Caught In The Cookie Jar

“Something’s wrong with the Hero.”

“I heard he challenged the Demon Lord a few times already and he lost each time.”

“Maybe we can’t win this war after all.”

These were the murmurings around the Human Army camp after the Hero issued the order to retreat. Everyone knew he had been infiltrating Qosheigh, the capital city of the demons, by himself and failing his mission each time. But, it was only when the news broke that the army had to pack up and leave did anyone start to have pessimistic thoughts.

In short, the morale of the humans was low.

This was concerning to the generals taking part in the siege.

However, for the siege, the Hero, thanks to his feats in the war, was made supreme commander by the kings and queens of the human realm and his authority is the highest only below the monarchs. And, there were no monarchs in the front lines. There was no one who could overrule his orders.

On the other hand, while the Hero is the central commander, the structure of the Human Army is a hodgepodge of forces led by various generals, all nobility with no fealty to him. These nobles could entrench and disobey without punishment. But, even then, the Hero has sway with the common soldiery as their champion, so the morale issues would still pose a problem as it would surely cause desertion at the least and mutiny at worst.

The only way to stop the retreat is to convince the Hero to rescind his order. Although, nobody knows what his motivations are for issuing it, and that is what one of the generals intends to find out with a visit to the Hero.

This person’s name is Tiffania, a young noblewoman and the eldest daughter of a duke.

Despite her standing in society, she had not risen through the ranks of the army via nepotism. In fact, she had been told to follow a different career path by everyone including her parents.

As a child, she was pampered and doted on because the adults found her extraordinarily adorable. She was given plenty of pretty clothes to dress up with everyday. All the adults around her made sure to tell her she was the cutest.

As an adolescent, it was the same. But, this time, boys her age were also giving her attention and none of them failed to tell her she was the prettiest.

As a young adult, she grew tired of the attention. She wanted to be known by more than her looks and pursued the path of a soldier. She then led victorious defensive battles which contributed to her quickly getting promoted as a general. All these despite everyone around her constantly thinking and saying that her beauty was wasted on the battlefield.

However, this time, her silky light golden hair, bright green eyes, pearly white skin and small attractive face are perceived to be an asset.

“Perhaps, a pretty face could lighten up the Hero’s mood”, one of the generals commented during the meeting on how to deal with the Hero.

And, while no one echoed the sentiment, everyone else seemed to be in agreement.

That is the reason why Tiffania was handpicked for the task. Of course, she took offense to it. But, not to the point that she would reject the request of her peers otherwise she would not be making her way towards the Hero’s camp.

What annoyed her was not even the fact the other generals still did not see her beyond looks. Not once was she told she could be someone the Hero could confide in as they were close in age, or that they had a similar trajectory in their military careers. It was their attitudes which seemed dismissive of the Hero’s situation that irked her.

He went into the city four times to try and kill the Demon Lord but failed each time. Don’t they see how that can affect his mental state? Tiffania grumbled in her thoughts.

She herself had faced consecutive defeats after becoming a general so she knew how it felt. The hopelessness of never beating a strong enemy. The humiliation of not achieving anything. The guilt of surviving and leaving behind brave men. Lastly, the fear that there may never be a next time.

She felt that, regardless of her looks, her experience was something which could help the Hero. While she wasn’t confident of convincing him to rescind the order, she thought that she could at least sympathize and listen.

She stopped in front of the flap of the Hero’s tent. It was already dusk. Light from within permeated through the gaps. The shadows indicate there was someone inside.

Tiffania wondered how she should make her approach. In her mind, the Hero must be completely depressed. She thought it was something that should be taken on delicately, but their relationship has so far been strictly professional. They were acquaintances at most. She was afraid she might appear patronizing if she acted too friendly or comforting.

Until she announced herself and entered his tent where she found him happily whisking something on a bowl.

“Welcome, Tiffany”, the Hero greeted her smilingly.

Her jaw dropped at the sight of him being in a good mood. It dropped further when she noticed he was wearing an apron with the words “Baking Queen” written on the chest area.

She had a speech ready, but she was tongue-tied.

This prompted the Hero to ask her, “What brings you here?”

Snapping out of her daze, she replied, “First off, my name is Tiffania.”

It has been a year since they first met, yet the Hero still has the habit of mispronouncing her name. Normally, she would be annoyed by it, but there were other things on her mind.

“Second is… what are you doing?” she can’t help but ask.

“Baking”, the Hero answered cheerfully.

“Baking?” Tiffania could barely believe her ears.

“Yes, I’m baking cookies.”

“Is… is this how you cope with failure? Baking cookies?”

“No?” the Hero answered quizzically. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason. It’s just that, for someone who has failed to win against the Demon Lord multiple times already, you seem to be doing well. Too well, in fact.”

“That’s not true at all! In fact, I’ve been agonizing on how I’m going to win over the Demon Queen next time!”

“You mean you still intend to continue with the mission?”

“Of course!” he answered with firm determination.

“Then why order the retreat?”

“It’s something that needs to be done so the Demon Queen will stop thinking I’m hostile.”

“Oh, I see! You want to make them think the siege is over and let their guards down!”

"That's right!"

While she was enthused by the Hero’s answer, there was still one thing bothering her.

“Then what are the cookies for?” she asked.

“I figured I should do something different to get the Demon Queen.”

Tiffania didn’t quite understand how the cookies would be used, but hearing it is for defeating the enemy was enough to convince her.

“Is there something I can help you with?” she asked.

The Hero pondered for a minute before replying, “Yeah, maybe there is one thing.”

He then placed the bowl he was holding on the table behind him. Beside it was a plate of cookies with varied shapes and sizes, which he took and offered to Tiffania.

“I couldn’t quite get what my head cook taught me earlier, but she’s currently busy with her own tasks so I can’t ask her. Can you try these and tell me what’s wrong with them?”

Apart from the inconsistent shapes and slightly burnt color, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the cookies. But, as she took a piece, she couldn’t help but quip, “You haven’t mistaken salt from sugar, have you?”

“No way!” the hero heartily replied, and the two of them laughed.

However, Tiffania would stop laughing once she took a bite of the Hero’s cookie. From what she had gathered, it seemed to be the Hero’s first time. She meant the joke as a way to soften any form of surprise in the flavor, but it tasted unexpectedly normal.

“Not bad”, she commented. “Perhaps, you should have taken them out of the oven a bit earlier, but not bad.”

The Hero sighed in relief upon hearing her review.

“You may also want to make it look a little more presentable”, Tiffania continued.

“Unfortunately, I’m not good with that part”, the Hero replied, embarrassed.

“Let me help you. You’re making a new batch, correct?”

The two then spent the next half hour making cookies. The result was a batch that the two of them were satisfied with.

Tiffania even helped with the wrapping.

She can’t remember the last time she appreciated her training to become a proper lady when she was younger, but she was glad she had them.

Once done, the two went out of the tent.

“Thanks for your help”, the Hero said to Tiffania.

“You’re welcome. If you ever need my assistance, just ask,” she replied.

“Alright”, he responded. Then, just before sprinting away to enter Qosheigh again, he lifted the cookies the two of them made and added, “I’m sure the Demon Queen will love these.”

Meanwhile, as the dust from the Hero’s running settled, Tiffania stood frozen, processing what he had just said.

She couldn’t help but laugh nervously.

The retreat, the cookies - they all made sense now.

But, internally, she was screaming, HOW THE HELL DO I EXPLAIN THIS TO THE OTHERS?! EVEN WORSE, HE MADE ME COMPLICIT!! NO MATTER HOW SMALL, IF THEY FIND OUT I HELPED HIM WOO THE DEMON LORD, THOSE OLD FARTS WON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PAINT IT AS ABETTING A TRAITOR AND RUIN ME AND MY FATHER’S HOUSE!!

Looking up, she noticed a shooting star along the direction of the demon city moving up from the horizon and wished it was all her misunderstanding. But then, the shooting star arced and started descending, making her think her wish would not come true.

“For now, I guess I’ll tell them the Hero has a plan”, she said to herself, looking defeated.