“Can Fia eat sweets?”
“I guess I like them?”
As far as she could remember, there wasn’t any food she disliked.
“Then try this.
I used to only see it in the southern continent, but I didn’t expect it to have spread to the northern Mir Kandis Holy Kingdom in recent years.” Claire stepped forward, then seemed to remember something and stepped back, giving Fia a wry smile.
“If I go, I’ll scare that person.
I’ll have to trouble you, little Fia.”
“It’s fine, leave it to me.”
“Remember not to add extra sugar to my portion.”
With Claire’s reminder, Fia walked up to the stall.
Just as she expected, the so-called ice dessert was just large ice blocks smashed into thumb-sized pieces, then topped with animal cream as ice cream.
When someone approached, the young man didn’t even look up, just waved his hand listlessly.
“Five copper coins for one.
Six if you want extra sugar.”
So that’s how it is.
Fia immediately understood why people just asked the price and left.
Five copper coins for a dessert was more than most families could afford.
Usually, five copper coins could cover a whole day’s meals for a family.
Snacks on the commercial street were usually priced in iron coins.
“I’ll take two.”
“Huh?” The young man jerked his head up, and when he saw Fia’s face, he froze for a moment, unable to help himself.
Then, realizing it was rude to stare, he quickly looked down and caught sight of Fia’s black formal dress.
“A-a noble… I’m sorry, I haven’t sold anything for so long I was about to pack up and go home.”
In this world, if a commoner offended a noble, the noble could even skip making up a fake charge and just have the guards arrest the commoner.
Fia’s outfit was clearly not something an ordinary person would wear, and with her delicate looks, the young man naturally took her for a noble.
Fia just smiled and handed over a silver coin—the leftover money from buying a magic scroll.
“I’ll take two.
I know it’s not my business, but with prices this high, even if people want to try it, they can’t afford it.”
The young man scooping ice from the wooden barrel instantly looked miserable.
“I don’t want to sell it this expensive either, but animal cream and sugar are so hard to get.
If I don’t charge five copper coins, I make no profit at all.
And making the ice takes my magic power.
I can only make one barrel a day, and after I’m done, I get dizzy for a long time from magic exhaustion.”
You can only make one barrel of ice a day? Fia couldn’t help but use “Wind of Appraisal” to peek at the man.
His magic was purple, just a shade stronger than the deep purple that meant no magic at all.
This young man was probably from a family that wasn’t well-off, but he really wanted to learn magic.
Fia always liked helping people who worked hard.
She thought for a moment about how to phrase it.
“Why not change your target customers? For example, don’t sell to commoners, sell to nobles.
They have the money to enjoy this.”
“Nobles wouldn’t like food made by us commoners.
Nobles as approachable as you are rare, miss.
If I brought such a ridiculous dessert to a noble, they’d break my legs and throw me out.”
The young man spoke bitterly.
The rules in this world are really strict… “Then try raising the price even more, and make the ice into fine shaved ice, then add fruit juice.
Or make the ice with milk and juice from the start—the texture would be much better.
If you add fruit slices on top of the cream, it’ll look even nicer.
Nobles are people too, they like things that look tasty.”
“That would make the cost at least seven or even eight copper coins…” “But the more expensive it is, the more it shows status.
Nobles like to set themselves apart.
If it’s too cheap, they’ll think it’s not good.”
“You can do that…?” The young man’s voice was hesitant, but there was hope in his eyes.
“Freezing juice into ice, then crushing it into fine ice to sell… No one’s ever done that, it’s a brand new dessert.
Noble lady, are you selling me this idea? But I don’t have money to pay you.”
No, I wasn’t planning to charge you.
In Fia’s time, humans no longer needed things like ice cream.
She was just repeating the shaved ice people enjoyed in the old days.
After she told the young man she didn’t want money, he immediately frowned.
“That won’t do! I may be poor, but I want to be a mage with a clear conscience.
I can’t just take someone’s favor for free!” The young man insisted, his voice so loud that people nearby turned to look.
Fia felt troubled.
“If you say so… then just give me a share of the profit for every dessert you sell.
But I’m not always in Aurora City, so I’ll come find you when I need it.”
She wasn’t planning to come back to Aurora City anyway, so there was no question of collecting money.
As an elf princess, Fia wasn’t so poor she needed to collect copper coins from commoners.
“Thank you, noble lady! I’ll go home and work on the recipe tonight! No, right now!”
“You haven’t given me my order yet.”
“I’m so sorry!” The young man was so excited he’d forgotten to hand over the desserts.
After that, things went smoothly.
With Fia’s encouragement, the young man didn’t rush home with his cart, but carefully thought about how to package the dessert to appeal to nobles.
To show he wouldn’t cheat Fia, he not only told her his name and address, but also wrote down the names and addresses of his fiancée, parents, and even all his relatives.
A seriously earnest person.
It’s worth mentioning that when Fia brought the ice dessert back to Claire, all the kids hanging around the stall looked at Fia with pitiful eyes.
According to the young man, these kids waited for Fia to finish so they could pick up the thick leaves used to serve the dessert and scrape off the leftovers, enjoying a sweet treat they usually couldn’t get.
It sounded so sad that Fia couldn’t help but buy some smaller ice desserts from the young man and hand them out to the skinny, pitiful kids.
The kids erupted in ear-splitting cheers, and some of the younger ones even cried as they ate, calling Fia “Lady Goddess.”
The adults nearby looked at the kids with envy, but since they were grown-ups, Fia just ignored them.
It was a bit over the top.
She had a feeling that if the church heard about this, they’d think she was some cultist trying to steal their followers.
After a lot of effort convincing the kids not to follow her around singing, Fia and Claire finally managed to sit down in the shade of a tree.
It was early summer in the Mir Kandis Holy Kingdom, and no one liked walking around in the blazing sun.
“Little Fia, you’re an elf, but you don’t reject human children at all.
If elf children fell into human hands, they’d definitely get bullied.”
Claire wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, her tone full of emotion.
“That’s true, I guess…” But in her own time, all kinds of intelligent beings didn’t care much about race anymore.
Compared to innate differences, they cared more about differences in consciousness, beliefs, and ideals, so Fia’s sense of race was actually pretty weak.
If she weren’t an elf princess, elves or humans, in Fia’s eyes, all had the same name—“people from another world.”
Besides, those kids hadn’t done anything wrong.
The ones who should be punished were those who did wrong for their own selfish reasons.
Just as Fia was thinking about how to reply to Claire, Claire, holding her ice dessert, looked at the corner of Fia’s mouth and leaned in, her face full of concern.
“Fia, you’ve got cream on your face.”
Is this going to turn into one of those dumb manga scenes where the couple wipes cream off each other’s lips with a finger and then licks it? Unfortunately, things didn’t go the way Fia imagined.
Claire just handed her a handkerchief and let Fia wipe it off herself.
A bit of regret lingered.
In Claire’s eyes, I was probably like a little sister to her.
Only I harbored feelings for Claire that were close to love.
“What’s wrong? You look a little down.”
Seeing Fia’s disappointed expression, Claire tilted her head curiously and asked.
Fia quickly switched back to a normal look, deliberately making a joke.
“It’s nothing.
I was just wondering if outsiders would see us as close sisters.”
If I weren’t the elf princess but the elf prince, I’d be saying “couple” right now.
“I think they’d probably see us as a noble lady and some ugly freak.
Ah~ ah~ The elf princess is actually willing to walk around with a monster like me, Claire is so grateful.”
“Enough with the self-deprecation.
Claire, you know you’re actually really pretty, right?”
“There it is again, ‘pretty.’ You keep saying that word, you know, it’s hard not to start liking someone who always calls you pretty—especially for someone like me who’s always called a monster.
Honestly, after all these years, I’ve lost my confidence from hearing it so much.”
With a beautiful face full of distress, Claire tilted her head in frustration.
Fia corrected her quite seriously.
“Maybe it sounds like I’m bragging, but Claire is just as pretty as the elf princess.
It’s not just your looks, it’s your kindness, no matter what, that’s so charming.
The first night I saw you, I thought you were a spirit from the moon.”
“A spirit from the moon…” Claire repeated softly, then gradually curved her lips in amusement.
“That’s a strange way to put it, but it’s unexpectedly nice.
Even a woman like me can’t help but feel happy from little Fia’s words.
Little Fia, you’re going to make so many men fall for you in the future.
Should I say you’re ‘born to enchant’? In that case… I’d better do this before any other man does.”
Do this before any other man does? The odd phrasing made Fia wary, but she couldn’t figure out what Claire was planning.
Even if it was something like a kiss, they’d already done that yesterday.
Without saying anything, Claire took the wooden piece Fia was using as a spoon, scooped up a bite of Fia’s dessert, and gently brought it to Fia’s lips.
Her beautiful face was full of anticipation and pleading, and those pure turquoise eyes sparkled like a child’s, shining like stars.
“I’ve wanted to try this for a long time, but I never had anyone I could do it with.
Can I try it with you, Fia?”
“Mm.”
Fia couldn’t help but look away.
Claire didn’t notice that there was only a wooden spoon’s distance between them.
Those expectant turquoise eyes seemed like they could suck her in, making it impossible to look for even a second longer.
She was incredibly charming.
Claire had no idea how attractive she was to Fia.
In the past, when Fia saw couples doing this on the street, she’d secretly curse them for showing off their affection in public.
But now that it was her turn, all she felt was a mix of excitement and embarrassment.
“You… you don’t like it?” Claire’s voice had a hint of uncertainty, and she pulled the spoon back a little, her gaze becoming cautious.
Fia could probably guess what Claire was thinking.
Maybe she thought Fia didn’t want to accept it, that she’d misunderstood their relationship as being closer than it was, and now she’d crossed a line and made Fia unhappy.
But that wasn’t it.
She was just embarrassed, that’s all.
Just like Claire never had anyone to feed before, Fia had never been fed by anyone either.
Especially not by a girl she had feelings for.
If yesterday she hadn’t realized her feelings for Claire, now she just didn’t dare face them.
Taking a deep breath and forcing down her embarrassment, Fia tried not to let it show on her face.
“Then I’m really going to eat it.”
Claire’s eyes, which had dimmed a little, instantly lit up again.
“Please do.”
Fia quietly swallowed, parted her lips, and gently bit down on the wooden spoon.
A cool taste mixed with the flavor of milk.
It tasted different from before.
But if Fia had to say exactly how it was different, even her old self wouldn’t have been able to explain it.
The real change started inside.
Whether it was her racing heart, the blood rushing to her face, or her whole body tensing up, all these little changes made the same thing feel completely different.
In the end, it showed in how she couldn’t meet Claire’s bright eyes.
“Hmm… I guess there’s nothing special about it.
But when I saw couples feeding each other before, their eyes were always full of happiness.”
Watching Fia swallow the creamy ice, Claire looked a little troubled.
Fia felt a surge of annoyed frustration.
“That’s because you’re the one feeding, of course you don’t feel anything.
Let’s switch.”
She took the spoon back from Claire, scooped up a bite from Claire’s dessert, and brought it to her lips.
Claire’s face was reflected in her eyes again, but this time, their roles were completely reversed.
Suddenly, Claire hesitated, her gaze that had been fixed on Fia quietly shifted away, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
Was she embarrassed? Fia couldn’t help but wonder.
She was embarrassed because she had feelings for Claire, but Claire’s embarrassment was harder to understand.
Luckily, Claire didn’t make Fia wait.
After a moment’s hesitation, she brushed her silver hair behind her ear with her right hand and carefully ate the cream from the spoon.
Then, their eyes met, and as if shocked by electricity, they both looked away at the same time.
“……”
“……”
A strange atmosphere.
It was like two people who hadn’t confirmed their relationship yet accidentally touching hands, a subtle tension rippling between them.
“I… I think I get how you feel now, Fia.
When I was feeding you, I didn’t feel anything, but now that I’m the one being fed, my heart just won’t stop racing… We’re just like… like a couple.”
What Claire didn’t say was that, in that moment, she suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.
They were both women, so having these kinds of thoughts was just unbelievable.
“Don’t say stuff like that…” Still not looking at Claire, Fia’s face was red, and she started twirling her hair around her finger.
It was just too embarrassing.
She couldn’t help but feel her own heart pounding too.
Her whole body was getting hot.
She wished she could run straight back to the clinic and pour cold water over herself.
Right then, it felt like nothing in the world had anything to do with her—whether it was the conversations of people passing by, the sound of carriage wheels rolling over the cobblestones, or the distant shouts of street vendors, everything seemed so far away.
Everything fell silent, and it was like time itself had stopped in that moment.
Was this atmosphere pushing her to confess already? Out of nowhere, Fia found herself thinking that.
But it was way too soon.
The heart-pounding silence lasted for a few seconds, and just when Fia thought if it went on any longer, she’d never be able to say anything, a strange discussion started up not far from them.
Both of them instantly latched onto that out-of-place noise like it was a lifeline.
“Um… Fia, should we go see what’s going on?”
“Y-yeah, let’s go.”
