Page 84 of I Ran Away to Evil
“Yes.” Keith nodded. He stood by what he’d said.
The song in the kitchen came to a full crescendo, and the doors burst open to reveal a beautiful black-haired princess dressed in a blue day dress complete with short poofy sleeves, and a pristine white half apron around her waist.
Olen came up to stand beside his wife, holding the bowls while she held the drinks. Purple sparkles danced across the cups as the last remnants of Lavender’s [Bubble Blitz] spell finished.
Princess Penelope curtsied low. “My king, my queen, allow me to present your dinner!”
Keith quite liked the sound ofmy queen. Ria choked on air beside him.
CHAPTER 53
A King-Size Bed
Henrietta
Yes, Keith and I were courting. And besides the fact that he was very pretty, he was also very good company.
We were of similar stations, so my parents couldn’t complain—excepting the whole mortal enemies, assassins, and kingdom war part. I didn’t have any fiancé waiting for me back home, although my mother had brought up a number of court lords and ladies as marriage partners over the years, mostly as a threat to get me ready for the next dungeon delve.
“If you can’t level up faster, the least you could do is marry someoneactuallycompetent. How about Lady Luise? She’ll make a fine jewel for the kingdom when you’re king,” she’d say.
“Lady Luise beat her maid to death last week with a candelabra. I don’t know if she’d make a good queen?”
“Tut-tut, she’ll need that determination to rule beside someone as weak asyou, dear. Now, go level up properly—if you can’t grow a backbone, you can at least get strong enough to be impressive to hide your disgusting naivete.”
It wasn’t much of a threat; I’d always assumed my marriage would be a political marriage—with no offspring because of the curse. Any partner would just be for show, and with my parent’s tastes I knew I wouldn’t enjoy the match.
While I was very seriously considering Keith’s …interest, and I was getting used to the idea that people were encouraging our relationship, that wasn’t the same as outright being called queen of the Dark Enchanted Forest by a beautiful princess.
Penelope’s long black hair was tied in a ponytail that braided down to her knees. Her eyes were slim and delicate like her fox heritage, though she didn’t show a hint of any tails.
“Thank you, Penelope,” Keith told the woman. “Theprincessand I will let you know if there is anything else.”
“We are at your service!” If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Penelope smirked at Keith before grabbing Olen’s arm and dragging him back to the kitchen. “I hope you like your drinks with extra glimmer?”
“It’s wonderful, thank you.” I praised.
Lavender was back at the bar, enchanting drinks.TheLavender. The last time I’d heard of the Lizard Wizard, she was in a party of adventurers in the Depths of Despair Dungeon. Not many talking animals went from helping deserving lost heroes to becoming legends in their own right. If I recalled correctly, Lavender had started by giving directions to a seventh son.
I pulled my eyes away to focus on Keith. He was watching me with thatlookhe sometimes got. The one that said he was very happy and content. He’d finally relaxed a bit with food in front of us.
“Thank you.” I braced myself to sample the stew.
“For what?” Keith tilted his head. He lifted a spoonful of broth and blew on it gently.
“For letting her know I wasn’t the queen yet in a way that didn’t cause a spectacle.” I eyed my own bowl.
Keith shrugged.
This was my second tavern stew in as many days, and I had to immediately apologize to Marvin because there was a reasonthisstew was talked about across the entire Dark Enchanted Forest. It was golden, creamy, and slightly sweet. I tasted hints of curry mixed with cardamom, and the spices heated my tongue without being uncomfortable. The potatoes were soft deliciousness infused with the flavors of mushrooms and carrots and onions. The beef melted in my mouth.
The broth was unique and flavorful in a way that I’d never tasted before. I moaned with pleasure. Keith twitched.
“This is amazing.” I finally had enough cognitive function to speak. “Do you think Panlith would forgive me if I hired a singing princess and beastman to cook at the palace once a week?”
“Panlith hasn’t taken a day off since he took over that kitchen five years ago,” Keith told me. “His house collapsed during a heavy rainstorm, trapping him and his family under the bog. His wife and children could be [Resurrected], but his body was washed downstream and took too long to find. After Chloe [Raised] him, he showed up and hasn’t left the kitchen since. I think he would fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” I coughed on a sip of the bubbling spritzer. “Panlith isa zombie?”
