Emma unconsciously fell asleep after Kale left to go to his cabin.
"What time is it?" Emma looked around as she woke up and tried to find a wall clock but there was none visible.
She took out her smartphone and opened the home screen which displayed 9 pm.
Sitting up, she stretched as she had fallen asleep curled up without changing her clothes. She went to the bathroom to wash her face.
As she came out, she decided to go down to the buffet to fill her empty stomach.
"I should probably change before going," Emma looked at her wrinkled dress. Only to face another issue.
"My luggage isn't here yet?" She remembered how she had been scammed and gotten lost until Kale found her and led her to her cabin which added to her sour mood.
"I forgot to ask Kale about my baggage." She face-palmed.
"Should I call him to ask about my luggage or should I just go and eat?" Emma asked herself.
Deciding against calling Kale and struggling to get an answer that made sense, she grabbed her phone and went out.
This time she didn't forget to bring her keys along with her.
Just as she stepped out of her cabin, she met with Kale who looked like he was about to knock on her door.
Emma was startled by his huge stature. Kale remained quiet and didn't make any move to explain his reason for coming here.
Rather than asking and infuriating herself, Emma settled for making a wild guess,
"Are you here to take me out for dinner?"
"Yes," Kale answered instantly.
'Ah, I see, I can communicate with this wooden block by guessing his intentions instead of waiting for him to answer by asking a million questions.' Emma noted.
"Let's go. I was going to the buffet in Hall 18. Or do you want to go to a restaurant?" Emma asked.
"I'm fine," Kale replied. The context was he was fine either way and it depends on Emma's mood. He'll just follow her.
Emma was surprised that she was able to decipher the meaning behind his code-like words.
"Buffet it is then," Emma didn't waste time, closed the door, and started to walk.
"Your clothes-" Kale became quiet after pointing out.
"What's wrong with my clothes?" Emma twirled around as she once again examined her dress. It did look a bit wrinkly but otherwise, it was still beautiful and clean.
"Nothing," Kale didn't elaborate on the reason.
"You're weird," Emma added another word to the description of Kale in her mind.
"Where is my luggage? It wasn't in my room." Emma decided to ask Kale about her missing suitcases.
The staff should have placed her luggage in her room before she checked in but they seem to have neglected their duties.
"Hung," Kale answered.
Emma thought for a while and didn't get angry this time as she guessed, "You hung my clothes in the closet?"
Kale only nodded in response. He lacked the necessary skills required for communication.
Surprised, Emma felt impressed by his meticulousness.
The buffet was in full swing when they arrived and Emma regretted her choice of wearing a wrinkled dress.
Everyone was dressed exquisitely; some even had their makeup done by professional artists.
'I should have listened when Kale pointed out my dress. Even though I didn't get what he meant by just those two words.' Emma was embarrassed because of her wrinkled dress and bare face. She wanted to go back and change her dress and apply some makeup before coming back.
However, when did things ever go her way? Just as she turned around to go back, she was stopped by the aide that had helped her in the afternoon.
"Miss, Are you enjoying the buffet?" The aide smiled as he saw Emma.
He had a good impression of this child since earlier in the evening. He had seen many bratty rich children but this was his first time seeing one that cooperated with the crew to the extent of getting scammed.
"Sir, Good evening. I just arrived here and haven't tried anything yet." Emma gave him a generous smile and answered honestly.
"I saw you leaving so I thought you were done eating. Is there anything you disliked here?" The aide frowned as he looked around to find the manager. He wanted to make this trip a memorable one for Emma.
"Everything's fine. Thank you for your concern. I was going back to change my dress as it doesn't look appropriate for the occasion. I just woke up and came here without a thought. It was mismanagement on my part." Emma tried to reason. She didn't want to make things difficult for anyone. Besides, there wasn't anything uncomfortable, to begin with.
"We don't have a specific dress code so there's no need to worry." The aide encouraged.
"Thank you. I'll have dinner then," Emma politely excused herself. She didn't want to keep the aide here longer than necessary. She waited for a moment but the aide had no intentions to go out.
Unwillingly, she went around as she wanted to have a look at her options before settling on something specific to eat.
Kale followed her as she went around. As they passed by the meat aisle, Kale stopped, took a plate, and began loading it with meat.
He loved to eat meat, which showed by how he made a steak tower on his plate.
Emma took notice and was a bit astonished but then smirked. "Kale, that's not very compassionate of you. Is it?"
Kale was confused by her words but remained expressionless.
"I mean your name is Kale but you are a carnivore. Shouldn't you be a vegetarian?"
Emma teased Kale. Seeing Kale motionless, standing there like he didn't understand what Emma had uttered, she was a bit piqued.
But she was interrupted before she could further explain her joke to Kale.
"Would you not call him a Cannibal if he was vegetarian? Saying he's heartless for eating his kin." Asher interjected. He had seen Emma the moment she entered and was waiting to make his presence known.
As he had expected, Emma scrunched up her nose and her eyes shone with anger. 'Guess she hasn't forgiven me for not helping her.' Asher thought without an ounce of guilt.
"Did we ask for your opinion?" Emma bitingly said. She had come out to have dinner in peace but now since this con man had found her, he would give her indigestion by spouting nonsense.
Asher continued smiling as if he hadn't heard her at all. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself before. I'm Asher Maximilian. Since we are next-door neighbors, I thought it's better to get to know each other." Asher held out his hand as if he wanted to shake hands with her.
"I don't care about what you think. So, it's better to keep your thoughts to yourself." Emma had reached her limit.
She was enraged by his outrageous behavior. He had taken advantage of her but refused to help her in turn. She had never met anyone so indecorous before.
She was going to get back at him one way or the other. Con artists like him needed to be taught a lesson.
"You might not know but there is an unspoken rule you have to follow," Asher said sounding mysterious.
Although Emma was not interested in his useless banter, the way Asher spoke roused her curiosity. She raised her eyebrow as if to ask 'What'.
Asher gestured to come closer and whispered, "You need to introduce yourself in turn when the other person has taken the initiative to introduce themselves." Asher acted as if he was teaching Emma basic etiquette so she doesn't embarrass herself later in public. He had a self-righteous look on his face.
Emma's face went red at his words. She had forgotten how many times this man had angered her.
She wanted to smack him across his face to wipe his smirk off his face. She glanced back and forth and saw many people silently observing them.
Instead of acting on her thoughts, she said loudly, "You have bad breath. I feel nauseous."
The surrounding people inched away from Asher at this declaration.
Emma controlled her expression and appeared disgusted. Inwardly, she was laughing. 'How do you like that? Now that everyone at the buffet knows about your bad breath. I'm sure no one wants to get near you.' Emma smirked devilishly.
Asher was dumbfounded. His face grew grim. He had expected Emma to get angry and yell at him or even hit him.
But he had never thought Emma to react in such a passive-aggressive manner. For a moment, he couldn't refute her words. He even felt enraged as he saw people giving him strange looks.
He was silent for a moment. Emma thought he was finally gonna reflect on his actions and apologize to her. But she hadn't anticipated Asher's response.
Asher smiled as he said, "I thought you said you liked your men how you like garlic bread. Smelly and Crunchy." Asher didn't hold back at all and spouted nonsense.
It was Emma's turn to be embarrassed. People were giving all kinds of looks to these two.
Emma glared at Asher who raised his eyebrow as if to ask 'Do you think I can't retort in the same way as you?'
Emma couldn't deal with his shameless persona and went away holding Kale's hand who had been standing there like a bystander the entire time.
"Kale, you were supposed to speak up for me. Grandfather sent you here to protect me not to stand by and watch while others insult me like that." Emma was still baffled by Asher's outrageous remarks.
'When did I ever say that disgusting phrase? I feel like puking just by remembering his words.' Emma thought angrily. How could she tolerate such rude comments? She would have gone and retorted but she was too ashamed.
Since she could not get back at Asher, her anger was directed toward poor Kale, who was eyeing his plate like a hungry chipmunk. He appeared rather cute at the moment.
"Kale, I'm talking to you. Why didn't you defend me?" Emma was displeased by Kale's lack of interest.
"You told me," Kale's voice sounded after some time, carrying a hint of sadness. Emma was taken aback by his sad expression, not knowing how to react. She even forgot that she was chewing him out.
Blinking her eyes, she regained her focus.
"What did I tell?"
Kale did not answer this time and only stared at the cold steak on his plate. Emma followed his gaze and became uneasy as she looked at the woeful plate of steak.
She recalled their purpose for coming to the buffet and became flustered. Kale had waited to escort her to dinner and had also helped her get into her cabin.
And instead of thanking him, she was blaming him for not helping her escape from Asher.
Emma felt as if she was no different than Asher, who did not acknowledge the help, but instead made things difficult for her helper.
She was overwhelmed by her guilt for taking out her frustrations on innocent Kale and said, "Let's eat something first. We'll talk about this later."
Only then did Kale react, his eyes shone like a kid who was given ice cream and a trace of content was detectable on his face.
'He likes to eat.' Emma noted it down. They got up from their seats and once again stopped by the grill. Albeit her awkwardness, Emma didn't stop Kale from getting huge portions of meat.
Most of the people who had witnessed the exchange were gone and those who were still there paid no mind to her.
Emma was slightly relieved because of this. She looked around and settled for Braised Prawns and Mashed potatoes.
Both of them sat down in a relatively quiet corner and Emma was once again nonplussed by Kale who had three plates loaded with grilled beef.
'I didn't know he was so hungry' Emma felt accountable for delaying Kale's meal but stopped her thoughts from drifting.
Just as Emma had taken the first bite of mashed potatoes, a group of extremely noisy old women sat on the table behind them.
'There goes my appetite.' Emma felt gloomy as she swallowed. She glanced at Kale who was eating heartily not caring about his surroundings.
The loud voices of the women drifted over to their table.
"Are you going to the Underwater silent auction held at the cruise?" One of the ladies commented which piqued Emma's curiosity. She had never heard of an auction being held at the cruise. Unconsciously, she began to eavesdrop on their conversation.
The ladies looked to be 60's and above.
"I bet your husband could not even secure a pass to the silent auction." A lady in a dark floral printed dress laughed after saying.
"Well, we didn't manage to get a pass but that's fine. What's embarrassing is having a ticket but not being able to afford a single thing." The first lady in a white short dress retorted without holding back.
The rest of the ladies laughed at the exchange of blows. The thing was that the older you become, the less sensitive you are. As Emma listened, she became interested in this auction. As the sole purpose of this whole trip was to have fun, why not enjoy it all?
"I heard from my husband that a rare Pearl necklace is also being auctioned this time." The same lady told.
"What's so great about a pearl necklace?" Another questioned. Emma couldn't see her face but her voice sounded brittle.
"It is made of Blue Akoya pearls with inlaid diamonds around the centerpiece. It was bought by one of the Middle Eastern royals to give to his mistress. It was appraised at $25 million at the time."
"Oh, how did it end up in this auction?" Emma was so invested in the story that she forgot to take the spoon out of her mouth, making Kale perplexed by her actions.
"I heard the mistress cheated on him which is why he was so furious that he gave the necklace to the auction for free." Emma did not buy that story as any decent royal would not take back the necklace which he had already given out.
"How can we believe this? Even if he was angry at his mistress, why would he give the necklace for free? Especially, when he bought it for so much money." One of them voiced Emma's thoughts. Emma wanted to look back and see who it was but refrained at the last moment as it was an immoral act to listen to others' conversations.
"How am I supposed to know why he wanted to give it for free? It's not like he's my relative or anything. I'm just telling what I have heard." The lady telling the story reasoned.
"But what happened to the mistress?" The old lady who had silently listened to the whole story finally asked. She looked to be the eldest in the group and her persona told that she was an important person.
Emma glanced back and observed the lady from the corner of her eye discreetly. The old woman was wearing a plain black dress with a necklace around her neck. She looked elegant and classy.
"I don't know."
Emma was bummed by her response as she was waiting for the story to have some kind of twist to it.
She finally focused on eating after the ladies began to talk about a different topic. But the silent auction captivated Emma's attention.
'I'll look into this silent auction when I get back. It's not like I have to do anything. Might as well experience that.' Emma silently thought.
Her focus was diverted by the fireworks. Everyone was amazed by the fireworks suddenly going off.
Emma looked out the window and saw countless fireworks illuminating the sky, their light reflected on the sea. It was a fascinating scene.
She was immersed in the alluring ocean, the light chatter of the guests, the beautiful fireworks, and the serene atmosphere of the buffet.
"-Miss," Emma pulled back from her thoughts and looked at Kale who had been calling her for a while.
"Yeah?" Emma asked with remnants of the past tranquility still visible in her eyes.
Kale was stunned for a moment as he had never witnessed Emma being so calm. She was always angry and talkative. It was unusual for her to show such an expression on her face.
"The look suits you." Kale's ears went red but his face remained indifferent.
"What do you mean-?" Emma was dazed by his comment but touched her hair as the realization hit. Kale was complimenting her hair color.
Emma's face turned red at the flattering remark. Kale had never called her beautiful ever before. It was a first for both of them.
Instead of making things uncomfortable, Emma smiled, and soon that smile bloomed into a laugh.
"You are funny, Kale. If you continue like this, I'm sure by the end of this trip, you'll have a girlfriend for sure." Emma wiped the small droplets of tears that collected on her lashes as she calmed down.
She had never expected Kale to be so caring and cute.
"Do you want to explore the cruise?" Emma asked as she saw that Kale had long finished his steak.
Kale nodded as he got up and held his hand out for Emma.
"Are you trying to bribe me not to tell on you? No matter what you do now I'll complain to my Grandpa that you didn't help me at all." Emma sassily said to Kale who didn't even reply.
"What? Did you go back to your real personality so fast? It isn't fair." Emma tried to guilt-trap Kale which failed miserably as Kale simply took back his hand before Emma could grab it.
Emma stood up and walked to the desert section with Kale trailing behind her.
She picked up a plate of cake and went to the open-air terrace which had an overview of the lower pool area.
Emma stood there in the sea breeze gazing into the infinite sea. She wanted to traverse the whole cruise but since it was the first day, she put it on hold.
Kale maintained a distance from Emma as he went to a lonely corner to smoke.
Emma had a spoonful of pudding, her gaze inadvertently falling onto the pool where Asher was swimming in his tanks.
She immediately averted her gaze but it was caught by Asher who happened to be looking at the terrace at that instant and smirked.
Emma stepped back from the railing with a black face. 'Now he's going to label me as a pervert.'