Badge in Azure

Saleen took out the burning agent and poured the black magic powder into the exquisite stove. After Lex had left the Hell of God’s Punishment, she developed the same habit as Saleen by ensuring that there would always be food available in her God’s Ring.

After cleaning both their hands with a Cleaning spell, Lex took out something that made Saleen laugh – a yard long fish tank with a rogue crystal fish swimming in it.

That type of fish originated from the Separation Sea and nowhere else. It tasted so good that even Qin noble families would send people to the Separation Sea to hunt for the fish. They could not be bought from any markets. In Cloudflow, only the noble families were allowed to consume this type of fish.

The fish scales were thinner than the magic paper used for filtration and its flesh was a faint red in color. Saleen cut open its belly with a silver knife and disposed of the internal organs. Mist covered his hands and protected them from the fishy smell.

Lex rolled up her sleeves and poured rice into a silver pot for rinsing before putting them into a small and delicate clay pot. As for Saleen, he was slicing the fish into slices with the knife, but instead of putting them into the pot, he put them onto a plate instead. Then, he took out salt and used magic paper to wrap the fish slices within before pouring in chilli oil and letting the flavoring slowly seep in.

Lex took out the ingredients one by one for Saleen to process while saying, “Saleen, we are fighting Cloudflow, but not because of hatred.”

“I know. We will eat what we want to eat, and drink what we want to drink. We will not allow ourselves to be unhappy just because we are eating Cloudflow cuisine.”

Lex laughed. She had wanted to whip up this dish to lighten up the mood. Saleen was becoming smarter and also possessed the qualities of a true member of a noble family.

“But Saleen, Nailisi…”

“The demon army? Didn’t the demons fight for humans tens of thousand years ago? We are a race that is capable of going on a crusade against the Gods. We must not victimize ourselves just because we have gotten weaker. Demons are just demons. They will be fine as long as they are under control.”

“What you said is theoretically right. I’m worried about the numbers of the demon army. If they expand too quickly, you may not be able to control them.” Lex ignited the magic powder and put the pot onto the stove and heated it up slowly.

Saleen replaced the magic paper with a new one and placed the fish slices on top. Wrapping the fish slices in magic paper had prevented its moisturefrom seeping out due to the presence of salt. Instead, they became fuller and tangier.

He spoke to Lex at the same time, “In any case, you have already given the six-winged Flying Snake seal to me. Without the demon army, surely the surrounding powers will be looking to cause us harm?”

“How is that possible? Right now, Holy Rock City only wishes for my brother to live to a thousand years of age.” Another layer of flame appeared in Lex’s hands to instantaneously evaporate the water. She took out some wheat flour and spread it onto the fish slices. It would not be possible to do this with ordinary wheat flour since it was usually used for bread.

“Lex…” Saleen called out. He realized that it was true that he did not worry about the six-winged Flying Snake seal, at least not at that moment. Holy Rock City could not possibly send armies to attack them since that would immediately lead to a divide. The best solution was for Ojarvis to keep his position and allow the House of Lords to regain greater power.

If Safilos changed his mind to lend his support for Lex, then the incident of the six-winged Flying Snake might not be a bad thing for Qin after all.

“The Cloudflows are still the most troublesome part. Now, they have gathered an army of one-million soldiers, but in actual fact, their main force should consist of less than two-hundred-thousand or even one-hundred-thousand men. The rest will consist of auxiliary soldiers or new recruits. Now that I have given the six-winged Flying Snake seal to you, it is about time we establish contact with the southern noble families in Qin.”

“The south of Qin shares borders with Cloudflow, wouldn’t Cloudflow…”

“If they are attacked from both sides, Cloudflow will treat us seriously and not send over some motley crew.”

“What about the Holy See?”

“Of course, the Holy See is everyone’s enemy. I don’t hope to see the demon army on the battlefield against Cloudflow.” Lex wiped her hands and took out a bottle of wine.

“Fortunately, we don’t have any palace maids serving us.” Lex smiled and poured a cup for Saleen before putting the well-marinated sliced fish into the pot. Then she added some whale oil, onion, and bay leaves.

“Yes.” Saleen agreed half-heartedly as he suddenly understood what Lex meant. Female officials in the palace usually served the room of the Emperor. If there were a few of such female officials around, both he and Lex would feel very uncomfortable, likely because they were mages.

At this thought, Saleen’s gaze landed on Lex’s hands. They were a pair of beautiful hands that were dainty, soft, pale, and carried a tinge of fragrance. Lex’s sleeves were rolled up to her elbow, revealing her forearms. Saleen felt an urge to want to protect her.

He wanted to see more of her, but Lex smiled and said, “Saleen, let’s eat first.”

Saleen swallowed. He was indeed hungry. The fragrance of the food had pushed aside his carnal desire. What he had experienced in his youth was the reason why food would always be important to Saleen. Nothing else mattered more to him when he was hungry.

The minced meat was ready very quickly, but the soup took a longer time. The bread was ready-made and the vegetables were being diced up by wind-element spells to be made into sauce along with condiments. The porridge was almost ready. It only needed to be mixed with the fish slices before extinguishing the fire immediately.

There were more than forty types of whale oil available and most of them tasted better than ordinary oil. The sounds of splattering in the pot made Saleen even hungrier. Lex’s cooking skills might be ordinary, and she only knew how to cook a few dishes, but the meal seemed delicious to Saleen.

Now that they were married, Lex was now having to prepare her own food instead of asking the chef to do it…

Chef? Lex suddenly realized that she had not seen Wild Bear for some time. Where did that fellow go?

Lex scooped a bowl of porridge for Saleen and another small bowl for herself. There were two dishes of vegetables, two salads, two portions of sauce, and two pieces of bread.

The porridge was cooked in the style of Cloudflow while the rest was Qin food that Saleen was familiar with.

“Hey, the battle has started!” Lex pointed at the magic images. Saleen turned his head. Indeed, the Cloudflow army outside of the city had sent an assault team for reconnaissance.

About one-thousand soldiers in leather armor charged towards the city walls with ladders and reinforcing them from behind were twenty catapults. Cloudflow catapults were still serviceable, but much clumsier than Qin catapults. Although they were clumsy, they were also highly accurate. They would serve as formidable weapons if they were set up on ships. Because they had been used to attack cities instead, they could be destroyed by the enemy easily.

The twenty catapults were pushed to a spot that was four miles away from the city wall before they started to hurl gigantic rocks. These rocks were not infused with spells. Instead, they were merely well-molded by stonemasons, which was why they were extremely heavy.

“The infantry of Cloudflow…” Lex shook her head while eating her porridge.

This sort of reconnaissance served no purpose. What could twenty catapults and one-thousand foot soldiers find out? Behind the three layers of city walls were hundreds of catapults and close to one-thousand magic stone artilleries on the city wall. These were all sent over by the winged skeleton at the very last minute.

The catapults that were positioned four miles away were moving too slowly and could be easily destroyed by Lex’s catapults. If the enemy had wanted to find out the locations of the catapults in the city, they would need to utilize hundreds of catapults.

“Their logistics have been dealt a blow, so they have not been able to transport major equipment. Even these catapults were built at the very last minute. Saleen sat himself beside Lex and both of them observed the battle from afar. Saleen never thought that he would spend the night of the wedding like this. He was really very hungry and besides, the night was still long so he was in no hurry.

“We have the winged skeleton to thank for this. After all, he managed to eliminate so many Cloudflow transport vessels.” Lex was eating very quickly. She went through the motion of wiping her mouth with a napkin before raising her wine glass for a quick sip. The Cloudflow wine was fragrant, but not too strong.

“He lost a lot too.” Saleen felt content as he ate the fresh meat. The Cloudflow made really good food it seemed. Regardless of Qin or Sikeqinyan, both were like barbarians when compared to Cloudflow cuisine.

Saleen raised his glass to meet Lex’s glass with a clear clanking sound. After some wine, Saleen felt a little tipsy and there was a red flush on Lex’s face. If a mage wished, he would not be drunk even if he drank a lot of alcohol. He would just have to use water-element spells to break the alcohol down into tasteless water.

Saleen did not do so and neither did Lex. They allowed the wine to be absorbed by their blood, so their bodies were warm and their moods lightened up gradually. The anxiety they felt during the wedding ceremony was completely washed away.

“Lex.”

“Hmm?” Lex raised her wine glass and looked towards the magic lamp. The beams of light emitting from the lamp passed through the thin-layered porcelain cup and turned into faint light.

“Let’s not look at this anymore.” In the magic images, the Cloudflow army’s ladders had already reached the city wall and the huge stone shells released by the catapults were also flying through the air. They were all destroyed by the ice arrows shot out by the mages in the arrow towers. As for the enemy’s one-thousand foot soldiers in leather armor, the top of the city wall only ordered the archers to engage them. No other defensive measures were necessary.

The Cloudflow infantry was not as powerful as that of the Holy See, even if they consisted only of elite soldiers.

“So be it.” Although this was what Lex said, she still took out some equipment to set up a magic alarm on the table. If there was danger on the top of the city wall, the alarm would sound and the entire palace would be able to hear it.

After setting up the magic alarm, Saleen took the flask of wine in one hand and Lex’s hand in the other and walked towards the bedroom. The palace of Daliang City was built using so many magic materials that there was little possibility of a fire breaking out. The two of them left their ceremony clothes in the study room and walked through the courtyard wearing only a layer of under clothes in the breezy night.

Lex was feeling nervous as Saleen held onto her hand. Her understanding of intimacy between married couples came from books. Nevertheless, she was unsure if Saleen would be satisfied with her. He was used to Sika…

Lex was feeling a little jealous. What she was worried about the most right was that Saleen would feel that Sika was better than her. Such matter must not be left to fate. She must think of a way for Saleen to forget about Sika temporarily.