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“Flayn, could I perhaps ask a favor of you?” King Dimitri asked, pulling her aside during one of his frequent trips to the monastery.
Happy to respond to the handsome king, Flayn turned and greeted the man with a smile, craning her neck up to meet his gaze. “Of course you may, King Dimitri.”
At her agreement a small smile pulled at his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I was wondering, if it isn’t too much trouble, could you please be the one to make my birthday cake this year?”
Shock hit Flayn as she took in his request, letting out a little gasp she covered her mouth. “Make you your birthday cake?” While she knew about his… condition, she had just never expected him to ask her to make him anything else. Even if he couldn’t taste her cooking he certainly had better chefs who could at least make a better-looking cake for him at least. “May I perhaps ask why you would pick me to make your cake King Dimitri?”
“Well, you have been the only one able to make me taste anything in the past 10 years now. So I thought that perhaps… if you made me a cake I might be able to taste it this year.” The somewhat sheepish look on his face was cute, Flayn felt her face heat up a little as well at his confession.
Even though she knew that Dimitri couldn’t taste anything she still felt that the new King of Fodlan at least deserved a nice-looking cake, and what about all the other guests at his party? Concerned she had asked him about that only to have it dismissed with a wave of his hand. “I will have Dedue or Ashe make one for everyone else. This one would just be for me, and you if you want to share it?”
That had been two months ago and even now Flayn could not help the blush that came up onto her face as she remembered the conversation. On top of that her hands shook a little with nerves as she picked up the pastry bag again to add the finishing touches of her cake. It didn’t look particularly good if she was being honest. A small bit of guilt hit her at the fact that she would be serving the new king this cake. Earlier she had seen Dedue putting the finishing touches on his own cake and just remembering it now made her stomach churn with nerves and embarrassment. How was she supposed to compete with that?
Sighing she put one last dob of frosting on and took in the small lopsided cake. Oh, it was horrible, despite her best efforts, all the practice cakes she had made were all for nothing. Still, her time was up and she was going to have to present this to the king in front of everyone. It was almost enough to make her want to cry. Still, she gathered herself and took ahold of her meager cake as she headed out of the kitchen. She had tried her best and she could only hope King Dimitri found it acceptable.
The party outside was a small casual affair, all of the Blue Lions from the academy days were there. There would be a larger party at a later time for the other nobles, but for now there was just a small group. The sounds of laughter floated through the room, everyone seemed to be having a good time, small dishes were passed around and several bottles of alcohol were open and being passed around. It warmed Flayns heart to see such merrymaking and heading over to the table she set her burden down before joining in some of the conversations, eager to catch up with her friends.
It was quite pleasant to see them all again, most of them had gone back to their homes, helping settle the land after the war. This was honestly the first time many of them had taken a break with those long months since the war had ended. Everyone was using this opportunity to reconnect and Flayn found herself quite enjoying the festivities. Eventually though the time for the cake cutting had come. Everyone came to crowd around Dedue’s cake— even the newly appointed Duke Fraldarius took a small piece— that is everyone but the birthday boy.
As she stood nervously near her own cake, alone as everyone crowded around Dedue’s wonderful looking one— that Flayn very much wanted a piece of herself. She rubbed her hands together nervously as she took in her own lopsided and discolored cake. When the subject of the party approached her with a gentle smile on his very handsome face. “Oh, hello King Dimitri. I hope you are having a very good birthday party.”
“Thank you for your well wishes Flayn. I am, are you having fun?”
She nodded her assent as they shared some idle chatter. “I have made you a cake like you requested… However, I cannot promise much for the flavor of it. I know you said you cannot taste anything, still, I cannot help but think you might prefer to have the prettier cake.”
A low chuckle escaped the blond as he shook his head in a no. “Flayn, you are the only one who has made something I could taste in the past 11 years. There is nothing that would make me happier than to be able to taste one bite of something else.” His voice was quiet and earnest as he spoke. The not-so-young-girl was starting to get a feeling that the new king had not shared his condition to anyone else. A small wave of sadness hit her that the only thing that could make him taste was her admittedly not very good cooking. Still, he looked so happy as she gave him a small smile before taking up the knife for the cake.
“Well, I must say that I do not quite understand this, however, if my cooking makes you happy than I am happy as well.” She would be happy. Even if Flayn knew she wasn’t a skilled cook she enjoyed the task and for once it was nice to see someone happy to eat her food. So carefully she cut into her lopsided cake and served him a piece.
Her shoulders were tense as she took a piece of cake herself and sat down at the small table next to him. Trying to not make it obvious she was watching him, Flayn took a bite of cake herself as she watched him from the corner of her eyes. The slight smile on his face that made her heart beat a little faster, either in anticipation, or the fact that she maybe had the smallest bit of a crush on the handsome King of Fodlan. Her worst fears were realized though as when he took his first bite of cake. King Dimitri’s face grew suddenly pale as a hand came up to cover his mouth before he almost fell over onto the table, managing to brace himself on his forearms just in time.
For a second Flayn was sure that she had maybe killed the King, her hands coming up to cover her mouth in a gasp a second before she started to reach for her magic inside in a rush to try to save him. That did not seem to be necessary though as he lifted his head a moment later and gave her the widest smile she had ever seen on his face ever. She couldn’t even ask if he was ok before she found herself swept into a too hard hug by the far larger man.
“Thank you Flayn. ” The sound of laughter could be heard in her ears before she found herself being set down again. Dazed the green-haired woman stood there as she gazed up at the King with a surprised look.
Blinking up in surprise at him, Flayn tried to gather herself. “Did you like it?” She tentatively asked, unsure if she had actually made something good.
Of course that didn’t seem to be the case. “It was awful.” His smile was still there on his face as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
She felt confusion hit her. It was awful and yet he was thanking her? “I am afraid I do not understand.”
“Unlike what you had made me before I could taste more than just sweetness. I could taste everything. The fact that it was burned, the sweetness that moved into a spiciness.” He ignored the way that everyone else was looking at them as he looked down at him.
“So you just wanted to taste something again?” She asked, curiosity taking over her.
He nodded his assent. “Every time you make me something it seems like a little bit of more of my sense comes back.”
She slowly absorbed this information as she stood there. Each time she cooked for him she brought back a bit of his sense of taste? So in a way her cooking was healing him, sort of. It was a strange sort of revelation, one she wasn’t quite sure she was pleased about, while she was happy that her friend was regaining his sense of taste, she was a little upset that it was due to her own cooking being so poor. Still, perhaps she could continue to practice? “Well, I am glad that it makes you happy.”
He smiled down at her and carefully took her hand into his own much larger one. “Flayn. I didn't mean to give you any offense. I truly am grateful for your cooking.”
“I believe you, however, I have a favor to ask in return.”
“Of course.”
“Could you please be my taste tester as I improve my cooking?”
The smile he gave her in response made her cheeks heat up a little. “Of course I will.”
The moment of course was ruined by Felix’s sharp voice. “Boar! What is this you are saying about not being able to taste?”