The night slipped by swiftly, and as the first light of dawn filtered through the window, Rya awakened, feeling rejuvenated and ready to embrace the new day.
Struggling to leave her bed's comfortable embrace, Rya was startled by a sudden, persistent knock at the door to her room. "Um?... Who is it?" Rya called out.
"It's me, Alpha! Open up!" A familiar voice yelled through the closed door.
Rya let out a sigh as she slid into her pants, which still felt uncomfortable to her when she transformed into a Dark Elf and then made her way to the door. As she swung it open, she was greeted by the sight of Dalia standing there, her tail wagging eagerly.
"What are you doing here so early in the morning? Don't you like to mate with Percy until 10 am?" Rya asked, surprised. Ever since Dalia took Percy as her mate, the two had spent more time alone in the mornings by the day. Rya would have to cover her elven ears in hopes of silencing out their moans and screams of pleasure.
"Oh, my little wolf? He's sleeping right now after our nightly exercise... B-But he was asking me about going to the festival last night before he passed out, and I didn't know what to tell him this morning, so I came to you instead," Dalia explained with a bit of worry in her body language.
"Oh, why are you nervous? You've already mated with him, and that's the hardest part... There's nothing to worry about." Rya said, reassuring the Wolfkin.
"Hey!? But this will be our first date thingy! And I want it to go well! I'm worried that if I don't act confident, I might mess things up... A-And he might leave me for another mate," Dalia said nervously.
"Wow, you really love him, don't you?" Rya replied with a big smile.
"Gah! I-I don't know!... Maybe I do. A-And I think I want to have his pups. But he's human... Do you think he would want my pups?" Dalia asked shyly.
Rya wanted to smile at the Wolfkin's confusion, but she held back for the time being. She could tell that Dalia really wanted her help, and the last thing she wanted to do was tease her.
"You mean you want to 'mate' mate with him?" Rya asked again, but this time, it sounded more like a statement than a question.
"I don't know! Maybe down the road... All I know is that I don't want to lose him," Dalia confessed.
The Dark Elf flashed a warm smile and draped her arm over the shoulders of the Wolfkin. With just a simple reply, Rya understood the depth of her love for him.
"I don't think he's leaving you, Dalia... From what I can tell, he's head over heels for you, and he wouldn't leave you because of that... My advice is to just be yourself when you two go out on a date, okay?... Now come on, let's find the dining room and get something to eat," Rya said before turning around and heading down the hallway.
***
Dalia nodded and followed the Dark Elf closely, and it was not long before they arrived at a set of double doors leading to the dining hall. They opened the doors and saw the room crowded with a few dwarven nobles who had been there since late last night, passed out from drinking too much, and the servants were trying to clean up all the messes left behind, but that was proving to be difficult with all the past out bodies strewed about the room. Rya sighed and shook her head. It turned out the dwarves in this fantasy world weren't that much different from all the fiction novels back on Earth.
'Well... This is my life from now on,' Rya thought as she sat down in an empty chair with Dalia, grabbing the one next to her.
After a few moments, a servant girl wearing a simple white apron dress came up and placed two large platters of food on the table. One platter held a bowl of porridge made with wheat and honey, with a small dish of fresh fruit; the other held a plate filled with strips of roasted venison and vegetables. Both were accompanied by a mug filled with cold milk.
Dalia dug in while Rya ate more slowly, savoring each bite. While the meal was delicious, the Dark Elf still missed some of the Earth foods, such as pizza or sushi, but she couldn't complain. It was not like she would ever get the chance to eat them again. She would have to make them herself. Well, maybe not sushi—she didn't know how to make that—but pizza and some other Earth foods she knew the recipes for.
They started eating the food and discussing what they thought would happen at the festival. Dalia didn't know much, and Rya had nothing but assumptions, but she didn't tell her. She was still new to this world and didn't want to get ahead of herself, so she tried to avoid making predictions that seemed far-fetched or out of place. Luckily, Quinus, Percy, and Sir George entered the dining room and joined them for breakfast.
"So, what are you three planning to do during the festival?" Dalia asked excitedly, her tail wagging uncontrollably.
"Yeah, I've never been to one of these festivals before, so I have no idea what to expect," Rya added.
"I believe Baron Zellin will commence the opening ceremony to Goddess Iyomelka... If we finish breakfast early enough, I suggest we take a stroll through the market district before reaching the city square, where the musical tribute should start by noon. That should give us time to see everything we want," Quinus replied calmly while sipping his hot tea.
"Hey!?... Will there be games at this festival?" Dalia asked as she became serious all of a sudden.
The three men looked at each other with question marks over their heads.
"Have you played some of the festival games, Lady Dalia?" Percy asked curiously.
"Oh, no, I haven't... But I've seen them outside the battle arenas when I was brought in for a fight... It annoyed me to see so many humans failing to win those prizes!... How can someone not get a stupid ring on a Hex-Horn? The beast is stationary, and it barely moves! If I see that game, I'll show your humans how a Wolfkin does it!..." Dalia proclaimed.
Rya looked over to the three males at the table and raised an eyebrow, "Well, that was a little unexpected... So, do you guys play those festival games too? If so, are you any good?"
The three grimaced, and they didn't want to break it to Dalia that those festival games were tougher than they looked. Quinus assumed that they were rigged against the player, but he had no proof.
"I enjoy watching others try to play the games, but I have no intention of trying it myself. The last thing I want is to get laughed at," Quinus said flatly.
Sir George shrugged, "I don't see why not, but I'll leave the games to you guys. When it comes down to it, I'd rather look at the merchants selling their wares."
"I-I'll try my hand at a few of the easier ones if Lady Dalia would like me to," Percy replied meekly.
Dalia's tail wagged when Percy agreed to play a few games with her, and then the Wolfkin said, "If you are worried about embarrassing yourself in front of me, then maybe I should show you how it's done, Little Wolf!"
Percy's cheeks turned a rosy hue as he nervously scratched the back of his head, feeling unsure about the festival games that she had mentioned. Despite his uncertainties, he harbored no doubts about her exceptional abilities. Recognizing her as one of the most formidable fighters he had ever encountered, Percy also took pride in his own expertise as a skilled ranger.
Anticipating that the Wolfkin would effortlessly triumph in the seemingly frivolous games might backfire on her due to some trickery that he wasn't aware of. Percy experienced this firsthand when he reflected on his own struggles and failures when playing these games as a young teenager.
'Maybe Dalia will need to be consoled if she fails at those annoying games... Then I can swoop in and get her a kabob,' Percy thought.
"Well, if you all are done, let's finish breakfast and get moving... We don't want to miss the opening ceremony, do we?" Quinus urged the group.