Should I really do this? This is crazy! What if I run into the Duke? There's no way that would end well.
These and similar thoughts passed through lina's mind as she slowly made her way to Alistair's house. She had a box with her new pastries—a few tiny shimrtartlets, the fruit puff pastries with feyfruit glaze, and eclairs with scorchvine pepper and chocolate glaze (nas still pending). In reality, they were nothing more than excuses for her to visit Alistair. He had wanted to taste them after all.
Why am I even listening to Leliana? This just might be an elaborate sche on her part. That girl knows how to strike at my weaknesses.
As lina turned onto the street where Alistair's house was, she saw a grand black and gold carriage ride in the direction of the wall. She quickly hid behind one of the houses, sticking close to the shadows. There was no doubt that this was Duke Sinclair, just as Leliana had said.
She waited until the carriage was well and truly gone before coming out of her hiding spot.
The Duke must have already talked with Alistair. I doubt he was pleased to learn that Alistair had defended . Also, I believe it was around this ti that Alistair got married to the princess. I think it was autumn this year.
lina looked down at the box of pastries in her hands, clutching the box tighter. Suddenly, she doubted her whole idea. Perhaps, it would be better to head back ho and not get involved in the matter.
Sienna chirped at her curiously, as if to ask what was going on.
"I'm just not sure if I should be doing this… Maybe let's just go ho," lina said to the wyrm.
Sienna let out an angry, disapproving hiss.
"You think I should go?"
Sienna nodded.
lina thought for a long mont, then took a deep breath. "I'm just keeping my promise. He wanted to taste the experintal pastries. So I'll give him those."
The stinkeye Sienna was giving clearly indicated that the wyrm didn't believe her for a second. Nonetheless, lina had found enough resolve to visit Alistair. She approached his house slowly, looking over her shoulder, just in case the carriage decided to co back. She felt like a thief.
It took her way too long to gather the courage to knock on the door. Alistair didn't answer. Nervously, she knocked again.
Did he perhaps leave with his father?
But after half a minute, the door opened and a rather annoyed-looking Alistair peered out.
"Sorry to bother you…" She apologized in a rush, internally chastising herself for poking her nose where she shouldn't.
But Alistair's expression quickly changed as he saw her. He appeared surprised and then relieved.
"lina…" he whispered her na in such a way that it made her heart skip a beat. His expression looked pained.
"I brought so of those experintal pastries," she said with a smile, presenting the box to him.
Alistair took the box and set it down on the nearby windowsill. Then he pulled her inside, closed the door, and embraced her.
lina squeaked in surprise as she was buried in his chest. Has he always been so large?
"You always co at the best ti, you know that," he whispered, burying his face into her hair.
She had no clue what to do. Her heart was beating like mad. Why was Alistair hugging her all of a sudden? She had no clue, and all of her brain cells had officially gone into panic mode. But that one tiny functioning part within her was enjoying this mont imnsely.
lina wrapped her hands around Alistair. It was shaless, she knew that. But at that mont, she allowed her selfish desires to take over. She desperately wished it would never end.
Then Sienna let out an agitated squeak, forcing them to separate. She had been thoroughly squished between them.
"I'm sorry, Sienna. I didn't an to crush you like that."
Sienna let out an angry puff of smoke, which indicated that she wasn't actually angry—just a bit peeved.
lina's heart, on the other hand, was beating like crazy, and her face was on fire. She didn't even know she could feel heat with her fire-resistant body. But apparently enough embarrassnt could accomplish that.
"I just had an unpleasant visit from my father, so your arrival is like fresh spring rain," Alistair said with a satisfied smile, motioning lina to sit.
Unlike her, he looked completely unbothered, even a bit smug about the situation. Did he tease her on purpose? This realization cooled her face, and lina gave Alistair an appraising look.
"Did he ask about… ?" lina asked cautiously.
Alistair retrieved the box of pastries and set it down on the table. He didn't reply right away, instead taking his ti to pour water into the magitech kettle.
"Yeah."
"Was he angry?"
"Yes."
"I expected as much," lina said somberly.
There was a mont of heavy silence, slowly interrupted by the noise of bubbling water. Alistair took a deep breath and said, "He wants to marry the princess. Just like the last ti."
lina's heart clenched. She had expected as much. It had happened before, and although the events had been slightly altered, nothing really had changed for Duke Sinclair. It was natural for so events to remain the sa as the last ti.
"I see," she said after a long pause, not daring to look at Alistair.
Alistair poured the tea for both of them and then slowly slid the cup towards her. She didn't dare to look up at him.
"I'm not going to marry her this ti," he said firmly as he sat down.
"What?" She finally looked up and saw a confident smile on his lips as he gazed at her. She had no clue what this gaze ant, but it made her heart flutter.
"I never really told you this in our last life since I didn't want to burden you with my problems. But I never really got along with my ex-wife," he emphasized the "ex". "Can she even be considered an ex-wife if I never married her?"
"Wait… Really?" lina looked at him in shock. It was true that Alistair hadn't talked about his wife much before, but she had been so certain that they got along splendidly.
Whenever there was a big event, the two of them would always show up together in color-coordinated outfits. They'd always danced together beautifully, while all lina could do was just watch from the sidelines.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to for the genuine story.
She was ashad to admit that she had been incredibly jealous of the princess. When her mood was truly dour, she even considered creating a magical "accident" for the princess. Thankfully, her conscience never allowed her to do sothing like that.
"Yes. She would always seek the company of other n rather than mine," Alistair explained almost cheerfully.
"What?! But that's horrible! Why would she do sothing like that to you?" lina nearly jumped to her feet in outrage. Only Alistair's amused expression kept her seated.
"No clue. But I certainly have no intention of going through the sa miserable marriage again," he said and opened the box with pastries. His eyes sparkled as he looked from one pastry to the next, unable to choose. Eventually, he settled for the eclair.
"Careful, it's a bit spicy," lina said.
Alistair took a small bite, chewing the eclair thoughtfully. lina watched him intently, worried that perhaps she had added too much of the pepper to the glaze. Sienna loved it, but she could eat those gut-wrenching peppers raw without any issues.
"This is delicious. The gentle cream in the middle works really well with the spice on the glaze," he praised.
lina let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Then she asked, "How do you intend to convince your father? I imagine he wanted to establish a connection with the royal family. I doubt he'll just say okay."
"I have a vague plan," Alistair said as he eagerly finished the eclair and reached out for the fruit pastry.
"What kind of a plan?" She cocked her head quizzically.
"I want to keep a secret for now. But I'm planning to use the festival to my advantage," Alistair said. "He'll see exactly what kind of place Sunglow is."
lina had no clue how the festival was in any way related to his marriage to the princess. But she decided not to question it. Instead, she contentedly sipped the warm tea, happy that Alistair didn't even like the princess.
Maybe… Just maybe, I have a chance…
lina humd in delight as she greased the muffin tins with butter.
"You've been acting weird this whole day," Gilbert comnted, narrowing his eyes at her.
"What are you talking about, Master?" lina asked as she twirled around and retrieved a large bowl. It was ti to make those muffins. She needed to perfect her recipes today, because tomorrow, she'd be preparing everything for the stall.
"You've had that stupid grin on your face the whole morning! And you just did a twirl!"
"Did I?" lina paused. She hadn't even noticed it. But after her talk with Alistair yesterday, she was feeling quite happy. He wasn't going to marry the princess. He had no intention of doing that.
She felt horrible and infuriated by what the princess had put Alistair through. He had recounted how he wanted them to have a good relationship initially. But apparently Alistair had been too boring for Her Majesty's tastes, so she decided to keep him as husband on paper only.
What a b…. If Alistair were my husband, I'd…
lina flushed as she caught the wild thought in her mind. No, no. That was going too far. The fact that their social standings were worlds apart hadn't changed.
"LINA," Gilbert suddenly yelled.
"What?!" She jumped back as the old baker snapped a finger in her face.
"Get a grip, girl. Not sure what happened between you and that boy, but please keep your focus on the work you need to do," Gilbert grumbled. "For soone who has lived through a whole lifeti, you're acting like a schoolgirl first ti in love."
"I lived a lifeti as an [Archmage], not chasing romance and n. I had no ti for such things."
"Well, that explains it, I suppose. But that doesn't an you can lose sight of what's important. Did you not want to make the most amazing festival stall?"
"Yes, I do!" lina nodded.
"Then let's get started on those muffins."
The muffins Master Gilbert and lina had agreed on were supposed to be as attractive as a muffin can be. So her first task was to make blueberry jam. They had been lucky enough that so fresh blueberries had been brought into the Sunglow for the festival. Gilbert had made sure to buy a large batch of it.
Once the jam was ready, lina set it aside to cool and prepared the mixture for muffins. First, she combined the dry ingredients—flour, soda, and salt. In another bowl, she whisked lted butter, sugar, oil, and sour cream.
"Listen carefully, this is important. Fold the dry ingredients together with the wet ingredients. Not stir but fold," Gilbert said sternly.
"What does that even an?" lina arched her eyebrow.
"Let show you," Gilbert said and tipped the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Then he took a spatula and indeed began folding the ingredients together. It was hard to describe, but essentially, he gently put the spatula to the bottom of the bowl and lifted it.
"Why can't I just stir it?" lina asked. "Or whisk it?"
"Because then the mixture will lose its airiness and you'll be left with a dense muffin. Even your zephyr syrup won't be able to salvage that."
lina nodded and took over the process. She went slowly and carefully, repeating the folding process exactly as Gilbert had shown it. It was slow, and she worried about overfolding the mixture all the ti. But Gilbert watched over her, guiding her if she rushed too much.
"Good. Now you can fold in so blueberries."
lina sighed. More folding. Who would have thought that muffin mixture would be so sensitive? But soon the muffin mix was ready to be cooked.
"Now, do not fill the tins more than halfway. Ideally, aim for a bit less than the halfway mark. They're going to rise quite a lot," Gilbert instructed.
lina did as he said, doing her best to keep the mixture a bit below halfway mark. It didn't always work out, so tins ended up with more mix than the others. But she was willing to take a few hits on the first try.
"What about the jam we made before?" She asked once all the tins were filled.
"You take one teaspoon and put it in each tin. Make sure that the jam is cooled. Hot jam will ruin everything. After that, you just take a toothpick and create whatever pattern your little mind desires."
lina did just that, making swirls on so muffins and webbed patterns on others. It was actually quite fun swirling the jam into various shapes. She wondered if, with practice she could make vague shapes of animals or flowers.
But for now, she put the muffins into the oven, which Sienna had preheated for her, and activated .
"Alright, I'll leave the rest to you. Once they are ready and cool, you can drizzle your zephyr syrup on top. Just be careful with the amount. Just a little bit is enough. Too much and the muffin will be a soggy, dense ss."
lina nodded, and together with Sienna waited for the muffins to cook. Once they were out of the oven, she busied herself in the garden, slowly continuing on Sienna's enclosure as the muffins cooled. Once they were cool, lina gently brushed the zephyr root syrup over each muffin.
[You've made . You've gained 15 exp.]
New notifications popped up each ti lina finished brushing the syrup, and soon she had a neat array of beautiful muffins.
[Your skill
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