Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

With the Codex of Origin in hand, Melina returned to the Human Realm. She had mixed feelings about holding the heavy book in her hands once again. Last time she did, she was deciphering a ritual to turn back time. Holding it in her hands felt ominous, even if the book itself was not at all. After all, it was just a compendium for knowledge.

However, as soon as Melina and Alistair returned home, they hid the Codex. The Stone of Sacrifice was already hidden underground with some of the most powerful wards Melina knew protecting it. Codex, they decided to hide in the bedroom, in a hidden compartment underneath their bed, which was further secured with wards and magic.

"This doesn't feel enough," Melina muttered, nervously chewing on her thumbnail.

"We got a wyvern, a nightmare, a kitsune, several Sinclair guards, me and you guarding this place. There is no place more secure in Sunglow than this," Alistair said, soothingly rubbing her shoulders.

"I know… But the fact that Heiliger has the chalice makes me anxious. How are we supposed to get it from her? Where is she even? She undoubtedly will try to retrieve the Stone and the Codex," Melina said.

"If she does, we'll just capture her again," Alistair said nonchalantly, planting a kiss on Melina's cheek.

"But what if—"

She didn't get to finish the sentence as Alistair planted a firm kiss on her lips. The gesture was sudden, but not unwanted, and for a moment, she allowed herself to just enjoy the warmth of his lips and his gentle caresses.

Once he pulled back, he had a satisfied smile on his lips. With a smooth motion, he brushed some stray hair out of her face and caressed her face gently with his thumb. "I know you're worried about the fate of the world, but for now, I think we can relax a little. We have two of three Sacred Treasures. Without them, Heiliger and the Church as a whole won't be able to do much to advance their plans."

"What we need to do now is turn our attention to the things that matter in Sunglow. Lots of new people are coming in, many nobles are interested in your pastries and…"

"And?" Melina asked, noticing a slight frown on Alistair's lips. It disappeared rather quickly, but he was a bit tense.

"To be honest, managing Sunglow has been a rather arduous task. I'm doing my best to keep everything running, but I feel like I'm being split apart. I know you have a lot on your plate, but…"

Alistair looked at her pleadingly, and only then did she realize how selfish she had been. All she was thinking about was preventing the end of the world, but in her desperate haste, she had completely forgotten the things that mattered most.

She hadn't paid enough attention to him. While Melina certainly noticed him toiling away at his work desk even late into the nights, she never thought much about it. After all, he was safe. He wasn't fighting monsters. But she never considered how mentally draining his new job was.

It wasn't just him that she had neglected. It was like she had pushed everyone in Sunglow to the sidelines. When was the last time she spoke to Remi or Erina? When was the last time she visited Milo or everyone in the Guild?

She had occasionally spoken with Leliana, but only because she needed to work together with Elowen on her goal. Leon was probably the only one from the Guild she had spoken to in weeks, because of the magic lessons, which still had half the mind to keep going.

"I'm so sorry," Melina said in a whisper.

"What?! Why are you apologizing?" Alistair asked frantically.

"I've been too neglectful of you. Of everyone. Because I was obsessed with putting things right, I never stopped to breathe and look at the people around me. We never had a proper engagement party with the people of Sunglow. I bet Erina and Remi would have loved to participate," Melina muttered.

Alistair smiled and gently patted his head. "How about we organize our wedding with everyone in Sunglow to make up for it?"

"Can we do that?" She asked in surprise. "What about the nobles?"

"They can have a separate party later on. It's actually not that rare for nobles to have a small wedding with the priest and their family, and then later a large party with half the kingdom invited," he explained.

"I… I would love that," Melina admitted. "Although I think our wedding will have to wait a little."

"Agreed… There are far too many things to deal with at the moment…"

"You said it's too much with managing the town. Is there anything I could do to help?" Melina asked.

"If you could help me with just a smidgen of my paperwork, I'd be ever so grateful. I really hate to ask. I'm supposed to manage this on my own…" he said uncomfortably.

Melian chuckled and ran her fingers through his hair. "It's alright. With the engagement out of the way and the Codex found, I think I have some spare time to help you out. Besides, if I help you with your work, we'll be able to spend more time together."

Alistair smiled and pulled her into a hug.

The next morning, Melina was fully dedicated to the bakery. She was going to release the ice-cream cake as an official dessert, much to everyone's and especially little Mango's delight. Preparations were busy as she also had to complete the shimmercake orders and the weekly contribution of healing waffles to the Guild.

But thanks to , which reached Rank C, Melina was able to keep ahead of things. She also gained several levels in her [Archpatissier] class, bringing it to Level 13. Although it wasn't her new class that she was worried about. It was Mango's.

With her contribution increasing thanks to all the ice-cream cakes made, the little fox was also leveling up fast. It wouldn't be long before her first evolution happened. Although Melina wasn't a monster expert, she didn't know when exactly that would be.

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The kitsune she had faced before was much larger than Mango and had many tails, but it was still a kitsune at the end of the day. Did these creatures not evolve? Or was their evolution different? Melina didn't know, so she decided to keep a sharp eye on the little fox for any possible changes.

The service was an absolute mayhem. Everyone wanted some of the ice-cream cake for themselves, price be damned. She specifically set the price rather high, so it wouldn't be something people could buy on a whim. But it quickly turned out that everyone had a birthday or some celebration coming up in a day or two, and they needed the cake.

Even Heilia showed up near lunchtime, demanding ice-cream cake for herself and offering double the price. After that, the bakery turned into a bidding war with Adrien masterfully taking the reins of the situation and directing everything in a more or less civil manner. Melina's reached Rank C, even though she wasn't even trying to drive up the price.

In the end, the apothecary did leave with a smile on her face and an ice-cream cake in her hands. She was followed by a gaze of envious onlookers; however, she paid a whole gold coin for it, so nobody could object. Frankly, Melina couldn't believe that Heilia was willing to part with so much money for just a cake.

Once the bakery's business was complete, Melina decided to visit the inn for some lunch. It had been a while since she had gone there, and she honestly felt bad about it. Erina hadn't come to the bakery recently either, instead sending Barrett to carry the boxes of pastries for her.

She felt guilty stepping into the busy inn; however, Erina, who was standing behind the counter at the time, instantly burst into a smile. "Melina! What a pleasure to see you here! It feels like it's been ages since you visited."

"Sorry… It's been busy," Melina said sheepishly.

"Tell me about it! Despite it being the end of the tourist season, things have only gotten busier. Our new lord has been rather busy expanding the town and bringing new people in. I barely have any space left in my inn," Erina chuckled, then called for one of her workers to watch the counter while she and Melina went to get lunch together.

"Is it alright to leave like that just because of me?" Melina asked.

"Hey, I need to eat too, and I want to catch up with all the things that have been happening," Erina shot back.

Melina nodded, and the two of them got some food from the cafeteria together. Unlike before, she didn't have to worry about the prices so much anymore and could just pick whatever she wanted. She also got a separate plate for Mango and Sienna, who were eagerly sniffing their snouts at the food.

Some of the newcomers were staring at Sienna in shock. A cat-sized wyvern wasn't exactly a common sight. But if anybody dared to so much as look wrongly in the wyvern's direction, Erina instantly jumped to her defense, followed by the agreeing mutters of other Sunglowers.

In the end, they sat at the table meant for four, with Sienna sitting next to Erina and Mango next to Melina. Erina wasn't shy in giving Sienna plenty of scratches, making the wyvern nearly purr with delight.

"Aww, you're just as sweet as before. Or perhaps even sweeter," Erina chuckled.

"Well, she is a hearthfire wyvern, so any kind of violent nature she could have had is now gone," Melina explained.

"She was never violent to begin with," the woman said. "Merely misunderstood."

Melina smiled. To think that she would have missed chatting with Erina so much. She promised herself to stop by the inn for a meal more often from now on.

As their conversation continued, Melina couldn't help but be curious about Erina's and Barrett's relationship. He had been doing more and more for Erina's sake, and it appeared that even Melina, who hadn't paid much attention to anything besides the Sacred Treasures and the bakery, had noticed that their relationship had definitely reached some milestone.

"Actually…" Erina said, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Shortly after your engagement party, he asked me out!"

"What? Really?" Melina gasped.

"Yes! The fool thought I would reject him on the spot for some reason, but I agreed. I don't think he has accepted it fully yet," Erina chuckled.

"That's wonderful news! So that's why he's been doing so much stuff for you lately."

"I swear, he'd carry me around all day if he had the time. As if I were a royalty of some kind," Erina shook her head, but her smile on her face clearly said that she didn't mind such treatment at all.

The rest of the meal went by in a flash, with Melina and Erina talking about their relationships and how their partners treated them. It was refreshing to have some girl talk, and afterwards, Melina felt oddly satisfied. Recharged even.

She headed to the Town Hall after that, which was buzzing with people. The newcomers had formed long lines at the entrance counter, where the secretaries further directed each person where they needed to go. Melina wasn't even sure how to get through, but thankfully, her familiars quickly solved the issue.

The moment Sienna came in, everybody stopped and stared at her. Most of the people here were strangers, so they weren't really used to monsters, especially a literal cat-sized wyvern. Even Mango was getting some dubious glances.

"Miss Melina, please head up this way," one of the Sinclair soldiers noticed her and safely guided her upstairs to Alistair's office.

People were coming in and out of it, carrying papers and folders. Most didn't even pay attention to Melina; only the guards by the door acknowledged her arrival.

"Please, go in, Miss Melina. Lord Sinclair informed us of your arrival. We've prepared a table for you," one of the guards motioned for her to go inside.

The office was… Well, the best description was probably a warzone. Half a dozen scribes had their noses buried in papers, either reading them, sorting them, or furiously writing something. Alistair had the largest stack of papers on his desk, with his assistant Mark placing even more.

"Good day, Miss Melina," Mark greeted politely, after having noticed her.

"Good day, Mark. Hello, Alistair," she said.

Melina's fiancé instantly shot up to his feet and ran up to her, pulling her into a hug. "Oh, Melina. You're like sunshine that has appeared in the deepest depths of hell."

"My Lord, it is hardly appropriate to compare your workplace to hell," Mark noted.

However, the scribes in the room shot the man a nasty glare, seemingly agreeing with Alistair in this regard.

"I've come to help with what I can," Melina said.

"This is hardly a place for—" Mark began, but Alistair quickly shot the man a glare.

"I've been expecting you," Alistair told Melina, his smile returning as if it had never disappeared in the first place. "I've prepared a special table for you. Mark will explain things to you, but there's no need to push yourself. If you feel tired, then feel free to head home. You must have already done a lot of work today."

"No, no, I'll help as much as I can. This is important for Sunglow, so I want to contribute too," Melina said firmly.

"You truly are an angel sent to me from heaven," Alistair muttered.

"You're exaggerating!" Melina said, trying desperately not to let her cheeks flush too red. "Now give one of those stacks!"

Melina sat down at the desk, and Mark carried over some papers to her desk. Unlike Alistair, the man looked rather peeved by her presence as if she were some nuisance. However, she was determined to help Alistair as much as she could.

Unfortunately, Melina had miscalculated the enormity of the task and just how difficult managing a whole town was. Perhaps hell was an apt description for all this paperwork. It was while sorting through these papers that Melina realized what kind of trouble Sunglow was in right now.