Orders came flying in as customers walked up to Eliana Valen, Nathan's mom, for more of her baked goods. Her excitement soared, and she accepted these hordes of orders with great joy.
Everything in front is presented in bright light, except for a brooding Nathan who is responsible for serving the already made orders and showing customers to their seats. He saw that the baked goods were almost close to finishing and he turned to his mother.
"Mom, there aren't enough pastries."
"Be right there."
She arrived at her workstation in a flash.
"Go up front and take those orders while I get busy here."
"Okay."
Nathan got to take orders from customers, and Eliana demonstrated why she is a baker. Her eyes fixated and concentrated on each stir and pound she made on the dough. Ovens cried out with the smell of ready-made pastries, she took them out one at a time, glazing them front to back and adding final touches onto each for a more savory sensation once eaten.
She appeared beside Nathan like a ghost being blown by the wind.
"(smile)They're ready."
Nathan screeched and bounced away in shock.
"How did… it was only 10 minutes?!"
"Which means I'm 10 minutes late. Now go serve everything from back there. The customers are getting angsty."
Nathan headed back to see freshly baked goods filling every spot on the counter. The sight in front of him nearly took him into cardiac arrest.
He resumed his duties at the café, serving every customer until there was nothing left.
Once the last customer left after filling their appetite, Nathan finally sat down, and a heavy sigh left his mouth.
"Never again."
"Hmm, what do you mean it was fun.
"How was running around with a hot serving plate in your hand and dealing with barbarians seen as fun?"
"It wasn't that bad, we fed honest, hard-working people who needed a taste of heaven."
"You and I have very different tastes in what is fun."
Nathan took off his shoes and groaned.
"Urgh. How is this more tiring than capturing deformed lions?"
"You'll be fine."
Eliana went back to clean up the kitchen and saw a leftover order with Catherine, Noah's mother's name.
"Nathan."
"Yes?"
"When did Catherine come here?"
"She didn't; one of her employees came in her stead and ordered a quarter slice of pinecone cake. Why do you ask?"
"Because the order is still here."
Nathan got up to check on his mother's claims.
"Damn it, didn't see it."
"Maybe he went back after waiting for so long."
"He could've at least reminded me and gone with it."
"Well, what's done is done; you can take it to her tomorrow morning."
"It's fine, I can take it out now."
"But it's a bit late now."
"I can give it to Noah, and he can give it to her."
"Why not wait until tomorrow? You just said you're tired."
"I'm planning on rotting in my bed until I don't know what time of the day it is."
"Okay then, make sure to be safe."
"It's not that far away."
"And don't forget your shoes."
"Yeah, yeah."
Nathan set off to Noah's residence.
He arrived in front of their doorstep and knocked on the door, but no answer. As he was about to knock on it for the second time, the voice of Noah's mother came out of nowhere, shouting,
"Noah, go check who is at the door!"
"Mom, can't you check it? You're the one closest to the door."
"NOAH!"
Noah reluctantly checked to see who it was. He opened the door to see his friend Nathan for the first time since they last talked at the academy.
"Oh, hey Nathan. What brings you here?"
"Your mom ordered pinecone cake, but one of her employees left without it."
"Oh yeah, he came back here to tell my mom that something came up and left."
"Weird. Anyway, here's a quarter of pinecone cake."
"What's pinecone cake?"
"It's basically a chocolate cake but has a topping that looks like a pinecone."
"Let me taste. Hmm, that's good. Why only a quarter and not the whole thing?"
Noah's mom eavesdropped and entered the conversation while still inside.
"Because that's for me."
"Hey, Ms. Fenwick."
"Hey Nathan, how's your mom doing?"
"She's been ecstatic with all the customers we got today."
"Tell her she has my thanks."
"Will do."
"Anyway, were you playing 'server boy' the whole day?"
"Not exactly 'server boy' but yeah."
"Already found yourself a career before graduating. I'm proud."
"Very funny. I'm tired, we can talk next time."
"Sure. Your suspension is a week, right, because Eleanor has been asking about you."
"Was she worried?"
"A little, but she calmed down after I told her what happened."
"Everything except…"
"Except that thing."
"Alright, then let me head back. My bed's been calling my name, and I hate to keep it waiting."
"Bye, Nate."
Nathan headed back home, and on the way, he looked up at the stars. The conversation he had with Noah made him recall the mysterious man and everything he said to him.
"Can't even take a nightly stroll in peace now."
As he was pondering the event, he saw imperial guards with swords beside them talking to his mother in front of the shop.
Onlookers gossiped about the situation, and Nathan rushed towards them.
"Mom!"
Eliana turned to his son with a worried look on her face.
"Nathan."
"What's going on?"
He turned his attention to the guards.
"And what do you want?"
One of the guards looked at Nathan and responded.
"We're here to collect you on His Majesty's orders."
The crowd around them started to whisper and gossip even louder.
"What does he want with me?"
"It is in your best interest to come with us. He has even instructed us to bring you to him, even if it means resorting to force."
Nathan looked around at the crowd and his mother's expression as she tightly held onto him.
"It's fine mom, I'll go with them and see what's happening. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."
He reassured her and held her hands.
"O-Okay, Nathan, just be careful."
"I'm always careful."
He then left with the guards for the palace.
On the way there, a blur of thoughts came rushing in as he remembered all the events that had happened to right now to see what could have possibly caused the king to be interested in him.
His worries went back to the mysterious man.
[If they found some way that I'm linked to him, they might hold me for conspiracy and have my head. Shit, did Noah tell anyone, or was it someone else?]
The long walk was in absolute silence, with only the guards' gear being the ones making sounds. Nathan's hands started shaking in suspense, and he asked one of the guards,
"Hey, wouldn't it be better to have used a carriage to get there?"
The guard responded,
"This request from His Majesty is one of secrecy. Meaning that only those who are in higher positions and are related to this can know. A carriage holding imperial guards will only draw unwanted attention, which is why we're using a back road."
"Makes sense."
"We should be arriving shortly, so try to restrain your hands from shaking like that."
"Oh, I'll try…"
They arrived at the palace as the guards instructed Nathan to head down the dungeon on his own. Walking down those cold, hard stairs, he arrived at an interrogation room with all 5 captains of the Magus Sovereign.
But another person was with them, chained down to a chair and magic constraints restricting whatever spells he may use. The man looked deep into Nathan's violet eyes and smiled. Tension as sharp as a newly forged blade, broken with what the man said,
"Hey son, how's it been?"
Nathan froze in shock for a moment with his eyes widened from what he heard. Only one response was uttered,
"Huh?"