Page 148 of I Ran Away to Evil
“Ohhh. She mostly plays in Drendil and only travels to festivals in other kingdoms a few times a year.”
“If you think about it, few, if any, have seen him in his human form. He could come and go without causing too much trouble.”
I nodded. Our food arrived, and we enjoyed some fish cakes, stuffed mushrooms, and tossed flowers. There were a lot more varieties of food harvested in the forest. Since arriving, I’d had at least fifteen different kinds of mushrooms, four different tubers, and over a hundred different edible flowers. My favorites so far were the glowing blue stringy mushrooms with little green gills, and the ignia bulb flower that I tapped, and it burst open with motes of pollen sparkling in the air and settling like sweet glitter on the rest of my plate.
“I’m so happy Brownie will be here for St. Veralyn’s Day. I’ll be sad to see her go, but if she’s performing at the Spring Ball she’ll need to get there early to prepare. I’ll miss her when she’s gone.”
“We can invite her often,” Keith said.
It was a kind offer, and I thanked him. He looked at me for a second and sighed. “You know you can invite her wheneveryouwant, right? I’m just saying thatwecould invite her for official things as well.”
“Oh.” I blushed. Actually, I hadn’t realized that.
Keith took a sip of his drink and came away with a bit of foam on his lip. We both laughed.
I was so happy I didn’t think of theotherimportant event coming up.
CHAPTER 88
If Your Wife Accidentally Kills My Wife, I’m Not Going to Be Happy
Keith
St. Veralyn’s Day dawned bright and damp. Morning mist faded as the sun climbed higher in the sky, and everyone in the Dark Enchanted Forest was busy celebrating the holiday with family.
Streets were decorated with tassels, magical lights floated everywhere in greens and pinks in honor of the Green Dragon whose favorite color was rose pink.
Keith normally enjoyed being home at this time. He’d tramped around the Dark Enchanted Forest enough these last few weeks, and his inner sanctum called. He had so many ideas for new constructs, and they would take time to map out. He also had some furniture to reinforce, and he wanted to optimize his wings for two-person flight.
He’d been tinkering since he’d gotten back.
But today, all of that was set aside. Today, he had a beautiful princess to escort.
“They can really go at it when death isn’t a concern.” Henrietta sat with Keith while they overlooked the castle’s royal duels from the second-floor balcony. The courtyard in the castle village had been set up with two rings used for all manner of activities. There had been dancing, plays, magic, skill demos, and now, open dueling for everyone’s entertainment. Anyone who wanted satisfaction could compete on tournament days like this to gain attention or seek justice or both.
The sanctioned dueling was relatively new, he was reminded, and had become all the rage across the continent a scant few years ago. He had a newfound appreciation for it, as his meeting with Henrietta had sprung from a misunderstood duel request.
Not that peopleneededto duel out their frustrations. He’d set up a comprehensive system for complaints management as part of the monstrous resources department.
He noticed some of his people looking up at the royal box and adjusted his gaze to stern. Usually, Rufus presided over the festival and the duels, though there had been that one disastrous time Chloe had done it. There’d been so much glitter that she was now banned from organizing any future public events. He’d taken over the duty today so he could show his people his princess. Er, their princess. Their future queen? He felt a blush creeping up his neck.
“It’s so handy having a necromancer on staff.” Henrietta interrupted his thoughts, looking to where Chloe was reattaching an arm.
“Actually, Chloe isn’t usually here. They have to make do with Revive potions. And today she’s letting the new healer squad handle the majority of the work.”
[Resurrection] brought anyone dead back up at peak condition, but [Revival] just got them back up on their feet. It … wasn’t ideal.
They both watched with bemusement as Countess Julia suplexed a challenger. Chloe’s fiancée was having a marvelous time.
Henrietta bit her lip. “Do you think I … ?”
Keith let go of her hand. “I bet you she’d love the challenge.”
Henrietta made an excitedsqueakand jumped up. She aimed and leapt over the side of the balcony, landing in the ring next to Julia.
Both women laughed and got into place for the duel.
Henrietta didn’t even use Jacqueline, keeping her sheathed, and instead gathering [Sword Aura] around her index and middle finger. Julia seemed a little insulted at first before Chloe leaned over the fence and yelled, “Void-damage sword!” at the paladin. She did a double take and then accepted the arrangement without complaint.
