With all of the necessary components to the famous ice-cream cake known, all Melina had to do was combine them all into one coherent dish. The first free afternoon she got, that was exactly what she did, involving both of her familiars in the process.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Roxie shook her hands excitedly.

"You and me both! I honestly think that this whole bakery should be remade into an ice-cream cake shop! Imagine the flavor possibilities. Chocolate, strawberry, feyfruit, leafshade chocolate. Heck, you could make healing ice-cream!" Adrien cackled, clearly caught up in his daydream.

"I do prefer making pastries…" Melina chuckled.

"Awww…" Adrien groaned.

"Don't worry, lad. If humans become more receptive towards our kind, then I'm sure some drow will eventually set up an ice-cream shop. It's one of our favorite treats," the drow said.

"I'm going to advertise that drow are great!" Adrien said with determination.

Melina and Roxie chuckled at the sight.

"Let's begin then!" Melina said.

First came the chocolate biscuit base. It wasn't a regular biscuit one would use in a cake, but rather something more similar to a joconde biscuit, as it was made from egg whites, sugar, almond flour, a bit of cocoa powder made from leafshade cocoa beans, and butter.

Sienna helped Melina to cook the thin biscuit to perfection while Roxie and Ygdril were making their own biscuit to the side. After that followed a crunchy leafshade chocolate layer.

Although it wasn't fair to call it a pure chocolate layer. There was actually a bit of thin, crushed wafers mixed in with the chocolate to provide a satisfying crunch. Melina had to keep this layer thin, so it wouldn't be difficult to bite through. Once it was spread on the biscuit, Mango froze it until it was solid.

After that, a layer of vanilla ice cream followed. Melina was tempted to add something to it, but Ygdril insisted that the plain vanilla layer was necessary to balance out the chocolate, so the cake wouldn't be overwhelming. Melina decided to trust him. After all, he was the expert on ice-cream cakes, not her.

Once ice cream was in place, it was time for the layer of glassberry gel. This is where Mango's ability to precisely cool one thing came in handy. Putting the whole cake in the freezer risked the gel freezing. But Mango was able to keep the ice-cream layer cool, while Melina laid gel on top.

Thankfully, the semifreddo, which went on top of glassberry gel, was only chilled and not frozen. Made with egg yolks, sugar, cream, which was whipped to soft peaks, and shadeleaf chocolate. It was a delightfully light addition to the cake, ensuring not to overwhelm the eater like the ice cream would.

The last layer was the leafshade chocolate glaze. Making it was easy—just heat the cream and a bit of honey in a pot and melt the chocolate inside it. Allow Mango to cool it down, and then pour it over the semifreddo layer of the cake.

[You've made <Chocolate and Glassberry Ice-Cream Cake – Rank A>. You've gained + 35 exp.]

"It's done!" Roxie cheered.

Melina, Ygdril, and Roxie all stepped back from their creation—a beautiful ice-cream cake with glistening chocolate on top. The golden hue of the leafshade chocolate gave the whole dish a beautiful, ethereal glow, which made it look out of this world.

"Please tell me we get to eat the one Roxie made!" Adrien begged.

"Of course!" Melina nodded. "I only need to take this one with me."

"I still can't believe that the Monster Lord himself made a special order!" Roxie said.

"Our shop is quite famous right now! All sorts of important people come for our sweets. Nobles, diplomats, and the Monster Lord. Just yesterday, there was somebody from Su Xien who had come all this way just for Melina's pastries," Adrien bragged.

"All the way from Su Xien? No way! I don't believe somebody would travel across the sea for just that. They must have had some other business here, too," Melina shook her head.

"I don't know. People seem to go through quite a lot just to get a taste of your pastries. I think we should raise our prices. The demand is so high, the low prices we have don't seem appropriate anymore," Adrien said.

"No. I want the locals to be able to afford it. Prices are higher for those ordering separately, so it's fine. Besides, we're already earning quite a bit," Melina refused.

"But imagine the possibilities for profit! You could easily buy yourself a duchy if you demanded the right price for your pastries!" He insisted, his merchant roots shining through.

"She's already marrying a duke's son! What does she need a duchy for?" Roxie objected.

"But Lord Alistair isn't going to inherit the duchy, right? Melina might as well buy him one," Adrien laughed.

"I don't need a duchy! If you're so happy to let your imagination run wild, why don't you put all that energy into magic practice?" she reprimanded.

Adrien winced. "Yes, Melina…"

It appeared she had touched a sore spot. Nonetheless, she had no time to worry about that. It was time to head back to the Monster Realm.

This time, Melina took Mango along, letting the fox take care of chilling the cake. The little fox was excited beyond belief. It was her first time in the Monster Realm, although Melina was nervous.

Sure, the path to Monster Lord's tower was now protected from random monster attacks, but Mango was such a curious little creature. She wanted to stick her little nose in everything. Even as they passed the passageway, her little tail wagged so energetically it created a few wild snowflakes behind her.

Sienna didn't enjoy that in the slightest, growling whenever one of the cold flakes landed on her scales. It melted right away, of course, but the wyvern's displeasure was clear. After evolving, she seemed to grow even more adverse to cold.

Thankfully, Sienna's swift flight ensured that Mango didn't really get a chance to wander off. As soon as they were down on the ground, Mango tried to run away and explore. Melina seized her with her magic and dragged the fox inside, where Sienna growled at her threateningly, warning the fox not to wander.

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"Be good now, Mango," Alistair warned, picking up the fox.

"I didn't expect you back so quickly. Barely a day has passed," Lord Eidranis noted. Melina had a feeling that the Monster Lord merely didn't wish to see her again so soon.

"It wasn't difficult to rearrange the elements and add glaze on top," Melina noted.

"Very well. Let's head to meet my mother," Lord Eidranis said.

Elowen and Alistair stepped to follow, but Lord Eidranis raised his hand. "Only the Archmage. My mother will not see anyone else."

"What do you mean? How am I supposed to trust that you're not leading Melina into some trap? You have plenty of grudges against her," Alistair protested.

"I trusted her enough by just letting her in here. Don't you think I deserve some trust in return?" Lord Eidranis said.

Alistair opened his mouth to protest, but Melina tugged on his hand gently. "It's alright. We're working towards the same goal. Nothing bad will happen to me."

Alistair gave her a conflicted look, but finally nodded. "If something does happen, just send a signal to Mango. She'll feel it."

"Yip-yip!" Mango yipped in agreement.

"Sure. If that makes you feel more at ease," she said, giving Mango a friendly pat. "Behave, okay?"

The yip Mango let out was definitely a mischievous one, but she had no choice but to sigh and go with Lord Eidranis. The Monster Lord regarded her coldly with his starry gaze, then turned away to walk.

She followed him quietly, walking upstairs, watching how each level was made from different crystals. They went up about five floors until finally Lord Eidranis entered the floor that seemed to be made from obsidian—it was all completely black, and barely any light was filtering through the tiny windows. Even the lights seemed much dimmer than everywhere else.

It was rather eerie to say the least. Melina looked around the dark hallway, wondering why exactly this floor in particular was so dark. Not a speck of color that wasn't either black or grey. Not to mention that the atmosphere itself was heavily depressing. Even the servant drow that passed by looked deeply melancholic.

"Lord Eidranis," the guard stationed by the door of what Melina assumed to be the Grand Oracle's room, acknowledged him with a polite nod.

"Please tell my mother that I've brought the cook who has improved the recipe according to her suggestions," the Monster Lord said.

"Very well," the guard said, and gently knocked on the door.

There was a quiet 'come in' after a moment. The guard went inside, and for a few minutes, Melina and Lord Eidranis waited. Those minutes felt like they were stretching on for eternity. To think that one day, Melina would be standing next to the person who was once her sworn enemy. With a cake in hand, no less. It was suffocating.

But eventually the guard returned. "The cook may proceed inside. Your mother requests that you remain outside this time."

"Very well," Lord Eidranis said, not looking hurt in the slightest. Was this normal?

Melina followed the guard inside into a room that was just as dark as the hallways. The walls were black, the floors were black, and all the furniture was black. Even its inhabitant was dressed in a fully black dress with a black hat that covered her white hair styled into a bun.

Her appearance surprised Melina. She was the Monster Lord's mother, yet she looked no different from any other drow. Dark purple skin, silvery eyes, long ears. If Melina had met this woman somewhere else, she never would have attributed her to being in any way related to the Monster Lord.

"Greetings to you, honorable…" Melina trailed off, unsure of how to properly address the woman. Grand Oracle was supposed to be a secret title, so was it right to address her as such?

"You may call me Galiora," she responded in a somber tone.

"Lady Galiora, then. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Melina Dufour."

"You're the pastry cook, am I right?" Lady Galiora asked, her face devoid of any emotion and her tone monotonous.

"Yes, that's correct," Melina said.

"Good. Thank you for coming. Jeriel, you may leave now."

"As you wish, Mistress," the drow guard bowed and left the room, leaving Melina alone with the drow woman.

Melina felt deeply uncomfortable. The heavy, melancholic atmosphere was almost pushing her to the ground. But there wasn't much she could do, except outstretch the cake with the box it was in.

"I've brought your order, Lady Galiora," Melina said.

"Have you been told why I wished to eat this specific cake?" Lady Galiora asked.

"I was told this is what you ate on the first date with your husband."

"That's right. Do you know why everything is black on the floor that I live on?"

Melina looked around the room again. She had no clue why absolutely everything had to be black.

"Because it's your favorite color?" Melina guessed.

Lady Galiora shook her head. "No. I hate the color black."

"Then why would you make everything black?" She asked in confusion.

"Because of my husband."

"Husband?"

"You see, my husband died."

Melina nodded. She was aware of this fact. After all, Lord Eidranis wouldn't have become a Monster Lord otherwise. So was the black color of mourning for the drow just like for the humans?

"My condolences," Melina replied.

"Thank you. It's been years since that happened, but the pain of losing him still feels as fresh as it was just yesterday," she said and motioned Melina to sit down on the couch near the coffee table.

She obliged, setting the ice-cream cake on the table. Lady Galiora went to a cupboard, taking a few plates from it.

"Should I help?" Melina asked.

"No. You're the guest here. Besides, I much prefer doing things myself," she dismissed Melina, setting the table herself. There was a pot with steam coming out of its nozzle, which meant that the tea had already been prepared ahead of time.

Once everything on the table was set, Melina insisted on cutting the cake herself. It couldn't be done as with normal cakes. The blade had to be slightly heated to properly cut through the ice cream. She then set the slice for Lady Galiora, and at her urging, one for herself, too.

"You see, my husband wasn't a kind man," Lady Galiora said, once everything was set and she had sat down. "In fact, I thought him to be cruel, even crazy, with his crusade to establish Monster Realm's superiority over the Human Realm. He always trained stronger soldiers, sent monsters into the Human Realm to intimidate you all."

"I never agreed with this view of his. Frankly, I'm afraid to know what would have happened if I weren't so opposed to the open war that he so craved. There were times when I thought the world might have been a better place without him."

Lady Galiora slid her spoon into the cake and put a small piece into her mouth. Her eyes widened, and for the first time, Melina saw her face fill with emotion. Tears streamed down her cheeks while her lips twitched upwards in a smile.

"But when I lost him, I realized just how much he meant to me. Sure, the world is now a better place without him. My son has no such views towards the Human Realm and is eager to establish a friendly relationship. However, to me…" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

She sniffed and took another bite of the cake. "To me, he was my world. He might have hated humans, but he did everything for me. He loved and cherished me, and I loved him in return. To think that our favored dessert, the one he later used to propose to me, would be recreated by a human baker. The irony of it is almost cruel."

Melina didn't know what to say. "I got it right?"

"You did, dear. It tastes exactly like the one we had on our first date. It's been so long since I've had this flavor," Lady Galiora said.

"But… But couldn't you have asked a drow chef to recreate it?" Melina asked.

"I did, but none of them did quite right. The elements were all there, but something was still missing. That warmth, that special something that comes only from somebody passionate about their craft," Lady Galiora said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Thank you for helping me remember that feeling of warmth. I shall aid you and my son in your quest to protect our two realms," she said and went up to the drawer in her room.

Melina stared in disbelief as she pulled the Codex of Origin out of it. The very same that Melina had held in her own hands so many years ago.