Master of the System

Eula hummed to herself as her maids dressed her in her outing clothes. It wasn’t too long of a process, but it was almost impossible to do by herself. Sometimes, she was jealous of the commoners; they didn’t have to waste so much time on etiquette, and they didn’t have to be polite to those they disliked, but Eula knew it was much better to be a princess. After all, what kind of commoner could afford to eat egg fried rice every day? Well, all of them could afford regular egg fried rice, but Eula was thinking about the egg fried rice. She didn’t know how the cook did it, but the humble meal he made had more elegance and flavor than any of the meals the imperial chefs could make.

When her maids were done dressing her, Eula departed from the royal palace, but to her surprise, her carriage driver wasn’t the one waiting for her. “Second Brother,” Eula said, “is something the matter?”

Eula’s older brother was standing in front of a carriage, four guards standing beside him. “Fourth Sister, I noticed you set off at the same time every day, and I was just curious. Where do you go?”

Eula let out a giggle and extended her hand, which her older brother took. She walked up to the carriage and entered, pulling her brother inside. “There’s a restaurant that I’ve been enamored with. The food there is delicious.” Though she was giggling on the outside, she was sneering on the inside. The second prince was a control freak, and there was no doubt in her mind that he had already sent spies to track her for multiple days before asking.

“Oh?” Eula’s brother asked. “It seems like I’ll have to see this restaurant for myself. To make my picky younger sister ignore the imperial chefs at the palace, just what kind of skill does this restaurant have?”

Eula’s face remained expressionless. “I think Second Brother will understand once you taste the food inside.” Was the second prince making trouble for her? She might’ve been a supporter of the crown prince, but that was no reason for the second prince to harass her like this. What if he found faults with the little restaurant and tried to shut it down? Eula grimaced, lucky to have her veil blocking her mouth. If it came to that, she’d have to resort to her trump card to keep her brother in line: she’d beg her father for help with puppy-dog eyes. For the sake of that delicious egg fried rice, she’d be willing to toss away some pride!

It didn’t take long for the carriage to reach the little restaurant. The second prince got out of the carriage and frowned. His spies had told him the shop was rundown and small, fitting for a commoner, but he didn’t expect it to look so … swanky. The walls of the shop were made of the finest wood, and the door seemed to be inlaid with silver and gold. Hints of spiritual energy threaded throughout the whole structure, and the second prince suspected a defensive formation was built into the store. When Eula stepped out of the carriage, she was just as surprised. Was this the right restaurant? The two stores next door looked familiar, so it seemed to be the right place…. Eula scanned the entrance, but she didn’t see the boss sitting outside like he usually did. Perhaps there were already some customers?

“Shall we enter?” the second prince asked, raising an eyebrow at his younger sister. After seeing the store, he wasn’t so certain about its background anymore. Since that was the case, he’d let the person familiar with the restaurant go in first.

Eula nodded and pushed opened the door to the restaurant. Her eyes widened as a gust of fresh air gushed out of the restaurant, nearly dazing her from the pure scent. It smelled like winter, spring, summer, and autumn all in one. Just what had happened in one night? “Boss?” she asked as she stepped inside. The space seemed to have expanded, the interior of the store much larger than the exterior. “Are you there?”

A familiar figure stepped out from a corridor in the corner of the dining area. The boss of the restaurant looked haggard, and Eula swore she saw a faceless person holding a whip, but he or she disappeared in an instant. “Good morning, Boss. What happened to the store?”

Smith Jr. scratched his head. “There were too few customers, so I decided to make the place more appealing.”

“Well, it worked,” the second prince said, walking out from behind Eula. His eyes scanned Smith Jr., and the second prince glanced at his sister. There was nothing special about the chef; his cultivation was even weaker than the gardeners’ in the royal palace. “Serve me all your finest dishes.”

Smith Jr. pointed at the menu written on the blackboard by the door. “Take a look at the menu first.”

The second prince snorted and turned his head. “Egg fried rice for two spirit stones!? Pickled radish for two spirit stones!?”

“Oh?” Eula turned her head, examining the menu. “There’s a new dish? Finally!”

“Fourth Sister, are you crazy?” the second prince asked. “What kind of egg fried rice costs a thousand dollars!?”

Eula ignored her older brother. “Boss, I’ll have a serving of egg fried rice and pickled radish, please.”

Smith Jr. nodded before turning his gaze onto the second prince. “If you’re not ordering, get out. Loiterers will be stripped, robbed, thrown out, and blacklisted.”

The second prince’s eye twitched. “Is this how you do business?”

Smith Jr. pointed at the blackboard again. “Troublemakers will be stripped, robbed, thrown out, and blacklisted.” Unlike the second prince, Smith Jr. knew about the existence of Red Asura. With such a demonic prison warden, no, with such a strong guardian, why would Smith Jr. ever be afraid of confrontation? Sure, it might’ve cost him a bit of freedom—okay, all his freedom—but Red Asura also granted him the greatest of all security.

The second prince was about to say something, but he noticed the expression in his sister’s eyes. It was as if she was waiting for a good show. The second prince pursed his lips. He might’ve been arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid. “What kind of eggs do you use to make your dishes?” If they were the eggs of a spirit beast, then the expensive price tag could be easily justified.

“Stinky-Dog’s eggs.”

The second prince blinked hard. “A what egg?”

“Stinky-Dog’s.”

“…And the rice?”

“Stinky-Dog’s rice.”

“What about the radishes…?”

“Stinky-Dog’s radishes.”

The second prince resisted the urge to punch the chef in the face. The second prince was here to make trouble for the princess, but why did it seem like the chef was the true troublemaker? “What restaurant are you running here? The stinky-dog restaurant!?”

Smith Jr. blushed, his face taking on a faint tinge of pink. “The restaurant’s name is actually Naked Old Man’s Little Thing….”

[You stinky dog! When the hell did you change the name of my restaurant!?]

Smith Jr. swore he saw a line of text flash by his vision, but it must’ve been a trick of the light. Smith Jr. cleared his throat, attempting to disperse the awkwardness that the name brought about. “So, what would you like to order?”

The second prince looked at his sister. His gaze shifted back onto the chef. Was this an elaborate ploy to make him mad? Perhaps the whole thing was being recorded, and someone would edit it to make him seem like an insane person. There was no way he’d fall for such an obvious trap. “I’ll have what my sister is having.”

Smith Jr. nodded and flashed Eula a shy smile before heading back into the kitchen. To impressive his crush’s brother, he’d do his best to cook a meal! It had nothing to do with the faceless golem staring at him with a whip in its hands. Definitely not.