章 67: Dormmates
Alyssa wrinkled her nose.
Even though inside her room, she could still smell the strong disinfectant they used outside.
Everybody went back into their own respective chambers. Well, except for Duchess Zenalda who would be residing in the dungeon from now on.
Returning from the throne room with an empty stomach, she immediately searched through her stash of food--- but she found it was empty.
'That's unexpected.' she shook her head.
If her memory was right, Alyssa was sure she did not finish her snacks when she left.
"Where did all my food go?" she said out loud.
Eli coughed.
"Well, never mind." she walked and jumped straight into her bed, not minding that she was filthy, she missed her bed so much, far more than hungry, she needed sleep more. "Oh? What is this?" she grabbed a piece of hair on the bed, scrutinizing it with both of her hands--- it was too short to be hers.
Eli coughed harder.
"What happened to you?" she let the strand of hair fall onto the ground. "Did you catch a cold?"
"No," Eli said, coughing. "No."
"What? Is something stuck in your throat?" Alyssa's eyes turn into slits. "Or are you hiding something again from me?"
Eli, turning pale, shook his head.
"Tell me now, Eli."
A knock on the door saved Eli from answering.
"Yes?" Alyssa asked. "Who is it?"
"Princess," someone replied with a happy tone. "the kitchen prepared some food for you."
"Really?" Alyssa stood up, confused, as she did not ask for one. "Come in."
Eli opened the door, revealing Chef Will, smiling from ear to ear.
Chef Will was carrying a tray full of plates covered with lids. He pushed the cart towards the table and placed the plates on it one by one.
"Did mother ask for this?" Alyssa asked, sitting at the round table. "Or maybe Barny?"
"No," Chef Will rubbed his head in embarrassment. ��I was planning to make a meal for you in the throne room, but you already returned to your room so…"
"I appreciate it," Alyssa was eyeing the plates in front of her. "I am actually hungry." It's a shame though, she could not smell anything but chemicals from the outside.
Chef Will took the lid one by one, revealing different types of salads and desserts.
"These are…" Alyssa observed the feast in front of her. "You're outdone yourself, Chef…"
"Chef Will." he offered.
"How did…" Alyssa was curious as to how did this Chef know her preference in food so precisely.
"I learned from here and there." Chef Will just replied. "Please princess, from now on you can tell my friend Eli whatever dish you would like to eat so he can tell me what to cook for you next time."
Upon hearing his name unexpectedly, Eli jerked his head towards Chef Will, raising his brow in question.
'Since when did they become in talking terms?' Eli thought. 'Maybe killing zombies together made them friends?' he wondered.
"I doubt you need that." Alyssa smiled at Chef Will. "You already did a good job."
He did not stay long, after his successful delivery, Chef Will took the empty cart with him and left.
"I can't finish these all alone." though hungry, the feast in front of her is too much to handle. "Here," she took a plate and shoved it to Eli. "you can have this." she gave a plate of chocolate cake to him too. "and this."
"But…"
"You've worked hard too, you cleaned up even though you did not have to." Alyssa reasoned out---cleaning up meaning killing and burning the body of the infected. "Eat, it's an order."
Hesitantly, Eli took the plates and took it to his area near the door. He ate them while standing up.
"Let's all rest for tonight." Alyssa yawned. "Let's deal with all the mess tomorrow."
***
Alyssa dismissed Eli earlier than usual. His last job for the day was to return the empty plates to the kitchen.
The kitchen was swept from any grease and dirt too. The steal tables were sparking as if they were new, even the faucet too was shining. One thing Elion notice though was that it was empty.
Nobody was in the kitchen except for Chef Will and Maya.
"Eli!" Maya beckoned him with a foamy hand. "Come, help us! I feel like my hand will dissolve!"
"Oh, Eli my friend." Chef Will was in the faucet too, his hands buried under the bubbly water. "Did the princess enjoy the food?"
"Yes, very much." Eli added the plate he was carrying to the dishes. "she enjoyed it." He lifted up both of his sleeves.
"Oh, thank god." Maya washed her hands with water and showed it to Elion. "Can you see these?" her had were wrinkled from being exposed from water for too long. "I've been cleaning since forever!" she pressed her lips together. "Those rascals, none of the reported back into the kitchen."
"Give them some time to recover," Elion took Maya's work and began lathering dishwashing liquids into the greasy plates. "they're not used to what happened."
"NO." Maya a hand on her side. "It's sounds like a lame excuse to me."
"Others can't report back," Chef Will was smiling as he rinse-off the plates. "even if they want to."
"What?" Maya was pinning her hair up. "Did you say something?"
Chef Will just smile din reply.
The three finished cleaning up the dishes just in time as the bell rang.
"Well, thank you for the help Eli," Chef Will wiped his hands on his white apron. "see you later." he untied his apron and hanged it on the wall and left.
Eli looked at Maya.
Maya shrugged. "Maybe he meant tomorrow."
***
Chief Barn had a sour face as he regarded the attendants in front of him. "This is not good," he shook his head. "I can't believe I would have to recruit this soon again."
The room was unusually vacant, one third of the attendants were gone--- buried and turned into ashes. Or maybe more if they would add those unaccounted for.
He remembered how hard it was to recruit the other time. He was worried, very worried that when news would reach the townspeople, informing them what happened in the palace, nobody--- not even the older ones would be willing to apply for a job. He took note to himself to devise a plan, or maybe an incentive package that would be hard to resist. With the upcoming birthday of the princess, the needed as much hand as possible.
"Let's not talk about what happened in here, especially outside the palace walls." Chief Barn warned them. "Do all of you understand?"
"Yes, Chief." They answered in unison.
"Each of us would have to take their place for a while before I could hire again." Chef Barn took a deep breath. "Go back to your dormitories. We all had a long day."
Eli and Maya were walking side by side as they walk towards their dorm. "She noticed." Eli implying to Maya that the princess noticed what they did in her room.
"And?" Maya was sullen, looking at her wobbly hands.
"She knows." Eli said.
"Is she as pissed as she did with her ruined gown?" Maya asked. "Is she finally gonna sell us to the queen?"
"I'm sure she doesn't mind." Chef Will, appeared out of nowhere, was walking in the same direction as them. "Don't overthink too much."
"Yeh," Maya nodded. "Wait, what…" she jerked her head, eying Chef Will. "Chef, what are you doing in here? Are you not supposed to be in the Chef's quarters?"
"My roommate's dead." Chef Will said, as if he were just talking about the menu for tomorrow. "So I found another one."
"Ahh," Maya nodded. "You don't want to have a room for yourself? I would kill to have a room for myself!" she glanced sideways, seeing Elion was not smiling. "Sorry, that's not funny. My bad."
Chef Will just smiled, dragging his suitcase behind him.
"It's my room," Maya announced. "You," she pointed at Eli. "Rest and don't think of something stupid again!" she warned and closed the door behind her.
The two walked silently after Maya was gone.
Elion opened the door to his dorm, and when he's about to close the door behind him, he could feel someone else was behind him.
It was Chef Will, entering the room with him. "I requested to have a change of room," he rubbed his head. "it turns out you don't have a roommate."
Elion allowed him in, he took his uniforms from the empty bed and tossed it onto his--- he requested for a new pole for the cabinet, but it has yet to arrive.
"Hmm," Chef Will sat at the edge of the bed. "Big enough for the both of us."
Eli looked at him.
"The room." Chef Will smiled.
Elion was eyeing her new dorm mate, noting that he should be careful with his actions from now on, so as not to turn suspicion.
"Oh," Chef Will broke the silence. "Don't worry, I don't snore."
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