Page 61 of His Winter Wonderland

“Whatever.”

Winter really did have nothing but time on her hands. And while she enjoyed keeping to herself, she did get bored sometimes. Especially now that Sinclair was booed up.

“You learned that from that mortal television show. Okay. I see you. You’re cooking all this, but Rhen can’t eat any of it.”

She wasn’t cooking it for him. She was cooking it for herself. Cooking was now one of her favorite past times. She’d picked up a number of hobbies after the fateful night long ago. After that night, the number of assassins sent her way had dwindled.

She didn’t know if it was because she’d survived her encounter with Rhen and The Deciders didn’t have anyone more powerful to send. Or, because her sisters had simply lost interest in her. Either way, it had been a while since an assassin had been sent her way. In the past, she usually encountered three a week. Sometimes more.

That number had dwindled over the years. To be honest, it was kind of disheartening that The Deciders no longer considered her their number one target. Because of their lack of interest in her, she kind of gotten used to the quiet, mundane life of the Frostlands. Who was she kidding? She’d been bored out of her mind.

At first, she’d been okay because she’d had other creatures to battle it out with. But then even they stopped coming after her. Because of her violent tendencies, most creatures were now scared to come near her cabin. All alone in her cabin with nothing to do, she’d turned to baking sweets as a form of escapism.

It had a calming effect on her. Whenever she felt stressed, she baked. Whenever she was happy, she baked. Whenever she was sad, she baked. Whenever she felt lonely, she baked. Whenever she felt like her life was an endless loop of nothingness, she baked. Needless to say, she baked a lot. At first, the food she created sucked.

She knew that because when she tossed it out into the trash, the creatures of the night frowned at it. They ate it. But they did so with grimaces on their faces. Gradually, that began to change. As they say, practice makes perfect. Now, when she tossed out her leftovers, the woodland creatures that liked digging through her trash, rushed over to gobble it up.

If she’d never been cursed to the Frostlands, she never would’ve taught herself to bake. Back on the Demon Plane, in the Wastelands, the only time she'd come close to baking was during her potion lessons. Brewing potions had been allowed. Cooking was left to the kitchen staff. Any warrior seen doing it would be flogged.

On the Demon Plane, warriors hadn't been allowed to indulge in the same things the common folk indulged in. That wasn’t limited to cooking, it also included eating deserts. Also, on the list of forbidden activities was making friends, smiling or laughing, wearing colorful attire, reading books, and wearing perfume.

Basically, anything that could brighten up one’s day. Until being cursed to this plane, the Frostlands, Winter hadn’t known simple things like that could brighten her day. She hadn’t even known her day could be brightened. She’d thought the cold, empty void that was her life was the norm for everyone, everywhere.

The word happiness hadn’t been a part of her vocabulary. It definitely hadn’t been one of her priorities on the Demon Plane. Obeying the Goddesses, fighting their wars, and protecting the realm had been her only concerns. That had been her only job. And she’d been damn good at doing her job.

At least she had been until the day she was cursed. Nowadays, there was one thing that made her happier than all the others. Chocolate. No, reading. Wait, maybe chocolate. Ugh. She loved them both. She didn’t know which was her favorite. A book could last forever while chocolate only lasted for a few minutes.

Then again, chocolate tasted better. And her entire life changed after her first taste of chocolate. There was only one downside to chocolate. A downside that reading didn’t have. Chocolate could cause a girl to put on pounds. And though she was magical, eating chocolate every day had added a little extra cushion to her hips and bottom.

Without her usual workout regime of fighting creatures to stay alive, she was starting to put on weight. Who knew the skinny warrior from the Demon Plane could look hella good with some curves?

“And Rhen seems to like our curves.”

“Indeed.”

Winter finished making her brownies and cookies. When she was done, she strode over to her window and pulled the curtain back. For the past hour, Rhen had been outside her house, hanging Christmas lights over her fence. When he first showed up and her wards started chiming, she’d rushed to the door.

He hadn’t asked to come in. He simply asked her to lower her defenses so he could decorate for Christmas. Though she’d rolled her eyes at his request, on the inside, she’d been excited as hell. From the looks of things, he was almost done. This would be her first time ever celebrating Christmas. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

After was Rhen was done outside, he joined her inside. She sipped on hot chocolate and nibbled on a brownie while he decorated the inside of her home for Christmas. Afterwards, they sat down on her couch and stared at her new Christmas tree. She had no idea what was so special about the tree. But Rhen was smiling at it, so, she smiled at it too.

“How’s Kaede and Sinclair?” Winter asked.

“Must we talk about them every time we’re together?”

“How are they?”

“Bad.”

“I’ve looked through every book I can find. I can’t find a way to help Kaede.”

“I’ve got a plan.”

“Rhen…”

“Don’t worry. I got this. And if it falls through, I’ll bear the burden.”

“So, if he turns into something that has to be put down, you’ll put him down?”