A sigh automatically escaped her lips, when Elizara stood in front of the very familiar yet unfamiliar place.
This was the place, the restaurant that she had created with her fellow mates. Yet, she abandoned it back then... since the day she got married to the Emperor and became his Empress dreaming to have a 'happy ever after.'
As she looked at the big restaurant occupying a large space and filled with people coming and going, her eyes got watered.
This used to be a small restaurant where she used to be the cook and her friends used to manage the other things.
Raphael was the food manager.
Kyle was the account manager.
Shina and Rebecca were the waitresses.
Senne and Daniel were the waiters.
And as always, Alextin was a nanny of all... meaning he needed to clear the mess of each and everyone of them. Literally everyone.
As she remembered the old times, she subconsciously chuckled.
"Who is that? Blocking the road and Laughing all by herself?"
"A new citizen maybe?"
"Her clothes look so different. Is she from the slums and looks very ugly? That's why she's hiding her face?!"
"Oh my look! She's all black! Is she a witch?"
Elizara who was so engrossed in her memories that she didn't realize that she had created a huge commotion among the people just with her presence.
Instead, now she was heading towards the restaurant. But who would have thought that she would be stopped before she could even step into the stairs of her own restaurant.
"You? Who do you think you're, evil witch? How dare you try to intrude here with that inauspicious black clothes?"
Elizara looked here and there. After finding no one beside her and instead saw people watching her with interest as if waiting for a good show, she innocently pointed a finger ay herself, "Are you talking to me?"
"Who else? You, evil witch!"
Elizara blinked furiously. Just how... how did she become a witch when she just stepped out from that cage (palace) and came to her place?
Is it because of her clothes? But didn't she use to wear this frequently when she used to come here?
Or is there a new rule introduced by that d*mn emperor that wearing black means she's a witch?
After coming to such realization, she readily gave a series of curses in her heart to that undying man!
That undying man in question who had just taken a sip of his tea, sneezed loudly as the tea scattered in all directions hideously.
"Roy... Father, are you okay?" A young boy asked but his face was so indifferent that it was hard to say it was him who asked the question.
"I'm fine," said the man in front of the boy who looked exactly like the bigger version of the boy, "So what were you saying?"
"Well, I was saying, that woman out there look exactly like the one there," the boy said pointed at Elizara covered in all black, from the restaurant.
"What?" Hearing the boy, the man also turned towards the direction as his eyes narrowed dangerously when he spotted the woman.
"Just what is she doing here?" He gritted his teeth as a low growl almost came from his mouth.
"How will I know? Let's watch and find out."
With that, both of them focused on the woman. But the aura around them had drastically changed from the indifferent attitude to the "F*cking stay away from us" attitude.
On the other hand, with a deep breathe to calm her anger, she asked the man who stopped her, "Who are you?"
"What?"
"I'm asking who are you here? Are you a member of Essence?"
The man broke out into a loud laughter as if he had heard a great joke. Not only that man, even the people at her surrounding started to laugh like maniac, especially those men.
Di- Did she ask something hilarious? But she didn't change her emotionless facial expression as she stared coldly at the laughing man.
As if feeling her gaze, a chill ran down his spine as he stood straight hardly concealing his laughter, "Are... are you asking me, this lord, who I am? Haha! Where did this county bumpkin come from?"
The surrounding people who were laughing also started to discuss this scene as if they had come across a juicy gossip after a year of boredom.
"My God, is she serious? She doesn't even know who Lord James is?"
"Now I'm literally sure that she is from the slums. Not only her clothes are poor, her social knowledge is also poor."
"Lord James is not only a handsome young man but was also the only one who was selected by Essence after it was established. That time, he had truly left a huge commotion among the young ladies. Even the young ladies from the slums came to see him. How is this county bumpkin still alive? She literally knows nothing!"
[A/N: Essence is the name of Elizara's restaurant.]
"She should be 'shown' out from the society with much care. She doesn't even know the one and only trusted guard of Essence who was personally selected by the Managers."
"Haha! Don't say that mate! Judging by her figure, I'm sure she didn't have the time to come out of her bed to know the outside world."
"You? What are you- oh yeah! After you said that, I think I got you now. Her figure is so eye-catching. Even those clothes can't hide her inner beauty. I wonder where she works."
"Eww! You mean to say she's that kind of girl. No wonder she's ignorant of the world. How disgusting!"
Elizara calmly heard the whispered which weren't too soft as she gathered the information that she needed and then looked at the man in front of her who was standing all high and mighty in front of her.
Hehe! But that arrogance soon won't last long. As she had already spotted Kyle and Shina at the distance who was walking towards the door.
And as a she-devil as she was, how couldn't she root the fear of her in the hearts of all those who mocked her with her rights. Hah! Sometimes one needs the arrogance to stand in their grounds.
"Oh! So you're the guard hired by Essence. I must say, young man, you do look quite handsome."
And as she saw the smug smile on James getting wider, she dropped the ultimate bomb shell on him, "But too bad, this is your last day in this job. You won't be coming back here from tomorrow onwards. You're fired."
"WHAT? You little m*tt, How dare-" James face turn red in extreme anger as he opened his mouth to rebuke her words, but before he could finish his words, Kyle cut him off.
"What's happening here? Who's causing... Oh my goodness, Fiery, is that you?"
"Fiery, you're back!"
Two exclaimed together as they hurriedly ran down from the five steps of the stairs and pounced on her just like how a tiger pounces on its prey.
"Ahh... Hang on! Hang on! Don't press all your body weight on me! Kyle! Shina!"