30 — A Surprise For You

Yuden and Zahra's smiles disappeared as their gaze fell on the woman standing in front of them: Princess Layla.

Zahra was upset with her because Layla had told her to write Isaac a letter.

However, she didn't know that Emera always read the content and checked if all the emails were properly sent and received, so she got caught and punished.

Although this helped her realize that Yuden wasn't as bad as she thought, and they became friends, she still held a grudge against Layla.

"What are you doing here?" Yuden asked with a cold tone.

He knew Layla's intentions too well; he grew up with her, after all. If someone else had something she wanted, she would try any means to harm that person or snatch it away, only to tear it apart.

"I come here often!" Layla exclaimed. "I love the view from here," she said, sitting next to Yuden.

Yuden moved his chair uncomfortably.

"Well, I booked the whole room for another two hours. Why don't you come later?" Yuden forced a smile on his lips as he turned his head, looking at Layla.

"Oh, but let me wait here until the person I'm meeting with arrives," Layla said, her lips curving into an evil smile as she turned her eyes toward Zahra.

Zahra raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a boyfriend or something?"

Layla sneered, "Oh my, you're too funny!"

"It's a surprise for you," she thought to herself, grinning at Zahra.

Someone knocked on the door, and the three shifted their heads to look in the direction of the entrance.

"Greetings," he bowed.

"Pardon me, I'm here to take your order," a waiter nervously said.

"Come in," Yuden ordered.

The waiter nodded and walked towards the table, keeping his gaze on the floor, afraid to offend any of the royals.

"What would you like to order, Zahra?" Yuden asked.

"I don't know, anything you want!" She exclaimed. She had never eaten at such a fancy restaurant before, leaving her too shocked at the prices of each dish.

"Don't worry. I will pay," Yuden reassured as he noticed Zahra freaking out each time she looked at the menu.

"I know!" Zahra quickly replied, giving an awkward laugh.

Her quick reply only proved Yuden's thoughts, making him smile faintly.

Layla frowned, watching their friendly interactions. How did they become so friendly in just two weeks? Where did the commoner girl who would argue with Yuden with each word he pronounced go? Did all her hatred vanish into thin air?

Layla clenched her fists. She couldn't let them get any closer, or else her plans would fail!

"Your Highness," Layla softly spoke.

"Who?" Zahra, who felt addressed, asked.

"You, Princess Zahra," Layla smiled. "I'm sorry if you're still mad at me because I told you to write a letter to Isaac. I was just playing a prank on you as your younger sister," Layla said, placing her hand on Zahra's, which was on the table.

She moved her gaze toward Yuden to see his reaction to her words.

Her eyes widened, seeing the expression change on Yuden's face. He would get angry at Zahra upon learning that, so how come he is sitting there, still? Did she miss something?

"It's okay." Zahra moved away her hand.

"Waiter," Yuden sighed. "Bring us some wine."

"Wine?!" Zahra exclaimed.

"You never drank wine?" Layla scoffed.

Zahra shook her head. She wasn't ashamed of herself after all. Everyone knew her for what she was, and she didn't feel the need to hide anything and act like she knew it all.

"Everyone has a first time," Yuden reassured.

"What about dinner?" Zahra questioned.

"We can order that after Layla's partner comes," Yuden forced a smile at Layla.

"Okay," Zahra agreed.

"That's all for now," Yuden told the waiter, who nodded and headed out of the room.

No one talked for a few minutes. The silence only ended when a knock at the door was heard. Three shifted their heads to see who it was.

"Issac!" Zahra exclaimed, her face beaming with joy, rising from her seat.

She hurriedly ran towards the dark brown-haired man, embracing him.

Issac held her in his arms, his face filled with happiness.

"What are you doing here?!" Zahra exclaimed, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"I called him," Layla said. "This is my way of apologizing to you," She smiled, gazing at Yuden.

She expected Yuden to be filled with rage at the sight of Isaac; however, even now, Yuden kept his composure, leaving Layla even more curious about his plans. There was no way Yuden wouldn't stand up and toss a punch at Isaac's face upon seeing him.

"Come, have a seat!" Layla exclaimed, waving her hand to the couple.

Zahra nodded, holding Isaac's hand and dragging him to sit beside her.

"This is really a great surprise!" Zahra exclaimed. Happiness was evident on Zahra's face.

"Right," Isaac nodded, smiling.

Yuden was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. It was the smile he would give to everyone; his empty smile.

"Excuse me," A waiter knocked at the door with a tray of juice and wine.

"Yes?"

"It's your order," The waiter said as he entered the room.

It wasn't the same waiter who previously took their order.

Yuden carefully examined the waiter. His gaze fell on the tray, containing an extra glass, as if he already knew there would be four people at the table despite the order being placed when there were only three people at the table.

"We didn't order any juice," Yuden suspiciously looked at the waiter.

"Please forgive me," He quickly bowed. "The new waiter must have made a mistake while taking the order," he justified.

Yuden recalled the previous waiter's shivering and trembling; his nervousness could only be that of a new employee, making it easier to believe this waiter's words.

"Alright," Yuden reluctantly said. "Put it on the table," he ordered.

"Allow me to serve you, Your Highness," the waiter stated. "Our restaurant is very high-class and wants to treat every customer with the best services possible," he smiled.

"Let him," Layla said, waving her hand and giving him a sign of agreement.

The waiter nodded and started placing three glasses of wine.

"Give me the juice," Zahra told him.

The waiter took the glass of juice. Just as he was about to place it on the table, the glass fell from his hand, spilling juice on Zahra's red dress.

Zahra jolted from her seat, feeling the cold and sticky liquid against her skin.

"Can't you work properly?!" Yuden shouted.

"I... I'm so sorry," the waiter nervously said, bowing to Zahra.

"I-It's okay," she sighed. "Though the dress is ruined now," She looked at the wet dress, lowering the corners of her mouth, allowing her eyebrows to descend, and drooping her eyelids.

"Zahra," Isaac looked up at her. "Why don't you go wash it with some water in the washroom?" He suggested, holding her hand.

"It's not completely irreparable. Just a little stain," he said.

Zahra smiled, giving a gentle nod.

"I'll be right back then," Zahra said and walked out of the room.

She looked left, then right. To her right, she saw a washroom at the corner of the floor.

She pulled at the wet part of her dress so the sweet liquid wouldn't stick to her skin.

Hurriedly, she opened the door of the washroom and turned on the water. She then splashed water on the part that needed to be cleaned.

After repeating the process, her dress now felt less sticky but was too drenched from the water she had splashed.

She sighed, looking at herself in the mirror.

"I look like a mess," she mumbled.

Disappointed in not achieving the desired result, Zahra opened the door. Gazing down, she walked towards the reserved room to rejoin Yuden, Isaac, and Layla.

Suddenly, she heard a few steps behind her. She stopped, looking left and right, making sure no one was beside her.

Just as she was about to turn, a shadow lunged at her from behind, wrapping a cloth around her nose and mouth.

The sharp, chemical scent of the cloth overwhelmed her senses, and she instinctively tried to pull away, but the assailant's grip was too strong.

She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her as the world began to spin.

Panic surged through her, but her body felt heavy and unresponsive.

Her vision blurred, and the edges of her sight darkened as she struggled to stay conscious.

Despite her efforts, the darkness crept in, and she slipped into unconsciousness, the last sound she heard being the muffled echo of her own futile attempts to scream.