Sidestory 17.2
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In the meantime, Aristine and Tarkan were busy exchanging pleasantries with the nobles.
“Congratulations to both Your Majesties.”
“I wish health and happiness to Your Majesty and the Imperial Child.”
“Earlier, Prince Actsion was protecting Your Majesty Aristine, wasn’t he?”
“Oh, yes, I saw it too. Our Prince was protecting Her Majesty so confidently.”
At the nobles’ words, Actsion puffed out his chest and spoke.
“Sion protect Impewial Mother. Sion protect baby too.”
“Oh my, Her Majesty and our Imperial Child must feel reassured having Your Highness protecting them.”
“They have such a dependable prince by their side.”
Aristine smiled at those words and gently stroked Actsion’s cheek.
“Thank you, Prince.”
“Yes!”
“But it’s not the baby who should protect mommy and daddy. Mommy and daddy should protect the baby.”
“Sion is not a baby, I am a depwendable prince.”
“Indeed, my dependable little prince.”
Aristine lightly poked the child’s chubby cheek.
Then she stood up from her seat.
She planned to walk around the banquet hall a bit.
Tarkan, who quickly followed after her, asked with a worried expression.
“Are you alright? Tired?”
“I won’t be tired after just a little walk.”
“Preparing for the event and dealing with people must be tiring.”
“Excuse me, I’m not fragile glass that breaks when you tap it, you know?”
Aristine looked up at Tarkan with a playful smile.
“…I know.”
He replied quietly.
“But you fainted several times when you were pregnant with Actsion.”
“That was because of the authority—.”
“And I wasn’t even there by your side.”
“…”
“I wasn’t there when your life was in danger. If one of those assassins had gotten to you that day, I—.”
Tarkan gritted his teeth.
Veins bulged on his tight jaw.
Aristine smiled as she saw her saddened husband with his head down.
“But in the end, you came, didn’t you?”
“…”
“To my side.”
“But—”
“If you had stayed by my side and you hadn’t saved elder brother Launel, who knows what else would have happened. What other plot the deposed emperor would have cooked up.”
“…”
“In the end, I was safe, and so was Sion.”
Aristine took Tarkan’s hand and placed it on her stomach.
“It’s the same thing now.”
“Rineh.”
“And this time, you’re never separating from me, are you?”
Aristine playfully pinched her husband’s cheek.
“Except when you sneak off to make tteokbokki.”
“…Seriously.”
Tarkan sighed.
Aristine chuckled and turned around.
As she walked, she whispered.
“When I think back on it, it just makes me speechless. I hope nobody hears about this because who does a whole spy operation just to make tteokbo—.”
Suddenly.
Aristine’s steps halted.
In front of her was a dish she had never seen before at the banquet hall.
“W-Why…?”
Thick rice cakes enveloped in glistening, bright red sauce, topped off with creamy, extravagant white cheese.
“Why is this here…?”
Despite her bewildered cry, the nobles around her chuckled and spoke.
“I can’t expect less from Your Majesty Aristine.”
“What…?”
“This is the food you craved during your morning sickness, right?”
“H-How do you know that?”
“What do you mean? Everybody knows this.”
“…!”
Seeing the shocked expression on Aristine’s face, a noblewoman covered her mouth with a fan and exclaimed, “Oh my?”
“Did you not know? It was published everywhere, from daily newspapers to gossip columns.”
“W-What was? That I like tteokbokki?”
“Ah, I mean, that too, but—”
The noblewomen smiled happily, like nothing could be more romantic.
“I heard there was a huge struggle among those in power just to make that dish for Your Majesty!”
“I see, a struggle, huh?”
Aristine wanted to believe otherwise.
‘A leak in the palace can’t possibly get out!’
But that belief was quickly.
“I heart it was like a spy operation!”
“Betrayals and intrigue! All swirling in the imperial court!”
“But it was all in the name of feeding Her Majesty something delicious.”
“I read a magazine that had an exclusive column about it, and oh my gosh—.”
“The story is so lovely and cute.”
The noblewomen nodded and smiled.
‘What about this is lovely and cute!!’
She wanted to ask right there and then.
But the noblewomen were innocent.
‘No way, is this story really everywhere?!’
She shot a glance at her husband with questions in her eyes.
Tarkan was unhelpfully looking elsewhere, pretending to be distracted.
Right at that moment.
“I know Your Majesty anticipated all of this, didn’t you?”
“…?”
“The ingredients for tteokbokki are all sourced from remote places.”
“Indeed, thanks to the barriers in the plains, we could amplify long-distance trade, but there’ve been limitations.”
“After all, it was only luxury noble goods that were being traded.”
“But thanks to this tteokbokki, people have started to import items that commoners can afford.”
Aristine had zero clue about this.
Aristine had been out of the real business for a long time.
Of course, she still received reports from Viscount Joaquin. She reviewed those reports, made some comments, and issued a few directives.
She knew that trade for ordinary consumer goods had become active through the reports.
But she thought it was just something that occurred naturally over time.
‘I never thought it would be the tteokbokki effect!’
The noblewomen who knew nothing about the inner workings looked at Aristine with admiration.
“Sure enough, the wisdom of Her Majesty is unrivaled.”
“When you said you wanted to eat, you knew it would turn into a struggle, didn’t you?”
“Ah, no…”
Who would think anyone would plot over such a thing! But the noblewomen were already immersed in their own tales.
“It would have been a minor topic if it was just food you craved during morning sickness but then!”
“Right? It became all the more intriguing when I heard it involved His Majesty Tarkan, the Grand Duke, His Eminence, Emperor Emeritus, the generals… all the highest-ranking nobility fighting over it.”
“That’s exactly why it took off like this.”
“Her Majesty Aristine is as amazing as always. To create such synergy for the barrier project.”
Aristine remained silent with a sour look on her face.
No, I just wanted to eat tteokbokki…
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Wanting to eat something is a national issue 😂