The King's Mistress

Chapter 159: Those Were The Days

It was difficult for her to hide her emotions, especially around him. Alistair placed his hand on hers. He brought it close to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.

"I’m afraid I can’t. You know how it is. If I’m missing for too long it would raise too many questions," he explained, hoping she would understand.

"I know," she mumbled.

Not wanting to let it dampen the mood, Sierra shook her head and forced a smile on her face, "Let’s just make the best of it then."

She didn’t want to be ungrateful. It could not have been easy for him to sneak out like this just to spend time with her. So, it was better if they cherished the moments they had.

"They kind of remind me of us, darling," Vy turned to say to Dygo.

He smiled as he wrapped his arm around Vy, pulling her closer in, "Those were the days. God, we were young back then."

"You don’t look that old to me," Sierra mused, "I would have assumed you’re both not very much older than us," referred to Alistair and her.

"Like I told you before, Sierra, we don’t look our age. And we came from a different world. So our ages are a little different."

"I died young..." Dygo lamented.

"Yeah, you left me to die as an older woman..." Vy paused for a moment before coming to a realization, "If we’re counting years lived, does this mean I’m older than you?"

"It balances out I guess? If we count the years I lived in Gaeia. After all, I came here first," Dygo added.

"That is true..."

"Sorry but I’m confused," Sierra confessed.

"Don’t worry, the short answer is, we don’t look our age," Vy chuckled, "Oh our food is here!"

Monma, one of the long time servers at the Dining Hall, attended to them, along with some of the kitchen staff. They laid their table with a whole array of dishes. freewebnovёl.ƈom

"Miss Vyrena, would your guests and you like some ume liquor?" Monma asked Vy with a slight bow.

"Ume?" Sierra asked, she had not heard of such an ingredient before.

"It’s sour plum, would you both like to give it a try? It’s really good. Helps to warm up the body too," Vy recommended.

"Sure, I’ll have one," Alistair replied.

"I’ll have one too," Sierra added.

"A round for the whole table then," Vy instructed.

Sierra looked down at the spread on the table. She was amazed by the number of dishes presented to them. Each of them had a series of small plates, each containing an exquisitely prepared bite sized dish.

After Monma instructed one of the kitchen staff to bring the ume liquor, she remained at the table to explain the dishes that had been served. They had everything from tempura, vegetable and seafood fritters, to grilled meats and raw fish slices.

"Raw fish?" Alistair was amused, he had never seen this way of eating before.

For dessert, they were having sweetened red bean soup with mochi balls.

A kitchen staff hurried to Monma, handing her a bottle of ume liquor and small cups. Once those were placed on the table, she left them to enjoy their meal.

"Where do we even begin?" Sierra wondered aloud as she looked at the options before her.

She was spoiled for choice.

Alistair went for the raw fish slices first. Vy recommended they add some soy sauce and wasabi to the raw fish before they ate it. Seeing that was what Alistair picked, Sierra decided to go along with it too.

"Don’t put too much of the wasabi, it has a powerful kick," she warned.

Both Alistair and Sierra took a bite at the same time. The wasabi was pungent, hitting the roof of their noses instantly as their eyes began to water. Vy could not help but chuckle and so did Dygo.

Alistair and Sierra practically had the exact same reaction to the wasabi. But after the kick of the horse radish, they were able to taste the sweetness of the fresh raw fish slice.

It paired well with the salty flavor of the soy sauce.

"I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything quite like this," Alistair remarked as he took another slice to taste.

’Different types of fish have a different taste profile too," Dygo added.

All of them had a wonderful time trying out each and every dish that was served. By the time it came to dessert, Sierra was excited to end off the meal with something sweet.

The sweetened red bean soup with mochi balls was a perfect match. The sweetness of the red beans was leveled out with the help of the mochis.

"How did you ever find this place?" Sierra asked.

Vy pursed her lips. Realizing she might have hit a chord with Vy, she quickly apologized. Vy shook her head.

"No need to apologise, Sierra. I was recovering from a serious injury I had suffered. I was recommended to come here to use the hot springs as they have healing properties. That’s how I first discovered this place."

"Oh, I see."

"What about you, Dygo?" Alistair wondered, out of curiosity, "Did you both discover this place at the same time?"

Dygo shook his head, "Oh no, I knew about this place much earlier. Though the circumstances of how that came to be is a little more complicated and mundane. But Vy and I did meet here on her first visit."

Vy chuckled, "Yes, Lycster and I were being shown to our rooms and they accidentally brought us to Dygo’s room."

"Who’s Lycster?" Alistair asked, it was the first time he had heard of this name.

"Lycster is Vy’s younger brother," Sierra explained. She had learnt of that piece of information earlier while she was chatting with Vy.

After a satisfying lunch, they left the dining hall and decided to take a walk around the hot spring resort. Vy suggested they go to the nearby strawberry fields.

"I think you’ll love it there. You can pick a basket of strawberries and bring it back to Drakin with you if you like."

All four of them began their walk from Yama Yoma to the strawberry fields. Along the way, they passed through a bamboo forest and came across a shrine surrounded by red spider lilies.

Vy beckoned them to visit the shrine, as they could get their fortunes read.