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"Also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man." —Ecclesiastes 3:13
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"WELCOME to Caramel and Chocolate. How may I assist you?" a teenage boy greeted them with politeness and professionalism although she could see the way his eyes sparkled and his cheeks slightly blushed the moment his glance went on her.
"Sure. Do you sell brownies here? I would like to eat some brownies with Emily for a while. If your product satisfies me, we'll buy more for takeaways."
The kid's smile widened, and his face even went redder as he said, "Our brownies and all of our food here are the best, ma'am! Is that all that you want?"
"Give me about a dozen brownies and two milkshakes. We'll eat them here."
Then, Emily led Lantana to the left side of the store where the tables and chairs were placed. They sat beside the clear glass window as they patiently waited for their orders.
The boy didn't take too much time. They didn't wait that long as their food immediately came, oozing a very bittersweet aroma that made Lantana's stomach growl.
The moment she laid her eyes on the brownies, she felt like she finally found the one. And her hunch was right again. With a single bite, heaven was brought to her. The chewy yet chocolaty taste made her tongue delight in ecstasy. It wasn't too sweet, but she could taste the delicious chocolate chips on top that added more chewiness that made it addicting. Aside from that, although she couldn't taste the bitter coffee, she knew exactly because of how it smelled, which made it addicting for her.
Lantana was busy enjoying her time as she ate with Emily when they suddenly heard a loud sound of a shattering glass. Because of her natural curiosity, she tried to find where it came from, only to see an angry pig and a snake.
Her mood soured, and her appetite got almost ruined because of the dirt her eyes had seen, but when she glanced back at the mouth-watering brownies that she was enjoying earlier, her appetite immediately came back.
How stupid of her. How could she let some animals affect her when was supposed to be a goddess—as Emily said?
A goddess like her could only care less about such types of animals, and those types are definitely not worth even a spare of her attention.
Was she being too conceited? Nope. Penelope's face was really a masterpiece. Compared to the face of the gold digger—her face was a masterpiece no one could ever buy. Her body's appearance was completely out of this world, while that woman was only a dirt on the ground where animals throw their feces.
Anyway, she was not the original Lantana. Why should she waste her time on them and let them ruin her special day?
They could always do whatever they wanted. It was their lives. She didn't really care as long as they didn't cross paths. However, although she was not the real one and she was not really obligated to take revenge on the cheaters, she still had to cut her ties with them completely and make sure that they would never get in her way one way or another. Or else, her future of leisure would go to waste.
How could she do that? Not that she knew the answer immediately. She was still thinking of a good way since she was not really like those heroines from a transmigration or regression novel that she once read in the past that once they entered the past, a book, a game, or a completely world, they would suddenly become a genius in plotting schemes towards the white lotuses and jerk men.
She was only a children's teacher in her past life and a killer who only did her job to kill. How could she suddenly become like them when she was always straightforward at confronting? What could be expected from someone like her whose thinking was not that critical?
"Emily, are you alright?" Lantana asked her servant after noticing how pale and stiff she became. She even stopped eating and only stared for a long time in the direction past her shoulder.
"M-My lady, would you like to visit another shop instead?" she said with a stuttering voice—obviously afraid of Lantana's reaction.
"No. I haven't even finished enjoying my food yet. Why am I leaving? Aside from that, my takeaways are not yet here. I will definitely not leave."
"But, my lady…"
"It's okay, Emily. Do they own this shop? No, right? I am also a customer. Are they the only people allowed here? Do they own this shop? Would they even think that this appearance was mine? Definitely not. No one would think that the daughter of the duke would look like this after being ridiculed for being fat and ugly all the days of her life. However, if you're still worried, you can take a seat a little farther from me, face your head away from their direction, and no one would think anymore that the heir of Montgomery is here."
Emily's eyes widened in shock because of her blatant command.
"My lady, you remember them?!"
"Their faces flashed in my mind, but you don't have to worry. The moment I woke up from sleeping so long, I could no longer feel anything towards them. Anyway, before you change seats, buy all of the pastries on display first, and then you can continue eating your food."
The shock on Emily's face didn't last that long as she glanced in the direction of the scandalous woman with a piercing glare, then to Lantana with a worried look. Her stares stayed on her for a while before she finally sighed as she smiled with relief.
"Alright, my lady. Should I buy every pastry available in this shop so that the woman wouldn't have anything left if she ordered?" she said with an innocent smile.
Lantana's eyes rounded upon hearing her unusual suggestion. The Emily she knew from Penelope's memories was an overprotective maid but not a wicked one. However, before she even realized it, an evil grin was already rising on her lips as she smiled sweetly at Emily.
"I like that idea. Make sure that you'll be able to buy everything—as in everything. Don't leave a single piece of pastry on the shelves. Buy all of them. That woman doesn't deserve to eat such good sweets like this. Let the store owner rest for the rest of the day."
Then, Emily stood up, put on the hood of her cloak that looked the same as Lantana's, and was about to leave their table when Lantana suddenly spoke again.
"Oh! If the owner agrees, why don't we just buy this whole store?" Lantana said with a pair of eyes forming an imaginary heart.
Well. Not even she could escape the shadow of sweets she was not able to really savor in her past life. Aside from that, she was too focused on dieting lately, which was why the craving for food that was already in front of her was stronger.
Emily took a little while before she managed to come back, but when she returned, a large victorious smile was already plastered on her lips. Behind her were three men that were holding two large bags, each of the food that she told her to buy.
"Everything is settled, my lady. The sweets and the store are all yours," Emily said while raising her eyebrows up and down with a grin.
A sheepish smile also appeared on Lantana's lips as soon as she heard that. If being petty had a name, it would definitely be Lantana Penelope Montgomery. She couldn't care much though since if being rich also had a name, it would be Philippe Ritcher Montgomery—which was her father.
"That's good. Let's go back to the mansion now. I want everyone to immediately taste the delight we've experienced here."
Then, they left the store with a funny expression on their faces as they took all the store's products that day without any care for the other customers who would like to buy, like the scandalous woman who dared to cross Lantana's path.
They happily placed all the takeaways inside their carriage as they went on their way home.
However, while they were on the road, an armory shop caught her interest because of a plain looking bow hanging on the wall together with the other types of weapons. It looked simple; some vines were wrapped around the body, possessing a normal color of pale brown that was covered with burnished. It didn't look too grand since it had no gold or silver mixed with its design, but it still looked attractive in her eyes. She didn't know why, but she felt like she was being compelled the moment her eyes first saw it. It was like the weapon was enticing her to actually go there herself and get it to bring it home. And so she did.
While they were passing by, she commanded Emily to ask the coachman to stop the carriage. Even when her servant didn't know her reason, she didn't ask Lantana about it—probably because of the sense of urgency in her voice. Then, when they stopped in front of the store, she hurriedly went down the carriage and ran to the store while making sure that the hoodie of her clothes was not going to get blown away by the wind—which made Emily stressed out again because of her unnoble-like action.
"Good afternoon, madam! What can I do for you?" the man behind the counter immediately said with a large business smile as soon as Lantana entered the store.
Without speaking a word, she immediately brought down on the counter ten large gold coins that she took from the pouch that she asked Emily to bring. The person inside looked shocked at her unusual behavior and even more surprised upon seeing how much money she just easily threw away, but she just didn't really care. Her desire to get the bow was stronger than her care for a person she didn't know.
"Do you have any prefere…"
"I want that bow hanging on the glass screen of this shop!"
Before the shopkeeper was able to finish speaking, Lantana immediately expressed her mind as she pointed her finger at the bow.
The man looked shocked and looked at her with incredulous eyes, as if he could not believe what he had just heard.
"Madam, that bow is just a decoration and not really for sale. It's too old and not really useful. Do you really want it? I may suggest a similar style to you that you may like," the man said.
Lantana brought down on the counter the remaining money she had in her pocket—thirty golds.
The man's jaw almost fell on the ground as his eyes protruded. 'So much money!'
In the end, Lantana managed to get the bow with a lot of extra arrows that the receptionist happily gave to her. As he said, her money was too much for the plain and single bow she bought. Though she didn't really care that much since Montgomery was a rich family and those gold coins were nothing but a speck of dust to its treasury.
He was right, though. The bow really looked plain, which was the reason why she also took a liking to it. However, she didn't expect it would weigh lighter than when she had imagined it. It was so light that it felt as though she was only holding a very thin digital phone from her past life that she couldn't even believe in at first.