Elanore wasn’t sure what to expect from the triceratops dumplings. They came out on a steaming, round wooden tray, and they were brought out with soup. The vampire looked at the round and fluffy white things with a tilt of her head.
“Is there really triceratops meat in there?”
The server nodded with a grin. “It’s a tasty meat. I do hope it will be to your palette.”
Ella watched the server leave before staring across the table at her drooling wyvern. “You don’t have to wait for me. Feel free to start eating at any time.”
“Yes, mistress!”
That was the only signal the maid needed to start devouring. As for Ella, she looked at the soup and the white dumplings with a conflicted expression. The soup used some kind of clear broth, and there were some vegetables inside. It had a pleasant smell wafting to her nose, same as the little white dumplings.
She could see that her wyvern was already enjoying them. Naela was chomping down on the fluffy pieces of bread and extracting the juicy meat inside. Yet none of Ella’s senses told her that she should eat it. Despite the pleasant scents, there was no part of her being that hungered for the things in front of her.
Naela looked up at Ella between bites. “Are you not going to eat it, mistress?”
Elanore shrugged. “I have no idea. I suppose I should try it.”
She grabbed one of the nearby dumplings and tore it in half. She hoisted the thing up to her mouth and chomped down. As she started to chew, the flavors gushed inside of her mouth. If she would have tried this as a human, it would have been the best dumpling she’d ever had. However, there was no part of Elanore now that wanted to finish it.
By all means, the taste was exquisite, but it didn’t do anything to the vampire’s taste buds. The only thing it did was create an oxymoron in her brain. It was a good flavor that the vampire didn’t want to savor.
She rushed to swallow the bite before putting the rest of the dumpling back down again. I guess normal food is off the menu now?
Perhaps Elanore should have been distraught about this revelation. Maybe she should have cried out to the skies above for cursing her, but the vampire could only grin. I really am a vampire, after all! One who survives off energy drinks!
If she was on Earth she’d have written a strongly written email right now to all food industries. She’d have told them that they would no longer get her money. The ultimate dream of surviving from energy drinks and mana core juice was realized.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
The wyvern stared at Elanore and smiled wryly. “Mistress, you look so happy, but you’re not eating anymore.”
Elanore shook her head and pushed her portions across the table towards the ravenous Naela. “You wouldn’t understand. Such mortal qualms like diet and good food are now beneath me. I will leave these worldly pleasures to you.”
Naela’s eyes widened while she graciously accepted the food. “Are you sure, mistress? There will be no taking it back when I start eating it.”
“I am certain. Have as much as you want.”
///
Inside of an inn room, Elanore kicked off her shoes and sighed happily, flopping onto a bed on her back. She glanced over to the wyvern who still remained standing awkwardly. “Don’t just stand there, lay down or something. Relax, we’re both girls after all.”
The wyvern obeyed her mistress and took off her dress and apron. She sat down on the other bed, across from Elanore nervously.
Elanore rolled her eyes. “What’s gotten into you today. You’ve been acting strange since this morning. Yesterday you had no problem showing off your bare skin.”
Naela’s cheeks reddened. “I am sorry, mistress. I really have no idea. It’s just a strange feeling I started having.”
“Maybe it’s related to your skill?”
The wyvern shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that at all.”
Elanore narrowed her eyes but didn’t ask anymore questions. Instead, she summoned her cauldron into the air.
“Good evening, mistress,” Pot said. “I was wondering when you would bring me back here.”
The vampire chuckled. “I would have let you run wild all day if we didn’t get those strange looks from everyone. One of these days, I will make my own kingdom, and I will allow floating cauldrons to wander about as if it’s the most normal thing.”
Pot blinked his pink eye several times. “I will take note of that. When that future comes, I hope everyone will be able to see how great you are. Would you like for me to start calling you your majesty?”
Elanore tilted her head. “Your majesty? That does have a nice ring to it.”
Pot flapped his bat wings several times. “Yes, I thought so too, your majesty.”
Elanore giggled. Though, if I made a kingdom, I would be able to sell my own energy drinks to my citizens. I would be able to get them addicted to the flavor. The more the vampire thought about it, the more her own mouth started salivating.
She summoned a mana core from her inventory and sunk her fangs into it. While it wasn’t an energy drink, the taste was enough to bring her to life. Mortal food was truly out of reach for her current self, but the juice of the mana cores sustained her.
This one kind of tastes like pineapple. She turned it over and performed her [Inspect].
Ooh, this one came from a snake. Interesting...why does a snake give me the taste of pineapple?
The biggest mystery of the mana cores were their seemingly random flavors. The taste of lemon from a lightning allosaur kind of fits. But pineapple from a snake?
She wanted to ask Naela if she could taste pineapple from this mana core, but the wyvern had already turned around and covered herself with a blanket. Pineapples from mana cores, Naela’s strange behavior, and triceratops dumplings. So many mysteries to crack.
The vampire sighed in exaggeration and flopped onto the bed. She grinned while staring at the ceiling. Either way, I will have fun solving all of these mysteries. Now to solve the mystery of if I can sleep or not.
“I am going to try and sleep, Pot. Wake me up if something unexpected or bad happens.”
“As you wish, your majesty.”
