"You and me? A date? Since when?" Dannep said, surprised after Seraphin's declaration.
"Yeah, don't you remember? I told you we should go out after helping you get eaten by the grumpy dragon daughter's dragon." Seraphin mocked Ilyss as she explained.
Dannep was surprised that she could talk about Ilyss so casually.
"It's called going out as friends, not a date. You're going to scare the girl," Silvia complained.
"AHhh, my bad, I thought it was called a date, although it is a date, I mean… It's not like I'm going to kiss her today and—"
Silvia hit Seraphin with the pillow to shut her up; she was tired of being surrounded by idiots.
"What do you want to do, Dannep? I recommend you rest. I'm sure Seraphin simply doesn't have anyone to go out with or a way to escape the paperwork she has in her office."
"Hey, I haven't gone to that place for like a year, stop mentioning it. Besides, Luxios takes care of all my paperwork. Speaking of that, where is he?" Seraphin asked curiously.
"You know he's a night creature. I don't think you'll see him during the day, and you're not usually awake past eleven. But he isn't here. He's on a mission in another kingdom."
"Ohh, alright, alright then Dannep, are we going out or not?" Sera stepped closer to Dannep with the expression of a child asking for a new toy.
"Hahaha." But in response, Dannep began to laugh.
Silvia made a face of both shock and surprise at the same time; it was the first time she had seen Dannep laugh.
"Huh? What am I laughing about?" Dannep asked herself as she returned to her usual expression.
She couldn't remember the last time it happened, but these interactions always brought out the best in her.
Silvia looked at the atmosphere and winked at Seraphin before speaking:
"I have to go take care of some rabbits, I just remembered… I think I'll leave her with you today, Seraphin. Enjoy your outing, don't get into trouble." Silvia said as she stood up and left the room happily.
Dannep clearly noticed that Silvia was a bad actress, because it was obvious what she wanted to do, but Dannep waved goodbye to her.
Silvia walked down the hallway trying not to skip with excitement; it seemed Seraphin was exactly what Dannep needed.
"Well, it seems the grumpy mom left us alone. I'll wait for you outside, okay?" Without giving her time to refuse, Seraphin also left the room.
"This… is strange, but I don't want to stay here either," Dannep told herself, still feeling guilty.
She was deceiving Yumi without her knowing, and Yumi had been so kind to her. She also hadn't been working much and was beginning to feel useless.
A walk to get some fresh air was exactly what she needed, so after thinking that, she went to the bath.
***
"Thanks for waiting," Dannep said to Seraphin after coming out.
"Wow, I thought you were going to stay asleep and I'd end up waiting here like an idiot for half an hour," Sera said with a teasing smile.
She was wearing a light blue shirt, white pants, and black boots, contrasting with her eyes and hair.
Unlike Ilyss, Dannep noticed that Seraphin didn't wear many jewels, only a watch. If you asked Dannep, Seraphin looked prettier.
But obviously she wasn't going to say that.
"Where are we going?" Dannep said as she approached her.
"I was thinking of stopping by a candy shop and some magical attractions, but first we need to make a more important stop."
Dannep raised an eyebrow in doubt but didn't think too much about it and followed the knight outside the castle.
"So Dannep, are you liking the castle? Do you like the kingdom? Oh look, it's a dog, isn't it cute?"
Seraphin began bombarding Dannep with questions as they walked, like a curious child.
"Yes, yes, and yes, it's cute," Dannep replied in a dry tone.
"Heeey, I thought Ilyss was the boring one, but what's with those answers?" Seraphin pouted in an annoyed tone.
Dannep smiled again in amusement. It was strange, but this woman had an energy that made her feel good. Was it something related to her magic? Dannep wondered, becoming more cautious.
"What's your relationship with the queen?" Dannep asked, trying to change the conversation before Seraphin asked her more questions.
"AH, Ilyss is my best friend. Yeah, we're complete opposites, but we've known each other since the military academy. Back then you couldn't trust many people, so having few friends was necessary."
Dannep understood a little of what Seraphin was talking about. Since Viremonth was a commercial kingdom, it hadn't been as affected by the Great Crimson War, but Dannep wasn't unfamiliar with that history.
The war that was thought would destroy the world—several kingdoms fell into poverty and others were simply wiped out. No matter which version of the story you hear, they all agree on the ending.
Ilyss Dracoryth rose victorious, being recognized as the Demon Queen. After that, the world entered a decade of peace that has lasted ten years so far. Dannep had only been a three-year-old child back then.
"Because of that, when that crazy girl created this kingdom, she made me the general of her army, but I don't think I do the job very well," Sera said with a smile.
As they walked through the kingdom, Dannep noticed places she hadn't seen before, like a doll shop, a photography shop, and a bookstore with a sign that read: We do not sell magic books. If you don't want to learn mathematics, don't come here.
This made Dannep even more curious about how strange the kingdom of Drakmorya was, but Seraphin always pulled her attention away to tell her something.
Walking with Seraphin felt like walking with a celebrity. Everyone in town greeted her and stopped to talk to her, but Sera avoided them by saying she was with her friend now.
Even though it was a normal gesture of courtesy, Dannep couldn't help but feel good every time she did it.
"Well, we're here," Seraphin said, stopping.
Dannep looked at the building in front of them. It was quite a nice clothing shop.
"Are you going to buy clothes?" Dannep asked curiously.
"Yes, I'm going to buy clothes, but not for me." Seraphin took out her bag of coins and handed it to Dannep.
"Come on, Dannep, I only ever see you in that uniform. I'm going to buy you the entire clothing store."