The Terminally Ill Villainess Goes on a Journey - Chapter 6

Suddenly, I remembered a woman I had met there.

At the time, I was feeling deeply disillusioned with life.

Despite studying hard to get into university, all I had been given was a life weighed down by endless part-time jobs. That realization had exhausted me.

I had come to the ocean on an impulse and spent the entire day staring at it, losing track of time.

As I sat on the sandy shore, gazing vacantly at the waves, a woman approached and sat down beside me.

“You’ve been sitting here for a while. Are you okay?”

I didn’t push her away when she spoke to me warmly.

Maybe it was because I was lost in my emotions, but I ended up chatting with her about all sorts of things.

She was two years older than me and aspired to be a novelist.

She loved traveling and said she wanted to write a book inspired by her journeys.

“What about you? What’s your dream?”

“Me…? Just sending my younger siblings to college.”

“Come on, not that kind of thing.”

I had been so drained by my endless part-time jobs that I made a joke.

But she asked again, this time with a serious voice.

“Is there nothing you truly want to do? After your siblings are in college, surely you must have at least one dream of your own.”

“…Oh. I do.”

After a moment of thought, I answered.

“Traveling abroad.”

“……”

“Once I send my siblings to college, I want to travel freely. Especially a train journey—I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Thinking back, that was probably the first time I had dreamed of traveling by train.

Recalling the past, a warm smile spread across my face.

‘…I miss her. I wonder how she’s doing now.’

That meeting had led to us exchanging emails and becoming pen pals.

Though I had died before ever traveling, she had achieved her dream.

No matter how persistently I had asked for the title of her published book, she had always shyly refused to tell me.

‘I hope she’s happy.’

Even though I was fulfilling my dream in another world, I wished for her to live a long life and continue writing her stories.

I, too, would see my dream come true in this world.

“Look, Miss. That must be the entrance to the harbor.”

Keeruk, keeruk—

The cries of seagulls filled the air, blending with the lively chatter of the people around us.

Just as we were about to enter the harbor, a large sign reading ‘Lisman Central Market’ caught my eye.

‘Hmm?’

I noticed a man standing amidst the crowd, drawing my gaze.

Unlike the others, he didn’t blend into the background—he stood out, as if he were a character straight out of a novel.

It was the same feeling I had when I first encountered Finn and the male leads.

‘…Is he from the novel too?’

But his expression was rough. He didn’t seem like one of the male leads.

Then, just as I turned my head, his eyes met mine.

‘What…’

A strange chill ran down my spine, and I quickly averted my gaze.

‘Unsettling.’

For some reason, I had a bad feeling about that man.

***

“Freshly caught herring and squid!”

“We have salmon and cod, too! We can cook them for you on the spot!”

I began exploring the Lisman Central Market.

The market was bustling with the voices of merchants and shoppers alike.

“Wow, Miss. Look over there! A ship is coming in.”

Sophie pointed to a large sailing ship approaching the dock—likely a merchant vessel.

Wow… That was enormous.

In both my past and present life, I had never seen a ship that big before.

Besides the large vessel, countless smaller boats were docked along the harbor.

Fishermen were unloading boxes filled with fish, engaging in live auctions and negotiations on the spot.

Freshly caught seafood filled the market stalls, and people bustled about, purchasing the neatly arranged goods.

‘Lisman Harbor is famous for a reason.’

Seeing it in person, I finally understood why this place was so famous.

The sheer scale of it was astonishing.

Even though Lisman itself wasn’t a particularly large region, this place was overwhelmingly vast.

“Wow, it’s so crowded.”

Sophie held onto me tightly as we navigated through the mass of people.

“There really are a lot of people. Be careful not to get hurt, Miss.”

“Don’t worry.”

I smiled at Sophie as I reassured her. Just then, a loud voice rang out.

“Oh, it’s the princess!”

A familiar voice.

I turned my head towards its source.

…It was Finn.

Standing beside him, holding the child’s hand, was Harry.

‘So much for thinking I wouldn’t run into them again.’

I suppose it was inevitable, since we were traveling on the same train.

It seemed like they had also disembarked to explore, just as we had.

“Hello, Princess!” Finn ran up to me excitedly and greeted me.

Sophie crossed her arms. “Kid, how many times do I have to tell you? She’s not a princess—she’s Lady Hartmann.”

“Oh, right! Lady! Lady Hartmann!”

Finn laughed brightly at Sophie’s correction, then eagerly held something out to me.

“Lady, would you like to try this? It’s really good!”

He handed me a small folded paper box containing pickled fish.

Huh? This looked strangely familiar…

As I was trying to remember where I had seen it before, Sophie spoke up.

“That’s herring, isn’t it?”

“Yep! There’s so much good food here! My brother bought it for me. Hehe.” Finn proudly pointed at Harry as he spoke.

Sophie frowned. “I’m sorry, but the Lady doesn’t eat such cheap fish like herring—”

“…Wow. That looks delicious.”

“…Excuse me?”

Oops.

Before I could stop myself, my thoughts slipped out aloud.

Now I remembered.

This was something I had seen in my past life—on the internet, at least.

Haring, a dish from the Netherlands!

One of the country’s signature foods, made from pickled herring.

‘Back then, whenever life felt suffocating, I would search for travel destinations online…’

That had become one of my habits after I started dreaming about traveling.

Since YouTube had been well-developed in my previous life, I had easy access to travel videos from all around the world.

‘Is it because this novel was written by a modern Korean author?’

It seemed like Western foods that existed in my past life were naturally blended into this world.

‘Either way, I always wanted to try something like this while traveling abroad…’

“Miss, do you really want to eat herring? You never even looked at food like this before.”

“Well… It’s just because I’m traveling.”

I laughed at Sophie’s puzzled expression.

“It’s a rare chance to try commoner food that I wouldn’t normally have access to. I should experience it while I can.”

So much for avoiding male leads—I had lost to my curiosity about herring.

“Thank you, Finn. I’ll enjoy it.”

I took the herring from Finn’s hands.

As I hesitated, unsure of how to eat it, Harry spoke up, “Lady, it tastes best when you hold it by the tail, tilt your head back, and eat it whole.”

“Really…?”

I glanced at Harry, then lifted the herring as he had instructed.

I looked up at the sky, where soft clouds drifted lazily, and took a big bite of the herring.

Chewing carefully, I took in the texture. At first, it felt strange—soft, almost mushy, with a slight fishy smell.

But then, the rich oiliness of the fish spread across my tongue, accompanied by an unexpected depth of umami.

‘Wait… This is actually delicious?’

Not just good—absolutely amazing!

It reminded me of fermented fish dishes from my past life, yet it had a unique flavor of its own.

“Where did you buy this?”

Just as I was urgently asking Finn and Harry, a commotion erupted nearby.

“Pickpocket!”

A woman’s loud voice echoed through the market.