“But...”
“?”
Just as Lin Ling was about to nod and answer Ivelia’s question, Ivelia leaned in close to her ear.
“I know something even more delicious here.”
“Huh?”
Lin Ling’s expression went blank. She was sure she had already tried all the surrounding stalls.
“That would be the skewer in your hand, Miss Saintess.”
Seeing everyone crowded around the stalls and making sure no one was watching, Ivelia leaned down and swallowed the meat skewer Lin Ling was halfway through in one bite.
“Wait, what?”
Did something terrifying just happen?
Looking at the empty skewer in her hand, Lin Ling’s eyes widened. She stared at Ivelia, who was slowly savoring the meat, then back at the bare stick.
“Lord Demon King, are you really just tasting the meat?”
Ivelia was still chewing, a lingering smile on her face. It was truly hard to believe she was just “tasting” it.
“It tastes good.”
After swallowing the meat, Ivelia gave Lin Ling a deep, meaningful smile.
That’s exactly the kind of expression that’s wrong!
“So, Miss Saintess, which flavor do you think is good?”
“I don't know!”
Lin Ling looked at Ivelia’s smiling face, then turned away, completely unable to meet her gaze.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you, my dear Miss Saintess.”
Seeing Lin Ling’s ears turning bright red, Ivelia handed her own skewer over. In times like these, all it took was a little food for the Saintess to immediately forgive her. This was hardly a secret in the Demon King's Castle anymore.
And indeed, it worked.
Smelling the aroma of the meat, Lin Ling immediately turned back toward Ivelia.
“You should have said you had another skewer~ The Saintess will forgive Ivelia-chan just this once.”
“Awoo~”
After taking a bite, Lin Ling closed her eyes to savor the “shared” skewer from Ivelia.
She had thought there were no more left after giving hers to Ivelia, but did the Demon King hide one...?
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Lin Ling, and her eyes snapped open. She shot a terrified look at Ivelia.
Before the Saintess had handed over her skewer, the Demon King shouldn't have been holding one. Moreover, that skewer Ivelia just handed over... she must have eaten from it, right?
It had to be! It must be! Why was Ivelia-chan smiling like that right now?!
“How does it taste?”
“Maybe... not so good.”
Lin Ling replied with a face that looked like she was about to cry. After thinking it over, she was absolutely sure she had just eaten food that had been in Ivelia-chan's mouth.
“It doesn't taste good?”
Seeing Lin Ling’s panicked expression, Ivelia took a step forward. Then, under Lin Ling’s frantic gaze, she bit off the last piece of meat from the skewer.
After finishing the last bit of roast meat from the Saintess's hand, Ivelia didn't forget to whisper in her ear.
“It tastes great. Thank you for the treat.”
“Gwaaaaaah!!!”
Tears instantly welled up in the Saintess's eyes. This was exactly why the Saintess was panicking!
The scream drew the attention of everyone nearby. However, after seeing that the Demon King was merely teasing the Saintess again, the residents just shook their heads.
With smiles that suggested they didn't quite understand but accepted it, they went back to their own business.
“Was that... someone screaming over there?”
Hearing the distant scream of the Saintess, Ichikawa looked in that direction.
“Oh my~ It seems there’s a bit of a situation~”
Kavia, who was following beside him, had an unmistakable glint of amusement in her eyes. She grabbed Ichikawa’s hand and started running toward them.
“Wait, hold on, Miss Kavia, my hand, my hand...”
Being suddenly grabbed by a woman like this was still a bit too much for Ichikawa.
When they got closer, they saw Ivelia pressed tightly against Lin Ling, whispering in her ear.
“Um, Miss Kavia, they...”
Ichikawa didn't know what to say at the sight.
“Oho! This is it! Mari-chan will definitely be happy.”
The ears on Kavia’s head began to twitch and even crossed over each other from time to time. In her hand was a suspicious recording device. It had to be a recording device, as it kept flashing at the two people nearby.
But... Miss Kavia.
“Next time you take a secret photo, remember to turn off the flash!”
Seeing Lin Ling look over, Ichikawa immediately pulled Kavia and ran in the opposite direction.
“...”
Did that yellow-haired guy just make eye contact with me?
Realizing there was a witness, Lin Ling immediately pushed the clinging Ivelia away, her face now completely flushed.
“This kind of thing... we can't do this here.”
Lin Ling looked like someone who was drunk; she desperately needed a place to cool down. Seemingly thinking of something, Lin Ling grabbed Ivelia’s hand again and ran toward the exit of the residential district.
Even Ivelia was surprised by this behavior. The Saintess was actually choosing to give up the surrounding food to take her away?
However, at the thought of what the Saintess had said about the “matter between the two of us,” Ivelia’s heart began to race.
“Yo~ If it isn't little Lin Ling?!”
Furni saw the former Hero charging toward her like a runaway truck, dragging Ivelia along.
Wait, bad memories were resurfacing. Furni recalled the last time Lin Ling had charged at her like that—it was during that so-called “joke” of hers.
“Don't come any closer!”
Triggered by the dangerous memory, Furni immediately held her head and crouched down on the spot.
But Lin Ling ran straight past the gate of the residential district, completely ignoring the dragon who had suddenly ducked.
“Hey, Furni, why did you suddenly crouch down?”
Karl, returning with several skewers, saw the dragon crouching on the ground without any dignity. He felt like this dragon had been doing nothing but losing face since she arrived.
“Mind your own business!”
Seeing that Lin Ling had run far away, Furni immediately stood up and slapped the ground with her tail. The dragon pretended nothing had happened and snatched all the skewers from Karl’s hand.
“At least leave some for me!”
“No way. Go get more.”
Furni turned around and stuffed all the skewers into her mouth. To swallow them all at once, she even used a partial dragon transformation.
“Sigh, fine, fine.”
Seeing Furni eat them all, Karl could only sigh and walk back toward the stalls.
Since you're being so heartless, don't blame me for what comes next.
What Furni didn't know while savoring the mass of meat in her mouth was that Karl was holding an application form identical to Ichikawa’s, already filled out with her information.
Rate on N.U.
