Demon Queened Ch. 09

"I hardly see the problem. I've been ordering extra food for Abigail for almost a week now, have I not?" Well, excluding the days I'd been absent at least.

"B-But-" She glanced at Abigail, pleading with her eyes for help. My maid's only response was a helpless shrug of her shoulders, as if to say she didn't understand me either.

The way they were acting almost made me worry that I was being unreasonable, but I couldn't back down. If people started to treat this as some sort of extravagant, royal dish, it might very well become impossible to spread fries.

"I do not see how you intend to repeat the recipe if you don't even know what the end result is meant to taste like," I pointed out. "I intend to request this quite a bit, you know? Not to mention my plans of spreading it throughout the tower."

"Th-throughout the tower...?" Lenora repeated.

"...Seriously?" Abigail muttered.

"Well, I'll have to introduce everyone to potatoes first, but once you taste it, I'm sure you'll understand that this is a dish worth reprising."

"Maybe," Abigail conceded, looking somewhat doubtful. "But it takes a lot of oil. I don't think anyone but you could afford doing this regularly."

Lenora nodded firmly. "I was really surprised when you emptied most of the bottle."

Ah. Perhaps I had been a little quick on the draw there. Between the quantity of oil we possessed, and the assurance that we could get more, I'd jumped to the conclusion that it was cheap. But thinking about it now, even the relatively inexpensive oil of my last life had been pricey enough to keep me from deep-frying at home.

"Very well," I declared after a moment. "In that case, we will simply need to employ the oven method next time. I will teach it to you later - after we partake."

Having found no help in Abigail, Lenora turned her attention next to Bailey. When the wolf responded by licking her own nose, I could almost see the will to fight leaving Lenora's body. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and she moved to pull four porcelain plates from a cabinet.

"I'll serve them," Abigail volunteered. "I think Lenora might break if you did it."

I wanted to scoff at the idea, but the wide-eyed look of terror on Lenora's face strongly reinforced it.

"Is the position of Queen truly such a big deal to you?" I inquired, looking down upon her. "Most of my citizens seem to think of me as an incorrigible brat."

"Th-They shouldn't say things like that to you," Lenora complained, ducking her head.

"Even if it's true?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"It's not true. But even if it was..." Her hands curled into fists, which trembled at her sides. "Even if it was, it would be wrong to talk about you like that."

"Why?" I pressed, "If it doesn't bother me, I can't imagine why it would cause you such consternation."

"B-but... you're the Demon Queen..."

Like Lenora before me, I turned to Abigail for help. Unfortunately, I received no more than my predecessor.

"How the heck would I know? No offense, but I didn't think there was anyone on your staff who actually respected you. Except me, and that's a recent development."

"You respect me?" I balked. I had thought, from the way she'd been acting toward me of late, that we had perhaps crossed the border between dislike and neutrality. Considering her recent remarks, I even thought it possible that she'd begun enjoying my company. The way she talked to me and countered my self-deprecations felt almost like the actions of a friend. But I'd never thought that actual respect was on the table.

"A little. Sometimes. Don't let it go to your head," Abigail warned, narrowing her eyes. "You're still not off the hook for hiding so much from me. Or making that stupid plan."

I gave her a faint smile, choosing to ignore the more acrid words, then turned my attention back to Lenora.

"I really am just a person. Stripped of my powers, I would be no more special than you."

"That's not true," Lenora argued, shaking her head vigorously. "Y-you're different from anyone else... I mean, you're the Demon Queen!"

"Lenora," Abigail interceded, "what exactly do you think a demon queen is?"

"A hero." The smile on Lenora's face was bright and pure, so much so that it almost hurt to look at it. The admiration in her eyes was particularly difficult to deal with, as I couldn't think of anything I'd done to deserve it. "And not a fake one, like the Heroine. A real hero."

"A real hero?" I probed.

Lenora gave a firm nod. "Even though you're an angel, instead of a demon - even though you could live forever - you're still putting your life on the line for us, just like all the demon queens before you. How can anyone not respect that? How can anyone think you're selfish when your life's been promised to us from the very start?"

I didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't exactly untrue. Prior to recovering my memories of being Jacob, I really had thought my story would end in death; if not at the hands of this heroine, then from the next one, or perhaps the one after that. Some of my behavior could probably be attributed to that. I'm sure deep down, I thought that I deserved the luxuries I demanded since I was already doomed to be their sacrifice.

But it didn't excuse the way I'd treated everyone. If I was going to survive and live among my people, then it was up to me to make amends.

I let out a long sigh, placing my fingers on my temple. "...I'm sorry, Lenora," I said, offering her an apologetic smile,"but I think I'll be serving the fries."

"H-huh?" Lenora's ruby red eyes widened in surprise. "I... But... But... You're the Queen..."

"I am the Queen," I agreed, taking the plates from Lenora's unresisting hands, and placing them on the counter. I used magic to transfer fries to the topmost plate and then offered it to Lenora. "And as the Queen, I am ordering you to eat these fries alongside me and my friends."

"B-but... But why?" she asked, her hands trembling. She looked conflicted, torn between following my orders and offering me the respect she insisted I deserved.

"Because I am not dead yet."

"Huh?" She tilted her head in confusion, and even Abigail looked at me askance. Bailey, of course, remained oblivious and simply scratched at her ear with her hind leg.

"I am not dead yet," I repeated. "I am not one of the many demon queens who have laid down their lives. I have not yet crossed the barrier from which there can be no return. I am alive. And while I yet live, I wish to enjoy myself with friends. Not as the Queen, but as Devilla."

"I-I don't understand," Lenora stammered. "What does that have to do with serving me fries?"

"Everything. I am asking you to be my friend."

Lenora froze in place. Even her hands stopped trembling, as her red eyes locked onto mine. When she spoke, she did so with a voice so weak I doubt anyone but me could have heard it.

"...I'm just an apprentice chef..."

"No. You are Lenora Dors, the one in charge of making my future fries."

Lenora's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. Thought it might be a bit cruel, I'll admit that she looked something like a fish.

"Thank you," she said at last, speaking softly. "But I can't."

"No?" I arched an eyebrow. Abigail, too, seemed curious, just judging by the way she leaned closer to hear.

"I got my current job because of my parents," Lenora explained, "and everyone knows it. They talk about it whenever I leave the room, even when I'm still in earshot. And they won't let me do any of the cooking... All I can do is sweep the floors and watch."

"Then I'd think you'd leap at the chance to do more," I remarked, not bothering to stifle my inquisitive tone.

"Y-yeah," Lenora agreed. "But... I want to earn it myself this time. If I get another job based on who I know, instead of what I've done, then there's no way I'll ever live it down..."

"I see," I murmured, running a hand idly through the tresses of my long white hair. Thanks to Abigail's good care, there wasn't a single knot in my locks. It felt like the tangles missing from my hair had knotted themselves into this situation instead.

"Very well," I conceded. "We will do things your way, but there's one point I won't back down on."

"Wh-What?" Lenora looked on edge as she answered me. No doubt she was readying herself to refuse, in case I asked too much. I wasn't prepared to take no for an answer though.

"You will eat these fries with me, and before they grow cold, at that." Lenora had helped me considerably with making them. I would pay her back for that.

Besides which, even if I couldn't give her a position, I could create an opportunity for her. As the only one in the kitchen who'd actually tasted fries, the head chef would need Lenora even after receiving the recipe. It would be up to her to take advantage of that opportunity to prove herself.

"...Can you at least let me serve my own fries?" Lenora asked, biting her lower lip.

"Oh, very well," I conceded with a sigh. "Fries are best when one simply helps themselves I suppose." Thankfully I'd planned to give Lenora a solid fourth of the fries, meaning I had quite the generous portion on my own plate.

Trying not to be impatient, I waited while Lenora grabbed some tongs, and began portioning out fries for herself. Surprisingly, both she and then Abigail put only a few fries onto their plates.

"I hope you two aren't thinking this dish will be too rich for your blood?" I chided, looking between the two of them as I prepped Bailey's plate.

"I-it's not that. It's just..." Lenora trailed off, and ducked her head down, refusing to meet my eye.

"It's just that we're not sure what to make of it," Abigail explained after it became clear that Lenora wasn't going to continue speaking. "I mean, you bring in some entirely new type of vegetable, add a substance we've never seen in person, and then used a cooking technique I've never even heard of. I'm sorry, Devilla, but you might end up eating most of this yourself."

"I'll remember you said that," I warned them, picking up my first fry. Despite the highhanded words, my own heart was pounding fiercely as I lifted the food to my mouth. What if they weren't as good as I remembered them being?

There was only one way to find out. I leaned forward to meet the fry halfway and bit into the crisp potato plank. As my teeth crunched through the surface, and the salty food touched my tongue, my eyes practically rolled back into my head from pleasure.

"Is it really that good?" Lenora asked, doubt written clearly on her features. "I-I mean, not that I don't trust you, but you didn't even add anything to it. I thought you wanted pepper and malt vinegar?"

"I simply wished to taste it once without any affectation," I explained, reaching for the pepper. "You can ask Bailey if you doubt me." The wolf had already devoured her portion and was now licking the remaining grease and crumbs from her plate. For my part, I added a generous portion of pepper to my fries, before making a small puddle of malt vinegar on my plate. I then dipped a fry into it and ate the result.

"Delicious!" I declared, hastily repeating the process. "Absolutely divine!"

"Really?" Lenora asked, doubt apparent in her curious gaze.

"It's like nothing I've ever tasted before." It was mostly true, too. Even if I had memories of eating fries in another life, this was the first time that their salty deliciousness had ever touched this tongue.

Lenora scrunched up her face, gathered her courage, and hastily stuffed a fry all the way into her mouth. Her eyes widened in shock when the taste hit her tongue, and her eyes darted from me to the plate in front of her, before finally settling on the rather large pile of fries still in the strainer.

"You may have as many as you wish," I informed her, not bothering to stifle a chuckle. "I was only teasing earlier."

"And you'll really teach me how to make these?" Lenora asked, eagerly reaching for the tongs and gathering more fries. "Without using so much oil?"

"That I will," I promised, chomping down on another delicious morsel. "And not just fries, either. There are all sorts of things that you can do with potatoes."

"Really?" Lenora's eyes were bright with enthusiasm, and I released another soft laugh. It seemed to me that this girl all but shed her nerves when it came to learning new recipes. She was now acting the same as she had when we were cooking.

"Really," I confirmed, another fry disappearing down my gullet. "But I want to focus on fries, first. It's important that people know the full deliciousness of the potato - or I'm sure that people will be as reluctant to partake as you were."

"It won't be a problem," Lenora assured me. "Once they've tasted this, nobody will care if it comes from something strange."

"Come on," Abigail scoffed, "you guys are talking about this like it's the next big sex position. There's no way anything made from those ugly brown lumps could taste that good." She poked at one of the fries, squinting at her plate. "Are you absolutely sure these potatoes are edible?"

"Quite sure," I insisted, placing a hand on my chest. "In fact, I will go so far as to make a vow - if you find no joy in consuming these fries, then I'll allow you to ask any one favor of me. So long as it's within my power to grant, it shall be yours."

"One favor, huh?" Abigail muttered, turning her head to the side. "So if I were to say, ask you to go over my knee and take a spanking?"

My cheeks flushed bright red. "Th-that's not really what I meant-"

"Too late!" Perhaps in an attempt to seal the deal, Abigail's hand darted out to grab a fry. Without a moment's hesitation she brought it up to her mouth and partook.

Of course, in doing so she had fallen right for my trap! There was no way that she could possibly eat a fry and not enjoy it. So there was no world in which I would actually have to put myself over her knee.

Yet despite my self-assuredness, Abigail didn't moan or even make an expression of pleasure. She just slowly, methodically chewed, and then swallowed.

"...Did you not like it after all?" I asked, beginning to get a little worried. While I was very difficult to damage, my body was still as sensitive to sensations as anyone else's. A spanking would hurt!

But I should have known better than to doubt the power of fries. The moment Abigail finished eating one fry, she reached for another, and another after that, until her entire plate was gone. Then she stared forlornly at the nearly spotless porcelain, which had been cleaned of all food.

"Is there something you would like to say?"

"I was wrong," she admitted, without a moment's hesitation. "I've never had anything like that before! Is that what salty food is like?"

"And it wasn't just the taste!" Lenora chimed in, "The way the hot oil got the outside all crisp, without ruining the soft fluffy goodness within... It was a stroke of genius! I'm not sure we'll be able to get it that crisp in the oven..."

"You likely won't," I admitted. "Though I suppose you could try air frying it..."

"Air frying?" Lenora asked, instantly attentive. "I've never heard of that."

"Yes. You'd essentially need to use magic to circulate hot air about the fries," I explained, reaching for another plank.

We ended up talking about frying techniques for some time. I knew little on the subject, but what little I knew was enough to spark Lenora's imagination in a big way. She ended up begging me for other potato recipes, too; I was more than happy to oblige.

The one sticking point occurred at the end after we'd finished our fries when I mentioned that they might have tasted even better if we had access to ketchup.

"What's ketchup?" Lenora asked, eyes wide and bright with excitement. "How do you make it?"

"It's a tomato-based sauce, but I'm not actually sure how to make it."

"Tomato-based...? Yeah! I can see that going well with fries!" she exclaimed, practically bouncing on her feet. "Oh, but if you don't know how to make it..." Her enthusiasm dropped. I'd brought up a way to improve upon the taste of something already delicious and then snatched it away from her. I felt bad about it. I was considering apologizing when her tail slammed excitedly against the floor.

"I'll just have to make my own sauce, then! Something totally original!"

"I suppose you will," I agreed, smiling softly. "I look forward to eating it on my fries."

Lenora froze.

"Th-the queen will be eating a sauce I invented?" she whispered, most likely speaking to herself. "Oh Goddess, what did I just get myself into..."

I resisted the urge to sigh, calling upon the memories of our chat in order to find the strength to smile. "I'm sure you'll be fine. But for now, I really must go."

"That's right," Abigail confirmed, moving to stand next to me. "You need to go meet Sylvanna."

"Agreed. After I bathe." I moved briskly toward the door, but Abigail reached out to catch my hand.

"No way!"

Abigail grabbing ahold of me and speaking loudly caused Bailey to stand up and growl at the maid, baring her teeth. I shot the wolf a displeased glare, and she shut up immediately, which brought about the return of my smile. She was a very smart pup. Though that only made sense, considering she was a demon.

Abigail, unfortunately, continued to glare at me throughout the entire exchange. I was a little impressed by how little Bailey's growl phased her, and a little intimidated by the way she was staring me down, with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a scowl on her lips.

"Abigail," I began, "I haven't been touched by so much as a damp cloth in over three days. I know I don't precisely smell, but I still feel quite unclean. I'm certainly not fit for meeting with a general."

"And the reason you didn't bring this up earlier?" she pressed, narrowing her eyes yet further.

"...I thought perhaps you'd make me skip breakfast if I bathed first," I confessed, a faint blush on my cheeks. I felt like a child must, right before they're about to be scolded. I deserved it, too. My actions so far had been selfish, and more than a little manipulative.

Instead of yelling at me however, Abigail released a pent-up sigh of her own and shook her head. "Are you really that afraid of meeting with Sylvanna?"

"Fear has nothing to do with it!" I protested. "I simply don't like the way she makes me feel about myself..." She always made me feel stupid. Not to mention small, petty, and worthless. I knew now, that it was all deserved, but that didn't mean I looked forward to it.

"Fine," Abigail groaned. I got the impression that her eyes were locked on mine, and I held my own gaze in place so as not to break eye contact. "But don't blame me if Sylvanna gets upset about this."

"I'll take the full blame," I vowed, placing a hand on my chest to show sincerity.