“M-Milady! Y-Yes, as you can see, I am doing quite well,” she replied awkwardly in contrast to the way she had interacted with us previously. Of course, I couldn’t blame her. Back then, she had been the head cook and I a mere attendant, but now she was staff at a stall while I was the Dragon Duchess consort. I told her that there was no need to act so formally, but she looked very nervous. It didn’t help that Van was right behind me as well.
The former head cook opened the steamer and we were greeted by a cloud of vapor. Before long, the fluffy, steamed mont blancs inside became visible. My brother treated all of us to one of these pastries. There were seats in front of the stall so we could eat them immediately. They also served us complimentary hot tea, and it was a great match for the gentle, fluffy taste of the mont blanc.
The former head cook approached us. “The modified herbal tea that we discussed previously is being served at a stall in the central plaza. Please have some if you have the time,” she said.
“Thank you for telling us. I’m looking forward to trying it,” I replied. The former head cook seemed to be enjoying her new job too, so I felt happy for her.
We would all be going our separate ways from here. Each of our three groups was staying at a different inn.
“Roche, you’re not sleeping with Opera today, all right? You two are still merely engaged, so I won’t be allowing it!” Van warned.
“Y-Yes, milord!” Roche stammered in reply.
Our inn arrangements were as follows: Van and I at one, Madeleine and my brother at another, Lady Opera and Parfeil sharing one, and Roche and a few knights at the last one.
Roche looked dejected at that split, but Lady Opera cheerfully called out to him.
“Roche! We are heading out!”
“Okay!” he exclaimed, but upon hearing that they were going on a long trip on an elk, he looked disappointed once more. They were going to check the rooms first before heading out.
And with that, we all headed for our respective destinations.
Our inns were all separate buildings, with one group staying in a single lodge. Only Van and I would be staying in our lodge. While there were knights stationed outside our building, they wouldn’t be entering it. We were now free to spend our time as we pleased.
The lodge’s interior was more luxurious than the one we’d had at the Forêt Noire estate. The lodge was a bungalow with a living room, a study, a tea room, and a bedroom—several rooms where one could just laze around. There were no servants here to wait on us, but we could order tea and snacks through crystal transmissions. There were also hot and cold drinks stored in magicstone containers to preserve their temperature.
“Mille-Feuille, we’re finally on our own.”
“You’re right.” I thought I’d be a bit more vulnerable today. I went and embraced Van, but as I did, he froze. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“U-Um, nothing... I just didn’t think that you would embrace me like this,” he admitted. “Right now, I’m frozen with shock, confusion, and elation all at the same time.”
“I didn’t expect you to have such a complicated reaction. Well, I’ll be sweeter to you from now on so you don’t get shocked.”
“R-Really?!”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“W-Well, you’re right,” he stammered.
Van took out a piece of paper from his pocket and started writing. He wrote so fervently that I couldn’t help but peek at his work. The contents were shocking.
“‘A contract for Mille-Feuille to be sweet to Van once a day’?!”
“That’s right,” he said. “I want to have it in writing or you might forget about it.”
“Once a day is too much,” I protested.
Van’s eyes widened in disbelief. “W-Well, what about once a month?”
“I’m not sure about that frequency...”
“D-Do you mean you only want it once every six months?!”
I shook my head, and Van slumped down in despair.
“Well, I was thinking that I could be sweet to you once a week,” I said. Van seemed to doubt his ears and asked me to repeat that. “I said, I could be sweet to you once a week.”
“Mille-Feuille!!! You’re the best!!!” Van shook my hand with tears in his eyes, and I laughed at all of his over-the-top reactions.
Our fun trip to Diamant came and went in the blink of an eye. Our ride back to the capital was also in a wyvern carriage. All of us had enjoyed the hot springs to the fullest, and we had bags full of souvenirs to bring back to the capital. The Jeweled Snow Hot Spring Lotion had been sold out, much to Lady Opera’s annoyance, so Fenetra would be sending some her way at a later date.
“The hot springs were fun, but I think I would like some places to visit in other regions as well,” I said, blurting out my thoughts while everyone was talking about the trip. Lady Opera and Madeleine seemed to agree wholeheartedly with my comment.
Van, meanwhile, seemed to sulk in response. “I knew it! You did want to take on more tourism work! And when you do, you’re going to get so absorbed in your work that you’ll ignore me every night!” he complained.
“I didn’t say I was going to be in charge of it!” I retorted.
“Really?”
“Really.” I didn’t want to be the Dragon Duke’s maid ever again, even if it was only disguising myself on a trip to another region. “That’s why this time, I’m going to have someone else take charge.”
“Well then, I have an idea in mind,” Lady Opera declared.
“What is it?”
“What about wyvern racing? We have horse racing in the capital and elk racing in Diamant. We could add wyvern racing to our list of attractions!” she announced proudly.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to make gambling even more popular,” Van complained.
“Well then, brother, do you have any good ideas in mind?”
“Me? Hmm... What about a museum to celebrate Mille-Feuille?”
“Who’s going to go to that?” I asked.
“I’d go there every single day.”
“Make that in your private garden or something, not with our public funds,” I retorted, and Lady Opera nodded in agreement.
We spent time talking about such silly things until we arrived back in the capital.