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The other three contestants bolted up to Hero Gold-Hair, fury written on their faces.

“Bastard!” Nerona grabbed Hero Gold-Hair by his shirt collar. “And where the devil is your proof?! Explain yourself!”

“Get off me, you nincompoop!” Hero Gold-Hair shoved Nerona away. “This is the only fancy suit I have! What am I supposed to do if you wrinkle it?! Do you want Tsuya to shout at me again?! Besides, you’re the worst one.”

“E-Excuse me?!”

“Didn’t you noticeanythingabout the ingredients you picked out?”

Nerona glanced over at the ingredients she had prepared. Selinaphott and Snow White hurried back to their kitchens to check on their own ingredients as well. Hero Gold-Hair, however, strode up after them and plucked a vegetable from each of their three kitchens.

“Listen here, you sorry lot,” he said, strolling up to Dawkson himself to show him what he had picked out. “If you want to marry the Dark One, you should know...”

Dawkson’s face went ghastly pale when he saw what Hero Gold-Hair had plucked out of the three girls’ ingredient stockpiles. “G-Ghhh...” he managed, cold sweat running down his face.

“That the Dark One Dawkson, your husband-to-be, can’t even stand thesightof this vegetable!” Hero Gold-Hair declared, holding the cyarrots high for all to see. “How dare you eventhinkof using it in his meals!”

Hero Gold-Hair had learned that Dawkson couldn’t bear to even look at a cyarrot when Dawkson had taken part in an eating contest during their travels. The vegetable had given him a great deal of trouble back then. In a sense, they were the Dark One’s greatest weakness.

“H-Hang on!” Nerona protested. “You don’t expect us tobelievethis!” She stomped up to the Dark One, a look of indignation on her face. “Dawkson! You used tolovecyarrots, didn’t you? I remember stuffing your mouth full of raw cyarrots straight from the soil—you had tears of joy streaming down your face! That’s why I made a point of bringing so many cyarrots for the contest today!”

Dawkson, however, squared up his shoulders in anger. “Nerona, you damn idiot!” he shouted. “That stunt of yours is the whole reason I can’t stand cyarrots now! I can’t even look at them anymore without thinkin’ about all that trauma!” As if to demonstrate, he grabbed one of the cyarrots out of Hero Gold-Hair’s hands, and immediately went visibly pale and collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Nerona stared, dumbfounded. “No way...” she muttered, swaying uneasily on her feet before finally collapsing to her knees. “I thought... I thought he liked them...”

Selinaphott seemed nearly as distressed as Nerona. “I-I see...” she said. “S-So the Dark One Lord Dawkson hates cyarrots...”

Snow White covered her face with her hands, looking up in despair. “I... I had no idea...”

Phufun, meanwhile, had taken care not to bring a single cyarrot. “I simply did as I always do,” she said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Nothing to it at all.” Out of sight, beneath the kitchen counter, she pumped her fist victoriously.

Hero Gold-Hair breathed a sigh of relief.I’ve been racking my brain this whole time for a way to get out of this without having to eat any of their cooking...he thought.Looks like I just made it.

◇ ◇ ◇

The three losers put away their stations and stood in a line in front of the Dark One. “Well, that’s how it goes I suppose...” Dawkson said to all three. “But I wantcha to know I don’t have anythin’ against you or your peoples.” He turned to Snow White and stated her name.

“Yes, My Lord Dark One? What is it you desire?”

“I hear your people’ve been targeted by other clans ’cause of your rarity. I wanna invite you to come live in the Dark Citadel castle town, where you’ll be under the full protection of the Dark Army. And come straight to me if you need anything!”

“M-My Lord Dark One!” Snow White’s face lit up like a light bulb. “Do you speak true?” She could hardly believe her ears. Her number one reason for wanting to become the Dark One’s bride had been the safety of her people. Tears came to her eyes as she bowed her head again and again.

“Next, Selinaphott.”

“Y-Yes, Dark One Lord Dawkson? Is there something you need?”

“Just ’cause I’m not taking you as my wife doesn’t mean I wanna do bad by your people. They sent you to be my bride, and I ain’t gonna disrespect the spirit of that gesture. I promise I’ll take a number of folks from your clan to be my attendants. Just send ’em over! And if you ever come under attack from some other clan, just lemme know, and I’ll be right there.”

“D-Dark One Lord Dawkson! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!” Selinaphott fell to her knees, tears of gratitude streaming from her eyes.

“And finally,” the Dark One began, “Nerona...” Nerona kept her eyes fixed on the ground, looking uncharacteristically awkward. Dawkson winced. “Well, there’s a lot Icouldsay, but I don’t wanna give you an earful now, of all times. Let’s just say, as your childhood friend, I hope I can count on your support going forward.” He gave her a cheerful smile.

“W-Well...” Nerona said, her cheeks flushing red. “I-If you’re gonna go and say something like that, I suppose I’ve gotta!” She awkwardly scratched the tip of her nose. Even at the very end, she couldn’t simply be honest about her emotions.

His business with the three concluded, Dawkson slowly turned to look at Phufun, who had been standing beside him. She had changed out of the apron she had been wearing earlier, and was now dressed in her customary scanty getup. She pressed her glasses up the ridge of her nose.

Dawkson cleared his throat. “Phufun...” he said, reaching into his bottomless bag. “In accordance with the results of the contest, um...”

Phufun, however, cut him off. “Master Dawkson,” she said, bowing deeply. “I am satisfied simply to have prevented an unworthy woman from becoming your bride.” The others seemed to consider stepping forward to protest, but as they had lost to Phufun, they had no right to approach. Phufun turned her gaze to the three of them. “None of the women who took part in the contest today were worthy to wed the Dark One. However, you should all continue your training. And when you deem yourself to have become a woman worthy to be Master Dawkson’s bride, come challenge me again. But make no mistake—I, too, will only continue to improve!” She conjured a whip of dark light in her hand and struck it on the floor with a satisfying smack.

“I will take your words to heart,” Selinaphott said, bowing deeply to Phufun. “We shall meet again.”

“Next time, I, Snow White, will win my place at the Lord Dark One’s side!” said Snow White, smiling. “Don’t you forget it!”

Nerona shook her head, a smile on her face. “Dawkson’s got an eye for talent, to have picked a woman like you.”

Phufun bowed politely to the others, and left the throne room.

◇Dark Citadel Basement—Phufun’s Laboratory◇

“Hey, Phufun...” The Dark One Dawkson stepped inside Phufun’s laboratory, closing the door behind him.

Phufun froze on the spot. “Master Dawkson...” she said. “I know I said some rather presumptuous things earlier. But I am no more worthy to be your bride than the other three. I must continue to grow. I will train under Lady Rys until my cooking is good enough to delight everyone in Flio’s household.” Then she took a deep breath and added in a smaller voice, “And when I am finally worthy, I will hold my head high, and...and...”

A long second passed, and then Phufun grinned as if to say, “Well, never mind!” She hurried past Dawkson, grabbing the handle of the door he had just shut and opening it wide. “Now, Master,” she said, back to her normal haughty demeanor. “That’s enough goofing off, I think! Shall we return to our respective duties?”

“Honestly, that woman...” Dawkson smirked as Phufun chased him out of the room.

Later, when the two met again in the throne room, they carried on their business as normal, as though the cooking contest had never happened.

◇Meanwhile, with Hero Gold-Hair...◇

“Shooouldn’t we say goodbye to Lord Daaawkson before we leave?” Tsuya asked as they left the Dark Citadel, a puzzled look on her face.

“Well, you know...” said Hero Gold-Hair. “I’m sure Dawkson will be all right. He knows what he’s doing.”

The group walked on towards the nearby forest where Aryun Keats, who had transformed into a carriage, was waiting. Valentine, Riliangiu, and Wuha Gappoli were already on board, and they waved Gold-Hair and Tsuya over.

“My lord Hero Gold-Hair!” sang Valentine. “Shall we be off?”

“Where are we going next?” asked Riliangiu.

“How about somewhere we can take a nice long rest...?” suggested Wuha.

“Not a bad idea,” said Hero Gold-Hair. “We wrapped up this incident with Dawkson. How about we find somewhere we can get a good meal?”

“Hmm...” Suddenly, Tsuya reached into Hero Gold-Hair’s pocket.

“Ts-Tsuya! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Tsuya extracted a ticket from the very flustered Hero Gold-Hair’s pocket. “Hero Gooold-Hair!” she cried. “Were you going to uuuse this all-expenses-paid tiiicket for that shooop with the laaadies who go ‘ah-haaaan’ and ‘tee-heeee’?” She waved the ticket in the air.

“D-Don’t be ridiculous!” Gold-Hair protested. “I-I would never even think about visiting that shop! I’ll get rid of the ticket, so give it here!”

Alas, however, it was not meant to be. Tsuya ripped the ticket to pieces before his eyes and tossed them into the air, where they scattered on the wind. “Theeere we go! All gooone!” she chimed with a bright smile that failed to reach her eyes. She wrapped her arms tight around Hero Gold-Hair as they stepped into the carriage together. “Now, Hero Gooold-Hair, tell me aaall about how you got that tiiicket...”

The bad feeling I had... Hero Gold-Hair thought as he was dragged on board.Don’t tell me it was actually about this?!