5 | Meeting El

"I'm El, nice to meet you," Damon said introducing himself smiling confidently at Selby who was astounded and surprised by him

"Hmmm, fair enough, I'm Selby Loughes the son's owner of Loughes bakeshop" Selby introduced himself being arrogant for once because of the unexpected person having excellent baking skills than him

Instead of being offended, Damon chuckled while looking at Selby who was now seriously looking back at him

"Consider yourself lucky that Iris had introduced you to me. You may start tomorrow but if you have time today then do assist Iris on the ingredients to be used here. The list and money were already on her" Selby said still eyeing Damon who was smiling at him only to look at Iris after mentioning her name

Selby looked at how astounded and surprised Iris was just like him earlier but regained her posture immediately after being eyed by the two

After Selby fake a cough, only did Iris fix her position and smiled back at Selby who was raising one of his eyebrows and eyeing him from head to toe

"Oh yeah - yeah the ingredients - yeeeaaahhh. I still do have those and will go now!" Iris was about to walk ahead of them but was stopped by Selby immediately with his words

"From now on, this guy you recommended that passed my tasted had become your superior Iris. Thank you for providing such a talented gorgeous guy to work in the bakeshop. Lot's of young maiden will surely arrive here by tomorrow" Selby said who was serious earlier now was smirking at Iris

While she was dumbfounded for a moment

What? My superior? Wait how? Oh my gosh, that's because he's the other baker in the shop that's why!

Iris thought wanting to hit her head for realizing how she recommended the guy

Now he's far more superior than me because of it. He owes me something in return for this

Iris thought as she looked seriously at Damon who was doing the same thing Selby did smirking back at her

Iris in return eyed Damon telling him from her eyes 'If it's not for me you'll never be in this shop in the first place El'

She wanted to say those but instead, she just signified it using her eyes making Damon realize what she's conveying but instead, he pretended not to understand one bit and continued at her

Iris was now clenching her hands and breathing hard, she was now about to step forward to walk towards Damon but she was stopped by Selby's fake cough again with a raised eyebrow

"Selby it's only right that MY SUPERIOR NOW will accompany me buying this list of ingredients. I can't possibly handle them alone after thinking for a while" Iris said showing Selby the lists he made earlier that consist of a long scroll, emphasizing the word superior on Damon

Damon in return normalized the expressions on his face as he approach Selby making himself close with the guy smiling and nodding to what Iris suggested earlier

Making Selby fake his cough again

"Very well then, you two may now go" Selby commanded making the two eye each other and smiled almost laughing at how Selby expressed himself with what just happened earlier

"Alright, boss!" Iris said making her hands salute the boy who was still serious

"Ay yay, Captain!" Damon said afterward making himself closely with the people inside the bakeshop

Selby with the sudden closeness of the guy just sighed at them and illustrated for them to go by shooing through his hands

The two immediately stepped outside the bakeshop only to sigh after being walking out of it and laughing afterward

"That was so great of you! I didn't think you're good at baking. The dough you created earlier was perfectly made! Where did you learn from it?" Iris said after laughing with Damon making him pause for a bit while wiping some tears from his eyes

"Let's say I've learned those from a very important person of mine," Damon said smiling sadly at Iris making her curious about his life more

But because she respects one's privacy she never bothered to ask for more knowing it might bring some painful memories from him

Iris, in response, only looked seriously at Damon who was still smiling sadly after laughing so hard earlier at Selby's expressions

"You did a great job earlier. I wanted to thank you again for not disappointing me and clearly say you owe me for something in return" Iris said smiling confidently at him like she won a jackpot over him making Damon's expression be quite shocked but never bothered to show it

So she wanted to thank me again for not disappointing her when she's the one who said I knew baking even though she never confirmed it to me. Then again, I owe her for the job I got in. I'll just play along for a while then. This will make things more interesting

Damon thought smiling now at Iris while gently patting her shoulders

"Yeah, I guess I owe you in return. Just tell me what those are" Damon said removing his hands from her shoulders making Iris smirk at him in return

"Let's say you owe me something in the future," Iris said while gently punching his stomach and walking ahead of him towards the market

"If you keep staying behind, I might leave you alone and rebut your job later on!" Iris exclaimed who was now walking far away from Damon

In response, he just smiled again at her catching her pace making Iris chuckle at his expressions

"Calm down, will you. Now that we're friends, will you wait for me!" Damon said pretending to be slow just to tease Iris again with her face while being covered by his brown coat

"Tsk, alright alright! Just hurry up. We don't have the time of the world just for us" Iris said stopping by to walk at the same pace as Damon

As seen, she's gorgeous with a nice and naughty attitude. She's my first commoner friend to consider but she looks exact more than a commoner

That thought kept Damon sighing but shrugged immediately

She's probably a commoner. The way the guy named Selby reacted to her earlier

Damon added to his thoughts while sighing beside Iris who was looking at the ingredients after entering the market

***

"What? Did he dare dodge my afternoon party for the first time? He's not feeling well?" Princess Monique exclaimed while holding the letter that Damon sent earlier

She's near from being dangerously angry if it weren't for Wilhelm, the eldest son of the emperor and the crown prince, entering Monique's room after hearing such noise outside

"What's the problem, Monique?" Wilhelm asked walking near her while looking at her frustrated expressions

"Brother! Damon couldn't come to my tea party this time! Saying he's unwell!" Monique said reporting everything back to her brother making him smirk secretly

It's just like you Damon. Always stubborn

Wilhelm thought as he gently patted Monique's hair who was sitting in her bed well prepared, already dressed awaiting for the afternoon tea to come

"I guess, he's not feeling well enough this day Monique. Besides, you always invite him every day here in the palace. Why not give him time to rest? You know distance and space makes the heart grow fonder" Wilhelm said advising his sister while sadly smiling at her

With what Monique heard, she immediately put the letter down her bed and smiled confidently with the idea she suddenly thought

"You're right brother. I'll give him weeks to rest so that he'll grow fonder to me after not seeing each other the whole week!" Monique exclaimed with her dreamy eyes even making her thought grow wild

With that, her brother gently removed his hands from patting her head and smiled sadly again at her

Afterward, walking out of her room calling his attendant that stayed outside the entire time he went inside of the room

"So what's the report regarding Duke Maxwell's illegitimate child?" Wilhelm asked the attendant who was walking behind him towards his room

"Your highness, he had been frequenting from Maxwell's household to outside. Only being seen sneaking outside the duchy yet we always lost sight afterward" the attendant who was also his spy truthfully said bowing to him while walking

Only did Wilhelm stop walking so did the attendant as they were already in front of his lecturing room where he's being taught by a private tutor before entering the academy months later after his coming of age

"What's the problem with all of you? If you don't do your job properly, there'll be exact consequences ahead, remember that Nigel" Wilhelm said threatening Nigel his attendant who was respectfully bowing to him

"Understood, your highness" Nigel said still bowing until Wilhelm ushered him to go and do the task he assigned him again

It's a glad thing there's no Maxwell member in the palace today or else I'll likely vomit with the thought. That stupid sister of mine was really in love with Damon, I could only imagine what kind of expression that man has now and then being called by Monique

Wilhelm thought smirking as he opened his room only to find the same loneliness overflowing him again

Same old routine. Nothing's new

With that, he immediately walked in again and proceeded to be taught by his tutor who was already inside patiently waiting for the crown prince

***

"And for the last ingredients out of thousands we already bought, here it is~~~~!" Iris said singing after looking for the last one to buy

Damon on the other hand, carried all the ingredients in the bag because he's the man probably

"Yeah sure, keep it up and make me wait with these bags in my hands Iris!" Damon said almost rolling his eyes because of the bags he's carrying making his muscles crumpled with the weight

But instead of proceeding to walk back to the bakeshop, Iris went for another place and look at something teasing Damon

Afterward, after Iris's eyes were full of different kinds of emotions he saw Damon portrayed, she immediately ushered them to go back to the shop until someone bumped into them making the other ingredients they bought fall on the floor

"Hey stop that man! He's a thief! A thief!" One of the ladies said while running towards the man running ahead holding a lady's purse

Well, being Iris as she was, she just can't avert her gaze and act like nothing had ever happened and so instead of helping Damon get the ingredients back to the bag she run towards where the guy ran and chase after him

Making Damon shocked and have wide-eyed

"What the?!"