My Fair Lady (Dark Cacao Cookie x Fem!Reader)

Chapter 26

Hey look, I managed to write a chapter in less than a day! I couldn't leave you all hanging, could I?

Tiramisu squirmed uncomfortably in the dark, damp, and cramped space inside of the vendor's home. It smelt like 3 years worth of cake hound litter was piled in a corner somewhere and used as an air de-freshener. They couldn't help but wonder if that was actually the case.

"Take a seat," the vendor flatly stated, though it almost sounded like a command. Tiramisu flipped down their hood and took a seat at a table with carefully carved legs that resembled the branches of the trees seen in the forest surrounding the kingdom.

"Let me grab my son quickly before we begin," the vendor said, vanishing behind a door before Tiramisu could ask why.

A minute later the cookie returned. Behind him, however, stood a brooding, tall cookie with a dark scar coming from his neck all the way up to his left eye, in which the eye was only an empty socket. His dark beard was spliced to where the injury was, but otherwise was a rich black icing that did not seem to come from his father's looks. His hair was loosely hanging behind his back besides one thin braid than ran from his temple. Tiramisu looked away when the cookie gave him an intimidating glare.

The cookie sat themselves next to each other across from the foreigner and leaned forward with their hands clasped.

"Good morning to you sir," the vendor's son stated.

"Good morning to you, but I kindly ask not to refer to me as a 'sir'," Tiramisu thrummed their hands on the cold wood.

"As you wish," the cookie dipped his head slightly. "My father tells me that you wish to know about (Y/N)?"

"Yes, that's exactly who. I'm searching for her for-"

"You're never going to find her alive."

Tiramisu choked a bit. "Excuse me?"

The vendor chuckled and patted his son's shoulder. "Don't scare this poor cookie like that! Though, yes, you most likely won't find her alive the next time you see her."

"What the hell happened to her?" Tiramisu's voice raised sharply. What did you get yourself into this time, (Y/N)?

"You're really out of the circle of things, you know. Just how long have you been in the Cacao Kingdom for?" the vendor looked at them expectantly.

"Obviously not long enough to know she's been murdered."

The scarred cookie rumbled with a light laugh. "Murder isn't the right word for her punishment, more like vengeance."

Tiramisu slammed their hands onto the table and stood up, leaning forward with desperate eyes. "What do you mean?!"

They both seemed unfazed by Tiramisu's sudden outburst, as if they expected them to react in such a loud way. After a moment of silence the son finally spoke up. "Your little friend decided to commit treason against the prince."

Tiramisu was stunned. Why would she ever do anything against a kingdom? Sure, she could be a little out of hand at times, but committing crimes against a kingdom she wasn't familiar with? How did she even get as close to the royals to do such a thing? It made absolutely zero sense.

"Take a seat, bud. You look a little dazed after what we've just told you," the vendor said. Tiramisu could do nothing but comply, they felt their face drained of color.

"Where can I... see her body..?" they whispered.

For a moment, the two kin stared at Tiramisu, then they slowly turned to look at each other, a grin growing on their faces.

"What? Do you think this is just some joke to me?"

The cookie burst into laughter, holding their faces and their stomachs and trying not to fall out of their chairs. Tiramisu bit their lip as they watched the cookies go on with their fit for the longest minute or Tiramisu's life.

"The king doesn't even know if she's dead yet, much less anybody else!" the scarred cookie wiped a tear away from his face as he began to settle with his father.

Tiramisu instantly lit up with hope. I still have a chance!

"Yes, my son here, who I should have mentioned earlier that he is a part of the soldiers under the king, knows for a fact that (Y/N) is somewhere with the prince in who-knows-where."

"The prince?" they asked, leaning against the table expectantly.

"Do we have to spell everything out for you? The prince ran away with (Y/N)! Everybody around town has been talking about it! They think that she's some sorceress who's put him under a spell and carried him off to her secret dungeon somewhere... I call houndsh*t. Not even Marble cookie, our sorcerer, is able to do such a thing. It's all just a bunch of hocus pocus lies," the scarred cookie gathered a loogie in his throat before spitting into a brass vase in the corner of the room.

"The king has tried to keep all of this from leaking, but the soldiers are worse than a group of schoolgirls! Eh, son?" the vendor reached over and jokingly punched his son's muscular arm. He growled and pretended to throw a punch back at his father while Tiramisu scratched their chin.

This all doesn't make any sense. The prince wouldn't just run away from his own kingdom with a foreign cookie without good reason. I'm sure he's a smart boy, especially considering that Cacao Kingdom education is second best to the Espresso kingdom...

Suddenly a cuckoo clock began chirping in the house, snapping Tiramisu out of their thoughts. They watched as the son and father stood up from the table.

"Welp, it's closing time, bud. Time for you to leave," the vendor dusted his hands off before he came onto the side of Tiramisu, grabbing their arm while his son grabbed the other. They began to forcefully drag them out of their house.

"Wait! Wait! I need to know where she is though! You didn't tell me about where she is!" Tiramisu begged, their feet attempting to drag across the floor and regain balance to no avail.

"You know what we said, nobody in this whole damn kingdom knows where her nor the prince is. You've got your money's worth, now scram. You didn't hear this from here," the scarred cookie and the father tossed Tiramisu to the ground outside of the selling stall at the front of the house, dirtying their clothes.

"This was not my money's worth! You should have just told me you didn't know!" they fumed while sitting on the ground.

"That's just how business is. You gotta make a living selling a few pretty lies. Now get out of my sight," the vendor spat, closing the door as Tiramisu rushed to stop him.

"WAIT! At least tell me your names-!" they screamed, the only response was the door slamming shut right on their face.

Their hands met with the cold wood, slowly sliding down while they quietly rested their forehead against the surface, defeated. A whole pouch of money spent on information they could get for free next door.

Now I see why her and the prince ran away.

Word count: 1192