Elizabeth

It was morning already. Belle woke up from the alley where he slept, having to continue like this until the day of the academy entrance. His stomach grumbled, feeling a rumbling sound. He had not eaten for two days now. He should have eaten yesterday when he was with Greg and the rest, but he chose to stay far away from the group during mealtime. "I need to find something to eat," Belle said in his mind as he walked out of the alley.

The surroundings seemed more lively than when Belle saw it yesterday. As he walked around, he noticed shops with colorful designs. One of them was called Charles Eatery, which Belle assumed to be a restaurant. He decided to walk in. A young lady, around eighteen to nineteen years old, immediately approached Belle and asked, "What can we offer you, sir?" She didn't seem to mind how unkempt he was. Belle was still wearing the clothes he was buried with, even though he had washed up in the river before entering the city. He didn't have anything else to change into.

"I want to see the boss," Belle quickly wrote in his book, scribbling it and raising it up to show the lady. The servant asked suspiciously, "The boss?" Belle scribbled again and showed her. "Yes," he replied on the paper.

"Sure enough, follow me," the young girl said and led the way. Two days ago, she would not have been this jovial towards someone looking so dirty. But something had happened - some big shot kid seemed to have heard about their mistreatment of peasants and arrived in tatters. She personally chased the kid away, but the kid returned with the big shot causing problems. The boss scolded her severely and even slapped her.

"Good day, ma'am," the servant greeted as she led Belle into the office. "Your manners are really the worst. Just barge into my office with no knocks," the boss, who seemed to be in her late twenties, said. Belle looked at her and could only think that she looked mean, despite her beauty. She seemed like a good nag.

"Sorry, ma'am. Someone wants to meet you," the servant said, completely shifting away from Belle, as if trying to say, "There he is, notice him." The lady asked, "What pleasure do I owe you, cute little thing?" Hearing her call him a thing annoyed Belle a bit, but he kept his cool. After all, he was only here to beg. "Do dishes for food," Belle scribbled and showed her.

Upon seeing what he wrote, the woman burst out laughing. "You want to do dishes for food? Do you know how many we always have stacked up? Looking at you, you should be ten at most. Yeah, I love using people for manual labor, but you might as well die in my restaurant," the lady replied.

"Are you married?" Belle, totally annoyed with the lady's remarks, scribbled and showed her. "No, why are you asking? You want to tell me you will introduce me to your poor but good-looking brother?" the woman replied sarcastically. "No, I just want to confirm my thoughts," Belle scribbled back and showed her. He was already prepared to leave and find another place, so he might as well give her a piece of his mind.

"And what are your thoughts?" the woman asked, frowning a bit. "I thought you could never be married by the way I see you. Anyway, bye," Belle wrote and showed her, then turned to leave. He wasn't afraid of being beaten.

"You little..." the woman tried to find the right words, but Belle was already about to go out the door. Creak! Creak! Belle tried unlocking the door, but noticed it wasn't working, no matter how hard he tried. "Did I ever say you could leave?" the woman said as she approached Belle. "You want to do dishes, right? Sure, you can do dishes."

"What if I said I won't do them anymore?" Belle scribbled and showed her. Upon hearing this, the lady smiled. "I don't know why, but I'm beginning to like you. You know, I can count how many people are bold enough to say shit to my face." "Don't like me. I'm not interested in older ladies," Belle wrote and showed her. Belle could be cool, but he could also be mischievous. Before he stopped talking, he used to get on people's bad side a little. He only started changing after he stopped talking, but old ways can always come back on certain occasions.

"And who told you I'm interested in you? What would I use you for, a dildo? Your size wouldn't fit, even if no man has tried before," the lady fired back.

Hearing her, Belle bent down to scribble some words and show them to her. "You will be a bad mother too, listen to what you are doing to a minor," the lady read out what Belle wrote. "A minor that has no respect, I am sure you were never a good kid," the lady said.

"Sure, open the door now, I will leave," Belle said. "No, I say you do the dishes you came here for," the lady said. "I am not doing them again," Belle said, looking the lady in the eye.

While all this was happening, the servant was the most surprised. For once, she is seeing someone challenging her boss, and the worst part is that it's a kid that doesn't talk but only writes.

"How long have you been in this city? Do you know who I am?" the woman asked. "Who are you if not an almost thirty-year-old woman with no relationships?" Belle scribbled and showed her. 

Seeing this, the lady gritted her teeth. "Chloe, tell everyone we are closing up for today," the lady said. "You want to kill me in your shop?" Belle wrote and showed her. "Exactly, that's what I wish to do. I can't get married, right? I will be a bad mother, right? I am a lady that has never been in a relationship, right? Let's decide if you will still be looking cute after three minutes," the lady said as she stretched her hand while approaching Belle.

"You called me 'thing', I will die doing dishes. I am a bad kid, not worth a dildo," Belle scribbled and showed her, trying to point out that he only made things even with her. "Oh, is that it? I called you cute too," the lady said, almost getting close to Belle. "And I called you beautiful," Belle showed her.

"You know what, I am really angry from all your words, but I should forget it. Having someone tell me what they think of me to my face, yeah, it sure feels different," the lady finally stopped approaching Belle. "Sorry," Belle scribbled and showed her. "It is not a problem, sorry too," the lady replied as silence finally reigned, with both looking at each other.

"What is your name? I am Elizabeth Charles," the lady said. "Belle," Belle scribbled and showed her. Seeing the name, the lady burst out laughing. "Girlish name for a boy," she said. "My parents can't help it," Belle, who looked dejected, scribbled and showed her. "Yes, they can't. You look a bit too much like a girl," Elizabeth said.

"Anyway, let's go eat. You don't have to do dishes again," Belle said as he followed her. Yeah, another reason why Belle has started going around with her was because one of his powers makes him feel what others feel. He has felt what the lady felt and has actually turned harsh and told her his piece of mind, just like how the lady wants people to tell her their piece of mind about her, but they are not doing.