Epilogue
SHE walked along the hallway, her footsteps echoing loudly. When she turned around, she spotted some pale-faced servants, but her hands were full. Many shook their heads as the Dragon Consort walked past. Jill took deep breaths as she stared at the double doors in front of her.
She’d overcome countless obstacles getting here. For starters, the most important person would always faint like some sort of trope. He kept his guard up even while he was being nursed back to health, and all the while, Jill had to frantically clean up the aftermath of the battle and prepare for the meeting.
Her father would go, “No need to nurse a man like that! Let’s train together!”
And Jill couldn’t stop herself from taking him up on that and going all-out on him. Before she knew it, the day was gone. Raw was preciously kept safe in the back of the dragon stables by the other dragons and showed no signs of leaving. Jill claimed that she just wanted to check on his condition, but the dragons only pleaded with tears in their eyes, and when she asked Meine to act as a middleman, the dragon pretended not to hear the request. But Jill already knew that her target could already get up. He can’t run from our fight, she thought. This’ll affect our future life as a married couple, too.
“Good morrow! Your Majesty, have you steeled yourself for the beating of your life?” she bellowed.
“I was waiting for you, Jill!” Hadis exclaimed, decked out in his favorite apron.
He promptly removed the cloth from the round table between them and revealed an array of glittering dishes. A hamburger with a juicy, meaty patty, a perfectly soft-boiled egg, crunchy bacon atop toast, sandwiches stuffed with sweet fruit, baked custard pudding, and a large cream puff sat atop the table. Is there potage in that pot? She gulped eagerly when she saw the mille-feuille stuffed with strawberries. Jill’s eyes twinkled with excitement, but she soon snapped back to reality.
Hadis couldn’t have just randomly decided upon making these dishes. This was his elaborate and skilled plan to quell Jill’s anger.
“I-I won’t be fooled,” Jill said.
Hadis placed a few dishes on a tray and approached her as Jill did her best to look away. He crouched in front of her and said, “Inside this cream puff is strawberry cream. It’s my first attempt.”
“Don’t think you’ve won!” Jill cried.
“Say ‘ahhh.’”
“Ahhh!”
For the past few days, Jill had eaten nothing but preserved food. The soft and sweet bite that filled her mouth was pure bliss.
“Yuuum!” she moaned. “I can really taste the strawberry in this cream! Does this one use a mix of custard cream and fresh cream?”
Hadis led her by the hand to the table. She eagerly jumped onto the chair that he pulled out for her.
“Don’t eat in a rush,” Hadis said. “Have some tea. Don’t spill any, all right?”
“Okay!” Jill replied. “Oooh! This one’s chocolate!”
“Missy…” Rave said.
“Hi, Rave. Do you feel better?” Jill asked. “This is delicious!”
“I’m not one to talk, but couldn’t you have resisted the temptation for a bit longer?”
Jill’s cheeks were stuffed with pure happiness as she gasped. “Your Majesty, I’m angry with you!” she exclaimed.