Page 24 of I Ran Away to Evil #3

So You Think He’s Cute

Gerda

Earlier

We decided to order lunch in two stages: savory and then dessert.

I had the floofpoof egg salad sandwich with miner’s lettuce, fresh tomatoes, and a cream sauce. My soup of choice was a smooth and nutty squash base with small dumplings and bacon bits.

Henrietta picked a grilled sandwich with flying pig’s belly cooked in red sauce that reminded me of smoky maple barbeque, and topped with miner’s lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, and a fried goose egg. She’d paired it with miso soup loaded with tiny cut mushrooms and green onions and wild carrots.

“Delicious,” Henrietta said happily, finishing her meal and sitting back. She’d tackled her food with gusto the second it had appeared, while I was still enjoying my soup.

“Hm,” I made a satisfied noise around a warm spoonful.

“I think this is my new favorite teahouse in all of Valaria,” Henrietta announced, taking a sip of her iced berry tisane.

“You should decide that after we’ve tried the dessert,” I advised. When I was done, we picked up our dishes and returned them to a bin at the counter. The treats we’d ordered earlier were handed over, and we walked back to our seats. Before we continued, we cut each in half and split.

“Now for the moment of truth.” Henrietta lifted a piece of my markleberry crescent-shaped pastry, and we both took a bite. It looked like a croissant, but it was baked with an egg wash and tasted like fluffy Japanese milk bread. The berry filling tasted like chocolate jam.

A markleberry was as large as an avocado and purple on the outside.

Inside, it was a dark brown and tasted like chocolate pudding.

Every berry had three seeds in the center.

Sadly, it didn’t have the consistency of chocolate, and was usually frozen or processed into jams, jellies, or sauces Sometimes, it was whipped with unigoat cream for a very close but not exact milk chocolate flavor.

The sugar of the berry meant that it already had a natural sweetness.

And it was just another reminder that I was trapped in a fantastical world.

“Perfection,” Henrietta sighed, content.

I picked up a piece of Henrietta’s dessert. It was this world’s equivalent to a soft matcha brioche loaf made with Valarian green tea. It didn’t taste like Earth’s green tea , but the color of the brew was green, and so that is what it was called.

People were the same in every world.

The bread was baked with dried strawberries and served warm from the oven with butter.

“New favorite teahouse,” I agreed.

Henrietta smiled and shot me a side-eye. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten that we were talking about your feelings for our half-elf friend.” She’d done me the courtesy of not naming names now that we were inside a shop. Albeit one with only the shopkeeper and few others to overhear.

“ There is nothing to talk about ,” I stated firmly. And really, there wasn’t. Sure , I stanned Julian. He was tall, dark, and brooding. And hardworking. And—

Alright, enough of that.

The man’s biggest flaw was that he wasn’t considerate in the conventional way. He hid himself in the North and stayed there, and while he loved his family, he wouldn’t risk change to be with them.

And he was fixated on leveling up.

All in all, not someone right for a bridge troll from the Dark Enchanted Forest.

“Does that mean you won’t try for him?” Henrietta asked, sipping her berry blend tisane. “Even if it’s just for fun, the festival is a great time to flirt.”

I snorted. “You want me to flirt ? With the duke ?”

“Why not?” Henrietta pointed her teaspoon at me. “You are beautiful, witty, charming, and powerful. He should count himself lucky to hold your hand.”

She was so sincere it was sweet. “I’m pretty sure he isn’t interested in holding my hand. Or anyone’s.”

“I don’t know. The way he was staring at you …”

I shook my head. “Just because I find someone attractive doesn’t mean I should suddenly go on the offensive.

Luck knows I’m already busy enough without man troubles added on.

Need I remind you that I am the target of espionage and assassination?

And what’s with all these assassination attempts, anyway? !”

I knew the general outline for season two, and there wasn’t a hint of the spies rising up and attacking world powers.

The plot seemed contrived, shoe-horned in to keep things running …

but at this point in the story, we should have had some exposition or idea of their goals.

We didn’t even know who the leader of the Blackfog spies was, or what they wanted.

And it couldn’t just be to watch the world burn.

“I mean, these things happen all the time,” Henrietta pointed out. “Maybe someone new took over and wanted to stir up trouble? And they couldn’t find an easier—if more expensive—way to go about spreading chaos.”

“They turned a bunch of civilians into frogs, Henrietta, frogs .” I stuffed the last bit of bread into my mouth. It was good enough that a soft noise of pleasure escaped me.

“I’m definitely bringing Keith here after the wedding,” Henrietta vowed.

I nodded, then took my last bite.

“And you can bring Julian.”

I choked. “Are you done yet? I have no plans to speak with the duke ever again. And even if I did … he’s heading back to the North as soon as the closing ceremonies end, so it would be a bad idea to get attached.”

“You’re sure ?” She played with her empty tea cup.

I stood up. “If you are going to keep teasing me, do it while we look at Grand Duchess Calisto’s Hall of Inventions.”

“All right.” She agreed, and we headed back the way we’d come.

“Welcome to the Hall of Inventions,” a fox woman greeted us with her best customer service smile at the entry and handed us a pamphlet.

“Please don’t touch anything or you will burst into flames.

No eating in the display area. Magic of any kind is prohibited inside the building.

And please check out our catalogue at the end if you wish to order any of our inventions for yourself. ”

“Thank you!” Henrietta beamed, taking the slip and unfurling it so that she could read over the map. “Oh, Gerda! It says they have a new line of cold storage options in the annex. They even have an entire section just for magical kitchenwares!”

I smiled down at the woman, her excitement catching. “Lead on.”

It took us two hours to wander around the building of magically engineered tools which almost all closely resembled electronics from my world.

There were a few exceptions: a pair of wings that let you fly as the fae did, and a wardrobe that magically put away all of the clean laundry thrown inside it.

I may have considered ordering the last.

Laundry wasn’t fun in any world, and at this point, I made do with Brenda’s Brownies Cleaning Service and stored my clothes in my Hero’s Spatial Ring …

But if I made a walk-in closet off of my bedroom space, I could stick a double-wide wardrobe inside and live with the luxury of a walk-in self-maintaining closet.

Truly tempting.

“I wonder if Rinrin—Oh, one second.” Henrietta pulled out a string necklace from under her clothes with a small button on it that buzzed gently. She poked it three times.

“Henrietta?” Keith’s voice was soft as a whisper, and I thanked my Perception that I could hear him at all.

“Yes, my love?” Henrietta also spoke quietly in response.

“Julia is missing.”