(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 24

“Today, tell me everything you want to eat, Hazel! Felix will make it all for you!”

“Then I want… beef! I want to eat beef and salted salmon!”

In this remote mountain village, the cheapest ingredients are the vegetables and herbs that grow wild in the yard, and the most expensive ingredients are fish.

The only fresh fish we have are the red-tailed fish that the gatherer uncles occasionally catch from the mountain lakes, but they’re small and troublesome to prepare, so we rarely eat them.

So when we talk about fish in the village, we mean salted trout or salmon imported from Benu through Cromwell Castle. Naturally, they’re expensive. Ridiculously so. I’ve only eaten trout once, and I’ve never had salmon.

And among meats, beef is the most expensive. Compared to chickens, ducks, and geese, cattle and pigs require much more care to raise.

We bought a chunk of beef tenderloin and a piece of salmon belly from Carson’s butcher shop.

Carson wiped away tears as he watched us buy the most expensive food items in his shop without even asking for a discount.

This man looks like he could kill a cow with his bare hands, yet he has the softest heart in the village. I have no idea how he manages to butcher meat.

On the way home, the moon visible over the rooftops was unusually bright.

The moon wasn’t even full yet, but moisture kept gathering around my eyes, making it appear rounder and larger than a full moon.

I chattered endlessly, trying to suppress the emotions welling up inside me and the anxiety that rose out of habit.

“Felix, Maribel says that if you mash softly cooked salmon belly and mix it with cream cheese and pasta, it tastes absolutely divine.”

“Got it. I’ll make that for you. It would be delicious with chopped parsley too.”

“Yeah. Is there anything I can help with?”

“Just lying still would be helping. Don’t touch anything.”

“That’s something I can do well.”

But I couldn’t quite lie down. My feet kept floating restlessly. I wandered around the house in all directions before spreading out the pouch full of silver coins on the dining table and sitting in front of it.

Staring endlessly at the money seemed to make my random thoughts disappear somewhat. Could this be money meditation? I think I understood why rich people are happy.

However, more than the silver coins before my eyes, I kept being drawn to the sizzling sound of meat cooking, the savory smell of cream cheese spreading, and Felix making small ribbon-shaped pasta with his large hands.

Today’s happiness was bought with silver coins, but if I hadn’t had family to share this happiness with, it would have been quite lonely. Such a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

“Felix.”

“What?”

“What was I like as a child?”

Felix doesn’t like it when I ask about the memories I lost before we settled in Ruden Village.

His answer was always the same. Just ordinary, he’d say.

But since Felix’s expression was so sad whenever he spoke of that ordinary past, I stopped asking him about my childhood once I grew older.

But on days like today, I kept thinking about my parents, whose faces I couldn’t even remember.

If they could see us now, would they be proud of us?

Would they encourage us, saying we did well?

I felt like the parents who gave birth to Felix and me would have done just that.

It was at the end of such thoughts that the question about my childhood suddenly popped out.

Felix’s hands, which had been enthusiastically mashing potatoes, slowed down. He slowly cut some butter and placed it on top of the mashed potatoes.

“Your childhood… Hmm…”

From the way he drew out his words, Felix seemed to be thinking about what ‘ordinary past’ to tell me.

Even though he’d just say the same thing every time.

That we lived peacefully in a small house on the edge of the village. That under a stern father and kind mother, we sometimes went hungry and grew up ordinarily with nothing to our name.

But I know those words are lies. My childhood self was probably very happy.

In my last memory, I was wearing clothes with lace and had a jeweled ring on my finger. Though I lost everything.

That’s why no matter how happy I am, the anxiety that I might lose everything I have doesn’t disappear.

Sometimes I couldn’t even distinguish between pleasant excitement and the anxiety that shook my foundation. The abnormal trembling of my heart felt the same either way.

Felix couldn’t answer my question until the very moment he set the table.

Beef steak, salmon pasta, strawberry salad, and mashed potatoes were placed on the dining table in order.

‘With this much, I wouldn’t envy nobles.’

I had a luxurious time thanks to Baron during the day, and it seems my food fortune has burst open.

“Felix, amazing. This really looks delicious. I don’t know what to eat first.”

“I showed off my skills a bit today. Did I make too much?”

“No way. There’s no problem at all. It’ll all disappear into my stomach.”

“Right, you eat it all.”

“You sit down quickly too.”

After confirming that Felix picked up his fork, I scooped up a forkful of salmon pasta and put it in my mouth.

Just as Maribel said, the salmon pasta melted and disappeared in my mouth. The salty, savory, and rich oil spreading in my mouth was literally the taste of wealth.

Felix cut the steak prettily and served it on a side plate with broccoli. I gently pushed the broccoli aside with the back of my fork and picked up only the steak to bring to my mouth.

Felix shook his head and sighed.

“Our Hazel used to eat broccoli well as a child.”

“…”

“Carrots, spinach, and asparagus too. I don’t know how you ended up like this now.”

“That’s a lie, right?”

“No. This is true.”

“…Tch.”

I didn’t really want to know about that kind of childhood story.

***

Late at night.

Near the Monster’s Domain, away from the center of Ruden Village.

Two fearless men appeared in a place where villagers wouldn’t even dare to loiter.

The man wearing a black eyepatch spoke first.

“I had a feeling, but I never thought you’d really be here.”

Red eyes curved gently in the darkness.

“It’s been a while, Kaiden.”

The moment Kaiden met the other’s eyes, he unconsciously stepped back.

No one could relax their guard in front of this man. Just making eye contact made his knees weak and his mouth go dry.

The smiling face was just a mask; he was a man who took after his father and could go wild according to his nature at any moment.

The red-eyed man stepped forward as much as Kaiden had retreated, closing the distance.

“Still, to come all the way to this mountain village to meet me. Your heart must be leaning toward me.”

Kaiden’s Adam’s apple moved. Separate from his instinctive fear, he was a man who said what needed to be said.

“I merely came to confirm your whereabouts, with no other intention. The Merchant’s Union will not support any prince until the day the civil war ends.”

“Hmm.”

The red-eyed man leisurely twisted his lips. Kaiden glared at him as if displeased with that attitude.

“And coming to Ruden Village wasn’t only because of you. It was because of your master’s request.”

“Ah, my master. I heard he finally fled the capital and came all the way to Cromwell Castle. Is his health alright?”

“There’s no need to play innocent. Count Heidel knows that you protected him.”

Count Heidel.

Fifteen years ago, the master of all princes who taught all thirteen princes.

He had been a long-time friend of Kaiden Goldenhands since their academy days.

“Master has always been quick-witted.”

Kaiden shook his head in disbelief at the prince’s shameless attitude.

‘What an unpredictable guy. I should leave quickly.’

If he continued this conversation, he’d either get entangled with this man or just waste time meaninglessly.

Just as he was about to greet him politely and leave, the prince stopped him with an unexpected remark.

“So how was it?”

“Pardon?”

“You met Miss Hazel, didn’t you?”

“…?”

“She’s so cute it makes your head spin, and amazingly smart. She’s diligent and speaks so wisely that the more you see her, the more you realize she’s destined for greatness.”

“Why are you telling me this…”

“I just wanted to brag.”

“….”

That crazy bastard.

It was true that Miss Hazel was too talented to be stuck in a countryside village, but of all people, she had to catch that crazy bastard’s eye.

Kaiden pressed hard against his throbbing temples, praying that Miss Hazel’s future would be safe.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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