Chapter 57: Chapter 57Rose waited for Zayne to sit down first and then Janice who was nervous to be at the same table as her employer. It was funny to see Janice’s change in attitude now that Zayne was so close to them. She had told him that he was scary and now he should see she wasn’t wrong.

    "Should we take out the food for you?" Janice asked, not knowing what to do. Were they to still act as his servants and serve him or just eat without worrying about him?

    "I can take it out myself," Zayne replied. "You don’t need to look so tense. I will not kill you."

    Rose shared a look with Janice. It wasn’t the right time to use the word kill. Zayne was much taller than the two of them and his build showed that he could easily kill someone if he wanted to. Then there was the hard part to ignore that he was a foreigner. Their general at that.

    Rose picked a bowl and passed it to Janice, trying to distract her. By the end of dinner, Janice would see that he only looked scary. It was like the world knew he would be a general so he was purposely made to grow tall and always look like he was uninterested in what was happening around him.

    Did he scare his mother with how fast he grew?

    Zayne wished to know what was so funny that Rose was smiling so much and trying not to laugh. It wasn’t a shared secret among the two women since Janice looked just as confused as him.

    "Rose, did the food tell a joke?" Janice asked jokingly. What had put Rose in a good mood?

    As long as Janice focused on Rose, she could handle being seated right next to Zayne. Why focus on such a scary man when there was such a cutie before her? And by the looks of it, Zayne had the same thought.

    Janice only hoped he didn’t intend to trouble Rose. She would not have Rose getting involved with a man who only wanted to use her for the time being and then go back to his life.

    "I thought something funny," Rose confessed. "I cannot share it now."

    "Are you insulting me in your head?" Zayne asked, knowing the secrecy had something to do with him. "You can share it."

    Rose panicked, not wanting to reveal that she was thinking of him scaring his parents. Instead of answering, she picked up the plate with steamed vegetables and passed it to Zayne. "You should eat first."

    Zayne looked down at the colourful array of vegetables in the bowl. None of them interested him. "We do not all enjoy snacking on vegetables, Rose. You may have all of them."

    Rose lowered the bowl, annoyed that he was speaking of her being a bunny again.

    His teasing upset her more as Janice asked, "You love vegetables, Rose?"

    Rose ate everything cooked without any complaints but if Janice had known Rose liked vegetables, she would have prepared a little more when they had dinner.

    It pained Rose to answer Janice while Zayne was watching, completely amused and awaiting her response. "I love everything you prepare, Janice. You are the best cook I have ever come across."

    "Leave the vegetables for Rose."

    Rose bit her lip to not respond to Zayne. He was her employer and servants should not speak to their employer as they liked. She couldn’t do it in the brothel and she wouldn’t start acting differently here.

    Rose placed the bowl back where she found it for everyone to have some of the vegetables. She was not going to entertain him by eating all of the vegetables.

    Though Zayne didn’t need her to, Janice prepared his plate for him to make it feel normal. They were not his family and though it was becoming clear he had some interest in Rose, they were still his servants. She hoped for this to be the only night they had to sit with him for dinner. She missed her conversations with Rose in the kitchen as they ate.

    "Thank you," Zayne said when a plate was placed before him. It was far more food than he needed. He knew that soldiers ate a lot but he did not want to become like the ones crying over their uniforms or armour no longer fitting.

    Zayne looked to his right at Rose who was starting to put together her plate now that he had his. She was the one who needed a mountain of food to eat. If no one interrupted her, Rose might be able to eat the table full of food which wasn’t a bad thing. She had a long way to go before he didn’t have to worry about her weight.

    Janice once again noticed Zayne’s infatuation with Rose. He was more focused on watching Rose eat than eating what she placed before him. "Is the food to your liking? Should I refer to you as Master Zayne or young master? Your preferences weren’t told when I was hired."

    "You may refer to me as Zayne," Zayne answered.

    Outside of his soldiers referring to him as general and prince when they slipped up, he didn’t want to hear of any titles when he was in this home. This was his space to be free from any title and free from thinking of his duties. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Forget most of what you had to do at your other jobs. As long as there is no disrespect and your jobs are being done, I do not care about what else you do," Zayne further explained.

    "I see. I will keep that in mind," said Janice. Still, she didn’t have any plans to be so comfortable around him.

    Janice looked at the other side of the table where Rose might not be able to hear what they were saying because she was giving more attention to the food. Janice couldn’t help giving some of her food to Rose but she was beaten to it by Zayne taking it from his plate.

    "No, you are to eat as well," Rose said, taking one of the clean forks she didn’t know what was to be used for and sticking it into the piece of chicken Zayne gave her. She frowned when he moved his plate out of her reach.

    "This much will do for me. I do not eat a lot at dinner," Zayne said, taking up his fork and knife to start eating.

    Rose looked to Janice for help but Janice didn’t know what to say. She could do nothing but accept what Zayne had given her and wait for when he needed more food. While Rose didn’t want to take away any of his food she welcomed having more to eat.

    The food she ate here was far better than the burnt rice and tiny bit of meat served in the brothel. Rose hoped to continue eating good food for the rest of her life.

    "You must slow down, Rose. Look at your cheeks," Janice said, handing Rose a napkin.

    Again, Zayne thought she resembled the little hamster filling their mouths with food. He made the mistake of not buying one from the merchants to be able to prove his point.