𝖗𝖊𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖘

╰┈ chapter o. | maiden in the snow.

The young king was walking in the snow trying to head back to the kingdom during the blizzard. While walking, he tripped on something hard that was hidden deep in the snow. Dark Cacao grumbled and looked at where he tripped, but to his surprise, it was someone buried in the snow.

"...A person...?" The male questioned quietly. He quickly went and dug the snow off the person and figured that it's a familiar woman. "Is she...?"

Dark Cacao removed his cloak and wrapped it around the woman, then lifted the woman in bridal style, finally carried her to the kingdom through the blizzard.

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The king entered the kingdom with the woman in arms and placed her on the futon. The three maidens entered the room, asking for the king's service.

"Keep an eye on her and get her warm. Let me know when she wakes up." Dark Cacao commanded the maidens before leaving the room.

"Yes, my lord." The maidens bowed.

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Many hours later, the woman had woken up, feeling warm and cozy. She looks around to see that she's in an unfamiliar room, but it's a familiar smell of cacao which means she knows that she's in the Dark Cacao Kingdom.

"Ugh...It's already been an hour." Dark Cacao grumbled from outside of the room. "When will that woman wake up?"

The ruler slided the door open without a knock, still grumbling under his breath. He then froze when he saw a view that he shouldn't see.

The woman was confused as to why the ruler was frozen in shock, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Dark Cacao covered his red face and pointed, "Y-you're...you're exposed..."

"Exposed...?" The woman questioned before looking where the man was pointing. She then squeaked, grabbing her fan and tossed it at Dark Cacao, who dodged it, letting the fan stab into the wall. "GET OUT, YOU PERVERT!"

"How is it my fault?!" Dark Cacao questioned, shielding himself from objects that were thrown at him. "You're a pervert! You always sleep like that!"

"Don't blame me for my mother's habit!" Brown Sugar snapped, tossing another object.

"You're highness!" The maidens called, then apologized after closing the door. "It was our fault. We left her unsupervised for 1 minutes!"

"That woman..." Dark Cacao grumbled.

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"What were you doing in the middle of the blizzard?" Dark Cacao asked the woman. "You could have died."

"Tch...That's none of your business." Brown Sugar scoffed, taking a sip of the booze. "Why do you care anyway? It's not like your stupid i-don't-give-a-fuck behind even care about me."

"...Tch. If I didn't give a crap, then I would have left you dying in the blizzard. I'm the king of this kingdom and I do what is best for the kingdom." Dark Cacao glared. "...And I do what is best for you, damnit."

"..." Brown Sugar flushed, not because of the booze, but what Dark Cacao said.

"You're my first friend and I care about you. Even if you don't care about me." Dark Cacao blushed.

"...Tsk. Don't think so stupid. You did save me from that fraud who's trying to force me into marriage..." Brown Sugar sighed. "You do look pissed off by the news. I wasn't expecting you to be jealous."

"J...jealous...? I-I wasn't jealous..." Dark Cacao said frustratedly.

"Heh~ You're easy to read." Brown Sugar chuckled.

"...Hm...You're not...dating anyone, are you...?" The ruler asked.

"Hm? Nah." Brown Sugar said. "But...I do have someone in mind..."

Dark Cacao flinched, "Who? Who is it?"

"I'm not telling." Brown Sugar smirked.

"...I'm already worried..." the male grumbled.

"Jealous?"

"Please stop."

Dark Cacao seemingly had a crush on Brown Sugar since they were kids. Even though they argue with each other most of the time, they still care for each other. The Dark Cacao Kingdom and the Brown Sugar Tribe were once enemies, but there was a deep connection between one of them. It was unclear how they would become allies.

Brown Sugar is Dark Cacao's most trusted prophetess. Her ability to see the future and summon spirits. She was clearly the most beautiful woman in the Brown Sugar Tribe, taken after her mother. The prophetess is also the first female warrior in the Dark Cacao Kingdom before being retired. She beat up Dark Cacao many times as a kid, teen, a young adult, and still kicking his ass.

Dark Cacao was amazed by her actions and admired her. Which unexpectedly led him to fall in love with her. Brown Sugar, too, had a crush on Dark Cacao.

"By the way, I accidentally fell asleep during the blizzard after 20 glasses of booze. I collapsed." Brown Sugar chuckled.

"You really need to stop drinking that stuff already. You know you'll end up drunk after 20 glasses." Dark Cacao sighed. "I'm worried that it'll get worse..."

"Get used to it!"

Brown Sugar Cookie(old drawing)