In the depths of the forest away from society, a charismatic man received a letter from his subordinates riding on a brown horse.

Reading the letter, the man frowned.

A beautiful woman nearby holding a basket full of lovely flowers notices his grim face and went towards him to ask, “ Lohar, did something happened? “

“ Yes, Lady Daisy… “ Lohar gripped the letter, “ Number 4 is dead, “

Daisy, the queen-in-waiting, was stunned. Before she could react, Lohar gave his order as her protector. “ Send the red signal and activate full proof protection. “ As soon as he commanded, the other knights with them heed.

Lohar lay his hand in front of Lady Daisy and asked, “ My lady, I suggest going back to the castle. “

Lady Daisy gave the basket to the maids beside them and received his hand, “ We should, “ She and her subjects went back to the castle along with her protector, Number 1, Lohar.

…….

ROME, ITALY

“ Mr. Caruso, please! I beg you, give me more days, or at least a day, I promise to pay! “ A man wearing rugged clothes pleaded.

An attractive man yet dangerous eats his meal and asked without looking at the man bowing on the floor, “ And how would you do that? Where would you get a hundred thousand bucks in just a day? Even a week? “

The rugged gulped, he couldn’t answer.

“ You see, my men saw something fascinating yesterday. “ Mr. Caruso wiped his mouth with his napkin, “ Your daughter treating her friends for a meal, giving them hugs and kisses now and then which she does not normally do… As if… “

“ Saying goodbye, “ Mr. Caruso put down his fork loud enough to frightened the man.

The man on the floor sweat his forehead, “ I-I… I don’t know why she’s doing that, k-kids these days… “

“ Hmm, “ Mr. Caruso flicked his fingers and his subordinate went beside him, “ Bring his daughter here, right now. “

The rugged man instantly looked up and begged once more while bowing his to the floor while neglecting the pain, “ Please! I will not run away! Please, not my daughter! She’s the only one I have! “

Mr. Caruso continued eating, “ Look, Mr. Barsugo, we are business people and those who owe us anything, we do our best to help them pay with what they have. All we ask is cooperation and honesty. “

“ We don’t want any blood spread around here much so let’s talk it out, shall we? “

Mr. Barsugo nodded repeatedly, “ Yes, yes! Let’s talk it out! Please! “

“ I have tons of businesses around, perhaps we could ask your daughter to do part-time there, she could work after school and we’ll deduct it to your debt while you pay it slowly. How’s that? “ Mr. Caruso drink a glass of water after suggesting it.

“ P-part time? “

“ Oh! “ Mr. Caruso added, “ She could be a waitress on some restaurant I have, an assistant, etc. There’s a lot of choices out there and it could also benefit her don’t you think? Time is gold Mr. Barsugo, I can give you more time but without any progress, without you doing any actual work to pay for it, my time will be wasted… “

“ … And you won’t like when that happens, “

Mr. Barsugo gulped.

Soon after, a knock was heard.

“ Oh, it seems your daughter is here! “ Mr. Caruso flicked his fingers indicating them to clean his table.

However, instead of Mr. Barsugo's daughter, a man and a woman went in. " Brother! Amaryllis and I are going to the casino! Do you wanna come? "

Mr. Caruso blinked for a while and sighed deeply, as he facepalms, his serious face revealed a smile, " Geez, Darius, I'm still working, I'll try to join later if I can, but don't take too long there, there's cigarette smokes everywhere, it's bad for your health."

" Hehe, alright! "

" See? I told you he's still working, " Amaryllis shook her head, then wave to Mr. Caruso, " Then, see you later big bro! "

" Oh! Take care! And don't forget dinner at 6 Darius!"

" I won't! Au Revoir! " Darius left with Amaryllis. As they left, they passed by one of their subordinates with a woman on the way.

Note: Au Revoir means See you again/ Goodbye.

" Now, where were we? " Mr. Caruso's poker face is back and crossed his legs waiting.

Seeing those sudden changes, Mr. Barsugo was dumbfounded, he couldn't react easily. Even so, when his daughter came in, he became worried.

" Now this is your daughter! Shall we start planning about the future? "

The woman was terrified, she ran towards her father.

.......

As Darius and Amaryllis went on their way to the casino, they noticed a suspicious man nearby the restaurant, " Hmm? "

" Maybe that's one of your people? " Amaryllis pondered.

" Eh? I don't remember seeing that guy, why is he looking at the window where brother is? " Darius took out his phone and tried taking a photo of that guy, however, he couldn't see his face.

He sent it to his brother. " I told Brother about it, geez, people these days don't know their place. "

Amaryllis shrugged, " Oh well, just keep your promise alright? If I win, we got 50-50, if we lose then we lose! "

Darius rolled his eyes, " Even if you have it all if you win, it won't matter~ "

Amaryllis pouted, " No! That's your money! I just wanted some, need them for my project tomorrow... Hehe~ "

“ Sigh, “ Darius shook his head, “ Why can’t you just accept the money? We have a lot of it, a few bucks are just coins to us- “

“ Papa wouldn’t let me! And I can’t lie! “ Amaryllis embraced his arm, “ Let’s just for a while, alright? “

“ Fine, fine! After this let’s go to a movie! I wanted to watch Scavengers! “

“ Hehe, it’s still early so maybe we could- “

A FEW HOURS LATER, Darius invited Amaryllis for dinner at home.

“ Are you sure I’m allowed? It’s your family dinner… “ Amaryllis pouted her lips. If they didn’t go to the movie late, Darius could still bring her home, though, it was worth it, they had won tons of bets!

“ It’s just me and my brother, nothing to worry about, besides, we eat dinner every night together, this is just how we bond together despite our busy days. “ Darius brought her to the dining area as their butler brought their bags.

Maids started to bring their food and soon after, Mr. Caruso went home and joins them, “ Oh, Amaryllis, did you told your father you’ll be having dinner here? “

Amaryllis nodded, “ Yup! I did! Thanks for having me! “

“ Good, don’t want Mr. Flammia going on about his ‘ lectures ‘ of you staying late, “

“ Papa is so old fashioned! 6 pm isn’t late! “

“ Better than sorry, Amy, “ Darius reached the food and gave it to her.

Amaryllis ignored him as her eyes shined when the seafood paella was served, “ Waah! Fave! “

However, as soon as the paella went to her plate, they heard a loud bang from nearby! The butler received news from his earpiece and whispered something to Mr. Caruso.

Mr. Caruso stood up, “ Alright kids, dinner is cancelled, let’s go! “

Amaryllis was stupefied and didn’t know what’s happening even when Darius grabbed her wrist to run! “ B-but… “

‘ My Paella! ‘

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KircheLeaf • Angelo Jurane

SEASON I

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~ END of CHAPTER I ~