Due to Damien's deliberate humiliation, Severine stopped going to the cafeteria altogether.
Her personal assistant would drop her meals at the academy gate, and Alina would help bring them in.
Severine, of course, paid her an errand fee.
If Alina rejected the money, Severine simply refused the help.
She didn't trust doing favors without compensation, especially when it involved the heroine. Who knew what bad luck might follow?
She had no intention of personally experiencing it. Though her strict standards left Alina powerless.
Still, the portions were generous enough for both of them to eat their fill. That saved Alina's food expenses and even helped her finances a little.
She no longer needed to ask her parents for extra allowance.
"Honestly, you're the most generous person I've ever met. A quick jog to the main gate, and you pay me this much… If you ever need anything done, just tell me. I'll definitely help you."
"Hmm, thanks."
Severine's injured arm made many tasks inconvenient, so Alina had ended up doing all sorts of small things for her these days.
Hence, a few days went by in peace.
Saturday was a half-day. Alina's casual remark about wanting to eat fish led Severine to a seafood restaurant named The Ninth Table.
This was the famous place where one needed to book months in advance. Unless it was the ministers or the owner, no one could get inside without prior reservations.
"Didn't the internet say you need reservations from the afterlife to get in here? So how—"
Alina's words died in her throat the moment she stepped into the private room.
The entire front wall was glass. But what stunned her wasn't the decor—it was the outside.
It was water! No—an ocean, filled with fish of all sizes drifting lazily past.
It was like stepping into an underwater resort.
No wonder half the building was restricted access. They had literally turned it into an artificial sea.
"Whoa, so cool!" she pressed her palms flat on the glass wall. Her bright yellow eyes twinkled with unrestrained joy.
But when she spun around to share her joy, the sight of Severine sitting calmly, expression serene, choked her enthusiasm right back down.
Well, who told this young lady to have zero earthly desires? Unlike me, who wants to touch everything shiny in this room!
"Fuck, is that Vase made of gold?"
"Hmm. Here," Severine gave her the tablet to order while she gazed at a school of fish.
"Holy shit, these prices! I thought the comments were exaggerating!"
One dish cost her mother's entire monthly salary. If she added a glass of water, that would be her family's full income gone.
"Just order what you like."
"... thank you for your blessings, goddess of wealth," Alina muttered as she joined her hands.
Only after praying to the speechless-looking Severine did she focus on the names of the dishes.
Severine watched her chubby cheeks scrunch into a worried ball. It was as if this little thing was making a decision of life and death, instead of ordering food.
"What happened?" she asked, staring at another menu tablet. "Are the dishes not to your liking? We can ask the chef to make something else if you want."
"Damn it, so many things... I can't decide what to eat and what not to."
Severine: "..." What a silly child.
Seeing someone agonize over food in such earnestness was new to her.
Strangely, she found it…endearing.
Cute enough for her lips to curl into the faintest hint of a smile.
It took Alina five minutes to order two dishes.
After adding a few more to the list, Severine handed the menu back to the waiter.
Soon, their table was covered with mouth-watering food.
They ate in comfortable silence until Alina couldn't sit still.
They do say that a full stomach makes the brain work, or in this case, wander around.
"Emily... she didn't bother you the last few days, right?"
Severine nodded while sipping the fish soup. The creamy, milky broth melted on her tongue.
The taste was as pleasant as she recalled.
"Why is that? Has she finally grown a brain?" Alina asked while taking a big bite of fish cakes.
"She must have gotten bored."
The young lady refused to bring up the humiliation from that day on Fiala ground—her pride wouldn't allow it.
But it was indeed after that drinking episode that Emily hadn't taken any extra look at her.
Perhaps Emily considered their hostility resolved with that one glass of whiskey? The same glass that had left Severine's arm in this state.
"That's good. I hope Damien gets bored, too. That lunatic's even more brainless than his pig sister."
Pig sister?
The twins had inherited all the good genes of the Rhodes family.
Objectively speaking, they both were good-looking. But a rotten heart made even the prettiest face grotesque.
So Severine agreed with the bizarre choice of nicknames.
"When will this end?" Alina muttered under her breath, chewing the rice aggressively, as if venting her anger.
At her previous school, she was the one beating... *cough* disciplining people up. Now she had to hide in the academy, terrified of the Rhodes twins causing trouble.
However, Severine didn't think about anything related to the academy. Her mind was on her recent projects.
The success of her business depended heavily on these investments.
In a good mood, Severine had another half bowl of soup.
Alina, meanwhile, was already sporting a small belly.
"Let's head to the restroom after you finish."
Thus, before the tea arrived, they left their private room.
After using the facility, they washed their hands.
"Thanks, Severine. This place is perfect. Heavenly food, view, and everything—"
... Until it wasn't.
"Nngh...Ah!"
Severine stopped wiping her hands. She tilted her head only to see the equally stunned Alina.
When that moaning voice echoed again, Alina leaned forward to whisper.
"Should we take a look?"
Her gossipy spirit ignited even more when she heard that high-pitched voice again.
"Can't you be a bit gentle?"
It was a breathless female voice, with a hint of sobbing as if being bullied.
And strangely enough, it felt oddly familiar to Severine's ears.
She calmly stepped out of the wooden door and stopped a couple of steps away from the staircase.
From that angle, the turn in the staircase was just visible—and so were the two people using it for… extracurricular night activities, apparently assuming the staircase was deserted.
"Rich people sure know how to play."
Severine ignored the hushed voice, or rather, she was too stunned to care.
The sight in front of her made her dark eyes widen in disbelief.
How the hell was Emily Rhodes here? And in a half-naked state at that...