“Elena, are you okay?” Mac asked as he came over to her, his forehead tight with worry.
She gave him a huge smile and leaned on her broomstick.
“I’m alright. Someone needed to be put in his place.”
Mac looked unconvinced and trailed his eyes around her, looking for any injuries or signs
of harassment.
“I’m okay. Forest was with me throughout. He couldn’t do anything even if he tried.”
“Next time he comes again, don’t even bother putting up with him, just quickly shout for
help,” Mac told her. She nodded her head and replied,
“Okay then.” Mac still didn’t look convinced.
“Well now that we are all awake, I suggest that we start to get ready for the day.” Wazir
suddenly broke the silence that had come up. Forest walked over to him and placed a hand on his
shoulder.
“Looking forward to your first day of work already?” He teased.
“You know I am. Now let’s get to work.” They all went inside the restaurant, with Forest
and Wazir leading them at the front. Elena and Mac were walking behind them, and she turned to
look at Mac. He noticed her stare and instantly became worried again. She quickly gave him a
beaming comforting smile and shook her head, signalling to him that she was fine. Mac released
a sigh and then returned her smile.
Their day started nicely. They received their normal number of customers and served
them as they always did. The women swooned when they noticed that two handsome men had
started to work at the Red Queen’s restaurant. One looked as innocent as a child, and the other
had a rugged handsomeness to him that told of experience.
Wazir didn’t understand why some women looked at him strangely with red faces. Still,
Forest admired without shame and gave them his killing smile. Some men came over and
volunteered to be the entertainers for the day, and they all had a good time listening to their
songs.
A group of women also joined them on stage, volunteering to dance to their songs. Still,
Elena noticed that the dancing was more to catch Forest’s and Wazir’s attention than to entertain
any customer. The whole event was just another day at the restaurant.
Elena went back to the kitchen to begin a new round of dishes. Most customers make
sure that they empty their restaurant of food before leaving, not that it annoyed Elena. She was
happy with how much money they made in a day. If anything, she even encouraged them more
by thinking of new recipes. With Mac, who also started having inspiration on what to cook, their
menu was always booming with different kinds of food one couldn’t easily choose from. And
since most of them do not know when they would be able to make a reservation next, they end
up buying and eating as much as possible.
Mac came inside the kitchen and whispered to Elena. They had an important guest, and
the person had been sent to the VIP room.
“Who is it?” Elena asked curiously.
“The man introduced himself as Cotan loki, and he came with two people; a young
female and a huge man.” Elena’s body froze upon the mention of that name. Noticing her unusual
behavior, Mac asked her if she was okay, and she forced a smile, telling him that she was just
fatigued. Mac smiled at her at placed his hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort before
leaving the kitchen.
Cotan loki. That was a name she would recognize anywhere. Being one of her father’s
closest advisors, the man held a very huge reputation of being the strictest politician who
followed the rules of the Kingdom to the letter. As one of her father’s strongest supporters, she
had also suffered under his harshness once.
She wondered if he would come with his son. Everyone knew of his desire for his son to
take over from him. Unlike his harsh father, Afang loki was nice in his own way. Even though he
acted like he couldn’t acknowledge Elena, he never insulted her or mistreated her like the others.
Whenever he and his peers whose fathers were also politicians came across her, he always told
them off- though nonchalantly- whenever they started insulting her. It might not have meant
anything to him, but it meant so much to her. She even started developing a small crush on him
at some point. Still, just like the other things she buried deep within her, she kept her crush
hidden, and eventually, it faded away.
Forest came over and handed out the food their important guests had selected. As she
served the food on their respective plates, she wondered who the female that came along with
them was. Before she left, there was a rumour among the palace maids on how Cotan loki had
found a bride for his son. No one knew how true it was, though.
Later, after placing the food into trays, Wazir came over to take them. She watched him
as he left for the VIP room. She was very curious to see the guests, but she knew she couldn’t
come out to avoid her identity being exposed. She sighed and went back to her cooking.
Several minutes later, Mac came down and told Elena to serve another meal, as the
important female guest was very demanding. Elena scrunched up her brows, curious, but did as
she was told. She couldn’t find Mac, Forest or Wazir anywhere when she was done. She didn’t
want to be the one to serve the special guests.
Fortunately for her, while she was still struggling with her dilemma, Wazir rushed inside
and took the plates of food after confirming from her who it was for. Once Wazir left, Elena’s
curiosity increased. She wondered if the female was someone she knew. She couldn’t imagine
her father sending her stepsister to the Kingdom of Neba; her stepmother would never agree, so
that automatically removed her from the list of important females she knew served at court.
Not able to withstand her burning curiousness, she decided to check out the visitors for
herself. Taking a clean rag from the kitchen, she formed a veil which she used to cover her face,
leaving her eyes open. Her hair was already neatly arranged under her chef hat. So she concluded
it to be a manageable mask, one that no one would be able to recognize her in at first glance.
Making sure that everything was okay in the kitchen, she walked out, closing the door
behind her, before sneaking towards the stairs which would take her to the VIP room. She
climbed it and headed straight to the room the visitors were in.
She stood silently behind the door when she arrived, listening to the discussions inside.
The room had a curtain placed at the entrance, making it difficult for anyone to see the visitors if
they were not invited to.
She stood there listening, waiting for someone to talk. The room was strangely quiet, and
the only sounds coming from it were the sounds of cutleries against the smooth ceramic bowls
used to serve the food.
After a while, she heard Mac’s voice asking,
“I hope the food is to your liking?” Sincerity dripped from his voice.
Someone hummed, and the sounds of cutleries and plates became more rapid, signifying
that the person had finished eating and was cleaning the plates of remains. Elena secretly smiled.
Her food was enjoyed thoroughly.
“You have an amazing cook. She alone came up with the recipe?”
Elena could recognize that voice from anywhere. That was Afang Loki’s voice. He did
come with his father. Her long-faded crush slowly ignited as he complimented her food. She
blushed fairly and was happy she could do something for him even secretly, for all the times he
had indirectly helped her.
“It is all thanks to her. She has the best recipes ever and she also encouraged me to create
some too. What you are eating is an assortment of both her recipes and mine. I am glad you like
it.” Mac answered.
“Hmm, you are the manager and also the cook. That’s good. I love people who are good
at multitasking.” Afang loki complemented.
“Thank you!” He replied.
Finally, the screeching sounds of the plates stopped. Someone sighed loudly, and Mac
offered to clear their table.
“Why are there no entertainers in our room? Unlike in the room for the commoners?”
“Oh, for the VIP room, we only provide entertainers if our customers wish it. Some of
our customers do not need them and so we only provide if asked to.” The sounds of plates being
packed continued.
“Our customers volunteer to be entertainers. The people you see performing downstairs
are people whose reservations are set for today. They play the instruments which we have
already provided for them.”
“Would you like us to send in some entertainers?” He asked.
“No, there is no need for that.” The voice of Cotan loki replied. Elena couldn’t stop the
fear that enveloped her whenever she heard his voice. That man was unlike any other politician
her father had. While the others just simply made fun of her, the man did not hide the total
disregard he had for her. At times, Elena wondered what she had ever done to deserve the
treatment she received from him.
She remembered that when her mother was still alive, even though Cotan loki was still as
strict as he was, he wasn’t as merciless towards her as he became after her mother’s death. She
didn’t know what happened, but she did well to steer clear of his path.
“Okay then, I’ll take my leave.” Elena quickly hid to avoid bumping into Mac. A few
moments later, Mac left the room with a huge tray filled with plates stacked against each other.
Once he reached the stairs leading down to the kitchen, he placed the tray on his hips so that it
won’t mistakenly come into contact with anyone. When he finally disappeared, Elena went back
to her eavesdropping spot.
“They do serve good food here, father.” Afang loki started.
“Yes, they do. It is better than the restaurants I have eaten in those times I came to this
Kingdom.” Afang hummed in response. The room was thrown into another bout of silence.
“I wish to say something, which was why I sent the waiter away.” Cotan loki suddenly
broke the silence, then started.
“Beau Rage, do you understand that we are in another kingdom? Your behavior toward
the king wasn’t acceptable at all. The king of Neba is petty enough to start a war based on what
you said, and he has the resources to do so.”
Elena stood there frozen in shock. Beau rage. One of her worst enemies. Being her
stepsister’s cousin and best friend, she suffered so much under her hands. She couldn’t believe
that the king sent her to this Kingdom as a delegate. She wondered if she had been given a
position in court.
“Why didn’t you say this since yesterday? Why are you just bringing it up now?” Her soft
voice could be heard from outside the room. Elena could almost see the boredom radiating off
her.
“I wanted you to have some time to yourself, to understand where you made a mistake
but it seemed like you didn’t learn your lesson.”
“He already said that he was just teasing us. Let’s all just forget it.”
“But that is what you don’t understand. He is capable of doing it. You don’t need his
permission to.”
“So if he can do it by himself, why are you pinning the blame on me?”
“Because you gave him the idea!” Cotan loki retorted. Elena jumped at the sheer force of
his voice. She heard him taking in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
“You are not in the Kingdom of Pres where you can act as you like because your aunt is
Queen. Your aunt’s power does not extend to this Kingdom and you can end up dead at the drop
of a hat. No one will be able to stop that from happening. And your aunt does not have the power
to avenge you.”
“Tch! It was a good thing she killed his daughter then.”
“Beau Rage!” Afang loki shouted. Elena fisted her hands so tight her nails dug into her
palms. She quickly ran out of her hiding place, not willing to listen to any more of their talks.
The Kingdom of Neba.
A local tavern…
The loud voices of drunken men and music filled the whole building. A group of men had
come into the tavern to celebrate; they bought drinks and surrounded themselves with dancers.
The hired entertainers did well to perform their best, hoping to receive a hefty tip which the men
didn’t disappoint in providing. Pouches of coins were splayed everywhere, and people, both
workers and customers alike, picked up some amount.
Joustin took another swig of his bottle. This was just a normal day at the local tavern. But
he was always the one throwing the parties and the pouches of money. He was always the one
the dancers and entertainers were looking forward to serving. But ever since the Red Queen
restaurant opened, he barely made up to what he normally did in a day. Even the owner of the
tavern had a change of behavior towards him. He was still professional, but he didn’t gravel for
his favour as he always did.
He took another swig again. He couldn’t remember how many bottles he had since he
came to the tavern. He looked over at those men and eyed them, squeezing his hands tightly.
It was that damn Elena’s fault.
It was all her fault. Why couldn’t she see that he would be a much better person to work
with than that Mac?
“Don’t you worry, dear Elena. I’ll make you pay for how you treated me today.” He took
another swig again, then leaned against his hands, sleep already enveloping him.
“You mentioned Elena. Can you please describe her for me?” A voice asked. Joustin
opened his eyes. A huge man stood next to his table, wearing a veiled hat. But although he
couldn’t see his face, Joustin knew he wasn’t someone to be trifled with.
“The Elena you were ranting about, can you please describe her for me?” The man
repeated. Joustin’s drunk brain suddenly went into motion. There was a man who suddenly asked
him of Elena. Maybe he knew Elena and possibly her background. If Elena was really who the
man was looking for, he could find out her true background and possibly use it against the Red
Queen’s restaurant! Finally, all was looking well.
“Who are you?” Joustin asked first, curious. He couldn’t just trust anyone. He had to
confirm if the man was a friend or foe before he made use of him.
“My name is Daruki.” The strange man answered.