The Royal Deal

Chapter 233

Chapter 233

A few days later Amethyst was ready to officially open. Her stomach was turning with a mix of excitement and nervousness as she put up her open sign. Maybe she should have done a cutting ceremony. She went inside and cleaned the tables and floor for at least the tenth time.

Unfortunately, for all of her excitement, she didn’t have a single customer the entire day. She was ruined, or so she thought. She hadn’t expected a mad rush, but to not have a single person come in? At least she still had significant savings to see her through, if this entire venture was a bust. She sat down at an empty table, disappointed. There was nothing she could do now except close and hope the next day would be better.

She lept in surprise as the jingle of the bell on the front door rang. She looked up in joy. As they promised, Pauline and Erina entered with smiles on their faces.

“You finally opened! Congratulations, Carol!” Pauline said in glee.

“Pauline, Erina! Welcome!” Amethyst stood to give them hugs.

“Please say we’re not your first customers?” Pauline looked concerned.

Amethyst laughed. “As a matter of fact, you are. Please, sit!”

“People probably haven’t heard about the cafe yet. You’ve done a beautiful job with the place. You’ll have many customers soon.” Pauline seemed sure of that fact.

“Thank you for saying that. Let me prepare something delicious to eat. You can have dinner while you’re here!”

“Should we?” Pauline asked Erina. Erina nodded enthusiastically, while smiling.

“Auntie.” Erina spoke up.

“Yes?” Amethyst asked.

Erina shyly handed her a small bouquet of flowers. They were common flowers that grew by the road but Amethyst still became overwhelmed with emotion and teared up.

“Congratulations on your store opening.” Erina said, having practiced those words all day.

“Erina, thank you so much!” Amethyst lowered herself to a knee and hugged Erina. The flowers made the entire disappointment of the day disappear.

“I was wondering who she was going to give the bouquet to.” Pauline smiled as she patted her daughter on the head.

Amethyst was suddenly overcome with sadness, as she looked at the child. She had to distract herself. “Ok! Wait a bit! I’ll cook us a nice dinner.”

Amethyst retrieved an empty jug from behind the counter to put the flowers in, which she displayed in the centre of the table. Then she went back to the kitchen to prepare the meal, humming to herself in celebration of her first customers.

She prepared a feast of thick-carved meat and warm bread that had been delivered from the bakery. On the side she tossed a salad with a sweet raspberry dressing. There was Erina’s favourite cherry juice and fresh fruit for dessert. She brought the food to the table where they could have a magnificent view of the sun setting over the river.

“Thank you so much, Carol! This looks delicious,” Pauline said as Erina gulped down her cherry juice.

“Pauline, you look a tired,” Amethyst said, noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

“Really? Probably because I have had a lot of work lately.”

“It’d be nice if you found some time to rest,” Amethyst suggested.

“I guess I’ve just been nervous about opening the store,” Amethyst admitted. “I’m fine.”

Pauline decided to switch the topic. “A new slave was brought into the mansion that I work at.”

“A slave?”

“This is a slave that has got everyone’s interest. It’s probably because he’s really handsome. There’s a lot of talk amongst the maids.”

“Really?” Amethyst enjoyed this king of gossip. “Have you seen him?”

“Just once.”

“What do you think? Do you think he looks handsome?”

“His ashen hair and grey eyes make him look really distinguished,” Pauline admitted, blushing.

Amethyst had to control herself to not make a joke. She didn’t know all of the details, but Pauline’s husband spent most of his time away and Pauline admitted to getting lonely. She still loved her husband, but this was the first time Pauline expressed a reaction to another man.

“Are you attracted to him too?” Amethyst couldn’t help herself.

“Absolutely not! He’s really handsome, but not my type.”

“Why are you getting so worked up?” Amethyst smirked. “Maybe there is something there.”

“Carol!” Pauline gave Amethyst a look and nodded towards Erina. Amethyst could tell that Pauline was not comfortable having this conversation in front of her daughter. Amethyst felt bad for joking with her, but luckily Erina was too involved with pushing her food around her plate to pay any attention.

“Ok, ok! I’ll stop. Eat. I made a lot! If you want any more meat, just let me know!”

“Ok. Thanks.” Pauline seemed grateful that Amethyst had changed the topic. Turning to Erina, she said, “Erina, you can’t just drink the juice. Please eat some of the meat.”

After the meal was done and they had their fill, Pauline and Erina headed home before it got late. Amethyst closed the store behind them, then did the dishes and cleaned up. She turned on the security magic and headed up stairs to bed. Her body wasn’t sore, but she still felt exhausted. After taking a nice hot shower to relax, she threw herself onto her bed. She seemed to melt into the warmth and comfort of her sheets.

The sadness overcame her once again, as she drifted off to sleep. Would tomorrow be a little better? She certainly hoped so.