Chapter 63: The Sweet Trap Strategy
Chapter 63: The Sweet Trap Strategy
Elyn’s POV
"Okay, who has an idea on what we should do?" I asked them.
We were currently in the dining hall. Morthen, Rin, and Vaelory were seated, and I had somehow dragged Kethra into this decision-making because she seemed to have experience with the Syntheris. I’m not saying that one of them is actually the thief, but maybe they were wrong?
Well, whatever—whoever or whatever the thief was, they were someone who enjoyed sweets, so we were going to set a trap for them using said sweets.
"Set a trap for them using sweets," Rin said.
I rolled my eyes. "What did you think we were going to do?" I asked her. "Set a trap for them using foods that taste salty or sour?"
She slumped in her seat and pouted a bit. "I was just suggesting something. Whoever the thief is, they like sweets, so I was thinking we set a trap for them using sweets."
"How is it that the rest of us didn’t see that? Wow, Rin, you are so smart," I said with an eye roll, and she brightened up immediately.
"Thank you, my lady."
How was it that she didn’t understand I was being sarcastic?
"I didn’t mean that. You are not smart, Rin. Every person here knows that whoever the culprit is loves sweets. It’s obvious from how much they stole from the box, isn’t it?" I asked her.
Her shoulders fell again. "Oh."
I rubbed my forehead as I took in a deep breath, trying to control my emotions.
"Please, I’m not used to the realm, so you guys come up with suggestions, please," I told them.
Vaelory raised her hand then.
"Vaelory, what do you have for me?" I asked her.
"My lady, can I sit somewhere else? I’m scared I’ll die if I remain here," she said shakily.
I frowned, and it was only then that I noticed she was sitting at the edge of her seat, making sure to put enough distance between herself and Kethra—who turned to her.
"You are scared of me?" Kethra asked her, a frown on her face.
"I’m scared of the flames you can cause," Vaelory replied.
I sighed. "That’s not a suggestion, Vaelory," I told her.
"I know it isn’t. But I won’t be able to think properly if I sit next to her," Vaelory said to me.
I sighed. "Pick a place you want to sit then," I told her.
"Thank you, Your Highness." She immediately stood up and moved to the farthest chair at the table.
I waited until she was seated before speaking up again.
"Now that you are seated at a place where you’ll be able to think well, what do you suggest?" I asked her.
"Um..." she said nervously. "I know we should set a trap with the sweets, but I don’t know how we should set the trap exactly. I was thinking maybe we... sorry, the flamish demon... can bake some sweets or cook something sweet and we can place it in your room or something?"
I nodded.
"But we can’t just bake and place it in my room like that. It’ll alert the thief that there’s something going on. We need to be discreet," I told them.
"How about we make it like it’s a celebration or something?" Morthen asked me. "The thief wouldn’t know. He’ll think that it’s just a party or so, and maybe you can pretend to be asleep while the sweets will be left out in the open..."
"A party... how about we make it a birthday party?" I asked them.
Morthen, Kethra, and Rin blinked at me. "What’s a birthday party?" they asked me.
"What do you mean, what’s a birthday party? It’s a party celebrating your birthday," I told them.
"Like the day you hatch?" Rin asked me.
I frowned at her, then realized she was a demon after all.
"Yes. It’s a party celebrating you being brought into the world, either through hatching or by other processes," I told them.
"Oh. But why does one celebrate it?" Morthen asked me.
"Why wouldn’t you celebrate it? It’s a happy day, after all."
"The day I hatched, I had to fight with my siblings over a shiny piece of meat. It wasn’t worth celebrating," Rin told me.
I rolled my eyes at that. This wasn’t the time to debate and try to understand why the demons didn’t celebrate birthdays.
"Kethra, will the kitchen staff be able to prepare something as elaborate as that? Something that could help pose as a birthday party celebration?" I asked her.
"Of course, my lady. We would be able to do that," she told me.
"Add drinks too or—I don’t know—something in the snacks that will make the culprit collapse when they eat from it. Rin and Vaelory, you guys will stand watch but at a discreet point, okay?" I asked them.
They nodded immediately.
"But before we begin, I’ll need to speak with Versha and Marrok. Perhaps they have an idea about who this snack thief is," I said.
Rin nodded.
"How do I summon them?" I asked.
"Just snap your fingers like you did the last time you tried to summon me. Since you already know who it is that you want to summon, they’ll appear," Kethra told me.
"Really?" I asked her with a frown. "Just like that?"
She nodded, sending sparks flying everywhere.
I did as she said, and within seconds Versha and Marrok appeared in the dining room.
Immediately, Vaelory let out a shocked sound and shifted back to where she had been sitting next to Kethra.
"Now I’m not so scary anymore, right?" Kethra asked with a grin on her face.
Vaelory ignored her and decided right then to make herself believe that everything she was seeing was a dream and that it wasn’t real.
"It’s a dream," she muttered lowly, even if the rest of us could hear her very well. "It’s not real, it’s all a dream."
"My lady," Marrok and Versha said in greeting, ignoring Vaelory and her mutterings.