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

Chapter 20

We've reached a huge milestone (at least for me)! Never thought I'd actually stick with this fanfiction for 20 whole chapters! You guys have been so supportive and lovely, enjoy. 💜

Milk Bread squirmed uncomfortably, her ropes had been digging into her dough for hours now since she couldn't seem to convince her fellow jailbird that she was innocent. What is the point of proving my innocence if we're both stuck in jail? She complained to herself.

Suddenly a large boom sounded from the hallway, arousing the crowd of starved prisoners to regain their balance like dogs on the dirt floors. The elderly cookie winced at seeing how animalistic they had all become, losing their sanities as the days wore at their minds like water eroded stone. Something so strong, so fortified, only to be overpowered by something that has little power. They all had their own personal stories to be left to rot in a stone box beneath their benevolent ruler.

Milk Bread grunted, readjusting her position on the ground to look towards where the food was to be slid to them, watching the male cookie carefully in her peripheral. Her plan was to attempt to crawl as fast as she could on her side to reach the food first, at least claiming her bowl before he took them both.

A soldier finally stopped before their door, a bucket of odd-looking slop with a ladle to pour onto flat plates. He took a scoop, preparing two meals, and bent down to give them their food. However, Milk Bread saw him hesitate.

"Milk Bread," he said. She tried to recognize his voice, but it didn't sound anything familiar to her, so she stayed silent, staring into his shadowed figure.

"Is it true what you did?"

Her throat tightened. What lies had the kingdom been spreading about her? Did they believe she was included with the supposed heist? She could barely think up an answer to testify her perspective.

"I trusted that you would never do something as sinister as that," he continued, placing the bowls down on the ground by his feet. "I looked up to you like a mother."

"Dear, I don't know why I'm here..." she whispered.

"The king is enraged by your involvement. If you did nothing, why does he believe you did it so strongly?" There was a twinge of pain that cracked in his voice.

"I promise you, I would never do anything to betray this kingdom in such a vile way," her voice consoled him, "Do you think I've loved Dark Cacao any less than I did when I fostered him growing up?"

The other cookie in her cell continued to cast his eyes into the dirt, seemingly uninterested in their conversation.

"No... not at all, that's why I'm asking you," the soldier said.

She smiled warmly despite the possibility he might not even be able to see it. "Then trust upon my word, the old cookie who has been wronged, that my crime is nonexistent."

The soldier was silent for a moment, calculating her words. "But that is not enough..."

"Then I ask of you, dear, what is enough?" Her voice was firm.

"..."

"The king may be unhappy, the whole army may see me as a criminal, and the whole village may shun me, but my trust in my perspective is more than enough for me. So tell me, is that enough for you?"

The soldier remained silent, trying to see her face in the dark pit of the dungeon, grasping for a hold of what he saw her as before. Taking a deep breath, he slid the food underneath the cell door, still crouched.

"It is enough," he sighed, then rising to his feet and walking away.

Milk Bread took a moment, just staring at the food before her. At that moment she no longer felt the strength to move closer to the plates, her heart still beating slowly as it quieted to listen to her thoughts as closely as possible.

Suddenly the male cookie shifted behind her, sending her into a flying panic as she tried to get closer to the bowls. Her adrenaline shoved out the realization that she would never reach the food in time to beat him.

But she never saw him come near the food. Feeling a different grip on the ropes of her wrists, she felt them loosen, falling to he ground shortly before the ropes on her ankles followed suit. Milk Bread quickly climbed to her knees, hissing at the relief of the burns finally being freed from their captor. But she questioned why the cookie had done it. It was so sudden, so erratic of him to choose to cut her free from the ropes that she thought he was planning something. She whipped her head back around, gazing at him with wild eyes obscured by blackness.

"It is also enough for me."

———

The chaos that clouded the mind of the king would not let go until it knew that his son was safe. It was impossible, how could history repeat itself like this whenever Dark Cacao knew how awful his brother's end was? He was stupid, stupid, stupid a million times over. If he wasn't so worried about whether the prince was alive or not, he would be outright ashamed of his actions.

But the fatherly instincts were too strong, the blizzard meant nothing against him. His men tried their best to keep up, their dough near freezing in the storm that still sunk through their heavy coats and armor like a blade. They all wanted to go home, to tell the king that it's too late, that the prince is already dead, but they knew their attempts would be fruitless at coaxing the king away. Once he was set on a goal, he was tenacious to achieve it. His footsteps soundlessly crunched in the sugar snow, the winds so loud that they overshadowed their own thoughts.

The fabric, now faded to a deep brown after the blood had completely dried, was violently clutched between his hand, as if it were trying to pry itself free. If it was the last thing the king saw of his son, he would be a wreck until the day he died himself. Possibly sooner just to be reunited with his little prince...

My son.

Word count: 1061