He acted like a perfect gentleman. He took out the chair for me to sit and pushed it in when I did.
Lucretius sat down across from me as the café owner himself brought us the menu. The middle-aged man was definitely not a server. I was sure he was the owner, but perhaps I was mistaken.
The man handed us the menus and exclaimed, “It has been so long since you came here, Sir Lucen.”
Sir Lucen?
Who was that? Why did the man seem to know Lucretius so well?
Lucen must have been Lucretius’ alias. I spied on them as the man treated Luc like a VVIP customer.
When I was asked what I wanted to eat, I got Lucretius to choose. I had a big dinner before coming here, so I wasn’t hungry. We would probably get some snacks, and I knew Lucretius had an expensive taste, so he would make a good decision.
Lucretius ordered, “My usual then.”
The man smiled brightly and bowed. “Of course. You will not regret it.”
He backed away respectfully. When he was gone, I asked, “Do you own this café?”
Lucretius shook his head. “No. I have so much work already, I don’t need more.”
“Hmm…”
However, the café owner and Lucretius seemed very familiar with each other, which meant Lucretius frequented this place.
“But then why would he treat you so respectfully…?”
Based on Samantha’s reaction and how familiar Sir Clark was in shadowing us, it was clear Lucretius snuck out of the castle often.
Lucretius grinned. “Try and guess.”
“You couldn’t have told him you are the emperor, right?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. The owner thinks I’m a rich nobleman named Lucen des Morelin.”
“Then it still doesn’t make sense how he treats you like he does. There are plenty of rich noblemen out there.”
Lucretius gave me his signature annoying smile.
“It’s because Lucen des Morelin is the owner of this plot and the building.”
“…”
So his alias was a real-estate tycoon.
***
Lucretius ordered a giant ice cream. He loved sweets just as much as I did. The only thing he didn’t like was raisins, which I liked.
Lucretius looked at the ice cream proudly and bragged, “This isn’t even on the menu. They make it especially for me.”
“…”
I still couldn’t understand. Even if Luc owned the building, wouldn’t the owner of the café protest if asked to empty the entire second floor on such a short notice? Why would the café owner act so spinelessly?
I decided to ask. “What did you do to that man that he seems to almost fear you? Ordering things that are not even on the menu… Even if you own the building and the land, it still doesn’t make sense. There must be more to this story.”
Lucretius smiled evilly. “Originally, this café was owned by a different man.”
“Did you… get rid of the old owner and put that man in his place?”
“Bingo!” He clapped as I gasped.
“Seriously?”
I knew he could be too much, but this was…
What he said next was even more shocking.
“This cafe always had great deserts, but the previous owner was annoying. He wouldn’t do what I wanted, so I got angry.”
I didn’t know who this original owner was, but I felt sorry for him. Who would have thought the emperor of the greatest kingdom would sneak around the city coveting sweet deserts?
“So I came up with an alias, purchased this land and the building, and demanded unreasonable lease to drive him out.”
“…”
This was sad. There were similar stories in Korea where the building owners were unreasonable pricks.
“The current owner used to be just a server here and I liked him, so I gave him this café with a condition that he keeps the same chef and the pâtissier.”
“…”
I couldn’t tell if he was petty or decisive. Maybe he was both.
Lucretius scoped up a spoonful of ice cream with a flower-shaped silver spoon and tried to feed me.
“…”
I felt my face becoming red.
However, the great emperor himself was offering to feed me, so who was I to refuse him?
I kept telling myself it wasn’t because I liked being treated like this. I opened my mouth, but when I was about to taste the sweet cream…
“Huh?”
The spoonful of ice cream suddenly disappeared into his mouth! He grinned at me infuriatingly as I complained.
“That’s not fair!”
Just then, he stood up and walked towards me and all of a sudden, I tasted the heavenly dessert in my own mouth.
It wasn’t on a metal, wooden, or porcelain spoon. He used something even better.
His lips were unbelievably sweet, and the kiss ended too quickly. I licked my lips wanting more.
I murmured quietly, “It… melted too fast.”
He chuckled and pointed at the bowl of ice cream on the table.
“We still have a lot left, so don’t worry.”
“…”
I became breathless.
***
I felt a little self-conscious when we left the café. We had a great time, but because of it, my lips were slightly swollen. I felt like people could tell what we had been doing.
I knew there was nothing to be embarrassed about, but I couldn’t help it. My face felt warm as I remembered the melting sweetness in my mouth. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn’t even realize he was talking to me.
“Bina.”
“…”
“Bina!”
“Oh!”
I turned towards him with a blush, but thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice.
Instead, he asked me, “Are you okay if we go somewhere?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
He seemed serious as he led me to the outer edge of the city.
About an hour later, we were at a royal cemetery outside of Rombrook. It was a huge place guarded by royal guards. I was told when a royal member died, some of his or her personal royal guards continued to serve them by protecting the grave.
In front of this particular grave was an elderly man wearing armor.
When Lucretius took off his hat, the guard relaxed.
He smiled beautifully and said to Lucretius, “Your highness!”
Lucretius also looked unusually comfortable as he replied, “Long time no see, Dian.”
“Yes.”
The guard greeted Lucretius like a grandson. Luc introduced the elderly man to me.
“Bina, this is the retired royal guard Dian. He used to be my mother’s personal guard.”
I took off my hood as well and greeted him, “Hello.”
The guard smiled widely and bowed to me.
“So you are the infamous lady.” He turned towards Lucretius and added. “Her highness Dowager empress Beatrice would be very happy.”
Lucretius didn’t reply, but I could feel his hand squeezing mine.
***
The cemetery building looked small from the outside, especially considering this was for the royal family. However, this was just the entrance. Behind it was a large mountain cave functioning as the tomb for the former emperors, empresses, and the wives’ bodies.
It took us a while to get to the main room, which meant this was a huge tomb. Lucretius held the oil lamp as we walked so we could see.
He explained, “Dian was the only royal guard who didn’t betray my mother. I offered him a comfortable life with a title and property, but he refused and insisted on guarding this place till the end.”
“A very loyal knight.”
“Indeed, but even a loyal knight couldn’t save my mother.”
“…”
Suddenly, we finally stopped at a stone coffin. It was a pure white marble coffin. The lid was sculpted with the likeness of whoever was resting inside. The figure on this coffin was a beautiful woman with a pregnant belly. This must have been how Empress Beatrice looked before she was executed.
Lucretius added quietly, “And I… couldn’t save my mother either.”
