2 Chapter 2: Welcome to The Dream Workshop

Eva looked at Zed, he had messy black hair, ragged clothes, and his mouth always smelled of wine and his eyes were so coldly. Eva said:

"Hi Zed, I'm Princess Eva Gloria, heir to the throne of Gloria kingdom."

"Princess Eva? Does this kingdom also have a princess?"

Eva thought to herself:

"What does this guy say?"

Zed said:

"By the way, why are you wanted? Here's a wanted poster."

Zed showed Eva her wanted poster, it showed her face and the bounty of 1000 gold coins. Eva grabbed the wanted poster and shouted:

"Urizen already wanted me? What should I do? There will be some greedy guys trying to catch me."

Suddenly Eva remembered something, she slowly turned to look at Zed, his eyes were creepy. Eva was scared and shouted:

"Please Zed, I have nothing, don't hand me over to Urizen."

Zed didn't say anything, Eva got more scared and screamed louder. Zed had an earache, he said:

"I'm not taking you anywhere. Damn it, stop screaming."

Eva stopped screaming, she relieved. Zed said:

"But 1000 gold coins can buy a lot of wine."

Eva said angrily:

"So you intend to arrest me too!"

"Okay, I didn't mean it."

"But where do I go? If I go out, I'll be arrested. Right, Zed let me stay here, please!"

"What? No, this is my house lady, not an inn."

"Please Zed, I have nowhere to go, you have to help me. I will do all the housework at your house: cleaning, cooking, sewing, washing."

"Really? You'll do the housework for me. Yes, you can stay here but I don't have a salary, you'll pay for your own living expenses."

"Thank you so much, Zed."

Eva thought to herself:

"Fortunately, but how am I supposed to live with this guy?"

Zed said:

"Come on, I'll show you the house."

Eva stood up, she looked back at herself and saw that she was wearing an kirtles, she shouted:

"What am I wearing, did you change me last night?"

"Yes, if I don't change my clothes, my bed will stink."

Eva blushed, she said:

"Wait, have you seen it all?"

"I don't care, will you follow me?"

"I will go."

The duo came out of the bedroom, they were on the upper floor of the shop. Above is only one bedroom and one locked room opposite. Then the two of them went downstairs, where there was a large room with a bathroom, a storeroom, a cashier's counter and behind the counter was a wooden shelf for food to be sold. Finally, many weapons are placed on pylons, armor sets are placed on armor stands. Swords, shields, crossbows, bows and arrows, axes, hammers but they look very rusty. The window is closed with curtains and outside is a sign with the store name "The Dream Workshop". Zed said proudly:

"Welcome to The Dream Workshop."

Eva looked around, all dusted and dirty. There were some cockroaches and rats just running past. This shop looks like it has never been cleaned. Eva gasped, she said:

"When was the last time you cleaned this place?"

"Probably about a year ago, maybe the year before."

"How do I live in this filthy place, I'm a princess too."

"I don't care much about cleaning. Besides, you said you would clean my house so that you could stay."

Eva got angry, she said:

"Okay, I'll clean up."

Eva immediately grabbed a broom and a bucket in the corner of the room, they were covered with cobwebs. Eva shivered at the filth here. She approached the pile of weapons, they were all very rusty. Eva asked:

"You sell weapons? To whom?"

Zed was sitting at the cashier counter, he replied:

"Yes, I sell weapons to hunters, but because of the lack of money, I sell some food."

Eva looked over the food rack. It is filled with food from flour, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage and most importantly "Wine". Zed took a bottle of wine, opened it and started drinking. Eva said:

"Look at these weapons, they're old and rusty."

"I just need to paint a layer of silver, no one will know."

"It's a scam."

"That's why I'm always sluggish."

Eva started cleaning the store, she worked hard to sweep away the dust, cleaned up the cobwebs, and chased the cockroaches and rats out of the store. Then she poured water on the floor and mopped the floor. Dirty water flowed out the door. Meanwhile Zed was sitting drinking and checking the food is okay. Working all morning, the whole store has been cleaned up, there were no more dirt or any other stains. Eva said proudly:

"Look, I'm good at cleaning."

Zed didn't care, he slept because he drank too much wine. Eva grunted:

"This idiot, he's not helping me at all."

Eva went to clean up Zed's empty bottles of wine, she said:

"He drinks a lot."

Suddenly someone knocked on the door, the person outside said:

"Hey Zed, quickly pay me back."

Eva shivered, she immediately woke Zed up:

"Zed, is there someone at the door?"

Zed stood up, he said:

"I forgot, today I owe the wine."

"What? And how much money do you owe?"

"I don't remember very well, but don't worry, I have money to repay. In this drawer."

Zed opened the drawer under the counter, there was only one coin inside. He said:

"Forget it, I'm so poor."

The person outside was knocking faster and yelled:

"Are you trying to avoid debt again, Zed? I won't let you pass today!"

The two people inside were extremely worried. Eva said:

"That's right, you changed my clothes last night, where's my dress?"

"In the bathroom, I'm soaking your dress in water."

Eva rushes to the bathroom to find her dress soaked in water. She quickly picked it up, her skirt studded with glittering jewels. Eva took out the gems and ran to give it to Zed, she said:

"Zed, get these gems for the people at the door."

Zed quickly grabbed the gems, he jumped over the counter and headed for the door. Zed opened the door and talked with the person outside, he gave the gems to him and then closed the door. Zed and Eva breathed a sigh of relief. Zed said:

"That's great, I have some unpaid debts. Can you help me to pay them?"

"What? How much more do you owe?"

"Hmm, Mr. James's for a few cents, Mr. Jayden, and a few shops near the wall."

and then Eva spent more than a few hours complaining about Zed. Outside, the hunt for Eva was still going on, although the troops had been increased, they had not found her yet. At the castle, Urizen was having a meeting with all the generals of the kingdom. They sat at a long table. Urizen sat comfortably while the others didn't seem to like him. One general said:

" My king, why did you call everyone here?"

"Hmm, for what purpose? Right."

Urizen got up and walked around the table. He looked at everyone and seemed to be up to something. Urizen said calmly:

"I know you are very loyal wanted to my uncle. Uncle has always peace with the kingdoms but I have other plans. The time has come for the four kingdoms to gather under one flag, my flag. unifying the Highland continent, we will have the power to cross the ocean to ally more kingdoms. Expand the kingdom and under my rule it will grow stronger."

That general replied:

"But my king, then the treaty will be broken. The kingdoms will attack us. We don't have enough troops to confront their armies."

Urizen said:

"I know, but I didn't say I would make war. I will hold a meeting with the leaders of all kingdoms. The decision will be theirs. Those who agree will join an alliance with me."

That general reply:

"And those who oppose it?"

"I don't force them. Their opinion may disagree, but I respect it."

The generals were all surprised because they thought Urizen would go to war but no, he chose to speak with respect. Back to the Dream workshop, it was already dark, and Zed and Eva went up to the bedroom. Eva says:

" Wait, you only have one bed right?"

"Yes, I only have one bed."

"So that means one of us will sleep on the floor."

Zed and Eva were silent for a minute and then they rushed to the bedroom to grab the bed. Eva shouted:

"Hey, I'm the princess. I have to be in bed!"

Zed also shouted:

"This is my home and my shop!"

They burst into the bedroom and jumped on the bed at the same time. Eva raised her leg and kicked Zed in the face causing him to fall to the floor. Eva lay on the bed and covered herself with a blanket and said:

"I won. Good night."

Zed painfully rubbed his nose and replied:

"Damn it, good night too."

Zed blew out the candles and lay down on the floor to sleep. Eva slept right away because she was very tired. Suddenly she said:

"What's moving under the bed?"

Zed replied:

"It's a bed bug."

Eva shouted:

"WHAT!"

What would Eva's journey to regain her throne be like when she had to live in the Dream Workshop?