[Sujebi or hand-pulled dough soup, or Korean-Style Pasta Soup, is a Korean traditional soup consisting of dough flakes roughly torn by hand, with various vegetables. ]
It was raining outside. Looking at the late spring rain, Luana had an urge to eat something. As she listened to the sounds of raindrops falling, she took out a pot and poured some water in it.
After that, she prepared the fresh anchovies and put it in the pot. It didn’t take much time to boil.
She then carefully scooped out the foam that rose up, seasoned it with salt, and then added the potatoes. She roughly tore the dough and put it in the boiling soup. If she could, she would have liked the dough to age before putting them in, but it wasn’t easy. The noise of the splattering spring rain was growing.
“If you eat heartily and then die, then it is fine.”
Luana hummed and watched the thin dough swell and turn into a clear milky color. It seemed to be cooked just perfectly. It looked delicious. But the soup would have tasted better if she had more vegetables. She licked her lips in regret.
Bang!
At that moment, the kitchen door opened and a middle-aged woman rushed in.
“Princess, we’re in trouble!”
“Ah, nanny! Are you going to eat too?”
‘I need to take out another bowl.’
Luana took out another bowl with lots of sujebi in it and put it on the table.
“It’s not the time to eat now! The Imperial Army has invaded the palace! We have to run now!”
The nanny shouted in an excited voice.
“No. I know that.”
Luana scooped a spoonful of hot sujebi and blew on it before putting it in her mouth. Though the sujebi had become a little bit soggy, it was just right for her taste. The hot anchovy broth, with softened dough flakes, trickled down her throat. As expected, it was delicious! She only wished there was some ripe kimchi here.
Watching Luana scoop up the second spoon, the nanny looked dejected.
“Why are you so relaxed!”
Because it was futile to run away. This kingdom was going to perish anyway and all the royals were destined to die. As it was a story like that. All will die except for one royal member. No matter how far you run, you will be caught one by one and brought to an even more miserable death.
‘I want to die as painlessly as I can.’
Luana pouted her lips and scooped a third spoonful.
She didn’t remember the title of the novel, but it was a famous romance fantasy novel. Luana was reading the novel before she died.
In the story there was a beautiful princess named Ingrid, widely known for her beauty. She was the heroine of this story. And there was a warmongering emperor who dreamt of conquering the continent. He was the male lead.
At first he politely invited Ingrid to come and be his concubine, but Ingrid refused to accept it. Yeah, the Emperor was a little crazy for her to accept such a proposal. As soon as he ascended the throne, what he did first was to crush small and weaker countries and conquer them.
The emperor was furious at her refusal. So he sent the Duke and his army to seize Ingrid’s country and forcibly drag her to him.
Luana was born as one of the story’s non-existent princesses. She was a small cannon fodder character who was doomed to die. How desperate she was when she grew up, knowing she had reincarnated in this novel. She tried everything she could, but in the end, she got over it! She decided to just give up and die.
She didn’t want to put much effort in this life. Since she had lived very fiercely in her previous life, this time she just wanted to live a moderate life, eat whatever she wanted, and stay that way.
‘By the way, that Emperor is so cheap!’
However, it can’t be helped because the cheap man was the most powerful man in this world. Luana’s life now was like a lantern in front of the wind.
“What can I do? I should die like this.”
“What?”
After all she has died once already and in this second life, she just wanted to live humbly.
“Nothing, but are you really not going to eat nanny?”
“You’re bothered about eating now?”
“Yes.”
Luana nodded and ate another spoonful of sujebi. One bowl of sujebi quickly got empty.
“I’ll have a little more.”
The steaming sujebi was poured into the bowl with a ladle. The nanny, who was looking at the dish, sat across the other side as if exhausted.
“Just give me one bowl too.”
“Okay.”
The nanny was also given a generous share.
“It’s delicious. Who made it?”
“I did.”
“Whenever you cook something I don’t understand where you’ve learned it from. I thought you were a little strange for a princess.”
‘What? Did you really think so? But not now, right?’
“But now I’ve confirmed you’re indeed a very strange person.”
The nanny shook her head and ate the sujebi. As they finished the soup listening to the raindrops coming from outside, they didn’t need any side dishes. The two quickly emptied their bowls. They felt better after a hearty meal.
‘All right. I’ll die today.’ Luana patted her round swollen stomach. At that moment, the kitchen door again opened.
“Here they are!”
A soldier with a bloodstained spear shouted and a knight in full armor came in after him.
“Where’s the princess?”
The soldier shouted at them with a fierce look. Luana and the nanny exchanged glances for a moment, while putting their empty bowls of sujebi down.
‘You’re here, should we tell them?”
‘Yes, after all I am a princess. But why are they looking for a princess?’
‘I don’t know.’
Luana slowly raised her hand. The intimidating eyes of the knight fell upon her raised hand.
“Excuse me.”
“Where is the princess! If you don’t speak now, I can’t guarantee your life.”
“I am the princess.”
The knight, who was shouting and bellowing, shut his mouth. The eyes of Luana and the Knight met.
“You’re so loyal! Do you want to help the princess escape by pretending to be her? But remember! Your master wouldn’t protect a lowly maid like you!”
“I am the princess!”
“Tell me where the princess is right now!”
“Dear Knight, I understand your unwillingness to believe.”
‘Are you my nanny or my enemy? How could you understand that?’ Luana pouted her mouth.
“But this is the princess.”
For a moment there was silence in the kitchen.
“The sixth princess, Luana?”
“That’s right.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Really? Is it really true? The knight’s eyes glanced over Luana with suspicion. She was wearing an old dress which has been mended several times. Her corset was not tightened properly and her stomach was bulging because of the sujebi she just ate. Her greyish beige hair was unique, but it wasn’t properly trimmed, making it look very unkempt. Looking closely, she had good skin and even looked quite cute, but many maids had such an appearance. He couldn’t believe it.
This was also because princesses of the Alluin kingdom were all famous for their beauty.
“I don’t come from a noble family.”
Luana told the truth to the Knight, who looked very confused. She got her appearance from her mother’s side. Her mother was a maid who worked in the laundry and accidentally spent a night with the king to give birth to Luana, but she was not a beauty. But if you look closely, she was pretty cute!
“Search in case if she’s hiding!”
The Knight gave orders to the soldiers, but the only thing that came out from the search were rotten and dirty possessions.
‘You shouldn’t have expected too much from this abandoned palace in the first place.’
“We have to take the princess with us, Sir Rugard.”
The knight, who was called Rugard glared at Luana.
“Are you really a princess?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s right.”(this is being said by the nanny just in case you’re wondering who is speaking)
“Drag her and let’s go!”
As soon as Sir Rugard’s terrifying words fell, soldiers rushed in and dragged out Luana.
“Oh, I can walk!”
Luana actively appealed, but the soldiers dragged her quickly to the square.
‘I guess it’s urgent.’
Luana felt funny as she looked at the running Rugard and Nanny.
‘I didn’t know you could run so fast, nanny.’
Many people were kneeled in the square in front of the palace. Among them were Luana’s half sisters.
“Sit over there.”
“Oh yes… excuse me…excuse me.”
Luana pushed her way through the crowd and sat down where Rugard had pointed. As she sat down, the other princesses next to her looked at her with wide eyes. As if asking who are you and why are you sitting here.
“It’s me, sister.”
Who is ‘me’? Ingrid, who seemed to be the sweetest in the royal family, looked at her puzzledly. She truly had the dazzling aura of a female lead. She had a beauty that the emperor would like.
“This is the place for the royal family. You might die if you do something wrong, so sit somewhere else.”
No I’ll die if I sit somewhere else. Besides, Luana was also a royal family member.
“I am also a princess.”
Ingrid looked embarrassed when she told the truth.
“Ah! Come to think of it, I heard there’s a kid living in that abandoned palace.”
Fortunately, the sharp-looking second Princess remembered Luana’s existence. As soon as her words fell, their ridicule and affectionate gazes fell on her, but she didn’t care. Anyway they all will die together.
Death was fair!
The rain had stopped and the sun had come out. The floor was wet but a pleasant wind blew. As the warm sunshine touched her face, her head slowly drooped down.
Fortunately if the fifth princess sitting next to her hadn’t poked her in the ribs, she would have really fallen asleep. And then, she surely would’ve been the first to die. She wondered why it suddenly got so quiet. She looked up to see a man walking in front of her with raven black hair.
Even the clothes worn by him were dark, making him seem like a grim reaper. But in Luana’s eyes, it was chocolate colour. It reminded her of sweet and bitter chocolate… chocolate divided into six pieces. Luana gaped at him unknowingly and a fine trickle of drool leaked from the corner of her mouth.
She could make most things on her own, but chocolate was impossible. What would she do if she could get her hands on some cacao beans? Because of this,her obsession with chocolate only grew.
The closer the man got, the more grim and silent the atmosphere became. Some were trembling thinking about their approaching death. And Luana wasn’t much different either. Even though she was prepared, she was still afraid to die. At times like this, it was necessary to calm the mind. Luana lowered her head and looked through her sleeve.
“Have you got them all?”
“Yes!”
The Knight answered the man. ‘It seems he has the highest position here. Then he should be the Duke Legion, the General of the Imperial Occupation Army.’
Liliphe 