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…
YOU ARE READING
Empress of Another World
FantasySa Bina was on her way to write her SAT when she suddenly finds herself in a strange world. She is sent to be the old emperor's concubine, but on their wedding night, the emperor gets murdered by no one other than his own son and the heir! To surviv...
