Adding Fuel to the Fire

Once Miss Evil Dragon made a decision, even sweet-talking wouldn’t work; there was simply no room for negotiation.

Long Ling wanted to persuade Miss Evil Dragon to stay with her, but Violet spun the ruby on her thumb and left in her wheelchair without looking back.

Long Ling had no choice but to return to the rose garden.

If she was sleeping in the kitchen tonight, she’d have to make do on the dining table, wondering if she’d catch a cold.

Lorraine was smoking, and seeing her with a red nose and a gloomy expression, couldn’t help but ask,

“You were fine just now, why are you suddenly unhappy?”

Long Ling pretended to be nonchalant, though her tone was low:

“The Duchess said I have to go to the tavern alone. She has to discuss matters with you this afternoon.”

Lorraine blew out an elegant smoke ring and said caringly,

“Do you want Violet to go with you? My business can wait until tonight; you two dragons can still be together this afternoon.”

It wasn’t that Long Ling absolutely wanted Violet to accompany her.

Violet always had her own matters to attend to; maybe Violet just didn’t like her that much, so she wouldn’t want to be with her all the time.

Maybe she just couldn’t please Violet…

No, she couldn’t think like that, she had to try harder.

Giving up after only a few days?

How would she live in the future!

Long Ling clenched her fists, perked up again, and said softly, “I didn’t want her to come with me. She’s busy every day, and I can’t disturb her. I’m an Alpha, after all. I can handle tavern matters myself!”

Lorraine had met many different types of Alphas.

It was rare to see a dragon like Long Ling, who was both soft and resilient.

She cheered herself up so quickly.

Most Alphas had a strong desire for control and were easily angered.

They would never willingly be ignored; they would at least entangle with the Omega for a long time.

The Alpha’s ice-blue eyes were full of sunshine, and her strawberry pheromones remained sweet.

But those with some experience in relationships could sense the little dragon’s sorrow.

How could there be such a lovable little dragon?

Perhaps Long Ling was just unlucky. If she had met another Omega, she might have been cherished.

But Violet had high power and status, and had always received the best, so she wouldn’t easily cherish things.

Sometimes, even as the Crown Princess, she envied Violet, who could control her own marriage.

But some things couldn’t be envied.

Lorraine held the cigarette between her slender fingers, comforting her like a caring older sister: “A crying child gets candy.

Sometimes, being an Alpha is also being a young dragon. You don’t have to be so strong.

Violet may seem cold on the surface, but she’s actually easily soft-hearted. Otherwise, I’ll try to persuade her for you later.”

She didn’t expect Crown Princess Lorraine Dragon to be so nice, but Lorraine didn’t seem to have any deterrent effect in front of Violet.

She was just adding to Lorraine’s trouble.

Long Ling forced a bright smile: “It’s okay, I’m fine. I’m going to check out the tavern alone now. You can go to the study to find the Duchess.”

So what if she had to sleep in the kitchen tonight?

Thinking optimistically, she hadn’t seen the night sky in the crystal kitchen yet.

Lorraine watched Long Ling’s departing figure and couldn’t help but shake her head slightly.

Violet’s condition had improved a lot compared to before, thanks to this little Alpha dragon.

But a dragon’s endurance was limited, and Violet couldn’t just keep bullying her just because the little dragon was gentle and cute.

If the Alpha was ignored for too long, the little dragon might run away and couldn’t be found. Wouldn’t Violet be furious?

Lorraine went to Violet’s study, knocked on the door, and said to Violet,

“Violet, aren’t you being a bit too much with your little Alpha? She just came of age and became your fiancée. You bully her every day. I can’t bear to watch.

Those beautiful eyes are as red as a rabbit’s, and she secretly wiped away tears several times.”

To emphasize how pitiful Long Ling was, Lorraine couldn’t help but exaggerate quite a bit in front of Violet.

Crying again? And crying in front of another Omega?

That useless little Milk Dragon. Wasn’t she not blaming her when she left?

Violet frowned slightly and immediately looked up from her book, asking, “How long did she cry?”

Lorraine thought Violet would continue to ignore her, but it turned out Violet also had days when she was nervous because of the Alpha.

Lorraine clicked her tongue twice in her heart, fully satisfying her gossipy desires, and deliberately added more fuel to the fire:

“Quite a long time. She was still teary-eyed when she left. I saw her hesitating, she must have really wanted you to accompany her, so pitiful.”

Long Ling was just a clingy little dragon. Violet knew that better than anyone.

She also liked the little dragon clinging to her, but at the time, her anger hadn’t subsided, and she only let Long Ling off when she saw her pitiful look.

When Violet returned to the study alone, she already felt a faint sense of regret.

But as a Duchess and an Omega, there was no reason for her to go back.

If she lowered her head, chased after her, or kept clinging to her, she would relent and agree.

The more Violet thought about it, the more upset she became.

She hated that she wasn’t promising.

How could she cry so much? Why didn’t she cry in front of her?

“Let her cry. Let her cry as much as she wants. What kind of Alpha is so prone to crying? She’s always crying over such trivial matters.”

Lorraine had never seen such a dragon.

Her mouth was tougher than anyone else’s, but her heart wasn’t really in it.

Could she stop pretending?

If the little silver dragon hadn’t gone home yet, she’d probably have picked her up and comforted her on her lap.

Long Ling found Nora, her newly acquired personal maid, and had her prepare a carriage.

The road to the tavern was smooth all the way.

The newly repaired road by Violet was very flat and wide, even several times wider than the main road in Lepa Town.

The road was paved with asphalt and pebbles, and the horses’ hooves made a crisp “clatter, clatter” sound on it.

Through the carriage window, Long Ling saw that some nearby residents were already walking on the road.

There was a saying that to get rich, first build roads.

If the roads were not smooth, even if she made delicacies, no one would climb mountains and wade through rivers for a bite to eat.

At this time, Long Ling didn’t know that in the near future, someone would really be so exaggerated as to come from thousands of miles away for a bite to eat.

With convenient transportation, the sales of her dishes would definitely be good in the future!

The coachman drove very steadily.

When they arrived at the tavern, Nora, who was sitting next to Long Ling, craned her neck, constantly looking at the scenery outside, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

“Miss Long Ling, there seems to be someone loitering at the entrance of the tavern. Are there new customers?”

A hint of surprise flashed in Long Ling’s heart.

Someone was coming even before she put up a sign?!

The tavern menu wasn’t ready yet, and she only had some wine.

If she could sell a bottle of wine, that would be great.

At least it would be the first pot of gold!

Long Ling quickly said, “Then let’s go take a look.”

Nora immediately nodded and helped Long Ling out of the carriage.

The two newly arrived guests seemed a bit short, with bushy beards, carrying iron hammers and pickaxes on their shoulders, pointing and talking about the red brick wall of the tavern, not knowing what they were chatting about.

Long Ling cleared her throat and asked gently, “Are you two here to drink at the tavern?”

Suddenly hearing the sweet voice of a girl, the two dwarves seemed startled and immediately turned around.

They had been seeing people cleaning up this abandoned tavern in the past few days, thinking that maybe the tavern had a new owner and would reopen, and they would be able to come to the tavern to drink.

But when the dwarves saw Long Ling, they took two steps back, and the iron hammer on their shoulder clattered to the ground.

Their faces were full of fear: “Oh! Terrible dragon! Don’t come over! We were just looking at the newspaper posted on this abandoned tavern! We didn’t mean to provoke you!”

Long Ling suddenly felt a bit troubled.

Was she that scary? When she was in Ilidari Manor, those humans weren’t so afraid of her.

Newspaper? She hadn’t had time to change the tavern’s sign, how could she have the leisure to post a newspaper?

Long Ling looked in the direction of the two dwarves’ gaze.

The newspaper was written with black ink, and some parts of the page had very beautiful drawings, recording recent events in the town, including recruitment advertisements for knights, lost and found notices, and at the bottom, Long Ling even saw a chef competition held by the town mayor.

[Participants need to bring one hundred fat salmon to participate.

The first place can get one thousand gold coins and a salmon feast trophy, the second place can get a reward of five hundred gold coins, and the third place can get a reward of one hundred gold coins.]

Long Ling saw a new way to make a fortune, and a light burst out from her ice-blue eyes.

Nora quietly moved closer to her ear and whispered, “Miss Long Ling, these people seem to be dwarves. They love to drink and like gems. Many of them had feuds with our dragon clan in the past. Why don’t you pretend to be passing by and scare them away?”

So they were still opposing forces. What a pity. They loved to drink, but they probably couldn’t become tavern customers.

It seemed that her current identity as a dragon wasn’t very suitable for being the overt owner of the tavern.

Long Ling could only pretend to have a solemn expression, spread her dragon wings, and make a gesture to release the magic in her body, threatening in a fake manner:

“I’m also passing by. Since you all know my true identity, why aren’t you running away? Are you waiting to be swallowed into my dragon belly?”

The silver-white dragon wings blotted out the sky, and the sharp spines looked like terrifying blades.

Although the dragon girl’s eyes held a very narrow smile, the two dwarves were still frightened by her.

They looked at each other, fearing that they would be swallowed by the dragon in the next second, picked up the iron hammer that was several times heavier than themselves, and ran away in a panic.

Long Ling sighed slightly in her heart, disappointed in vain.

She thought she could have new customers.

It seemed that opening a business in a remote place really had a low chance of encountering quality customers.

Long Ling retracted her dragon wings, took off the newspaper on the wall, and asked Nora,

“Where did this newspaper come from? Was it already posted when you came yesterday?”

Nora scratched her short, golden hair: “No, I didn’t see it when I locked the tavern door yesterday.”

Long Ling rested her hand on her chin and couldn’t help but think.

Even customers were so rare, who would post the newspaper here?

A gray-brown figure suddenly leaped over.

Renée jumped down easily from the roof.

Renée’s fluffy squirrel tail swayed gently:

“Miss Long Ling, I found that newspaper on the road. I saw some information that might be useful for the tavern, so I posted it here so you could see it when you came.”

Long Ling asked in surprise, “Renée? Why are you here?”

Renée smiled slightly:

“You asked me to help you repair the tavern. I came over to check. Only the bricks and tiles on the second floor were severely damaged, so I took the squirrel beastmen to speed up the repairs.”

Long Ling nodded: “I see. Thank you.”

Renée had a good impression of Long Ling, knowing that she was a very tasteful dragon, and couldn’t help but suggest:

“Miss Long Ling, the salmon cooking competition is great to participate in. Lepa Town holds it once a year.

Since you are interested in the kitchen, you should also like cooking. Every participating chef will at least get an encouragement award. I also participate once a year.”

Long Ling’s eyes lit up and she quickly asked, “Renée, do you also like to cook?”

Renée touched her nose, a little shy: “I just want to get the prize money. As long as the salmon is steamed and a little green onion is added, it can be considered a dish.”

Long Ling was a little disappointed, but still a little curious: “In that case, there are many chefs participating. So many salmon, can the judges finish eating them?”

Renée waved her hand: “Don’t worry. If they can’t finish eating, the bear beastman legion will solve the unpalatable dishes. Those people are cursed by the witch.

Every full moon night, they will turn into crazy bears. Only by keeping their mouths busy eating fish until dawn will they not cause trouble for the nearby residents.”

Long Ling was a little puzzled: “Why did the witch curse them?”

Renée thought for a moment: “Maybe they did something terrible. I don’t know. I heard about the bear beastman legion when I was very young.”

Nora said from the side: “Miss Long Ling, if our tavern participates and can make delicious food, it will definitely attract many people to the tavern.”

Long Ling found that Nora was quite smart, but she was a dragon. If she participated, it would definitely bring panic to the crowd.

If she disguised herself to participate, the surrounding contestants would all be dressed normally.

If she wore a black cloak, she would definitely stand out in the crowd, making her look suspicious.

If someone recognized her identity, it would definitely bring a bad reputation to Miss Evil Dragon.

Moreover, Miss Evil Dragon didn’t allow her to cook for others, so the best way was to find a human to participate in the competition for her and promote her tavern.

With her cooking skills, teaching someone casually would be enough to win a championship.

Long Ling had a plan in her mind and asked Renée, “Where can I catch salmon?”

Renée said gently: “Salmon can be caught in many places. There are many rivers around Lepa Town. Those rivers converge and connect to the sea that borders Gris Harbor. Every year, salmon migrate upstream to spawn in the spring. You don’t need a fishing rod, just use a drift net.”

Long Ling was very excited.

If the salmon migrated upstream to spawn, there would definitely be a lot of fish.

She could catch countless salmon with one net.

The salmon she caught could not only be used to participate in the competition but also be used to make dishes for sale.

The vegetables she planted on the farm hadn’t reached the harvest period yet, and selling cooked fish could just fill the gap.

It was simply a no-cost business. She was going for it!

But a new problem arose.

Long Ling was penniless and had no money to buy fishing rods and drift nets.

If she wanted to participate in the competition, she would have to ask Miss Evil Dragon to borrow things.

Miss Evil Dragon was still angry and wanted her to sleep in the kitchen tonight.

It was really hard to coax such a heartless woman.

Long Ling silently put away the newspaper, noted the competition time, and went into the tavern with Nora.

After a major cleaning, the tavern had now become brand new.

The surrounding windows had been opened for ventilation.

Although there was no luxurious decoration, it had everything it needed, such as wine cabinets, tables, chairs, and a bar.

The basic facilities for the tavern were still in good condition.

Long Ling planned to divide the area and have Nora rearrange the tables and chairs.

She planned to make the area above the bar into small, movable wooden plaques, engrave words on them later, and hang them in a long row so that customers could clearly see the menu when ordering.

New dishes could also be replaced at any time.

The tavern’s business should still focus on selling wine, so the wine should also be displayed in a prominent area, labeled with the types and vintages of the wine being sold.

Long Ling also discussed the interior decoration of the tavern with Renée and was busy all afternoon before finally getting the tavern in order.

Long Ling watched the sunset in the distance, and the golden evening glow filled the entire sky.

It was time to return to the manor.

Before leaving, Renée asked her, “Miss Long Ling, what do you want to name the tavern?

The original sign outside has been severely damaged. It looks like we should replace it with a new one first.”

Thoughts flashed through Long Ling’s mind.

She hadn’t thought of a name for the tavern yet.

This tavern was rebuilt with the help of Miss Evil Dragon.

In any case, she had to ask Miss Evil Dragon for her advice first.

Long Ling said to Renée, “I’ll tell you tomorrow morning. I need to go back and think about it.”