Dannep focused her gaze on the bite mark the beautiful woman in front of her had.
"Of course, Ilyss is an aristocrat, it's obvious this is what she does, Dannep," she reminded herself without changing her expression.
"I'm sorry, Miss Yumi, but I must tell you that Lady Ilyss and I do not have that kind of relationship," Dannep replied without changing her expression.
Even though she felt somewhat uncomfortable, even though she didn't understand why, she wasn't lying, right?
Yumi spent a few seconds looking at Dannep in search of a hint of falsehood, but without much success she put on a sweet and welcoming smile like before and spoke:
"O-okay, okay, I'm soooo sorry, Dannep, it's just that I really get sentimental about these topics. How about I show you the city and treat you to something to eat as compensation?"
After saying that, Yumi took the lead again and Dannep chose to follow her.
"Hey Dannep, why are you staying behind? Come, walk beside me, we're friends now, right?"
Without giving her time to answer, Yumi took Dannep's hand and pulled her closer so they could walk side by side.
Dannep had the habit of always walking behind; in Viremont Castle, as soon as she approached the others they would start speaking badly about her, ignoring that she was there.
After walking for a while, they arrived at the central plaza of the kingdom of Drakmorya. Dannep couldn't help but feel surprised.
In the center of the city, a giant dragon statue stood prominently, and from its wings and mouth water fell as it was connected to a fountain.
"That's Dark Snow, it's a statue of Ilyss's father," Yumi explained.
Dannep couldn't help but make a confused expression, which Yumi noticed and burst out laughing.
"Oh come on, Dannep, haven't you heard Ilyss's story?" Yumi asked, her eyes shining.
"I apologize, to be honest I was never one of those who studied," Dannep apologized with curiosity.
After all, the only thing she had heard about Ilyss was that she was a murderer and that she liked to bathe in the blood of her enemies, not that her father was a dragon.
"Does that mean Ilyss is a dragon too? That might explain her strange magic," Dannep thought with a serious face.
"Hahaha, no Dannep, he's not her biological father. According to the stories, Ilyss was a girl who lost her parents due to an attack. The details aren't known, but Ilyss fell from the carriage she was in and descended down a mountain."
Yumi pointed at the statue happily as she continued speaking.
"But she was saved by the dragon you see there, and Ilyss began to be like one of his children. I'm not sure what happened after that, but it seems Dark Snow died and the great queen made the statue in his honor."
"Saved by a dragon? First of all, it's rare to encounter one of those creatures, but according to all the stories I've heard, dragons are beings of destruction."
"Yes, I know, but maybe the dragon saw something in our queen, and how could he not? After all, she's the beautiful Ilyss. Come on, enough lessons, let's continue giving you a tour."
Yumi took Dannep's hands again and began moving with her all around the city.
The music of the street performers flooded Dannep's ears as a new world was shown to her.
The inhabitants of the kingdom of Drakmorya walked through the streets while talking, others danced, and some children ran back and forth, filling the city with color.
Dannep hadn't thought the inhabitants of Drakmorya would be so lively. She had thought they would be prisoners of fear for having the most wicked queen of all.
But it wasn't like that. Seeing elderly people playing board games while drinking wine or couples going into a love potion shop gave Dannep a jolt of reality.
In the kingdom of Viremont, most of the inhabitants carried themselves with refined class and elegance wherever they went. Dannep had thought that was the norm, but she was wrong.
It wasn't only the people, it was the houses and the stalls; each one had vivid and elegant colors, each house unique to its respective owner.
After a few minutes of going back and forth with Yumi through the different stalls, they were able to stop at a café to eat something.
Yumi made an effort to show Dannep as many stalls as possible while they walked, but the girl couldn't remember them all.
There was a magical plant shop, a library, an adventurers' guild, a kind of magic school, and the most ordinary kinds of stores.
But Dannep's attention mostly drifted toward the magical things; since she was little she had always been intrigued by the topic. In Viremont there wasn't such an abundance of magic.
"But this here is another world, I don't think I've ever seen a kingdom where magic overflows as much as this one," Dannep thought as she saw a slice of cake being placed on her table.
"Hey, question, are your pink eyes natural?" Yumi asked while taking a bite of her cake.
"Yes, they are. I get asked that a lot." Dannep did the same, but as soon as she tasted the first bite she stopped.
"It's delicious!"
Dannep kept her face expressionless, but the cake she was eating was something she had never tasted before; it was far too good compared to the desserts she was used to in Viremont.
"It's a honey and peach cake, I thought you might like it. I'm glad you do, do you want to try mine?"
Yumi leaned in and fed Dannep a bite of her cake, and this time she couldn't avoid changing her expression.
"This one is even better," Dannep thought while chewing; Yumi's had grapes and other berries that made her mouth feel refreshed.
"Hey, didn't you order one for me too?"
A voice reached them, and when they turned around they found Ilyss, who was wearing fairly casual clothes, long pants with a black shirt that suited her.
Dannep remembered Yumi's bite mark and couldn't help but fix her gaze on her dessert.
"Ilysss, what are you doing here? Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were coming. Do you want to eat from mine? I'll order you one!"
Yumi asked, blushing, as the queen sat down beside her.
"I went out to buy some new books and saw you. This time I think I bought too many," the woman said, pointing at the bag.
"Come on, it doesn't matter, if you want I'll read half of them for you. Anyway, do you want something to eat? I'm paying. You like dark chocolate, right?" Yumi said, leaning closer to her.
"I'd like to try the one you're eating, so if it's not too much trouble, let me see what it tastes like."
After saying those words, Ilyss took Yumi's face and pressed her lips against hers; they were kissing.
The demon queen's eyes focused on Dannep's eyes, who was watching them in a daze.
Suddenly the cake in Dannep's mouth began to taste bitter, very bitter, so bitter that it was almost unpleasant.