Sayi watched as the human with sky-blue irises and ink-black hair knelt down before her, pleading desperately. She leaned against the bar counter as she appeared disinterested.
“Why should I get involved in anything belonging to this world?”
The cottage cafe was immediately surrounded by a dull and bleak atmosphere at her answer. Meanwhile, Chaeyar was still looking at Blyn with a sympathetic look in his heterochromia eyes.
“I will do anything you wish, O’ Great Dragon.”
“I have nothing I want, and even if I do,” Sayi tilted her head, a proud smirk on her face. “They are already in my hands.”
“I…I beg of you.”
“Beg all you want.” Sayi scoffed, a dangerous glint in her scarlet orbs as she lifted her hand. She clearly didn’t like the words that Blyn uttered to her.
“Wait, Sayi.” Pamela said, grabbing onto Sayi’s wrist.
“You…” Sayi clenched her jaw, her scarlet orbs turning into slits. “You dare stop an elder dragon? Just because I can’t snap your neck, it doesn’t mean–”
“I don’t care what you are, I won’t allow anyone to hurt my customers.” Pamela raised her chin, her cheerful demeanour was gone.
“...”
“...”
The staring contest continued between Pamela and Sayi.
“Oh-ho…” Chaeyar observed the situation with a hint of mirth. “This is why you shouldn’t recklessly bring things back to your lair like that.”
“Shut up.”
“How short-tempered.” Chaeyar commented, his amused smile reaching his eyes.
“I never knew the elder dragon had temper issues.” Pamela nodded in agreement.
All of a sudden, Sayi burst into laughter but her laugh was without humour. “Who taught a thing like you to be so stupidly fearless?”
“It’s the same reason as Mister Prince.” Pamela said and pointed towards Blyn.
“What?” Blyn blinked his tears away, his voice hoarse. “I told you to stop calling me that…”
“Huh? What reason is that?” Sayi asked, her eyes returning back to normal as she clicked her tongue.
“Family.” Pamela lowered her head, her voice soft as she hid the expression in her amethyst eyes. “My family taught me that.”
“...”
“...”
There was a tinge of melancholy surrounding Pamela and Blyn widened his eyes in understanding. It was all for the sake of family that he risked his life to come here and locate the great dragon. It was hard for anyone to speak to such a rare sight of despondent Pamela. However, she recovered quickly and beamed, waving to Blyn.
“Take a seat.”
“...?”
Blyn obeyed her words unknowingly, taking a seat at the bar counter.
“For you…” she grinned, placing a wooden plate with a glass cup and a metal spoon in front of Blyn. “An affogato al caffè.”
No one knew when she had concocted a drink, but the drink appeared pleasing to the eyes. Chaeyar and Sayi scuttled closer to Blyn, curious. There was an aromatic hint of coffee and ice cream drifting in the air, and the smell was something the three of them weren’t familiar with.
“Wh-what’s this?”
“In our world, we call it affogato,” Pamela explained, her speech polite and amiable. “It is made by pouring a shot of espresso over vanilla ice cream. I garnished it with some chocolate chips.”
The three of them admired the drink in fascination. The ice cream was slowly melting and melding together with the espresso, creating a strange texture that they have never seen before. The dark colours of the espresso mixed with the ice cream, forming a cream-like colour.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“This is the last scoop of my home-made vanilla ice cream, but it seems like a good occasion to use it.”
“The last scoop? For…for me?”
“It’s my pleasure.” Pamela smiled.
“Ah, are you perhaps a victim of AIT?”
Pamela nodded.
“None of those ingredients exist in our world, but…” Blyn said, holding the handle of the cup and lifting it to his lips. “This drink seems oddly familiar.”
Pamela was in the midst of washing her equipment, and she paused upon hearing those words. She spun around hurriedly and opened her mouth as Blyn placed the cup down.
“...!”
“...?”
“...”
Tears streamed down his cheeks which caused the three of them to be taken aback.
“Mister Prince?”
“This taste…” Blyn sobbed out, rubbing at his eyes. “I remember it now, so this is why it was so familiar. This drink…was the drink our family huddled together to take a sip out of it.”
Blyn gazed at the drink in his hands, the coldness making his skin tingle but he clutched onto the cup tighter.
“It’s a drink sold once a year in the famous tavern in Mytsanore. My parents wanted us to have a special memory, and they paid an exorbitant amount for this same drink. The five of us huddled together, taking a sip each and taking a bite out of the strange melting ball-like food as we laughed. That was the…last memory we had with our parents.”
“Are your parents…?” Pamela asked hesitantly.
“They are waiting to die, on their bed,” Blyn said bitterly, his voice full of despair. “They are veteran hunters, but one day, they came back severely injured and became bedridden. They couldn’t recover, and we cannot afford better healers. Every passing day, the life in their eyes is slowly fading away.”
His sky blue eyes were glazed over, the tears still rolling down his cheeks. Blyn recalled many unpleasant memories, and the same memories that led him to this point.
“In a desperate attempt, my younger brother left with a glider after obsessively researching the rumours of a great dragon residing within the Outerlands. How could I leave him be? Our youngest sister is still waiting at home for our return, I promised her. I promised her and yet…”
Another memory flashed through Blyn’s mind, making him squeeze his eyes shut as he grunted in pain.
“He was crouching at the edge of the swamp, scooping a handful of that murky liquid as he…he…drank it down.”
Blyn was transported back into the past, and in front of him, the scenery had changed. His younger brother was greedily gulping down the black substance from the swamp.
“It is said that the swamp is made out of a dragon’s blood. If I became a dragon, I can heal them all.”
He could never forget the desperation on his sibling’s face. The tinge of madness in his voice.
Blyn could only watch on in horror. He watched as his brother started to transform into something. He could still hear the tortured screams from his sibling’s mouth as it shook him to his core, making him collapse to the ground.
He did transform into a dragon, but…it wasn’t a dragon for Blyn.
It was a living nightmare.
“Ugh…” Blyn clutched at his head, shaking it vehemently. “Why did this happen to us? Why…?”
He didn’t know how long he ran for, he didn’t know how to process such a situation but he knew his brother was no longer there. He had to free him, and so he ran, and ran to look for any source of salvation.
That’s when he found Pamela staring at the monster, defenceless and helpless. Even in such a wretched state, he still couldn’t watch as someone before him died.
Blyn gulped down the drink, unable to recognise its taste anymore. All he could see was his brother transforming before him, his parents lying on the bed and his youngest sister crying her heart out as she sought his comfort.
“Rest, you poor child.”
Chaeyar was listening intently while observing Blyn's condition. He reached out, poking Blyn’s forehead with his finger. In an instant, Blyn felt a wave of serenity and warmth washing over him, making him extremely drowsy.
“No, no…I can't rest…”
“How strong-willed.” Chaeyar murmured with a twinkle in his eyes.
“My brother…my bro…ther…”
Even before he collapsed onto the table, Chaeyar snapped his fingers together and Blyn was immediately teleported to the bedroom upstairs.
“Don't treat my lair as your home.”
“You can always kick me out.” Chaeyar responded with a smile.
“...and I'm not helping that human.” Sayi spat out, ignoring Chaeyar.
“I know how he feels.” Pamela sighed to herself, shaking her head. “For the sake of my family, I would risk it all too. Poor Mister Prince.”
“I said I’m not helping.”
“Watching his brother turn into a monster before his eyes, I can’t imagine the pain he is going through.” Chaeyar nodded along with Pamela.
“I’m not helping.”
“But I need somewhere to grow my groceries and help with your migraines!” Pamela grinned.
“I…” Sayi paused and blinked, clearing her throat. “I’m an elder dragon, I’m not helping humans.”
Pamela and Chaeyar shrugged their shoulders at one another. It was obvious what their next move was.
***
Drinks
Affogato (affogato al caffè)
Affogato coffee with ice cream on a glass cup Grey slate background [https://www.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/422398810/display_1500/stock-photo-affogato-coffee-with-ice-cream-on-a-glass-cup-grey-slate-background-422398810.jpg]
Tea Trivia of the Day
The “bubble” in bubble tea is referring to the tapioca pearls used in the various drinks. Moreover, in bubble tea shops, most of the “milk” in milk tea isn’t actually using milk but creamers.