[The Dining Room]
The dining room had a large and long table in the middle of the room with numerous seats. Among those available seats, 3 of them were taken. Dunha and Lily sat together while Lily's mother sat next to her daughter.
The guards that were with Dunha and Lily, quickly followed them to the dining room and were currently standing in front of the doors. All except for Andrew and one other guard were not present for unexplained reasons.
While waiting for the head chef to arrive, Dunha stared at Lily's mother who was currently adjusting Lily's chair.
"If a cat-person's ears are on top of their heads then I wonder what the side of their head would look like without the hair..." Dunha wondered.
Don't blame me for being curious! All of the demi-humans I've met always had long hair that would cover most of their sides including the area where humans would have their ears.
As Dunha continued to stare at Lily's mother, Clover noticed her. Dunha quickly looked away but it was too late.
"Hello, Dunha! Are you feeling alright? It must've been a scary morning!" said Clover with a worrying expression.
"I'm okay... I was more worried about my mama. The arrow almost hit her..." said Dunha as she murmured her last words.
"Oh, how brave and kind of you! Your mama will be very happy to hear that you worry about her," said Clover.
"Yes, she is! I remember when Dunha helped me when a spider fell on my head!" said Lily after she heard her mother call Dunha brave.
It took Dunha a few seconds before she could remember what Lily was talking about.
"Ah... I remember. Lily's afraid of spiders, so when a spider fell on her head she started to cry," she thought. "So I slapped it away with a stick which made her very happy. So that's how we became good friends, huh? It feels like it's been decades since that happened..."
Dunha simply blushed and giggled.
"Gomo..." said Dunha as she looked at Clover with a determined face.
The word "Gomo" caught Clover off guard.
"Gomo? Did you just call me gomo?" Clover asked.
Dunha nodded several times.
"Pfft! Hahahaha!" Clover laughed.
Clover laughed as she couldn't resist Dunha's expression. Although Dunha's eyes were filled with determination, her somewhat chubby cheeks made it difficult for Clover to take her seriously.
Lily, on the other hand, was confused as she did not understand what Dunha said.
"Gomo? What's a gomo?" Lily asked.
"Haha... Oh, gomo means aunt in Vindorian," said Clover.
Clover's answer confused Lily even further.
"Vindorian?" Lily asked again.
"Hmmm... That's the name of the country where Dunha's mama came from," Clover answered.
"Oh~!" said Lily as she slowly nodded her head.
"Um... Gomo..?" said Dunha with a red face.
"Oh, sorry Dunha. I wasn't laughing at you for saying that. It's just that you looked very cute when you made that determined face," said Clover.
"Ah..." (Dunha)
"So, Dunha. What was it that you were going to say?" Clover asked.
Dunha took a deep breath.
"Can you stay here with us and stay by mama's side for several months and keep her safe?" Dunha asked.
Clover opened her eyes in surprise at what Dunha asked her while Lily looked delighted.
"Are you asking me to be like a guard for your mama? How come? There are hundreds of guards protecting the castle daily." Clover asked.
Dunha shook her head.
"I heard many stories about you from mama and many other people. They said you can sense danger and predict where and when they would attack! I bet if you were here, those assassins would've been spotted before they could even have the chance to try and harm mama," said Dunha.
Clover was surprised once more.
"A-Am I really talking to a 5-year-old child right now?" Clover wondered. "I almost thought I was talking to Seo-Yeon herself!"
Although Clover was probably trying to say that internally, she ended up saying it out loud. She's not wrong though... People always told me that other than the color of my hair, I look exactly like my mother.
"Tee-hee! I was just mimicking my mother when she talks to other people," said Dunha as she winked.
"Heh, heh. It's an interesting offer. However, what's in it for me?" Clover asked as she chuckled.
Dunha closed her eyes while her thumb and index finger rested on her chin to think.
"If you stay by my mama's side and protect her, I'll stay by Lily's side and keep her happy!" said Dunha.
"Dunha~!" said Lily as her eyes sparkled with joy. "Can we stay with Dunha?"
"Hmm... Sorry, but I'll have to discuss this with Seo-Yeon and Henry first. Once I talk with them, I'll give you an answer. However, it is a very tempting deal," said Clover as she looked at Dunha impressed.
"If you can't stay with us, I understand," said Dunha.
Although I would've been happy if she said "yes" right away, I would also be concerned at the same time.
"We can talk more about this later," said Clover as she looked at the door.
The door opened as the head chef arrived with multiple dishes.
"Good morning, princess and milady Lily," said the head chef as he bowed his head.
Lily waved at the man while Dunha nodded.
"What? Did you forget about me? Clover asked as she smirked.
"Of course not, Clover. Good morning," said the head chef while making a small grin.
Dunha looked at the two people in confusion and then opened her mouth with an "Ah" when she realized something.
Ah... I remember. The head chef was part of my father's faction during his uprising and he and Clover were good friends. I was wondering why he was talking like that to her... Normally, people would say something like "Honorable Great General Clover" when they speak to her.
I think he died when the castle was attacked by soldiers who wanted to defect to the Eastern Union which was gaining more and more power against us in my first life.
"Today's menu are omelets, sandwiches, and toast and eggs. However, there are plenty of other dishes that are not on the menu. So, if the princess and milady Lily and Clover wants other dishes, please let me know," said the head chef.
"I want a sandwich~!" said Lily delightfully.
"A sandwich for me as well," said Clover with a grin.
"How about you, princess?" the head chef asked while looking at Dunha.
"Mm... Seaweed soup with rice?" said Dunha. "I don't know why but I'm craving for some seaweed," she thought.
The head chef looked surprised but he managed to maintain his composure.
"Traditional style or her highness' style?" the head chef asked.
"Mama's style," said Dunha.
"Very well," said the head chef.
The head chef placed 3 empty plates in front of him and started to murmur something.
"I advised everyone to close their eyes," said the head chef.
Dunha quickly covered Lily's face with her body when she noticed Lily curiously looking at the head chef when his hand started to glow. Dunha also closed her eyes and used her left arm to cover her eyes for extra protection. Clover did the same as well.
The whole room was filled with light and once the light slowly disappeared, there was food on the plates.
"Breakfast is served," said the head chef.
Before the food was given to Dunha, Lily, and her mother, two guards approached the head chef and pulled out a black stone out of their side pouches, and used it to scan the food. They were checking the food for any sort of poison. If poison was detected, the stone would glow red.
"It's safe," said one of the guards after the stone did not show any reaction.
"Here too," said another guard.
The guards allowed the head chef to deliver the food to us.
"Enjoy," said the head chef as he stood in front of us.
Lily tried to eat the sandwich with her hands but her mother stopped her.
"Use these," said Clover as she gave Lily a fork and knife.
Although Lily looked like she didn't want to use utensils, she nodded and tried to cut the sandwich. However, she only managed to cut a small chunk of the sandwich and only ended up with a forkful of bread.
"Let me do it for you, Lily," said Clover as she took Lily's plate to cut the sandwich.
While Clover and her daughter were enjoying their sandwiches, Dunha poured some rice into the bowl of seaweed soup and mixed it with a spoon. She then added some salt into the soup.
When she looked at the bowl of seaweed soup and rice, she almost began to cry.
Ever since, the undead invasion of 1810 P.D, we did not have time to eat properly and would often drink soup that tasted like water and gruel that tasted bland. It's been so long since I have eaten proper food~!
Dunha grabbed the spoon filled with seaweed and rice and placed it into her mouth. Shortly after, her eyes sparkled as if she had eaten one of the most delicious food in the world.
"This is the best!" she shouted internally.
(To Be Continued)
2020/03/19