Chapter 11: The Correct Strategy for Courting the Young Lady Dragon

"Miss Valentina! I'm back again!"

When Herbert returned to the cell again the next day, he was not met with the gatekeeper old man's verbal assault.

What greeted him was still a back of the head with disheveled hair, and a cold snort with anger still lingering.

"Hmph!"

The corner of Herbert's mouth twitched, somewhat speechless.

No, this lady here.

It's been over a day already, and you're still not over it?

How about this — you ask Emperor Wushi to make room for you; this great task of turning your back on all living beings, better leave it to you, old-timer.

But the fact that the Young Lady Dragon was still angry was still within his expectations, so he decisively took out the countermeasure prop he had specially prepared.

"I brought you a gift, made it with my own hands."

He set the wooden box he was carrying down on the ground and opened it, revealing its contents.

Ta-da—

"Hey! Turn around and look at me, don't keep silent, tell me, what result are you actually after?"

Hey, hey hey!

"……Heh."

The Young Lady Dragon listened to the sounds behind her and gave a light snort, stubbornly craning her neck and refusing to turn around — yesterday she had failed to hold back and lost to him once.

"Hmph, just give up! I absolutely will not turn around!"

Today's me is terrifyingly strong, I absolutely will not lose again!

Absolutely not……hm?

Sniff sniff.

The tip of her nose twitched slightly, secretly stirring.

Wait, what is this smell?

It smells great, but it's a bit different from yesterday's fragrance, this smell is……

Sniff sniff!

Valentina seemed to have not smelled this scent for a very, very long time……right!

It's the smell of meat!

She turned her head and saw a pile of meat skewers laid out in front of Herbert, while he was fanning the aroma toward her with his hand.

And upon noticing she had turned around, he smiled, deliberately took a pinch of white granules and gently rubbed them between his fingertips, letting the salt grains fall like fine rain, bouncing off his arm before landing on the meat skewers.

bling~bling~

"……Huh?"

Wh-what the heck?

Valentina's eyes went wide, feeling as if her brain wasn't quite enough to handle this.

What did I just see?

Even as a dragon who had lived for over a thousand years, she had never seen such a strange gesture.

You'd say this guy is playing around…

His expression was serious, and his movements looked extremely elegant and fluid.

But if you said he was seriously cooking…

It didn't really look like it either.

Very strange.

After striking the classic Salt Bae pose, Herbert pushed the wooden box forward and introduced with a smile: "Today's meal from the Albert household! Herbert honey-glazed grilled skewers!"

"Ladies, please!"

Gulp.

Valentina came back to her senses, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her gaze flicking back and forth between the meat skewers and Herbert, and asked hesitantly: "You…what do you mean?"

"Don't worry, there's no scheme or trick behind this."

Herbert raised his hand slightly to show his innocence, and explained with a smile: "Just a small token of appreciation, for your kind reminder yesterday."

"If it weren't for your reminder, I would probably have fallen for that sea siren's trick."

Herbert's expression was sincere, with what seemed to be a hint of lingering fear after narrowly escaping death, which made Valentina, who had originally suspected him of ulterior motives, suddenly go "Oh."

"Oh — so that's how it is."

So that's what happened.

Looking at the respectful-faced youth, she raised her chin a little proudly, and gave a pleased little hum.

"Hmph~ hmph."

Conscience clear, she picked up the meat skewers and quickly stuffed them into her mouth.

When the fresh, fragrant, juicy meat skewers touched her taste buds, the taste buds that had been starved for hundreds of years suddenly awakened with a roar, bursting with an astonishing craving for food!

Crunch!

Crunch!

Crunch!

Under Herbert's raised-brow gaze, Valentina, who could no longer hold back, didn't even spare the wooden skewers — she bit right through them and, in just a few bites, swallowed them straight down into her stomach.

She wasn't worried Herbert would poison the food, nor would she care about a little wood shavings.

Dragons have stomachs with super powerful digestive abilities, able to easily digest and absorb the minerals they eat, using them to strengthen their own scales.

"Mm!!!"

Herbert smiled as he watched the Young Lady dragon sink helplessly before the food, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

In fact, every reason he had given Valentina was something Herbert had made up.

All of it.

For reference, the truth is—even without the hint, the squeaky-voiced siren could not possibly have succeeded yesterday; the siren, caught with evidence in hand, was thoroughly lectured, and finally hid back into the water in shame and vexation.

But what does that matter?

This truth, Herbert knows, and Fu Leimei knows it too, but Valentina has no idea!

Does the actual truth even matter?

It doesn't.

In interpersonal dealings, making the other person feel that they have done something meritorious… that is very important!

In fact, compared to those who can help them, people generally like more those whom they themselves have helped.

Simply put, most people see themselves as smart, sensible, and decent.

When people help others, they feel their actions are consistent with their self-image, which magnifies their own charisma, producing a sense of pleasure and bringing them closer to the one they helped.

And Herbert's purpose in doing this right now is to amplify the pleasure in Valentina's heart.

To make her believe that it is all thanks to her that he was able to come through unscathed.

To make her understand that she is not someone who fails to repay kindness, that helping him will bring her benefits.

If once is not enough, then twice, three times, until she has thoroughly grown accustomed to these two things.

Once these two ideas have formed a path-dependence in her mind, then at that time… heh heh.

"Mm!?"

Before digging in, Valentina had still been able to hold back, thinking not to appear too ungraceful, but at this point she had completely lost her reason, greedily gulping down the skewers in big bites.

While continuously stuffing meat skewers into her mouth, she still managed to squeeze out the time to press, "What on earth did you put in this!?"

"Onions. I added onions."

The key to making food delicious is naturally not magic, but spices!

During the marinating process of the meat skewers, Herbert had added spices he had brought from the Duke's household.

In this world, whose civilizational progress is roughly that of the Middle Ages, the varieties of spices are still not many, and their prices are quite steep.

Although there are druids who are very adept with plants, they would rather devote themselves to techniques that make plants grow faster, and would not focus their efforts on developing food spices.

In many places, spices can be traded for an equal weight of gold!

Apart from the nobility, ordinary people have no contact with spices at all in their daily lives; food is mostly enjoyed in its original flavor—fishy, dry, and bland.

His usage, which could be called extravagant, was naturally something Valentina had never tasted before.

"Is it good?"

"Mm-mmph."

"Do you want to eat it again in the future?"

"Mm-mmph!"

Watching Valentina, who had already completely lost her head over it, Herbert suddenly asked his ultimate question.

"Then, as long as you don't swear in the future, I'll bring you food regularly. How about it?"

"Mm-mmph… huh?"

Yesterday I only slept three hours; during the day I went out to meet an old classmate, and being tired plus catching a cold, writing when I got back was agonizing.

But as an apology for the late update, I wrote an extra five hundred characters.

Tomorrow it will definitely be late, but earlier than today…

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(End of this chapter)