Piece 6 (part 2)

"You shattered my plates, tore my only cloth for washing the dishes, and spilled hot soup to a rude customer. And now, you're crying to the little girl because of what you've done??"

"Not my fault that bastard tried touching my ass."

O-Oh… I think I get what's going on.

"Milly, come over here. Let's eat the hotdog and fries ourselves." Dad suggested while lifting the snacks on his arms, and Mom opened her eyes widely.

"D-Didn't you get those for me!?"

"Well… I think I've changed my mind."

"H-Hoi!! Give it!"

Dad proceeded to run before Mom got up and started running after him, but Grandma stopped her by grabbing her collar behind her neck.

"You're not done cleaning the dishes, you piece of sh*t."

"I did what I could… Can you let me go?"

"Nonsense. Finish your punishment first."

Mom clicked her tongue very loudly, and she started walking back to the kitchen. Her gaze landed on me, who was being very confused while kneeling next to the sink, and her eyes quickly turned puppy eyed again.

"Milly… I'm being bullied--"

"Don't talk to Milly, you rogue woman!!" Grandma almost instantly barked, and Mom instantly turned her cold glare to Grandma.

Aha… so that's why she looked so grim earlier. Because she truly wants to kill Grandma. Yeah, yeah, that's understandable.

Mom and Grandma are so oddly similar that the two just do not mesh at all… this is going to be terrible.

After the whole situation at the kitchen was solved, I went inside the house behind the diner and got myself cleaned. It was a long day, and I always have to get ready before helping Grandma with her diner at night because it's going to get very crowded soon.

After showering and changing my clothes, I went back outside to realize that Dad is now in the kitchen. He is taking a look at the ingredients to see what's going on, while Mom and Grandma are cleaning the empty tables that are about to get real crowded in just a bit.

"Oh, Milly. Done showering?"

"Yeap, what are you looking for?" I asked Dad because he seemed to be staring at the ingredients inside the fridge, and he just shook his shoulder.

"I'm just checking what's missing. We're lacking a lot of tomatoes and various seasonings. I'm not sure how many people are going to be coming at dinner time later, but this sure looks problematic."

Dad told me his analysis of our stash, and I also went to take a look. As he said, we are indeed lacking tomatoes. I thought for sure Grandma had already stocked them well, but it seems like there's been an issue about it.

"Huh…? Dad, you sure know your stuff." I said to him after noticing how he just knows about it, and he just chuckled.

"Oh, please. I'm still learning. By the way, I'll be the one cooking tonight. Your mom hasn't learned much just yet, so she'll be the one serving the plates. You'll be helping her, okay?" Dad told me about how the tasks and roles have changed, and I nodded firmly at him.

"What about Grandma?"

"She's…"

Yeah, Grandma isn't going to do anything. She's just gonna be supervising everything while keeping an eye on us from the kitchen. 

This is her diner, and soon, we'll be assisting her in basically every aspect of it. As such, she wants us to learn better on how to run the diner.

The night finally falls, and people have started to come. When seeing new employees at the diner, a lot of people seemed to be asking this and that. And learning that these two are my parents, everyone whistled.

Mom and I do look so much alike. On the other hand, Dad's charm is way too much for him to hold by himself. His white hair is going crazy as he cooks in the kitchen, and all the customers are definitely amazed by such a good looking guy cooking for them as the chef.

God, he is just so perfect. My standard for boys is going to be so high now that I've met him.

Because she doesn't need to be in the kitchen anymore, Mom is doing just fine serving the dishes to the customers. The incident where she spilled hot soup to the customer was only because the customer was being rude. Such a thing doesn't exactly happen all the time, so we had nothing to worry about.

Still, a couple plates would fall once in a while. Grandma would yell at her every time, while I cleaned up the fallen pieces with my bare hands.

"Auchie…" Accidentally, a sharp part of the pieces managed to graze me.

Mom immediately noticed me getting wounded, and she kneeled beside me. She made sure no one was looking, and she placed her hand on top of the wound on my finger.

" 'Elsia's might… Heal.' "

Mom's words echoed as she whispered the magical words, and the wound on my finger was closed instantly by a golden light. The wound was healed, and I was amazed at how easily it disappeared.

"W-Woah, that was--"

"Sshh! Don't be so loud." Mom quickly warned me, and she blinked her left eye while smirking cunningly. I nodded with excitement at her, but a pair of sandals had arrived behind us.

"Talking mad stuff about me again, aren't you?" Grandma asked coldly with her hands folded, and Mom once again stuck her tongue out to Grandma.

Seriously… their dynamic is really just not it.

"Liza!!" From the kitchen, Dad called while lifting his hand. Mom saw him through the window in front of Dad, and she hurriedly ran to him to grab the plates that Dad had prepared.

Speaking of Dad, he is doing so well at cooking. He did say that he once worked as a royal chef at a duke's house, so I guess his experience just carries over. He doesn't seem to run into trouble at all, which I'm sure makes Grandma glad as well.

"Yooo~!! You two really started working here!!"

From outside the diner, a group of men in office attire seemed to be arriving. I noticed that their faces looked familiar, and I recognized the guy who was at the very front.

"Uncle Althorn! It's nice to see you!" I hurriedly approached the tall spiked haired man who is at the very front of the group, and the muscular office man laughed as he opened his hands widely to me.

"Happy birthday, Little Lady! I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier! I have been so busy at work since yesterday!"

A regular at the diner, Uncle Althorn is one of the people who also came from Veldonia. I do recall him telling me he was close with Mom and Dad, but I didn't exactly remember what he was to them. Certainly, he is a member of the government if he was so close with them.

"Here's your birthday present." Uncle Althorn kneeled in front of me and took out a box out of nowhere, and it's a very long but thin box that made me feel concerned about what's inside.

I-Is this a sword…? Why is it so long and thin…?

"Sorry I can't get you a better one. Although, I feel like you already have an even better birthday gift?" Uncle Althorn said as he turned his gaze up, and Mom had already arrived behind me.

"You look fatter."

"And you look the same as you were ten years ago. It's nice to see you again." Uncle Althorn completely ignored Mom's cynical words, which made Mom laugh a bit before hugging him.

The two were indeed close if they hugged. Uncle Althorn then lifted his hand and pointed it all the way to the kitchen at the back of the diner.

"You look good too!!" He muttered towards Dad quite loudly, and Dad just waved his hand from the kitchen while cooking.

Mom patted me in the shoulder and pointed to the kitchen, and it seems like she is telling me that Dad needed help. I nodded at her and left Uncle Althorn with the birthday gift in my hands, and I noticed Dad did indeed need my help with grabbing empty clean plates by the sink.

The night eventually comes to an end. The scary busy evening that has made me worried many times just passes by like it was nothing.

Uncle Althorn did not leave even after he ate his meal, but all of his co-workers who came with him had left to go back to their homes. He often comes here for dinner with his subordinates for some necessary work bonding, but I guess he wishes to stay for a bit longer so he can have a chat with Mom and Dad.

Since the customers started to get lesser and lesser, I decided to end my shift and sat on the table with Uncle Althorn. We talked for a bit about what I've done alongside Mom and Dad ever since the day they returned, and Uncle Althorn was quite surprised that the two even walked me to school.

After chatting with him for a bit, Dad finally finished cooking for the last customer before the diner closes. Mom is currently inside the house to bathe since she was quite smelly after the long tiring stressful day of working. Grandma is doing a slight clean up at the diner before heading inside as well.

"Sorry it took us a while. Diner closes at ten." Dad apologized after he was done with cooking, and he sat down on the chair with us.

"It's fine. I waited for you two for ten years. Another hour or two doesn't hurt." Uncle Althorn said rather jokingly, but the words he said were rather heavy.

"How's your life been, nowadays? I heard you became a secretary for the city's mayor. How did that happen?"

"Well, it was certainly tough. Thanks to my portfolio and experience of being the prime minister of a large empire, the mayor did not hesitate and made me his secretary for the past ten years." Uncle Althorn said so nonchalantly, and I opened my eyes widely hearing that.

"E-Excuse me, 'Prime Minister'?" I asked because this was not something I'm aware about, and Uncle Althorn only laughs.

"What?? You didn't know, Little Lady? I thought for sure your Granny would tell you about it."

"No… I never heard about it."

"Well, don't look so surprised! Your mom and dad are literally the leaders of the empire. I'm just their subordinate." Uncle Althorn said with a wide grin, and Dad cleared his throat.

"Speaking of the empire… You got my letter, right?" Dad quickly turned into a serious tone, and I realized this might be rather important. Should I stay listening…? Or should I leave?

"Yeah. That's tough. What you're asking is impossible. But, given time, though…"

"That is completely fine. Like you said, you've waited for ten years. What's a few more gonna do?" Dad laughed a bit as he said it, but Uncle Althorn replied by shaking his head.

"Yikes. Hearing it from you is more annoying than I imagined. Though, we won't be needing too long. Just a year should be enough."

"One year it is." Dad hummed with excitement, and Uncle Althorn replied with the same noise. Meanwhile, I was too oblivious to what they're talking about.

"What are you two talking about?" I decided to ask anyway, and the two turned their wide smirks back to me.

"What else? The return of the greatest empire in the world." Uncle Althorn proudly said, and my eyes were opened widely.

After ten years since their downfall. After ten years of their citizens roaming around the continent to look for a place to live. Now, the chance has finally arrived.

With their prime minister and their emperor sitting on the same table, strategizing, they are very ready to bring back the glory of the fallen empire.

One year. Veldonia empire will return within that time frame.

And… I simply cannot wait.