Chapter 10
Chloe had barely managed to stay on the empress’s good side and finally stepped out of the reception room.
“Finally… I’m free.”
Just as she thought that and was about to move, someone called out to her.
“Princess Chloe Garnet?”
“Y-yes?”
Startled by the sudden call, Chloe turned around with a dazed expression.
Behind her stood the foreigner who had been in the empress’s reception room and the noble who had been acting as translator.
The noble smiled kindly, ignoring Chloe’s surprised reaction.
“It’s nothing urgent, but your cooking left quite an impression. The head of the merchant guild here wanted to invite you to dinner.”
“Me?”
“They said they would like to speak with you about various matters. How does that sound?”
“…I’ll go!”
Chloe was completely stunned. All the while she had been in the empress’s reception room, she had been thinking about how to even start a conversation with the guild master—and now he came to her first.
Judging by how he had almost immediately followed her out, it seemed he had quickly finished his business with the empress and come after her.
Not wanting to waste such a priceless opportunity, Chloe quickly agreed to the meeting.
The conversation with the guild master was set for that very evening. Both Chloe and the guild master were busy—the former needing to return to the duke’s household, and the latter occupied every day during the envoy’s visit.
“This is Meyer from the Kingdom of Konpa in the southern continent. He is the head of the Panna Guild, the largest guild in Konpa.”
The noble acting as translator was Count Blair. Though young, he treated Chloe, the duke’s heir, with polite respect.
Count Blair had shown remarkable talent with languages from a young age and could speak multiple foreign languages fluently. Because of this, he often acted as interpreter whenever someone from the royal family went abroad or foreign envoys came.
Yet here he was, offering to interpret between Chloe, a mere princess without rank, and a foreign guild master of lower status. Chloe didn’t know why he was willing to go to such lengths in the empress’s absence, but she was grateful. Of course, given that this was the royal palace, some courtesy to foreign guests was expected.
“If I want to import ingredients from abroad in the future, I’ll need someone like this.”
Chloe realized the importance of studying foreign languages even here.
“Please tell him thank you,” she said.
As the introductions were exchanged, the meal prepared by the guild master was served.
The food in front of Chloe looked quite different from the empire’s cuisine.
“It may seem a bit unusual at first… I’ve eaten it a few times myself while translating, and I’ve grown used to it. The taste is quite good,” the translator explained.
But to Chloe, it didn’t feel that unfamiliar.
“…It’s rice!”
It wasn’t the sticky rice she often ate in Korea, but rice cooked with Annan rice. Still, it was rice—the very thing she had been longing for.
Her eyes widened as she surveyed the dishes on the table. Steam rose from the freshly cooked rice, and next to it was a brown sauce that looked familiar.
“This is… curry.”
Chloe briefly wondered if her longing for food was causing hallucinations. But even at a glance, she could clearly see large chunks of meat and carrots.
It looked like a cross between Indian curry she had eaten in a past life and Korean-style curry rice.
“So even the cooking methods are completely different on another continent! Curry, huh…”
Chloe took a spoonful of curry and tasted it.
She paused for a moment.
“The spices…”
The spices were incredibly strong!
“I can see why some people might not like this.”
Objectively, though, it was far better than the absolute disaster that was the cuisine of the Luzier Empire. Unlike the empire, which seemed to only know how to grill food, this place knew how to make sauces.
Chloe scooped up a large piece of meat with rice and took another bite.
The meat quality wasn’t much better than the empire’s—it was still dry, tough, and had a strong gamey taste. But the aroma of the spices overpowered all of that.
“At least the spices make it somewhat bearable.”
She examined the other dishes on the table. Next to the curry was a warm bean soup. But it wasn’t made from the peas or kidney beans common in the empire. The beans were small and slightly flat.
“Lentil soup, perhaps?”
The reddish soup had a familiar aroma. Chloe scooped a spoonful and tasted it, secretly clenching her fist in excitement.
“This is definitely tomato! The taste is so similar!”
The soup even carried the scent of cilantro, used as a garnish. Chloe, delighted, turned to Count Blair.
“This is absolutely delicious!”
Seeing Chloe’s joy, the guild master smiled warmly and spoke.
“Please tell her that he’s glad she is enjoying the food.”
Count Blair busied himself with interpreting between the two. From the conversation, Chloe was able to roughly grasp the food culture of the southern continent.
“This sauce, called curry, is usually eaten with rice like this. Sometimes, though not served today, it’s eaten over thin bread.”
“What’s the name of that bread?”
“‘Naan,’” came the reply.
It was based on Indian cuisine, but not fully Indian—somewhat influenced by South Asia, it seemed.
“Could you tell me what the red ingredient in the soup is? And I’d also like to ask the guild master about other spices from the southern continent.”
Cilantro, cinnamon, cloves, lentils, tomatoes… From what she could gather, the southern continent produced many spices that the Luzier Empire didn’t, some of them quite unique. Chloe kept her excitement in check and let Count Blair translate her questions carefully.
As he did, the guild master’s expression changed. He explained something to Count Blair, who then relayed it to Chloe.
“You’re the first person from the Luzier Empire to show interest in spices. He wants to discuss things in greater detail.”
Chloe’s face brightened.
Count Blair carefully conveyed the guild master’s next point.
“And the red ingredient you asked about is a tomato, a rare ingredient imported from the eastern continent. The guild master seems impressed with your ability to recognize such a rare ingredient at a glance.”
Chloe’s face lit up.
“Then I might be able to secure spices and rice from the southern continent—and perhaps even make connections with the eastern continent!”
From her observations, it seemed the guild master was thoroughly tired of the Luzier Empire’s flavorless food. Even traveling all the way to a distant foreign land, he brought ingredients and spices from home rather than eating local dishes.
“It’s like Koreans traveling abroad bringing instant noodles and gochujang with them.”
The cuisine of the Kingdom of Konpa in the southern continent had strong spice aromas, which could be polarizing to first-time eaters. No one in the Luzier Empire seemed particularly interested in it, especially not nobles.
“Still, it’s far better than my home country, which only knows salt-grilled meat.”
Recalling her past life’s tastes, Chloe no longer wanted dry, bland meat, fish, or roasted potatoes without any sauce. She wanted flavorful sauces and fresh vegetables. Roasted potatoes didn’t count as vegetables.
So she asked directly.
“Guild master, would you consider having a personal connection with me? Not a trade between families or nations, but just a simple private deal?”
After saying this, Chloe took a deep breath. This was an important moment.
It had to appear like a mere hobby of a princess. Formal trade with a foreign country was monopolized by the royal family. Nobles needed royal permission to conduct such trade.
If it looked like official business, it could be treated as overstepping her authority—a direct challenge to the crown.
