The next day, Jegalgaju, having sorted out his thoughts through a conversation with Jegal Yun, said to Danmoksu,

“How can we decide on something as important as a marriage proposal right away? I would like to visit Danmoksega and calmly discuss it there.”

At Jegalgaju’s words, Danmoksu was taken aback. It was an unpleasant story, virtually no different from being chased away by Danmokbi.

“The marriage of a child is decided by the father, so why should I go to Danmoksega when I am here?”

“I want to go and check it myself since it is where our precious daughter will live. I hope you understand.”

But since the other party had said so much, there was no reason to refuse. Jegalgaju grinned and drove home the point.

“We will visit on the day after tomorrow.”

(This is a time separator.)

I met Namgung Ryeo on a morning walk and ended up having tea with her. When I brought out hot, bitter green tea and added a sugar candy, Namgung Ryeo’s eyes rounded like a rabbit’s.

“What is this? It’s very sweet and chewy, and delicious.”

“It’s sugar candy.”

Sweet snacks are a perfect match with originally bitter tea, aren’t they?

‘I made it in a jiffy, and it’s being put to very good use. I shared it with Danmokchang and Grandfather as well.’

Thinking so while slurping down green tea, Namgung Ryeo, who had devoured her share of sugar candy in no time, smacked her lips and said,

“I want to buy and stock up enough to eat when I want. Where can I buy it?”

“Ah, I made this one myself…”

“You made it yourself?!”

I thought it was natural since I only ate what I made, but seeing this reaction, it seemed I had made it really tasty.

“Wait a moment, I’ll give you more.”

“Thank you!”

I put all the remaining sugar candy on Namgung Ryeo’s plate. Namgung Ryeo ate it greedily, rinsing her mouth with refreshing green tea whenever it got too sweet. Watching her, I smiled contentedly.

“You must really like sweets.”

Namgung Ryeo, who had emptied the second plate in no time, nodded vigorously, looking down at my plate with lingering eyes.

“Yes, yes. In Sinsan, I really lived on dull herbs and grass porridge.”

“That sounds miserable just hearing about it.”

My cooking skills improved because I wanted to eat a lot of things myself. As I scraped my tongue, Namgung Ryeo grinned and replied,

“Fortunately, I’ve become this healthy, right? So I can come down here and eat Jegal Sojeo’s sugar candy.”

What are you talking about, this positive king?

I was too sad to think that I was appeasing her suffering in the mountains with my sugar candy. Feeling sorry, I said to Namgung Ryeo,

“I’ll make something else for you.”

“Really?”

As soon as I said that, Namgung Ryeo’s face turned red, and she smiled broadly. Being set as the most beautiful woman in this worldview, her smiling was like flowers blooming.

Her smile was full of genuine joy. I looked back and smiled awkwardly.

‘Why do I feel like I keep winning people over with food?’

Danmokchang was like that, Danmokbi was like that, and now even the heroine fell for my cooking.

But since I’ve promised to do it, I wanted to do it right. I asked Namgung Ryeo about her preferences.

“What do you like?”

“Uh, fruit maybe?”

Namgung Ryeo’s answer was a bit awkward. I tilted my head and smiled again.

“Do you like it just naturally dried? Or do you like it soaked in honey and chewy?”

“You can cook fruit like that?”

I then realized that Namgung Ryeo didn’t know much about snacks.

‘Someone who hasn’t even tried it would be surprised like this.’

Although that’s the case in Sinsan, I wonder how she lived in Namgungsega. I got up from my seat.

“Wait a moment. I think I might only have a little.”
If I had known this, I would have prepared a bundle of Namgungryeo’s things when I gave them to Danmokchang yesterday. I brought the snacks I made last week.

“This is bellflower jeonggwa, and this is apple jeonggwa.”

“Jeonggwa?”

Holding out a brown, chewy yet moistlooking snack, Namgungryeo looked at it suspiciously before putting it in her mouth.

“Wow.”

An immediate, honest exclamation came out. She spoke, her cheeks flushing as if she was truly happy.

“This is also really delicious. It feels like it’ll keep going into my mouth.”

“You’ll get tired of it quickly because it’s too sweet.”

“No, it’s really going on and on.”

Munching on the jeonggwa deliciously, Namgungryeo’s eyes sparkled.

“How do you make this? Can you make it with ginseng too?”

“Of course. Ginseng is an expensive ingredient, so it is pickled so that even the small roots can be carefully consumed.”

“Then, what about this?”

Namgungryeo took something like a thread root out of a small pouch she was carrying in her clothing pocket.

“Can this be pickled too?”

It looked like a bellflower small root, but its scent was different from that of a bellflower. It wouldn’t have been carried so preciously if it were ginseng, and it was not red either…

“Is this perhaps wild ginseng?”

“How did you know?”