"Are you feeling okay now?" Reever asked as he entered the bakery with Lisa.
"Yes, I'm feeling better," Lisa said. "I'm thirsty now. Wait here, I will bring you guys some water too."
Ning went and sat at a free table, and Reever came to sit with him. "So, how did you like it, brother Ning? It was good right?" Reever asked.
"Yeah, it was pretty good," Ning said. "By the way, that story… it was the same one you told the villagers in the desert right?"
"Oh, yeah. It's the story of Emperor Kron. Everyone basically knows the story already," Reever said.
"Oh, and people still go watch the theater?" Ning asked.
"Of course. Just because they know the story doesn't mean that they don't want to see it play out in front of them. Seeing how much the Emperor gave up for our sake, it's quite heartbreaking to see. He's not considered the best emperor yet for no reason," Reever said.
"Oh. I thought you watched the Theater play already. So we were just supposed to know this, huh?" Ning said.
"Well, I wouldn't have expected you to know that. It's only the Xandrians who are proud of our emperor, so," Reever said.
"So, Emperor Kron died of the injury, and his son, Kain took over. Is that it?" Ning asked, trying to make sense of the royal lineage.
"Yes," Reever said. "If not for his injury, Emperor Kron would've ruled for quite a long time. I suppose his son, Emperor Kain is going to rule for a long time now."
"So that's what you tell those poor villagers. They must take it as fact," Ning said.
"It is fact though, no? I mean, I don't see why the emperor would give up on his position at all," Reever said.
"What if he just wants to relax for once?" Ning asked.
"He's the Emperor. He must be the most relaxed person of us all," Reever said.
"Haha, you'd be surprised how much stress the people at high places go through on a daily basis," Ning said.
"What are you boys talking about?" Lisa walked out with the water.
"Oh, honey. What do you think? Is the Emperor's job hard or easy? I say that he is very relaxed, but brother Ning thinks that is not the case," Reever asked.
"Why would the emperor's job be relaxing? He has to look after the entire Empire," Lisa said.
"Eh? But he has people he can order to do it for him," Reever said.
"Yes, but he still needs to make the decisions. If he approves of something, and it turns out to be bad, he is the one everyone would blame. So, he would have to think about every decision properly," Lisa said.
"Uhh… damn, is it actually not as easy as I thought it was?" Reever asked.
"I mean, it's definitely easier than ours, but perhaps not as easy as you might've expected it to be," Lisa said.
"Damn," Reever said. "So, he might not want to stay an emperor forever then."
"Eh? Stay emperor forever?" Lisa asked.
"Ah right. Brother Ning doesn't think that Emperor Kain will stay as an emperor for as long as he could," Reever said.
"No he won't," Lisa said. "It's already been 20-some years since his coronation. He should be giving up sometime soon."
"Wow, am I just that wrong at understanding the Emperor? I feel like I've been lying to those poor folks at the desert," Reever said.
"Haha, you don't have to worry, dear. No one really knows anything. Everything will depend on the emperor in the end," Lisa said. "Alright, I'll go help them make bread. Keep talking you two."
Lisa left and went to the kitchen. Reever stayed there trying to understand just why he thought being an Emperor was easy at all.
Ning chuckled quite a few times seeing Reever go through revelations that had no business being one.
An hour or two passed by and the flow of customers increased by a lot. It was the breaktime for everyone, everywhere and so everyone was coming to eat at the bakery.
Reever and Ning also got themselves some food and ate as they watched the staff maintain store business in this rush hour.
Towards the end just as the number of customers was getting really low, the door opened and two figures walked in.
Ning looked up and didn't divert his attention when he saw them. "Oh, it's them," he said.
Reever looked up and Ning and followed his gaze towards the door to see a young, beautiful lady, followed by a middle-aged man in a suit and tie.
"Who are they, Brother Ning?" he asked.
"That's the noble lady I told you about. She might be the one you heard about," Ning said.
"Ah, her huh," Reever said and looked at her.
The girl waved her paper fan around as she looked at the store. "Mmm, it's not bad for a place at the edge of nowhere," she said.
She then walked up to the counter and spoke to the girl," This is the store that delivers food to the theater, right?"
"Uh, yes miss," the girl said.
"Mmm, and this is the same place that got them sick?" she then asked.
"We did not get the theater sick. It was—" the noble lady brought up her hands to stop the girl from talking any further.
"Yeah, I heard. It was a ploy by another bakery. Something must be good about this place to go that far, huh?" she asked. "Alright, bring me your best meal then."
The lady then went and sat at a free seat with her butler right by her. It only took a moment before Lisa walked out of the kitchen with food for her.
She walked up directly to the noble lady and said, "here's your butter coated bread and—" Lisa stopped speaking. Her eyes looked like they had seen ghosts.
The noble lady noticed that Lisa had stopped speaking and looked up when she too had a curious look on her face.
She cocked her head a little and asked, "Do I know you?"
