Draconia Offline vol. 1

Halloween Special - Part 1

This special extra chapter happens outside the main timeline. It contains minor teasers of future events but no spoilers so it's safe to read for anyone past chapter 63. Enjoy! 😆

"You want to celebrate what?" Liana is looking at me, puzzled. She's buried under a ton of documents and the adjutants are constantly bringing her more.

"Halloween," I repeat carefully because it's obvious from her annoyed expression she thinks I'm just wasting her time.

"You're not a child to go trick and treating, Aefener," she rolls her eyes. "Besides, it's not a Celestial tradition."

"Just imagine how many houses we could cover since we can fly, Li," Gotrid is barely holding his laugh.

"Not trick and treating," I assure her. "What I have in mind is a costume party and a horror movie night."

"Hmm," she's seriously giving it a thought which is more than I hoped for.

"We would invite the ministers and other high officials," I add quickly. "Gods know they need to unwind. We all do."

"That's... actually not such a bad idea," she admits in the end. "Why costumes, though?"

"Because it's Halloween and because it's fun," I grin.

"It won't be dignified if you dress up," she opposes.

"Exactly, we need to unwind," I argue. "Come on, Li, relaaaaax!"

"All right then," she sighs. "But don't expect me to help you organise it, I'll be glad if I can finish all this by the end of October."

"Ingri is on the job with me, don't worry," I say. "All I want from you is to bless the event and show up wearing a costume."

"I'm still not sure about costumes," she shakes her head. "Can you imagine proud Celestials wearing them?"

"That's why I won't let anyone not wearing a costume in," I smile diabolically. "It'll be a compulsory prerequisite."

"Clever," she praises me. "They would never a miss an opportunity to socialise with you so they'll swallow their pride for once. What are you planning to wear anyway? Nothing silly, okay? You're still the Emperor, even at the Halloween party."

"That's a secret," I smile mysteriously.

*****

"So Her Excellency okayed it?" Ingri is overjoyed when we shop up in her workshop with huge grins on our faces.

"She did," Erik confirm and looks around curiously. Ingri's workshop is getting messier and messier, she's been receiving too many orders for custom clothes lately.

"Gosh, I need to start working on the costumes right away then!" she starts to panic. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? There's barely two weeks left!"

"Ask Harut for help," Gotrid suggests.

"Eeeh? She would definitely want to make a costume for His Majesty and we would argue," Ingri pouts. The two girls quickly became friends but there's rivalry between them when it comes to sewing.

"She won't argue because I'm commissioning you personally," I assure her. "She can make costumes for my Consorts."

"Okay then," Ingri agrees enthusiastically. "What do you want me to make? I'm open up to anything on the condition you must look gorgeous in it, Your Majesty. I'm sure Her Excellency insists on the same."

"This," I grin and pass her my phone.

"Oh," she giggles. "Okay, that will work just fine."

"Get on with it then and don't worry about money, I'll gladly pay for anything you need," I say. "Make it fabulous and as real as possible."

"It'll be unrecognisable from the movies," she promises.

*****

"I don't care about food being luxurious," I repeat for the tenth time. "Just make it cute and spooky."

"B-but Your Majesty," the head chef, a stout Dragonkin lady with sandy scales named Tateena, is nervously whipping her tail. "We can't serve you anything that's not the highest quality."

"So use quality ingredients," I shrug. "Just make the muffins green, decorate the cakes with marzipan spiders and serve pumpkin soup instead of asparagus."

"It's His Majesty's wish," Gotrid tries to persuade her. "For once, the dishes don't have to look so serious."

"I understand," Tateena concedes even though I feel she's having her doubts. I'm afraid being a personal chef to the Celestial Emperor inevitably left a mark on her.

"It can be Halloween-themed and still luxurious," Erik shows her a feed of inspirational photos on his phone.

"I see," Tateena calms down after studying the photos intensely. "I'll do my best then."

"Thanks, I love your cooking," I flatter her.

"He really does," Erik seconds. "Ever since you started cooking for us, he usually eats without protests and you know how picky and peculiar our Emperor is when it comes to food."

"I'm honoured, Your Majesty," Tateena smiles and suddenly feels much more enthusiastic about her special task.

*****

"Like this, love?" Erik shows me the tables he arranged himself.

"Perfect!" I appreciate after inspecting that the buffet tables are covered with black and orange cloths and decorations nicely spread.

"Like this, my love?" Gotrid calls for me. He's hanging spooky garlands using telekinesis.

"I think that's high enough," I nod.

The servants are assisting us but I insisted we decorate the room mostly ourselves simply because it's fun.

"Your Majesty, Royal Consorts, you should go change your clothes now," Ayala reminds us. "The party starts in an hour but I suspect the guests will start arriving sooner than that. Everyone is really looking forward to the event."

"How many people confirmed in the end?" I ask. "Maybe I shouldn't have booked the biggest conference room. It will look weird if it's half empty and I'm afraid I ordered too much food."

"Are you still having these naïve worries, hon?" Erik bursts out laughing. "It's the Celestial Emperor organising it personally, the place will be packed!"

"Two hundred twenty-six people confirmed," Ayala informs me. "I actually had to order much more food than was your initial estimate, Your Majesty. I can't say if Tateena was thrilled or horrified. But she assured me just two hours ago that everything is prepared, she hired helpers."

"T-two hun...," my jaw drops. "It was supposed to be friends only!"

"You have many friends, Your Majesty," Ayala says matter-of-factly. "Now go change, Cien is waiting for you with your costumes."