it so naturally.
Usually, after finishing the greetings like this, people would applaud and cheer, and the party would begin in earnest.
But, unexpectedly, the knights neither applauded nor cheered.
There was only a little commotion when I sat down.
I saw Hawick frown and make a warning gesture towards those knights.
“Is there a problem?”
"No."
Hawick denied it with a serious expression.
But then I realized why the knights were in an uproar.
'You're doing that because you feel uncomfortable being with me.'
One day, Mainz, embarrassed by the knights' cold attitude, said something to them.
"Ronheim is a closed place, so it takes a long time to accept change. It's the same with new people. It's not that they dislike you, Madam; they're just naturally wary of strangers. Don't be too upset. Time will heal everything."
To the Ronheim people, who are already wary of outsiders, I am not only an outsider but also the daughter of their enemy, so their wariness is bound to be even more intense and last longer.
“If you ask my lord to solve it, it will only backfire.”
Lamia gave me this advice as I was wondering how I could be accepted into Ronheim.
If I try to solve this problem through Callius, I'll only provoke a backlash from them, thinking that I, who is already an awkward being, am trying to manipulate Callius, whom they love, as I please.
'That's right.'
It was a problem I had to solve somehow.
I was thinking about calling it a day and getting up and going back to my room.
But after a brief moment of deliberation, I decided to just be a clueless person and stay in this place.
'I'm the landlady here. I can't step down.'
This banquet was one I offered to my knights.
This is a place to praise the knights who have taken on my errands and done a good job, so I cannot step down.
I steeled myself and smiled at the knights who seemed embarrassed by me.
It was never easy to smile among people who didn't welcome me.
To be honest, I really wanted to run away.
But I couldn't just wander around like a stranger forever, having decided to settle down here and be happy.
"I want to hang out with you guys, too. I want to know what kind of people Callius likes."
A few people coughed in discomfort as I decided to stay in this place.
“We, we’re honored! Haha!”
Thankfully, Alex raised his glass and shouted, seeming to want to help me.
“Did you all hear that? Let’s have a toast to the Marchioness! Toast!”
It was an incredibly awkward gesture.
He didn't seem very used to this, but I was grateful that he stood up for me even though he didn't know what to do.
'Unfortunately, the problem is that I don't have a glass.'
The knights who had been following Alex and raising their glasses in a daze, noticed that I had no glass and jeered at Alex.
“Just sit still. Why are you standing out like that when you don’t belong?”
Alex, who had been scolded, turned red in the face and apologized to me.
"Sorry...!"
“It’s okay. Thank you, Alex.”
When I whispered softly, Alex blushed and sat down weakly.
I gestured to the servants, who were flustered and looking even more embarrassed.
One of them, breaking out of the clump, came up to me and listened.
“Bring me my glass. I don’t care about alcohol, so it would be better to bring me something warm.”
That was when.
Before the servant could even get to the kitchen, Chef Latina appeared with a tray.
“Madam, I should have prepared it earlier. I apologize for preparing it so late.”
Then, she placed in front of me milk tea with lots of honey, which was said to be rare and inedible in Ronheim, along with cookies, fruit, and cake.
The crowning touch was a custard pudding decorated with herbs.
The restaurant became so quiet with my appearance that even the sound of breathing was heard, and I felt like crying.
I looked for Callius, the only person who could help me, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Where is Callius...?”
Hawick answered calmly.
“The lord said he would be late.”
"Ah..."
There's no Callius.
Although I was embarrassed, I tried to keep a calm expression and looked around at the knights.
'As the hostess, I should at least say an appropriate greeting at a time like this.'
I looked around at the knights and smiled softly.
“Let’s all sit comfortably.”
Then everyone sat down and looked at me.
"I appreciate all of your hard work for Ronheim. You've worked hard to carry out your assigned mission. Enjoy your time."
I've never done anything like this before, but I've seen my mother do it a few times when I was little.
I sat down, feeling proud of myself for doing it so naturally.
Usually, after finishing the greetings like this, people would applaud and cheer, and the party would begin in earnest.
But, unexpectedly, the knights neither applauded nor cheered.
There was only a little commotion when I sat down.
I saw Hawick frown and make a warning gesture towards those knights.
“Is there a problem?”
"No."
Hawick denied it with a serious expression.
But then I realized why the knights were in an uproar.
'You're doing that because you feel uncomfortable being with me.'
One day, Mainz, embarrassed by the knights' cold attitude, said something to them.
"Ronheim is a closed place, so it takes a long time to accept change. It's the same with new people. It's not that they dislike you, Madam; they're just naturally wary of strangers. Don't be too upset. Time will heal everything."
To the Ronheim people, who are already wary of outsiders, I am not only an outsider but also the daughter of their enemy, so their wariness is bound to be even more intense and last longer.
“If you ask my lord to solve it, it will only backfire.”
Lamia gave me this advice as I was wondering how I could be accepted into Ronheim.
If I try to solve this problem through Callius, I'll only provoke a backlash from them, thinking that I, who is already an awkward being, am trying to manipulate Callius, whom they love, as I please.
'That's right.'
It was a problem I had to solve somehow.
I was thinking about calling it a day and getting up and going back to my room.
But after a brief moment of deliberation, I decided to just be a clueless person and stay in this place.
'I'm the landlady here. I can't step down.'
This banquet was one I offered to my knights.
This is a place to praise the knights who have taken on my errands and done a good job, so I cannot step down.
I steeled myself and smiled at the knights who seemed embarrassed by me.
It was never easy to smile among people who didn't welcome me.
To be honest, I really wanted to run away.
But I couldn't just wander around like a stranger forever, having decided to settle down here and be happy.
"I want to hang out with you guys, too. I want to know what kind of people Callius likes."
A few people coughed in discomfort as I decided to stay in this place.
“We, we’re honored! Haha!”
Thankfully, Alex raised his glass and shouted, seeming to want to help me.
“Did you all hear that? Let’s have a toast to the Marchioness! Toast!”
It was an incredibly awkward gesture.
He didn't seem very used to this, but I was grateful that he stood up for me even though he didn't know what to do.
'Unfortunately, the problem is that I don't have a glass.'
The knights who had been following Alex and raising their glasses in a daze, noticed that I had no glass and jeered at Alex.
“Just sit still. Why are you standing out like that when you don’t belong?”
Alex, who had been scolded, turned red in the face and apologized to me.
"Sorry...!"
“It’s okay. Thank you, Alex.”
When I whispered softly, Alex blushed and sat down weakly.
I gestured to the servants, who were flustered and looking even more embarrassed.
One of them, breaking out of the clump, came up to me and listened.
“Bring me my glass. I don’t care about alcohol, so it would be better to bring me something warm.”
That was when.
Before the servant could even get to the kitchen, Chef Latina appeared with a tray.
“Madam, I should have prepared it earlier. I apologize for preparing it so late.”
Then, she placed in front of me milk tea with lots of honey, which was said to be rare and inedible in Ronheim, along with cookies, fruit, and cake.
The crowning touch was a custard pudding decorated with herbs.
Latina smiled as she put down the custard pudding.
“I heard from Lamia that Madam likes pudding.”
Latina, who was reluctant to give me even a spoonful of honey, made me custard pudding.
Latina spoke bluntly, as if embarrassed, to me, whose eyes were wide.
"Don't be so surprised. I made this with ingredients I bought from selling the mushrooms and other things. It was just a special request from Mainz."
“Thank you, Latina.”
When I smiled brightly, Latina flinched.
Then suddenly she raised her voice as if to tell the knights to listen.
"Thank you! Thanks to your wisdom, Ronheim's warehouses are now filled with food. What a blessing! Thanks to you, no one in Ronheim will starve this winter, and everyone will be able to survive with full stomachs! I'm even more grateful!"
The content was clearly filled with gratitude, but the voice was filled with anger.
She glared at the knights.
“I heard that Madam even took care of the overdue wages of the knights here?”
The knights flinched at every word she spoke, their eyes darting from place to place, unable to focus.
The chef looked back at the knights with a gleaming gaze and asked.
"Even beasts know grace, so humans should be grateful. Isn't that right, knights?"
“Ahem.”
“Hmm, hmm.”
Alex stepped forward once again, amidst the knights who turned their heads away, unable to look at the Latina.
"You're right, Chef! We can't thank you enough for the kind deeds the Marchioness has done and even hosted this banquet!"
The chef smiled proudly as she watched Alex working hard.
'I thought the chef didn't like me.'
I felt a lump in my throat as I was grateful to the chef who suddenly changed his attitude and took my side, and to Alex, who was kind to me from the beginning.
I whispered softly to the chef.
“Thank you, Latina.”
The chef who had been sternly speaking to the knights sighed deeply and spoke softly to me.
“I misunderstood you, madam. I apologize.”
"Misunderstanding?"
"Actually, not long after you arrived, the head maid came and told me that the cultures of Arrental and Ronheim are very different."
"Ah..."
It was about how I, not knowing much about Ronheim's culture, instructed them to throw away all the leftover food.
“The head maid explained everything to me, but I didn’t believe her because I thought she was defending the madam. But recently, I heard the kitchen maid talking about Arrental and I knew it was true...”
“Is that so?”
"I apologize for doubting and misunderstanding you, Madam. I really wanted to tell you this, but I never got the chance..."
“Thank you for telling me now.”
My heart felt warm.
"Yes, once all the misunderstandings are cleared up, the knights and the people of Ronheim will accept me, just like Latina. Let's not be too hasty."
Emboldened by Latina's confession, I slowly looked back at the knights.
They looked embarrassed after being scolded by Latina, and they avoided eye contact with me and pretended not to hear anything.
I picked up my spoon as if it were nothing in the quiet atmosphere.
Then I slowly ate the custard pudding that Latina had brought me.
Latina had figured out that I was only eating a little and had made me just the right amount of snacks, so it didn't take me long to finish the pudding.
In the restaurant, the only sound that could be clearly heard was the clanking of dishes.
Only after I had scraped the pudding clean from the bottom in front of everyone did I put down my spoon in satisfaction.
After leisurely wiping my mouth with a napkin, I asked the knights who had been silent until then.
“I don’t think anyone will open their mouths while I’m here, so can I tell you my story for a moment?”
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