Afterword
I’M on vacation with my lord husband after traveling by boat from the port town of Orta.
Lots of humans at our destination have black hair and black eyes. They don’t possess magical prowess and seem quite weak, and there are so many of them. And I’ve heard there is lots of food I’ve never seen before too.
We are seated along a counter, and a large bowl is placed before us. It contains soup overflowing with lots of vegetables… I’m told the dish is called ramen and is similar to pasta, yet I can’t see anything other than vegetables. Oh, half a boiled egg, and meat too. And what are those? One is soft and branchlike, and the other flat and round with red and white swirls on it. From the bowl wafts a delicious mixture of aromas. I watch as my lord husband spoons a portion into a smaller bowl for me. Ooh! Something long and squishy! It’s the ramen peeking out from under the vegetables!
“It’s hot, so make sure you blow on it before eating… I heard it gets heavy if it cools too much though.”
Isn’t heavier better?
He picks up two thin sticks he calls chopsticks, then starts to slurp his ramen noisily. Guess bad manners are okay then!
I try to do the same but can’t capture any noodles. One of the staff passes me a fork. I can surely do it; I just need some practice. But if I take too long, the noodles will get heavy. Again, isn’t heavier better?! Perhaps I won’t be able to eat it all in that case.
I blow on it for a moment then take a bite… I can’t manage the slurping sound.
“W-Well, maybe try eating two or three strands at once?” My lord husband winds some ramen around his chopsticks and feeds it to me. Delicious! It’s so soft and smooth and chewy! I taste a combination of flavors as varied as the aromas, along with a bit of meaty soup!
I can do it myself. Hook three strands with a fork… Oops. Two have fallen off so just one is left. Now, slurp, slurp! I suck hard and something flies upward, hitting my forehead.
Hot! So hot! I jump a little, and my lord husband coughs before hurriedly peeling the object off my head.
It was the red and white swirl. So small yet so hot… My lord husband pops it into his mouth, then twirls more noodles around his chopsticks for me. So squishy and delicious! Twirly noodles are tasty. This must be the city of twirls!
…The next volume, Abby Goes to Japan: Even If They Tell Me to Stop Because I Can’t Finish it All is coming soon!
Soon? Maybe not.
Thank you for your continued patronage! This is Mameta!
I’m so happy to release the second volume of Dinners with My Darling despite the rising cost of paper in Japan. It must be all thanks to everyone who has supported me…!
If you’ve picked up this second volume, you must already own the first one. If not, it is likely displayed somewhere near this second volume, so please grab both of them and proceed to the register. Thank you!
Well, this is my first time penning an afterword. When I was compiling volume one, I was given the choice to write one and gleefully opted not to. I mean, I didn’t know what to write!
A self-introduction first? A self-introduction…?
Well, the origin of Dinners with My Darling was the web novel site Shousetsuka ni Narou, where both professional writers and amateurs can post their work. The series belongs to a popular genre called romance, and more specifically to the “I won’t love you” subgenre, where the story begins with a protagonist uttering this phrase. I love it.
Abigail was born because my fellow writers who read my drafts and then blackmail me into releasing new works convinced me of the merits of the “I won’t love you” genre and persuaded me to write it. In the first few paragraphs I wrote, she wasn’t the former Monster King at all, but after I took a break and made some coffee, she became the former Monster King. Somehow. Because I thought that was cute.
I’d planned to write a novella, and it just got longer and longer because I wanted to add in more things, until the publishing company Futabasha approached me about going to print. I’ve been cluelessly and selfishly relying on CutieU, my editor at Futabasha, and Hanazome-sensei, who illustrated the adorable Abby, and here we are today. So books are made through the efforts of many people! Amazing! And thanks to them, I’ve heard that the story has been very well received.
What’s more, the manga version is scheduled to be released in Japan one month after the release of this second volume! Amazing! I feel like I’ve used up all the virtue from my previous life in a single year.
As I write this afterword, I’m planning to upload the third arc, a sequel to this second volume, on Shousetsuka ni Narou. There are no plans to release a third volume yet. It all depends on the sales of the second volume!
I hope to deliver more Abigail to everyone. I should be able to do that; I think I still have a lot of virtue left in my current life. I’ve heard rumors that the editorial department will publish a third volume if they receive letters requesting a sequel! If that’s the case, thank you in advance!
Once again, I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who purchased this book, all my supporters on Shousetsuka ni Narou, my editor CutieU, Hanazome-sensei who accommodates all of my requests, and everyone involved in bringing this to print.
And to my friends reading my drafts and hounding me for updates, thank you with all my heart, and please give me more ideas.
Praying to meet you all again. Have a nice day!