Hamefura LN15 Chapter 2 Part 2 Summary
I am currently reading Hamefura LN15 and will post summaries of each chapter.
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1: The Harvest and the Delivered Ingredients Chapter 2: A Story From Not So Long Ago: Part 1
Chapter 2: A Story From Not So Long Ago (Part 2)
Katarina Meets Cezar
Katarina heads to the exit of the castle. On the way, she meets Cezar, coming from the opposite direction.
Katarina greets Cezar. He greets her back, with a smile showing his teeth. Cezar is dressed formally since he is in the castle, but his expression is the same as when he was in "servant mode" when she first met him.
Cezar is the Prince of Ethenell, the country on the other side of the sea. He has come to Sorcier a little while ago for his foreign studies. He is more than an acquaintance, and maybe someone she can now call a friend after what they went through together.
Katarina asks Cezar how he has been since the Foundation Anniversary party. Cezar replies that he has been well thanks to Sorcier's delicious food and comfortable bedding. He is actually feeling better in Sorcier than when he was in Ethenell.
Katarina is glad to hear that. She asks him to make sure not to overwork himself and not to make Jean worry. Hearing Jean's name, Cezar looks displeased. He tells her that Jean often scolds him, so there is no end to his lectures. Katarina chuckles. Cezar may look like he is complaining, but she knows he gets along with Jean. The two of them are like brothers.
Katarina Tells Cezar About Her Recent Harvest
Cezar asks Katarina if she is well. Katarina cheerfully tells him she is doing well and that she took a day off yesterday to harvest her autumn vegetables at home. She had a bigger harvest than last year.
Cezar remembers Katarina telling her she was farming. He finds the idea of a duke's daughter taking a day off to harvest her vegetables very funny. He bursts out laughing.
Cezar asks Katarina how many vegetables she harvested. Katarina tells him the amount. Cezar is shocked. At this level, he doesn't think it should be considered a simple hobby. When she said "vegetable patches", he thought she had a simple kitchen garden, but based on her harvest, her vegetable patches must be quite big. Katarina gives him an estimate of their size. Cezar blinks in surprise. It is bigger than he imagined. She shouldn't be able to manage them alone at this scale.
Katarina tells him they weren't that big at first, but she gradually increased their size over the years because she wanted to grow all kinds of vegetables. Now her servants are helping her look after them.
Katarina couldn't help wanting to make her vegetable patches bigger since the Claes garden is so large. But she couldn't do it in one go, else her mother would have nagged her. So she made her vegetable patches a little bigger each year so her mother wouldn't notice.
Cezar suspects her household can't consume the quantity she produces. Katarina confirms it. At first, she could manage by giving her vegetables to her friends and the servants, but with the harvests increasing each year, she has been wondering what to do. Especially since this year, she got a big harvest.
Katarina Asks Cezar If He Wants Some Vegetables
Katarina stares at Cezar. Cezar is puzzled and asks her why she is staring at him.
Katarina eagerly proposes to Cezar to take some of her harvested vegetables. She can guarantee their tastes since she was fussy about the manure used for their cultivation. She would love for Cezar to taste her vegetables. Cezar is taken aback.
Cezar accepts to take some. He'd like to taste them since she is so proud of them.
Katarina tells him she will have some vegetables delivered to him in that case.
Cezar ponders a little, then tells her he would prefer that she delivers them to him directly. He would like her to answer questions about how she grew them. Katarina is amazed by Cezar's passion is about his studies.
Katarina tells Cezar that in that case, she will bring him her vegetables on her next day off. She asks Cezar if he is fine with this arrangement since he must be busy. Cezar confirms he is fine with it since he doesn't cram his schedule like before.
Cezar asks Katarina when her next day off is. Katarina tells him.
Katarina parts with Cezar. She is so glad her vegetables will be eaten by a foreign royal. She plans on picking the best vegetables for him once she is home.
The Magic Tool Department Is Swamped With Paperwork
Katarina returns to the Ministry. It is already lunch break.
Katarina enters the department room. She sees Raphael reading a document with a tired face. From the look of it, her prayer wasn't heard: some documents that Lisa can't handle have come up.
Lisa is buried under a pile a documents. She is processing them with a tired face, so different from her usual dispassionate face. Her raccoon plushie next to her is also showing a tired face.
The paperwork seems challenging today.
Katarina greets Raphael and gives him the documents that Larna entrusted to her. Katarina was supposed to give them to Laura, the person in charge today, but she couldn't find her. And since Raphael is here, it is natural to give the documents to him, even if she feels bad about it. Raphael thanks her for the documents and tells her she can go on her lunch break.
Katarina wishes she could help Raphael, but she is bad at paperwork. She decides she will at least buy some light meals for Raphael and Lisa.
Katarina heads to the Ministry's shop.
Katarina Meets Laura and Nix
On her way, Katarina sees Laura and Nix coming from the opposite direction. They are holding sandwiches and other things. Laura and Nix greet Katarina, and she greets them back.
Katarina asks them if by any chance, the sandwiches they are holding are for Raphael and Lisa. Laura confirms. They have bought sandwiches for them since they are swamped with work and can't take their lunch break.
Laura wishes she were more capable with paperwork to help them, but the paperwork today is so difficult that she keeps making mistakes and dragging their feet. She can only do simple paperwork, so it leaves them with a big workload. She feels sorry about them.
Nix tells Laura it can't be helped since everyone has strong and weak suits. Besides, "the Paperwork Craftsman" will be back to the office tomorrow, so they should be fine. Katarina guesses "the Paperwork Craftsman" must be Nathan. She is glad that he is coming back tomorrow.
Laura scolds Nix: he should work a little harder on his paperwork instead of saying that. He can't even handle simple paperwork.
Nix laughs and tells her it is impossible for him. He is incredibly gorgeous, which means his head is also incredibly empty. God didn't give him too many gifts to ensure there was balance among people. Back at the academy, he was mostly bottom-ranked and would get sleepy just by reading a difficult text. Nix has proudly said this while taking a narcissistic pose. Katarina has distant eyes after hearing that. Laura also has distant eyes, and her face is saying, "There is no point talking to him".
Laura ignores Nix and tells Katarina that particularly difficult paperwork has come up today. They couldn't handle it at all, so they had no choice but to call Raphael even though he was off. It is unlucky that all the paperwork specialists except Lisa are off today, leaving only the muscle brains.
Katarina asks Laura if there is anything she can help with. Laura tells her she and Sora can't help with that kind of work yet, so she should just have lunch and do her deciphering work with Maria as always.
Katarina sadly agrees since she indeed can't help with paperwork. Laura pats her head and tells her she still appreciates the feeling. Katarina finds Laura so nice. She really is the model senpai.
Laura drags Nix back to the department room and asks him to at least classify the paperwork.
Katarina heads to the dining hall since she doesn't need to buy sandwiches for Raphael and Lisa anymore. She doesn't see Sora or Maria there, so she eats lunch alone.
Katarina Ponders What She Learns From Larna
Katarina goes to the deciphering room. Maria is not here yet. Katarina sits at her usual place.
Katarina thinks back about what Susanna told her.
Katarina saw in her FL2 dream a little while ago that Larna was not working at the Ministry. She thought it was because Larna was interested in magic power and magic that she joined the Ministry in this reality, but it was only part of the reason.
All the reasons that pushed her to join the Ministry came from a single man. That man whom Susanna and Noel adored. He was a childish adult who loved magic power, magic, and pranks. He made a toy version of an animal a prince hated and threw it at him. Katarina feels some affinity with the man.
It was because of that man that Susanna joined the Ministry as Larna.
Katarina wonders if it means he didn't exist in Fortune Lover 2, or if he just acted differently in this reality. She could have gone to meet him and checked things if he were still alive, but she can't since he is dead. She thought she obtained new information about the game, but in the end, she still can't make sense of anything.
Maria Arrives
Katarina suddenly sees Maria's face right in front of her. It startles her.
Maria steps back and apologizes while bowing her head. Katarina didn't respond when she called her, so she thought she was unwell and moved closer to check her face. Katarina apologizes for making Maria worry. She pretends she was just half-asleep. Maria readily believes her and tells her she is glad she isn't unwell.
Katarina asks Maria if she will spend all afternoon deciphering her covenant. Even if the upper management has told her to prioritize her deciphering work, she knows that Maria can't dedicate the whole afternoon to it whenever an urgent task come up. Maria tells her that she has planned to work on deciphering her covenant all afternoon. She is glad to work with Katarina.
Katarina feels bashful that the cute Maria said that to her. She feels like she would have definitely fallen for Maria if she had been a capture target. She is amazed that the FL1 capture targets didn't fall for Maria. But Geordo and Keith have weird taste, maybe because they are too popular with women. But unlike them, the FL2 capture targets are head over heels for Maria (though she doesn't know about Sora and Cezar).
Katarina wonders if Maria will end up with one of the FL2 capture targets. Spring has finally come for Maria. She finds it strange that Maria has no love stories despite her cuteness, good personality, and cooking and baking skills.
Katarina Asks Maria About Her Date With Dewey
Katarina remembers Dewey telling her this morning that he had asked Maria out. She wants to know how Maria feels about it.
Katarina tells Maria she heard from Dewey they will eat together next time. Maria confirms it. Dewey has invited her for a meal to thank her for all she did for him. She accepted, but she doesn't think she did anything to be thanked for.
Maria doesn't look bashful or nervous at all. She probably thinks she is just having a meal with a childhood friend and coworker. Katarina feels like the path is still long for Dewey.
Katarina asks Maria if they have decided on the restaurant. Maria replies they will eat in a new restaurant that opened recently. It isn't so far from the Ministry, and people say they have plenty of desserts, and they are delicious. Maria asks Katarina if she knows the restaurant.
Katarina enthusiastically tells her she knows about it. She has checked the place out because people said they had plenty of desserts, and they were delicious.
Maria tells her she thought it might be a restaurant Katarina would like. That's why she thought Dewey's invitation would be a good opportunity to try the place out. Actually, Katarina can just join them!
Maria asks Katarina if she is free tomorrow after work. Katarina has her head full of the many delicious desserts, so she gladly accepts. Maria is happy. Katarina imagines all the desserts awaiting her.
Katarina suddenly realizes that she has just accepted to third-wheel in the date Dewey has worked so hard to get. She initially just wanted to get some info about the date, but she completely forgot about it because of the desserts.
Katarina is about to tell Maria she can't after all, but before she does, Maria happily tells her with sparkling eyes that she is so glad she can have dinner with Katarina after work. Katarina awkwardly tells her they indeed never had dinner together after work. Maria agrees and suggests they go to the restaurant together so they can talk in the carriage. She is looking forward to it so much.
Seeing Maria so happy, Katarina doesn't dare to refuse the invitation. She deeply apologizes to Dewey in her heart. She promises she will help him get a second date.
End of Work Day
Afternoon work starts, and Katarina and Maria start deciphering their covenants. The feeling of guilt is keeping Katarina awake, but she has her head full, pondering what she can do to help Dewey get a second date. As a result, she doesn't make much progress deciphering the covenant.
Work is over and Maria cheerfully tells Katarina, "I am looking forward to tomorrow".
Katarina returns to her department. Raphael, Lisa, and Laura are still frantically processing paperwork.
Katarina worriedly asks Laura if she really can't do anything. Laura tells her they will be fine, but she would appreciate it if she could take away the noisy guys. Katarina notices Nix and Tank Top loudly cheering on Raphael, Lisa, and Laura. "Do your best! You can do it!". " You can overcome it with muscle power!". Lisa is giving Nix a death stare.
Katarina and Sora take Nix and Tank Top out.
Nix and Tank Top don't appreciate being thrown out when they honestly tried to cheer the three on. Sora bluntly tells them they were being a pain. Hearing this, Nix realizes Raphael and others must not be the type who need cheers. Then, Nix tells them he will get his nails polished, and Tank Top tells them he will go have muscle training. They both leave. Katarina finds the senpais so peculiar. Sora chuckles and agrees.
Katarina Tells Sora About Her Blunder
Katarina and Sora walk to the carriage gate.
Katarina tells Sora she inadvertently accepted to join Dewey and Maria on their date. After realizing it, she tried to pretend she had other plans, but Maria looked so happy that she couldn't.
Sora tells her she should have realized it before saying yes. He asks her why she accepted so quickly. Katarina explains it is because the restaurant has alluring desserts.
Katarina feels terrible about Dewey. After apologizing to him, she would like to help him get a second date, but she can't think of anything. She asks Sora if he has any idea.
Sora thinks Dewey will just need to approach Maria again. Sora will give advice to Dewey, but he thinks Katarina should refrain from doing anything. Rather, he flatly asks her not to do anything, else he has the feeling she would make things worse.
Katarina finds Sora's words rude, but she can't say anything back, given that she accepted to third-wheel Dewey's date.
Sora asks Katarina to help Dewey create a good mood tomorrow… but on second thought, he doesn't think Katarina can pull that off. Katarina indeed thinks she can't play wingman for someone. She could if she had advanced love techniques like Sora.
Katarina hits upon a realization. She asks Sora to join them so he can help set up a good mood for Dewey and Maria. Sora is not excited about it. Katarina insists since there is no way she can do it. Sora isn't sure Dewey and Maria will be okay with him joining them. Katarina tells him she is already joining them, so another person won't change things much.
Katarina asks Sora to ask Dewey and Maria if he can join them. She really wants to have dinner with him after work. Sora sighs and agrees to at least ask. Sora might complain, but Katarina knows he is nice and good at taking care of people.
Katarina and Sora arrive at the carriage gate.
Sophia Arrives
Just as she gets on the carriage, Katarina hears Sophia calling her.
Katarina is surprised to see Sophia. Sophia tells her today is the day she comes to the Ministry to help. She wanted to see Katarina during the day but couldn't, so she waited for her at the carriage gate. Katarina feels like there is a wagging tail behind Sophia
Katarina invites Sophia to go home with her part of the way. Sophia gladly accepts. Sora has a twitching face as he watches them leave.
In the carriage, Sophia sits right next to Katarina. She starts talking about how she helped compile documents at the Ministry today, then continues with the good books she read recently. Katarina feels so comfortable listening to Sophia's somewhat nostalgic voice that she feels sleepy.
FL2 Dream - The Opening
Katarina is having a FL2 dream again.
This time, Acchan didn't skip the opening of the game. Katarina can see her friends, the FL1 capture targets, passing by. But they feel kinda different. Geordo does not make subtle smiles like that, Keith doesn't consciously spread his sexiness like that, Alan is more honest and childish, and Nicol has sparkling eyes brimming with curiosity. Katarina realizes again that her friends are so different from their game versions
Now, the FL2 capture targets are passing by. First, Cyrus, the capable superior. On paper, he is a handsome man with glasses who looks cool, perfect, and decisive both at work and in his personal life. But in reality, he loves farming, is so uncomfortable with young women that he can hardly talk to them outside of work, and is a grade school boy when it comes to love. Katarina feels like laughing while looking at his picture in the game.
Then, Dewey, the shota. A genius, Maria's childhood friend, and a cute boy the player would want to protect. From what Katarina saw this morning, the real Dewey feels close to his game version. Katarina still feels sorry for messing up his date plan. She makes up her mind to do all she can not to get in his way.
Then, Sora, the sexy guy. He feels like a nice big brother right now, but the first time Katarina met him, he looked similar to his game version. Sora might look sexy like that if he were serious. But sexiness aside, OG!Sora also feels a bit different. His eyes and expressions are kinda dull and give off a dark feeling.
Katarina feels like something must have really happened for the characters to become different.
Then 2 shadows appear on the screen, most likely the hidden capture targets.
Katarina already knows that the first one is Cezar, the prince of Ethenell. A prince who has worked as a mercenary before. He acts like a prince in public, but outside of it, he feels like an easygoing big brother that could fit in downtown.
Katarina still has no idea who the second hidden character is. She wishes she could see a picture that could point to his identity.
FL2 Dream - The Scene
Katarina fervently prays that the hidden character will appear this time.
Her prayer was heard.
Katarina can see Cezar on the game screen. Katarina is extremely disappointed because she meant the second capture target, not this one.
Cezar's scene unfolds in the game.
Katarina doesn't care about Cezar's route because she has already seen his ending. She really wanted to see the second capture target.
In the game, Cezar worriedly asks Maria if she is alright. Maria tells him she was just a little dizzy. She tells him she will go home now. Cezar still thinks she should rest somewhere since she was about to faint. Maria insists she is fine and starts running, as if to run away. Looking at her leaving, Cezar still thinks Maria looked strange.
Katarina finds Maria strange in this scene. It isn't like her to refuse so firmly and run away.
The scene continues. Maria is outside enjoying the wind. She says, "It has been a while since I could feel sensation in a body. It's the best!" Katarina is confused by the line and wonders if it's really Maria who said that. Then Maria says, "Now, what should I do?", and right after she says, "Why is my body moving by itself?!"
Katarina is confused by Maria's lines.
Back to the game, Maria is confused about the situation. The other one explains to her that she is Lucy, a dark familiar, and that she will borrow her body for a bit. Maria urges her to give her body back. Lucy doesn't listen.
Katarina is shocked by the situation and wants someone to save Maria.
Katarina Ponders About Her Dream
Katarian wakes up. Next to her, Sophia is still talking and doesn't seem to have noticed she dozed off. It seems like she only slept for an instant. Even so, her dream was so dense.
Katarina can't believe Maria got her body taken over by a dark familiar. It would be terrible if it happened in reality. Katarina would like to do all she can so it doesn't happen, but she doesn't know when or even if it will happen. For now, she can just keep an eye on Maria.
Katarina wonders about the dark familiar that took control of Maria's body.
Katarina says goodbye to Sophia, then returns home.
Katarina thinks back on all that happened today: in the morning, Susanna opened her heart and shared painful memories, in the afternoon, she inadvertently accepted to third-wheel Dewey and Maria's date, and on the way back, she dreamed of Maria getting her body taken over by a dark familiar. So much happened today.
Katarina is worried about the dream. She doesn't want Maria to feel scared again after she was attacked by the dark group. She swears she will beat up any evil dark familiar that tries to take over Maria's body. But she doesn't know how to do it. Maybe by sucking it up in the skull stick like she did with the dragon?
During the night, Katarina has a dream where she sucks up Cerberus inside her stick.
Sora Will Join Them For Dinner
The next day, Katarina goes to the Ministry, as always.
She goes to the department room. Sora is here preparing the room as always.
Sora tells Katarina he will join them for dinner tonight since he got the OK from Dewey and Maria. Katarina remembers that yesterday, she accepted to third-wheel Dewey and Maria's date. She completely forgot about it because of the FL2 dream. Katarina is glad Sora will join them. It is reassuring.
Sora tells her that Maria said the same thing as her, but Dewey was shocked. He recovered only after Sora told him he would make effort so Dewey can invite her again. Katarina apologizes to Dewey in her heart and swears she will not get in his way again. Sora also asks her not to do it again.
Nathan Is Back
Laura arrives. She is princess-carrying Nathan. Katarina is surprised and awkwardly greets Laura. Laura greets Katarina and Sora.
Laura puts Nathan in his seat, gives him a pile of documents, and asks him to process them. Nathan starts processing the documents at incredible speed.
Laura tells Katarina she went to fetch Nathan first thing in the morning because they were so helpless. Now, they should be fine with the paperwork. Katarina is relieved. Laura adds that she princess-carried Nathan so he wouldn't get lost.
After that, Nathan continued to process documents at great speed. The Magic Tool Research Department's crisis was over.
In the morning, Katarina helped deliver packages since Raphael was busy with paperwork, and in the afternoon, she deciphered the Dark Covenant as always.
On the Way To the Restaurant
After work, Katarina and Sora go to the carriage gate. They wait there for a while, then Dewey and Maria arrive. Maria asks Katarina if they waited long. Katarina tells her they have just arrived.
Katarina, Sora, Maria, and Dewey get on a carriage and head to the restaurant. They talk about the restaurant inside the carriage. It appears Dewey likes sweets and has secretly been checking out sweets and dessert shops. There is a lively mood. Katarina thinks to herself that Dewey must love sweets to appeal to shota lovers.
The Dinner
They arrive at the restaurant. It is somewhat crowded, but Dewey has a booking, so they can enter. Katarina is amazed by Dewey's preparedness, but he awkwardly replies that it is nothing. Sora admonishes Katarina in a low voice: it is only natural that Dewey made a booking since it was supposed to be a date with the girl he loves. Katarina reflects on Sora's words.
Katarina looks at the menu and feels excited by the great variety of desserts. Sora (her Ministry mom) asks her to calm down. She should rather start with ordering a meal. Katarina agrees and orders the most popular set meal.
Katarina receives her order. It is a simple set meal with bread, soup, and meat. It is delicious. Now she can get excited about the desserts.
Katarina looks seriously at the dessert menu. Mom Sora asks her to make sure not to make herself sick by eating too much. Katarina recognizes this warning. Her home mom (Keith) and all the good moms say that, but she is now an adult, and of course, she won't eat too much and make herself sick in this situation where she is third-wheeling a date.
Katarina assures Sora that she will be careful, then gets excited about a cake. Sora wonders if she really understands. Maria and Dewey offer to help Katarina eat the cake if she can't finish it. Katarina thanks them.
Katarina shares her cake with Maria and Dewey and orders some more desserts.
………..
Katarina feels sick. Sora knew it would happen. Katarina has also dragged Maria and Dewey in her overeating: they are both sick.
Before Katarina leaves, Sora scolds her in a low voice: because of her, it was impossible to create a good mood for Maria and Dewey. He asks her not to do anything anymore and just watch them. Katarina feels so ashamed of herself.
After the Dinner
The next few days, Katarina goes to work normally at the Ministry. Maria looks normal and doesn't seem to have her body taken over by a familiar. But Katarina doesn't know when it will happen, so she remains vigilant.
Today is Katarina's day off, so she will deliver her vegetables to Cezar. She loads the vegetables inside the carriage and heads to the castle.