No Dragon Ends Well

The four treants waved their huge branches and attacked them, shaking the earth and mountains around them.

The elf placed Long Ling on the saddle, nimbly picked up her longbow, nocked a feathered arrow, aimed, and shot it at the treant in front.

At the moment the green arrow hit, it purified the black demonic energy on the treant’s body, and the tree returned to its original state, motionless.

Four arrows in a row easily resolved Long Ling’s crisis.

Long Ling was very grateful in her heart and couldn’t help but say, “What amazing archery! Thank you for saving my life.”

The elf’s emerald green eyes were as pure as glass, with a hint of playfulness:

“I just happened to be passing by here and heard some commotion, so I came to check it out and found a dragon falling from a tree.”

The elf’s voice sounded very ethereal, making you feel like listening to her speak was a very enjoyable thing.

Mysterious, friendly, and elegant, with an aura like a meadow, very close to nature, this was the first time Long Ling had seen an elf recorded in magic books.

Long Ling came back to her senses and was immediately a little embarrassed:

“I didn’t expect those trees to suddenly move, and I temporarily forgot how to transform my wings.”

The elf was amused by her:

“Those trees are treants. If you disturb them, they will seek revenge, but now I have used the Arrow of Wood to put them into hibernation. There will be no danger for a while.”

Long Ling nodded slightly: “I still need to thank you. If you hadn’t appeared, I probably would have been injured.”

The elf wrapped an arm around Long Ling’s waist, pulled on the reins, turned the white horse around, and asked gently, “Where is your home? Do you need me to take you back?”

Long Ling suddenly felt a little sad. She thought that after she married Miss Evil Dragon, Miss Evil Dragon’s home would also be her home, but Miss Evil Dragon didn’t have her in her heart and might not marry her.

After all, Miss Evil Dragon had many choices, and she was just the most inconspicuous dragon.

The elf noticed the sadness in Long Ling’s expression and looked at her with some concern.

Long Ling came back to her senses and found that the elf was staring at her.

How could an elf understand a dragon’s troubles? She didn’t want to trouble the elf she had just met.

Long Ling’s face regained a bright smile: “Please take me to the tavern in front. I own that tavern, and I’ll treat you to something delicious.”

The elf saw Long Ling forcing a smile, and her eyes became more gentle: “Okay.”

The elf’s long legs squeezed the horse’s belly, the white horse neighed, and quickly galloped away, taking Long Ling away from this dangerous place.

The horse’s hooves stepped over a shallow stream, over the newly grown green grass, and soon arrived at the tavern’s entrance.

The sky was already close to dusk. Long Ling was helped off the horse by the elf, and she realized that the elf was much taller than her, almost six foot three, with a slender waist, long legs, pointed ears, and extremely delicate and soft features.

The other party had saved her life.

Logically speaking, now that they had arrived at a place to eat, she should treat her to a meal.

Long Ling helped the elf lead the white horse and tied it to a nearby low tree:

“This is the tavern I own. I haven’t brought a friend here before. My name is Long Ling. What’s your name?”

The elf stared into her eyes and said softly: “Eloris.”

Long Ling repeated it softly in her mouth and smiled slightly: “Eloris, let’s go in together.”

Eloris strode forward, following slowly behind Long Ling.

At this time, the tavern was almost closing. Nora was cleaning the floor with a few servants, and Mina was tidying up the kitchen counter.

Nora saw Long Ling come in, her eyes full of surprise.

She happily greeted her: “Miss Long Ling, I thought you weren’t coming today. All of the tavern’s dishes have been sold out today, for a total of more than a hundred servings, and we also sold five bottles of wine, earning a total of thirteen thousand silver coins.

As soon as we opened this morning, so many customers came that we were all so busy.”

Nora excitedly jumped in front of Long Ling. Long Ling thought that participating in the Salmon Feast competition would bring customer traffic, but she didn’t expect to sell out all at once.

The profits were too great.

Long Ling nodded and said: “Everyone has worked hard. After you finish today, go back and rest early. I’ll prepare some bonuses for everyone in a few days.”

All the employees in the tavern cheered. Being able to get an extra bonus made all the hard work worthwhile. Miss Long Ling was really too generous!

Nora took out the prepared ledger and handed it to Long Ling:

“Miss Long Ling, there may not be enough dishes in the tavern.

These dishes need to be purchased, and we also need to hire people to catch fish.

The vegetables you planted in the manor farm are not yet ripe.

We need to buy nutrient solution tomorrow to catalyze the vegetables in the manor, or go to the nearby vegetable market to find farmers to cooperate with.”

Long Ling took the ledger, feeling a headache. What Nora said was imminent.

The tavern had just started to make a profit, and finding a partner was very important for the tavern’s future reputation.

But she had just argued with Miss Evil Dragon, and she couldn’t possibly go back and ask Miss Evil Dragon to use the manor’s vegetables to feed her tavern.

Long Ling coughed lightly and said perfunctorily: “Okay, let’s go find some nearby farmers tomorrow. I brought a guest today and want to treat her to a meal at the tavern.”

Nora quickly said: “Okay, I’ll accompany you tomorrow morning. I know the location of several markets.”

Nora took a few steps forward, but found that Long Ling had also brought back a person, holding a bow and arrow.

Under the light of the setting sun, she had a slender and beautiful figure.

She thought it was Duchess Violet, but she didn’t expect the other party to be an elf.

Didn’t elves only live in secluded forests? How could one suddenly appear in their tavern?

Nora was sent by Butler Marcia to match Duchess Violet and Miss Long Ling. Serving as a maid was only part of her job.

Her main task was to follow the old lady’s orders and make the little dragon pregnant with a dragon egg as soon as possible.

Now a beautiful elf had suddenly appeared.

She had never seen Miss Long Ling get so close to someone before.

If Duchess Violet knew about this, she would definitely be furious.

Nora was a little worried, but still said: “There’s only some broth and noodles left in the kitchen. Do you need me to buy anything else?”

Long Ling looked at Eloris: “What do you elves like to eat?”

Eloris: “Just vegetables and vegetarian food is fine.”

Long Ling thought for a moment: “Then I’ll make you a plain noodle soup. Nora, pour a cup of tea for the guest.”

Nora quickly poured a cup of hot tea. The boiling water was poured into the tea, and strands of tea fragrance wafted out.

Eloris sat on the chair that Nora had wiped clean and looked around the tavern.

She usually didn’t leave the Misty Forest.

This was the first time she had come here and met a slightly melancholic and interesting dragon.

The interior of the tavern was decorated in a log cabin style.

Everything was arranged in an orderly manner. A row of wooden boards hung above the bar, with the names of the dishes engraved on them.

The glass of the wine cabinet was wiped clean, reflecting the light of people’s shadows, and the wine in the bottles in the wine cabinet shone like amber.

The tavern was carefully decorated, with clever ideas everywhere.

It could be seen that the owner of the tavern was also a dragon who lived life with care.

She blew on the hot air from the teacup, slowly took a sip of the clear tea, and waited quietly for Long Ling to make the dishes.

Long Ling went to the kitchen and saw that there was still a bag of noodles and a few eggs in the cupboard.

She poured the noodles into a wooden basin, added cool water to knead the dough, and then added egg yolks to make the noodles more chewy.

The noodles would also turn a light yellow color after cooking, making them more smooth and tempting than ordinary white noodles.

Long Ling mixed the proportions of the noodles and flour well, so that they could be kneaded into a dough.

The surface of the dough was slightly dry, but the inside was completely moist.

She just needed to knead it for a while, and the dough would become very smooth.

Mina, who was standing beside her, couldn’t help but ask:

“Miss Long Ling, are you going to make noodles? Do you want me to help you knead the dough?”

Long Ling originally wanted to say no, but Violet’s cold eyes suddenly flashed in her mind.

If she didn’t do what she had promised, Violet would find a reason to punish her.

But Violet didn’t care about her at all, so why should she keep her promise to Violet!

Long Ling sullenly kneaded the dough a few times, as if it was Violet, kneading it hard.

As she kneaded, she remembered Violet spanking her with a staff, and her butt couldn’t help but throb.

That detestable Miss Evil Dragon! That hateful big evil dragon! Why did she remember this so clearly!

Long Ling ground her back teeth:

“Forget it, Mina, you knead it for a while. Just knead it until the dough is smooth and not sticky. When it’s time to roll the noodles, I’ll tell you how to roll them.”

Mina said “oh” a few times and hurried to wash her hands.

She had just seen that Miss Long Ling’s cheeks were red and white, and she knew that Miss Long Ling might have encountered something unhappy.

As a servant, she couldn’t ask too much about her master’s affairs, and could only help Miss Long Ling silently.

With Mina kneading the dough for her, Long Ling rested her chin in her hands and lowered her head.

Her brain recalled every detail of getting along with Violet.

The more she thought about it, the more sad she felt. How could she treat her like this? She just wanted a title.

Why was Violet always so excessive to her?

Other than bullying her, she was just bullying her. Was it because she was sent as collateral?

But she wasn’t a real product, and she didn’t owe those debts.

Why did she always use this to threaten her?

Violet didn’t care about all the efforts and concessions she made to maintain their relationship.

“Miss Long Ling, the dough is kneaded.”

Mina turned her head and found that Miss Long Ling’s eyes had turned red.

She exclaimed: “Miss Long Ling, why are you suddenly crying?”

Mina rushed to find her handkerchief, wanting to hand it to Miss Long Ling, but because she was just a maid, she didn’t dare to hand over her rough handkerchief.

Long Ling wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, her eyes still red, with a hint of a nasal tone: “It’s okay, the dough is kneaded, let’s roll the noodles next.”

The elf had saved her life, and she couldn’t let her eat noodles made with salty tears.

The more times the dough was rolled, the more chewy it would be.

After all the dough was repeatedly rolled many times, and the dough was soft enough, it would then be cut into equal strips.

Some people would stretch the noodles very thin, making a vermicelli-like dragon’s beard noodles.

Making that kind of noodles was more time-consuming and tested the chef’s arm strength and skills.

Long Ling originally only planned to make it for Violet, but after all, Violet was a big evil dragon who would get angry if she was dissatisfied. It was estimated that she wouldn’t have to make it in the future.

There weren’t too many skills needed to make a plain noodle soup.

Long Ling slightly guided Mina, and the noodles were quickly made.

They were put into a pot of boiling broth and boiled once.

The noodles were cooked and placed in a white porcelain bowl, and then scallion oil that had been heated in a pan and fried with wild onions was poured over them.

A few fresh seasonal vegetables were blanched and placed on top.

A bowl of soup that was bright in color, rich in flavor, and delicious was ready.

Long Ling considered that Eloris was an elf and liked to eat vegetables, so she stir-fried her own sauerkraut with rapeseed oil, added some fresh vegetables cut into small pieces, and made a small dish of seasoning.

It was their first time meeting, so she didn’t know the elf’s taste.

She didn’t add chili peppers or anything, just a little salt.

Long Ling brought the plain noodle soup to Eloris and said to her: “It’s ready, eat it while it’s hot.”

Eloris smelled the fragrance of the strange noodles.

The light yellow noodles and the green and tender leaves complemented each other, making her feel very appetizing: “Thank you for the treat.”

She looked at the silver-haired dragon girl in front of her.

Her fair cheeks were stained with some noodle flour, the light in her ice-blue eyes flickered, and the corners of her eyes were still red.

She didn’t know where she had hidden in a corner to cry just now.

A look of pity flashed in Eloris’s eyes, and she said softly:

“You’ve been busy for so long and haven’t eaten yet, right? There’s so much, we can eat together.”

Long Ling quickly shook her head: “You’re my savior, so it was originally made for you to eat. I’m not hungry, don’t worry. This is my own sauerkraut, try it.”

Long Ling politely held the small dish and pushed it towards Eloris.

Eloris used a silver fork to pick up some noodles and chew them in her mouth.

The noodles were chewy and delicious, and she couldn’t help but praise: “It’s very delicious.”

Long Ling’s lips curved into a smile: “If you like it, eat more. You can come to this tavern often in the future, and I’ll give you a discount on all the dishes.”

Eloris saw her interest light up: “Are you in this tavern every day?”

The silver-haired girl in front of her shook her head, as if hiding some thoughts, resting her chin in her hands and staring at a void.

After a few seconds, she came back to her senses and said uncertainly: “Maybe I’ll be in this tavern every day, but I can’t be in the front hall during business hours.”

Eloris asked: “Did you encounter any trouble?”

Perhaps because of the innate affinity of elves, Long Ling felt very comfortable sitting with Eloris, so she said the reason:

“People here are afraid of dragons, so I can only be a behind-the-scenes boss. There are some other things that are hard to explain in a short time.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of hooves, like distant thunder, came from the street in front of the tavern. In just a moment, it had reached the tavern’s entrance.

Hundreds of elite dragon guards in iron armor, riding war horses, surrounded the tavern. The neighing of the horses and the sound of orderly footsteps were chilling.

“Is Miss Long Ling here?” The dragon guard leader at the front, riding a war horse, asked a maid who was closest to the door.

The maid trembled. Long Ling didn’t know when she had offended the army, and was afraid of involving innocent people, so she took the initiative to stand up: “I’m Long Ling, what’s the matter?”

The dragon guard leader got off his horse, gave her a standard military salute, and said in a respectful but firm tone:

“Miss Long Ling, we are under the orders of Duchess Violet to escort you back to the manor. Please come back with us now.”

As expected of the soldiers raised by Violet, they were as cold and rude as she was.

Anger rose in Long Ling’s heart, and the desire to resist became stronger: “What if I say no?”

The dragon guard leader took a step forward:

“We can only follow the orders of Duchess Violet to capture you at any cost. Please cooperate with us. Once you anger the Duchess, no dragon will have a good end.”