What?!
The girls suddenly felt the food on their tables weren't so tasty anymore, though Julius didn't seem phased.
"Everyone, no need to worry."
Taking a calm sip of freshly squeezed fruits, Julius slowly raised his cold eyes in deep thought. His eyes were so cold that it made even the steward flinch back, despite knowing the master's anger wasn't targeted at him.
"It seems it's time."
Leaving his food unfinished, Julius left, accompanied by Zeenie, Daisy, and two young broad-shouldered guards: Rosh and Frosh.
Steward Jhin was to stay back, taking care of all estate matters, as well as deal with other assignments he made plans for.
Rosh and Frosh were twins, with different hair and eyebrow colors. Rosh had visibly brown hair, and Frosh had inky jet black hair.
After Julius and the girls went in, Frosh chose to sit cross-legged on the carriage's top, while Frosh drove the carriage forward. Soon they found themselves traversing through the city streets of the Imperial Capital.
Lifting the carriage's curtains, Julius was once again amazed at how structured, vibrant but chaotic the city was. Julius was now in the Northern region of the city.
As per Imperial court rules:
No commercial transactions could be carried out in the North and South regions.
The sun rises in the East and sets in the West, proving it was a good sign for commercial transactions to only be carried out in the Western and Eastern of all cities, towns and even villages.
It wasn't like one would get cursed or have bad luck if they built commercial structures in the North and South regions.
The reason why the North and South areas were kept as they were was for Government and private use.
Waking up in the morning and seeing the sun shining on the eastern horizon, makes the feet of many merchants move in that direction as though following a star that would lead them to some messiah.
It was because of this that the market in the East was the biggest and most popular one in the city. Thinking of its size, Julius once again marveled at how big the Imperial Capital was.
The Eastern Market was so large that it was still bigger than three Vatican Cities joined together.
The Eastern Market was the largest in the entire empire. Thus, it was seen as one of the few international Markets in Etratis with nearly two thousand ships dealing in a variety of transactions.
Julius chuckled.
The shop his mother gave to him was in there too. However, after his leaving the palace, problems suddenly occurred one after another.
Coincidence? Of course not!
His dear brothers had long started causing trouble for him the moment his feet left the palace; and although it seemed that they had withdrawn his forces, the damage they left was quite annoying.
How did he know that they had withdrawn their forces?
It was because no random problems sprung up anymore. It seemed they believed he wouldn't be able to get out of the current mess they created.
How Naive.
Julius stared out his window, with no one knowing what he was thinking. And soon, the carriage reached the grand Eastern Market, known to the locals as Dragon Market.
...
Looking at the bustling streets and at his deserted restaurant, Julius felt a pang of anger flood his chest. Several days ago, several restaurants suddenly started developing the same food and recipes their Lily Rain Restaurant served.
It was a no-brainier that their chefs and a few of their people had betrayed them, not only giving out their most treasured recipes to the enemy but also quitting and leaving them short staffed too.
'It seems that after it was confirmed that miter would leave Lily Rain for me, those bastards began making trouble then.' Julius inwardly surmised.
Every eatery has their secret recipes and staple foods that allow them to find their place in the cutthroat business world. But at present, these recipes have all been taken by the enemy, and are now sold everywhere else for a slightly cheaper price than what their restaurant sells them for.
In the end, isn't this a slap in their faces?
With his hands behind his back, Julius walked in with an expressionless face, but was shocked to see a handful of customers still patronizing them. One look and he could tell that these people were repeat customers who were probably too local to Lily Rain Restaurant.
This thought made Julius think of his former world where some people would choose to use certain phone brands, no matter how advanced or good another phone brand is.
Once you are used to it sometimes and have absolute loyalty with it, you don't see the need to change or do anything else. These people were just like that. They liked eating here, no matter whether it was deserted or full.
'Today is the day we start. So what if I…' A thought quickly popped in Julius's head, while calmly but briskly walking towards the group. 'Interesting…'
As a man of research, technology and science who has dealt with so many formal meetings before, addressing this bunch was nothing to him. When others in his situation would only see despair, he, Julius, saw an opportunity!
Bam!
His clap resounded across the scene, calling for absolute silence. It was even louder, seeing as there were only a handful of people in this large space.
"Esteemed guests, please, if I, the new owner, can have your attention, I promise to make it worth your while."
Oh?
Those eating suddenly paused, staring at the youngster with undisguised scrutiny and curiosity.
So he was the one? The dandy many mocked in Etratis? The fool?
Don't think they haven't heard of the new owner, the former sixth prince who was now a laughing stock in Etratis.
What is he up to now?
Some wondered if he had some dark scheme up his sleeves. If so, should they chew and gulp everything down and quickly leave before he does who-knows-what to them.
On the second floor in a private booth that overlooked the open massive center below, Susan Campbell's eyes twinkled when seeing her soon-to-be husband after so long.
You have to know that since that day he saved her, they haven't seen each other again.
Oden looked at Julius with mixed emotions—On one hand, he didn't want his beloved sister to marry a man with a bad reputation who was trash. And on the other hand he was also grateful to this trash man who turned out to not be so bad, since he saved his sister.
Oden has been dumbfounded by his sister's bold actions these past days. Every day, she would come where to eat, dragging him along. His sister was now beaming as if she had taken an immoral elixir.
Sister, do you know you're gripping my hands so tight my blood circulation is about to cut off here?
"Brother, what did I say? With all the troubles going on here, I knew it was only a matter of time before he showed up."
"Sister, the matter isn't if he shows up or not, but if he can bring Lily Rain back to its former glory."
"He can," Susan softly replied, leaning forward with interest. How can you doubt her man?
Oden was skeptical and uncertain. "Sister, how can you be so sure?"
"Because it is him."
"—"
That's it? Just that?
Oden was dumbfounded, but what more could he say? All he could think of was how terrible his intelligent sister had gotten after falling for Julius.
Could it be that when one falls in love, water floods their heads making it harder for them to think clearly?
According to him, there is no way Julius can make a comeback from his current situation.