Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 96 : Letters and Bonds

"...Why are there so many letters? What's going on?"

The scene before her eyes was truly incredible. The entrance was almost crowded with messenger Biidori birds. These small, round birds fluttered their wings and perched on the eaves of the house, bringing a flurry of white letters. Countless envelopes floated down like snowflakes, nearly burying everyone.

This scene reminded Yvonne of the film segment in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" where owls endlessly stuffed letters into Harry's house. Although not as exaggerated, it was at least halfway there.

"Young Miss, these are all order forms," Linda said, still unperturbed. Her hands moved swiftly, stacking the letters into several piles, seemingly attempting to sort them by region.

"Order forms?"

For some unknown reason, the order forms for potatoes and other agricultural products from the region had suddenly surged.

Yvonne opened one of them and found it to be a cooperation letter from a familiar noble's large restaurant in the capital. They seemed to want to purchase through Emerald Port Logistics from the North Kalos region and apply for the production rights of 'North Kalos Pancakes'.

Strange...

Although she had sent the recipe to the Leinster Guild last week, entrusting Uncle Leonard to help apply for a contract patent and promote it, it shouldn't have been this effective so quickly.

"Evie—quick, look at this!"

With an expression of disbelief, Elsa spread open the latest issue of "Silver Eye" magazine that had arrived in the mail.

The magazine was subscribed to by Lena. "Silver Eye" seemed quite popular among the nobles and wealthy merchants in the central city area. Mother Lena had been a bookworm young lady in her boudoir since her youth, and their home used to be filled with various books and writings she ordered.

Thanks to Lena, Yvonne had also grown to love reading.

Now, although they had reduced expenses in this area due to their exile, they still maintained the habit of subscribing to periodicals.

The headline was "North Kalos' Legendary Specialty Food," with a full two-page spread and detailed hand-drawn illustrations.

The cover page featured golden crispy potato pancakes paired with North Kalos' local specially made savory brown sauce.

The review was surprisingly high, so high that even Yvonne, as the creator, found it unbelievable.

The slogan was also quite exaggerated: "The ultimate delicacy hidden in the borderlands," "The simplest ingredients, the most exquisite enjoyment."

It was so exaggerated that it seemed as if not having tasted this 'North Kalos Pancake' would be a lifelong regret.

...What kind of legendary dish was this?! She didn't remember making anything like this.

But after reading it, she had to admit that the article was highly persuasive. After finishing it, there was a strong desire to "want to try it."

"So that's why there are so many letters..."

It seems this was the reason for the sudden popularity of North Kalos Pancakes.

Given the influence of "Silver Eye," achieving this effect wasn't surprising.

This free publicity was quite effective...

"Ah, come to think of it—"

Lena quickly clapped her hands as if remembering something.

"Mother, what is it?"

"I remember now, a few days ago, a traveling bard came to the village!"

"A traveling bard?"

On the day of the trial cooking, Lena went to distribute the excess fried potato pancakes and saw a traveler in tattered clothes at the village entrance.

"He looked very hungry, so I gave him some of the trial North Kalos Pancakes to eat~"

"...And then?"

"And then... well, he seemed to like them very much~ He even said he would give us some good publicity."

After receiving the food, the bard seemed quite moved, saying he had never eaten anything so delicious before.

The bard, named Peter, claimed to be a column editor for the monthly "Silver Eye" magazine, traveling around collecting material. His original plan was to cross the northern desert, but he unfortunately got chased by monsters and ended up in dire straits.

Yvonne flipped open the magazine page again, and sure enough, as her mother said, it was signed by a legendary wandering reporter named Peter.

This development was truly incredible.

Mother's luck was too good, wasn't it?

"Lena, bring me some more ink—"

"Of course, dear."

Campbell, as the lord, was writing replies non-stop.

"Hehehe... If we can negotiate this many business deals, we'll have the funds for regional development!"

Uncle's expression when thinking about money really suited playing a villain.

"Evie—This is wonderful~~~!!"

Elsa was also genuinely happy about this success, joyfully hugging Yvonne.

Yvonne hadn't expected that the knowledge she brought from another world would have such value.

Now there was nothing to worry about.

It was time to get busy.

"Anyway—let's sort the purchase orders by region first!"

"Alright~~!"

The two joined the team sorting the letters.

·

"...Huh?"

Among the snowflake-like pile of letters, Yvonne found a special one.

"This is... mail from Capella?"

"Young Miss, that's my personal letter."

Linda took the letter from Yvonne's hand.

"Linda, do you know someone in Capella too?"

"...Haven't I mentioned it before? Young Miss, you and Miss Elsa should both know this person."

Hearing her say this, Yvonne looked even more confused.

The maid Linda smiled as she opened the envelope in front of Yvonne and showed her the signature on the letter.

"...Sister Delia?!"

How did these two know each other?

Seeing her reaction, Linda looked a bit helpless.

"Young Miss, have you forgotten? It was you who said I 'knew' that Sister back then."

She had gone to quite some trouble to make that lie believable.

"Could it be that you've been corresponding since then?"

This was an unexpected connection.

The content of the letter was mainly greetings and inquiries about Elsa and the others' recent situation. The wording was as gentle and kind as ever, but judging from the phrasing, the two seemed to have a good relationship.

"Yes."

Linda admitted quite frankly.

"Eh—?!"

She had originally intended to act as a bridge for her young lady, thinking that as long as the tenant served as a connection, the young lady could ask her about Elsa's situation anytime.

But for some reason, later on, the young lady never mentioned Elsa to her again, as if she had suffered some great shock and forgotten all about that child, which worried her for quite a while.

"Don't push yourself... This is quite heavy, we can make space later, okay?"

"Ugh... No, I must... I can do it!!"

Watching Yvonne extend her hand worriedly behind the swaying Elsa, the maid smiled the smile of a guardian.

Fortunately, the two were now connected anew.