Chapter 20: Culinary Confessions
Scarlette walked over to me, a chicken tucked under her arm, its frantic clucking filling the air.
"Look at how fresh it is!" she beamed, proud of her chaotic find.
But I wasn’t paying attention to her. My gaze swept over the crowd, their murmurs of gossip drifting through the marketplace. I saw their horrified expressions, wide eyes whispering in hushed tones.
"No, Scarlette. Look at how fresh that is." I smirked, nodding toward the gossiping crowd.
She looked up, still holding the chicken. "You’re really good at this," she chuckled, oblivious.
"You’re not so bad yourself," I replied lightly. She was the mistress of chaos, after all. And I... well, I was the poison in the water.
"So, you’re sure you can cook this?" she asked, eyeing the chicken like a challenge.
"I could always just make a bonfire," Scarlette teased.
I shivered involuntarily, remembering the time she made a wild chicken fall in love with a fish—only for the poor creature to be snatched by an eagle and thrown into a bonfire.
"There’s a stove in Lumera’s house, you know," I replied, trying to sound confident. "I said I would cook. Why does everyone doubt me?"
She just shrugged, a smirk playing on her lips. Damn that spice shopkeeper... he had really gotten under my skin.
We reached Lumera’s house, and Scarlette swung open the door. Without hesitation, she used the Emerald to kill and defeather the chicken, her motions smooth and effortless amidst morbid clucks. I couldn’t bring myself to look at her—the efficiency of it was too much.