Draven cooking.

Outside of the room was a small dining area with a kitchen, and her half-naked mate had his back on her, busy cooking.

She rubbed her eyes with a hand, trying to check whether she’s dreaming or what.

‘Ha ha, of course this is a dream. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. My dreams are being so weird these days. I need to get out of it.’

She pinched her arm, only to whine in pain.

“Ouch, that hurts–“

Draven heard her and looked in her direction. Seeing her distorted expression, he walked towards her with a ladle in hand. “What happened?”

She blinked a few times at him. The mixture of his forest scent, smoke and delicious broth caused her to dumbly gawk at him. “It’s…not a dream?”

He looked at the red patch on her arm where she had pinched herself and rubbed the place gently with his thumb. “It’s not a dream.”

She moved her gaze towards the table where she could see freshly roasted fish, and other food prepared. “You can cook?”

He nodded.

She walked past him and went to check the items on the table. Aside from the roasted fish, there was also vegetable stew and bread, some cut fruits, and he seemed to be in the middle of making mushroom soup over the stove.

“I can’t believe it. Even I don’t know how to cook all this other than just basic. How do you–“

“After living for thousands of years, if I don’t know how to cook then it’s a shame,” he replied offhandedly and returned to check on the mushroom soup on the stove.

“Oh, well, I guess that makes sense,” she said and moved to stand next to him in front of the stove. “Can I taste it?”

“Why don’t you sit down and wait for me to finish?” he offered, gesturing for her to go to the table. Two chairs were placed around it, perfect for just the two of them.

Despite her reluctance, Ember nodded and was about to leave him to cook, but the moment she turned around, her feet were caught in a tangle with the long sheet she used to cover her body.

Fortunately, Draven caught her on time.

His hand moved to where she was holding that sheet. She panicked. “We already did it many times! We can’t–“

“I know. I am just helping you secure this so you won’t fall down again,” he replied without a single change in his expression, and Ember felt embarrassed for doubting his intentions.

With a blushing face, she allowed Draven to wrap that sheet properly around her and tighten the knot in front of her chest.

Ember smiled at his thoughtfulness. Was Draven always this caring? It was beyond expectations. It seemed like she had many biases about her mate, and this time, she was getting to know his true face and his many sides one by one. All she needed was to trust him and open up to him which she already had and now they started to be like a couple in love.

Ember sat on the chair Draven had pulled out for her. Under her impressed gaze, he also finished making the mushroom soup and after bringing it to the table, he even set the table, arranging wooden bowls, plates and utensils in front of Ember as well as himself.

After sitting down, he noticed that Ember was gazing down at the table. “This place doesn’t have much tableware so we have to manage with only these.”

“Oh, no, that’s not it–“

His words brought her back to her senses, and she realized there was a misunderstanding. She was in a daze because she was still finding it hard to believe the freshly cooked normal-looking dishes on the table. Appearance aside, the smell was enough to cause her mouth to water.

“In my cave, I even sometimes eat on the same clay pot where we cooked our meals. Compared to that, having separate wooden plates is far better,” she replied as began choosing which dish to start with first.

Seeing her hesitation, Draven decided in her stead. He passed her a bowl of soup along with a wooden spoon. “You can first try this.”

She immediately accepted the piping hot soup, stirring it with the spoon to somewhat cool it down enough for her to taste. The first sip and her expression brightened–she was expecting it to taste good, but to her surprise, it was better than expected. She felt like she was eating the best thing ever.

Whether it was because she was truly starving, or it was because this was personally cooked by her mate, she couldn’t tell.

She looked at Draven with shining eyes. “It’s so good! Even better than what they make in the palace.”

Draven could see her affection towards food as she was always like this. He simply smiled before scooping rice into her plate. “Have this as well.” After that, he placed one of the roasted fish on his plate and deboned it for her so she could directly eat it without letting her take the effort of separating it from the fish bones.

“Mmm! So tasty! How can your roasted fish taste so differently from the one Erlos made? It’s many times better!”

She continued to eat while praising him but then realized she was the only one eating. Her mate had not even taken a single bite, busy serving her little by little, putting more food on her plate.

“Why are you not eating, Draven?”

“You can eat first,” he said and added more fish on her wooden plate.

She put fish on a spoonful of rice and offered it to him. “I will feed you.”

Draven didn’t say ‘no; and opened his mouth to be spoonfed by his mate. Seeing her smile as if she had done a great feat, such a heartwarming feeling it was.

“What do you think? This fish is tasty, right? Is the secret putting special spices aside from salt? You have to tell me,” she said and fed him again.

A simple banter, a sweet exchange, Ember realized they were acting like the husband and wife in the novels she had read in the past. Just that the situation was reversed, because it was the husband who did the cooking and the wife who did the praising. Still…

‘I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ she could not help but think in her heart.