8

Xie dragged the chair and plopped down. He sighed in satisfaction.

The temperature inside is very comfortable compared to the outside. He just stood outside for not more than five minutes, and transparent liquid had drenched his back made his skin perspire and sweaty.

"Madam..." Alaric glared at him and whined in dissatisfaction.

"Hush. Stop that and call me by my name. Or, I felt a bit better if you called me Brother Xie. More intimate." Xie dragged another empty chair and unceremoniously placed one of his legs on it. His muscles were aching in pain. He needed to massage his feet to feel relaxed.

"What are you doing, Madam? You never behaved like this. Are you alright?"

"Don't call me that." Xie hissed. "And I got numbed legs. Let me take a breather. We sat at the very end. No one would notice."

"You were acting strange, Madam."

"If you call me madam again, I will leave you here, alone." Xie's eyes gave a warning squint. "Understood?"

Alaric meekly nodded his head.

"Okay."

"What did you order?" Xie took the menu, and his eyes eagerly scanned the list of food and beverage. Nice! There's a coconut shake over here. Would it taste the same as the one in his original world?

Alaric informed Xie of his selection for breakfast. Xie nodded his head, satisfied with his choice. He immediately ordered his food when the waiter sent over a tray of Alaric's pancakes and waffles. The waiter gave him a polite smile while patiently placing the food in front of them.

The fluffy pancakes stacked over the waffles and the sweet butter scent dispersed in the air. Xie salivated. He enviously looked at the food as his stomach made a grumbling sound.

The waiter placed a tiny jar of honey, a jar of syrup, and strawberry jam beside the tray of the jingling pancakes and crispy waffles.

Two tiny pieces of blueberry inconspicuously put over the food served as the exquisite edible decoration.

Alaric saw Xie's eyes which clouded with visible hunger. He helplessly pushed the tray towards him and said, "The food is enough for the two of us. Let's eat?"

Xie unashamedly took his fork and stabbed right away onto the pancake on the very top. He stuffed his mouth full, ignoring the hotness of the food. His action is crude, and his table manner is thrown far behind him.

There's no trace of elegance in this person. His attitude is unrestrained and resembles a hungry beggar. As if he's been hungry for a while even though he had his breakfast before going out. Xie ate two bowls of warm mushroom porridge and halves of bread.

He is unlike the original Xie. That person prioritized ethics and manner above anything else, and he cared about his reputation more than his feeling. Even if his hurting inside, he will never openly unleash his sadness. He chose to bury such emotion deep within his heart and try to forget and move on.

Needless to say, the original Xie had harmed himself. Conceal too many negative emotions bring harm to the body and mind. It's better to talk to others rather than hide it. The unhealthy feeling sprouted into something hideous, branched out its malicious trunks and spreading the awful spores all over his body.

Xie was born with a defect in his heart. His heart which was not in a good state had incessantly received unbearable strains. It accumulated over time, and eventually, in the end, they exploded.

His already weak heart gradually got weakened. Finally, it stopped at one point due to extreme dismay.

The betrayal caused by his beloved made him feel hopeless and dismayed. One cannot fathom how deep the disappointment he was received.

"Madam?" Alaric saw Xie blankly staring at his food. "Is the food not suit your taste?"

Xie put down his fork. He suddenly loses his appetite.

Luckily, the coconut shake he had been waiting for came at the right time. Xie's eyes were glowing with eagerness. He really wanted to drink this.

His saliva almost dripped out of his mouth. Xie consciously touched his lips, feeling embarrassed. Luckily, he is not drooling, or Alaric might look at him weirdly.

After all, he needs to uphold his reputation. If he acted like a hungry beggar all the time, this keen and attentive servant might notice something later on.

Xie took a sip. The sweet taste of refreshing vanilla ice cream inside the coconut shake! His eyes blinked in amazement.

Oh my god! It is the taste that he desired so much that he got haunted by it even in his dream! The heavenly taste he desperately craved at the end of the world. He really, really missed this tasty treat.

Wu...Finally! Xie wept. He could finally relish his craving after such a long time.

Xie felt his heart is heavy with a grievance. Life at the end of the world is so hard. He cannot even make his own favorite drink, despite frequently reminiscing its taste in his break time. He tried to recreate the drink or attempted to create it, but there was no coconut! Plant mutated and regrew crookedly, and some even became fearsome zombie plants.

On top of that, dessert was a luxury he couldn't afford. If you can eat a hard and tasteless biscuit, it's your lucky day indeed! Where could you find ice cream? Isn't that courting trouble?

The old him doesn't have any qualification or ability to protect nor save himself and others. Where could he gain any privilege in ordering ice cream? So miserable.

Alaric, who silently enjoyed his food, was dumbfounded!

Madam was crying pitifully while sucking his coconut shake empty. No residue left. He wept and sobbed, but the slurping sound endlessly echoed in the background.

"Ma...Brother Xie?" He wanted to call him Madam because it is a habit that he could never change. However, Xie fiercely glared at him with red-rimmed eyes. Hastily, he perfunctorily changed his nickname outside. It is impolite to call his master's name directly, but due to his urging, Alaric obeyed his words. "Why did you cry?"

"It is...delicious...sob..."Xie chokes out his response. "It's been a while since I..." drink this coconut shake. The rest of the sentence drown by the next slurping sound.

Alaric is flabbergast with his unusual reaction. So move? Didn't Madam dislike coconut drink? How could he casually drink it with relish? He felt the need to say something but wisely shut his mouth. Forget it. As long as Madam is happy, who cares about the detail?

----------

Isaac sat in his swivel chair in his private office. His posture is upright, and his back is straight as a ramrod. Both of his hands rested on the armrest while one finger tapped slightly.

He had been in a daze after Xie left him thirty minutes ago. As if his soul got sucked away by the enchantress and couldn't settle back in his body. It wandered around and sought the man in question who stole his heart.

"Boss?" His secretary tilted his head. Boss looked abnormal. When he went out previously, he was still the same Isaac Killian he was always known to be. A frosty look on his face with impassive nature.

And yet, when he came back just now, half of his vitality and ferociousness dissipated to nowhere. He looked smitten.

"Can you do an in-depth investigation for me?" Isaac said suddenly. There's a glimmer of something incomparable beneath those lazy eyes. It seemed like a mixture of fondness and helplessness. He could understand the latter, but what is the meaning of the first one? Boss took a fancy of someone when he was not aware of it? Since when?

"Pardon me for asking, but who?"

Isaac leaned his tense back to the back of the chair and began to relax. His languid posture outlined his handsome side profile.

"Xie Winchester. The second prince of our nation."

His secretary is dumbfounded.

"Why?" He asked, clearly perplexed by such a request. Since when was his boss interested in the second prince? If he is not mistaken, the boss had met the second prince once in a charity event several months ago. But, he didn't seem interested in knowing him better. He even looked at him in disdain and kept complaining about that man like a gossipy old lady.

"Just do it for me." Isaac tsked. So noisy. Since when did his impassive secretary ask numerous questions before doing his job?

"Uh...okay?" He reluctantly agreed. Please don't tell me that boss had fallen in love with a man? And on top of that, a married man?

If he did, then his dull and monotonous life as his secretary would be disastrous! When courting someone, the boss got no talent in them. He only got talent in courting trouble.

Oh, boy. His future seemed bleak.