Chapter 04

ELENA's POV

"Huh?" I uttered, tilting my head to the side in confusion as I looked between him and the food.

My jaws dropped open at his words, which wouldn't surprise me if tons of flies decided to lay their eggs inside if they were interested.

"What kind of food is this?" he looked at the food in disgust, still making a face as if the content on the plate was something not worthy of his royal sight.

I snapped out of my shocked state. "Has His Majesty never had fried rice before?" I rolled my eyes and slid down the chair, facing Oswin, who remained standing.

"Fried... rice? I've somehow heard of rice before." His expression changed. "So, you're saying that thing is edible?"

"If it isn't, why do you think I offer it to you?" I rubbed my temple with a sigh.

He narrowed his eyes at me before directing his gaze toward the plate again. "Make sense. But this dish looks and sounds foreign."

It fascinated me how everything I owned in this house looked like aliens to him.

If he thinks fried rice is foreign, what'll he think of hamburgers or pizza? I suppressed the urge to speak my mind aloud.

"So, this is it?" he asked, snapping me out of the teasing at the back of my head.

"What do you mean, 'this is it'?" I asked, my eyebrow slightly raised, not sure what the elf king meant.

"Only one plate?" he pointed at the food.

"There's only fried rice. How many plates do you want to use?" I spoke with a dismissive tone.

"I mean, this is the only thing I'm being served as breakfast?"

"Well, what do you expect?"

"My servants always prepare rows of plates and bowls for my breakfast. There is a variety of food, too."

This guy still thinks he's the king. Even with a good sleep last night, it couldn't get him to clear his head. I thought to myself. One part of me wanted to confront him to stop his blubbering about being royalty. However, I was too tired for an argument in the early morning.

Whatever. I'll play along.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, my king. But I'm poor. I don't have that many dishes to offer." I meant it as sarcasm; however, it confounded me a little when I detected sympathy in his eyes.

"It's fine. Just this one is enough, then," he spoke in a gentle tone before lowering his gaze to the plate.

What's wrong with this guy? Is another spirit possessing him? Split personalities, maybe? I tilted my head to the side in stupefaction, finding this morning was so unlike any other I had.

It was full of elements of surprise.

"But first, tell me what you put in this... fried rice dish," he said, more like commanded. His eyes moved to meet mine directly. The intensity emitting from those bluish-grey orbs made it clear he expected an answer.

Ugh, the king's spirit is back. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes at the authoritative aura emitting from his eyes and voice.

"Nothing much," I shrugged. "Just some rice, eggs, and vegetables. And—"

"Vegetables?" He interrupted, his eyes glinting with a hint of recognition.

"Err... Yes. Vegetables. You know, stuff like carrots, peas, and corn. Do all these still sound foreign to you?"

He stared at the dish one more time before pulling the chair and sitting in front of me. Then, he picked up the spoon and scooped up the fried rice into his mouth. Without uttering any word or complaints, one spoon was followed by another; each was bigger and faster than the previous one.

My jaws dropped open once again at the person in front of me, who was eating like there was no tomorrow. For someone who finds my food disgusting, look at how he shoves my rice down his throat; I quirked my eyebrows in amusement.

The plate was completely empty and clean, as if there was no food on it in the first place. If it wasn't for the oily stain, it could have been mistaken for a new plate.

"Hey, I'm thirsty," he said, looking up from his empty plate and placing the kitchenware down on the table.

"Yeah, yeah. Water is coming, Your Majesty." I got up to get a tray containing a jar of water and two glasses and put it on the table between us. "Here is your water." I slid the tray to him before going back to my seat.

My rice looked greasier, for it was getting colder. I needed to eat it now. However, just as I picked the spoon up and prepared to eat, a guttural voice disrupted my action.

"I said I'm thirsty," he repeated.

I sighed and set the spoon down, feeling like giving up on the idea of having breakfast. I leaned back on the chair and crossed my arms over my chest. "You know, if you use your eyes, you'll see water and glasses in front of you," I said, glaring at him.

"I can see the water." He looked at the tray briefly before shifting his gaze back to me.  

"Oh, yeah. Then what are you waiting for?" I raised my right eyebrow challengingly.

"My servants always pour drinks into my gold goblet and serve it to me. What do you expect me to do with that weird-looking, see-through thing?" He pointed at the glasses.

Weird-looking? Again? Is there anything in my house that looks normal to you?

Forgetting how many times I had sighed this morning, I took a deep one before getting up from my seat. I reached out to the tray of water and began pouring the water into both glasses. "I don't own a gold goblet in this house, so bear with it," I said, handing one of the glasses to him while keeping one for myself. "And this see-through thing is called glass. From now on, if you want to drink water, milk, or any juice, just pour it into this thing. Gosh. I can't believe your kingdom doesn't owe any glasses."

He didn't respond, lifting the glass to his lips and taking a sip. A funny expression plastered his face when he tasted the water, making me burst out laughing.

"Hey, what's so funny?" He put down the glasses and stared at me with a frown.

"Your face. Haha." I kept laughing till tears formed in the corners of my eyes. "Why? Don't tell me your kingdom doesn't have water?"

"Nonsense. We do. We have the most favorable spring water and waterfalls among all other kingdoms. But…" he trailed off, looking back at the glass of water in his hand.

"But?" I asked, wondering what came after the 'but.'

"But this one tastes a bit weird," he said.

There we go. Another item to add to his list of weird things, said a voice in the back of my head.

"Well, what do you expect?" I asked aloud. "This is a tap water, not a spring one."

"Tap water? What's that?" He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Ugh! I can't believe this!" I groaned, regretting my words. It looked like I had just dug my own grave by bringing yet another new vocabulary to the glorious elf king's ears. If I weren't holding a glass of water, I would have used my hands to pluck the hairs off my head right now.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked nonchalantly as if he hadn't been the one waging a war on my patience.

You! I desperately wanted to shout this right in the elf king's face, but I knew better than to make him mad. Recalling the time when he emotionlessly strangled the gang leader almost to death last night still sent shivers down my spine.

"Never mind. I'll explain about the tap water later. Okay? For now, no more questions, please, Your Majesty. Just concentrate on the weirdness of the water by yourself if you want." I headed back to my seat and sat down. "Please stop disturbing me while I have my breakfast. I need to hurry and go to work." I set the glass down and picked up the spoon, gulping down my food in a rush upon realizing it was nearly time for me to head to the restaurant.

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THIRD PERSON's POV

Surprisingly, Oswin didn't say anything further while Elena was digging in her food. The elf king kept looking at the woman before him in silence as if to search for something.

Or rather, to understand something.

And Elena was too busy eating that she didn't realize she was being watched with her every move.

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.

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<TO BE CONTINUED>