I’m so tired of dressing up…

The happy tavern is a lively and cheerful place, bustling with activity and laughter. The tavern is warm and welcoming, with a cozy atmosphere that immediately puts visitors at ease.

Despite the noise and lively energy, the happy tavern never feels crowded or overwhelming. Pops ensures that every customer feels welcome and well taken care of, creating an environment that is both comfortable and exciting.

That’s the view that welcomed us the moment we entered the tavern. Pops still worked behind the counter as usual.

Elara approached near the counter and sat in a bar stool. “Hello, Pops!”

“Oh, Elara! It’s nice to see you again… Oh! Your highness, my apolog—” Pops silently squealed, flinching back as he looked at Mom. He noticed her even with robes and glasses covering her head.

“Shhh! Keep quiet! I’m not here for public attention,” Mom whispered, putting a finger before her mouth. “I only accompanied them, so I could check where they’re staying for three days.”

“Elara, I don’t know a byte about this,” Pops whispered, squinting his eyes at Elara.

Elara clasped her hands and begged. “Well, Pops, we came here to ask you for this. Would you allow us, don’t you? It’s just for three days. Vena and I can work here while staying. You agree, right, Pops? Pleeeaaase…”

From his face, he seems he’s ready to reject Elara. But because Mom was here, he couldn’t decline. He must also terrified by Mom’s stingy aura of authority.

“Your highness, I may rudely ask, but did you permit this?” He asked.

“First of all, don’t call me with formalities in my disguised outfit. Call me Jenny instead. If my identity leaked, I will surely punish you to death within my authority,” Mom replied, staring at him incredulously.

Without her formal tone, Mom can be quite scary… and tyrannical.

“My apologies, Miss Jenny.”

“Well, fine. To answer your question, I did permit my daughter for her three-days leave for a political reason I can’t disclose. I can’t just leave my daughter in an unsecured public inn. The slums have been abnormal lately, and my daughter might become a victim too.”

“If that’s the reason, I have no right to decline. The news about the slums also come here in the tavern. There’s a number of cases of abused women lying dead in the dark alleys. Also, underground doctors are hunted lately, the latest is earlier together with his assistant kid.”

To enter their conversation, I asked. “Underground doctors? I didn’t know that existed.”

“Underground doctors are those people who studied dead people’s body to treat the living. They ain’t magic users; they use man-made machines instead to dissect and treat people,” Pops explained. “They also considered the use of illegal herbs for treating diseases.”

Mom added an explanation after Pops. “Underground doctors are banned by the church from the Constituent of Church and State relations. The punishment would lead to a lifetime imprisonment. Since it’s the Church’s declaration, the royal head of the continent can’t do anything about it. If we do, our allies would turn our spears at us.”

Was science banned in this country? I did encounter books about the illegal use of addictive drugs for medical uses and the artificial meddling of natural human bodies.

I once wondered why they’re prohibiting the development of science in this world, but since magic existed, I didn’t pay attention to it much. I didn’t know just know that this was a serious matter that could lead to lifetime imprisonment.

All they do was to save lives. Why do they deserve to suffer a punishment worse than a murderer’s?

“Ending the depressing topic, I think the matter for which I came to ended up with an agreement,” Mom said.

“I will ensure the safety of your daughter, Miss Jenny. I can still wield a knife well after a decade,” Pops replied.

“I thought that might be my only agenda here, but…” Mom looked around, seeing the cheerful and happy smiles of men in the tables. “This place is lovely and lively. It’s filled with ecstatic joy.”

“Pretty well, Miss Jenny. After coming back from countless life-or-death situations, they formed the habit of celebrating their breathing as long as they live.”

“It’s appealing and endearing, comely and becoming. Their red lips of life forms unlimited possibilities of colorful rainbows. What do you say, Pops? Would you want me to become your benefactor?”

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“Benefactor?” Pops asked with a tilted head, yet he didn’t get a reply.

Instead, Mom turned around the joyful people and raised her hand, then shouted with enthusiasm.

“Everyone, for the risked lives of our fellow adventurer friends, for our loved ones who looked up towards their free future, for giving birth to the peace and joy of this country, up to this day, I celebrate your rapport for loving our country. Let us cheers this enjoyable day of living!”

The moment she stopped, the lively aura she’s looking up to suddenly vanished. Everyone’s eyes magnetized towards her attention. Is she crazy? What the hell is she saying? That’s what everyone might be thinking by now.

But I never knew my Mom was wilder than a lion, fiercer than a tiger. She removed her hood and her glasses, revealing her face at everyone. Most men left their mouths hanging open after seeing her sparkling makeup.

I sucked a quick breath for what she did. She’s the royal queen! What if everyone that knew her noticed her disguise? I tried to stop her, but she was two steps ahead of me.

Mom took the jug of beer on the nearest table and chugged it straight down her esophagus. After just seconds, she sighed with no sweat and raised the empty growler.

“TODAY, YOUR DRINKS ARE ALL MY EXPENSES!”

After Mom shouted her declaration, everyone went crazily chaotic. The grinning men raised their hands to Pops and ordered as much drinks as possible.

It seems that no one noticed her. I sighed in relief, sitting down in the stool and leaning at the counter. ”I’m tired.”

“Why don’t you rest first, Vena?” Elara suggested. “I’m going to follow up after helping Pops here. Thing suddenly got busy. Our room should be the first in the left after taking the stairs.”

“Thank you, Elara.”

If not for Mom, it wouldn’t be this chaotic. At least, I saw how open she was to her residents. Seeing them happy was her joy.

For some reason, that made me happy too. Just for thinking of that, I left a crescent lip on my face as I closed my eyelids.

For the next three days, we developed a new hobby while staying at the tavern. Every morning, Elara served the guests while I cleaned the floor and the dishes.

Pops’s job made it easier for him with only auditing and entertaining customers. Since child labor isn’t banned in this world, most children were employed to lighter jobs that doesn’t need heavy work.

I used my past experiences when I’m still a part-timer. Pops couldn’t believe it the moment he saw me work with effort. I even remembered that Pops asked me once…

“Are you really a ten-year-old?”

For which I replied…

“I’m always asked that a lot.”

It seems that I can’t even mimic a real nine-year-old’s mental age, but the will to become a kid and experience childhood remained at me still.

This was the only time I could experience a childhood memory free from suffering. I might be selfish, but that’s what a kid is supposed to be.

In the afternoon, Elara took me out to stroll around town. We visited various stalls and souvenir shops. A group of kids around my age asked me to play ball with them. I gladly accepted.

I never once shown a warm smile to others not until now. The feeling of belonging to a group was too warm for me to handle. By these three days, I made new friends: Lucas, Jake, and Brenda.

The three even gave me a blooming flower each, a velvet, a rose, and a lilac, each symbolizing their personalities. Even though they were just background characters in the novel, the thought of their gratitude being fake never crossed my mind.

On the third day, it would have been our final day to serve Pops. As per the morning shift, Pops approached me as I washed the dishes. The few customers gave him less audits and a free time to roam.

“Little girl, do you know the story of a noble girl who escaped from an engagement? The engaged person might have been a big-shot.”

I didn’t reply… rather, I couldn’t. My body froze while my arms suddenly trembled. Consecutive gulps blocked the pathway of my voice while being accompanied by heavy breathing. Is he pinpointing me of what I did?

“Little girl, are you alright? You became suddenly pale.”

“I—I’m fine,” I stuttered with stiffened jaws, continuing my job slowly and carefully. “W—What about the noble girl?”

“She must have been really lucky.”

“Lucky, you say!?” Heck, one will only feel lucky if she wished for death.

“Why do you seem so shocked? The man was said to be a famous and a high-class prince from a fine country. He has his riches, intelligence, and looks. It’s what the tabloid says.”

“Hearing where it came from gave me more goosebumps… Anyway, why did you open this to me?” I asked.

“Nothing, I just felt like giving a life tip for you. My tips are premium, you know? Even Ellyn and Elara grew up from my teachings.”

“That’s what a scammer would’ve literally said.”

“I think if I’m the father of the girl who’s in the news, I wouldn’t have let her go. I’ll force her to marry him and have a good life. What matters is that she remained a woman until death.”

“If that’s your ideals, I would never want you to be my father. Did you even consider if I loved someone else? Or did you consider marriage as a lifetime commitment and dependency to someone and I don’t want it?”

He suddenly laughed. “Are you considering love? That’s an old traditional concept that led to the birth of slave traders, you know? Love will only give you pain, regret, and sorrow, until you got lost from yourself, lost to everything. Only a fool would believe that.”

From his response, I think I wanted to smack him already.

“I won’t touch your beliefs. But did you consider if your daughter will marry a sadistic evil who’ll only torture her for decades until she dies?”

“What are you saying? That won’t happen! The man has good looks after all! That means he’s good—”

Our conversation got interrupted the moment that the murmurs of the customers reached the sink we’re at. The two of us rushed at the counter and saw a weak woman crawling at the floor.

The woman looked pale and haggard, with dark circles under her eyes and a deep cough that wracked her body. She stumbled down the floor, her movements uncoordinated and sluggish.

Her hair was disheveled, and her clothing hung loosely on her frame, having lost weight during her illness. Her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and her nose red and raw from constant wiping.

Her voice was hoarse and strained, but her cries were barely audible over the muttering of the customers.

“My son—didn’t come back—my son—find him—please—my son…” As she spoke, tears ran dry in her cheeks.

For a moment, she fell down the ground unconscious. Her thin abdomen inflated back and forth, showing that she’s having a difficulty breathing.

I quickly rushed at her and touched her forehead. The head in her body made my hand flick away as if I touched the sun. Knowing her fever this high, I hastily called Elara and Pops.

“Elara, Pops, bring her to our room! I’ll try to diagnose her.”