Brunch

"Oi! That's my seat! Go somewhere else!" A loud yell interrupted Luna's and Stephanie's conversation and they both saw this one white woman with straight hazel brown hair. She looked very pissed off along with her squad and was staring daggers at them.

Luna didn't waste any time to raise from her chair, but a strong pull forced her to remain seated at the place. Surprised, she shed a nervous glance at the group and then at Stephanie who was still playing with her cutlery on the table.

"First come, first served." Was all she said while smiling at the blank space in front. But the ladies didn't budge from their stance and frowned at her cold attitude.

The ones standing behind suggested looking for other seats along with their friends as it was pointless to fight over such a small matter. They were just here to pull someone's legs anyway, not that it was actually their seat. Some girls had already seemed to move on, but it was now a matter of pride for the ones in the foremost row.

'How dare she insult me in front of my friends! I am not gonna let this go easy, you red hair b*tch!' the leader cursed internally but for strange reasons her body just wouldn't dare to move ahead to pull her hair.

There was this weird strong aura surrounding this redhead that would sting and burn everyone that approaches her. But if that's how it was, how was a wimpy outcast able to stay close to her?

Out of all the young women, she was the weakest person amongst all. She still is, but there's a slight difference this time. There's confidence lurking on her face, which doesn't look pleasant to other girls.

'She would've been an easy scapegoat for everyone, but now that she's with the lone wolf, even approaching her is getting difficult.' In the crowd, a girl with glasses standing behind the crew took a moment to observe Luna yet nervously sitting on her chair.

"Anne. That's enough." After long judging, she calmly called out her leader's name but there was respect in her tone. Her voice carried a peculiar authoritative weight that despite the humiliation, the leader unquestionably agreed.

It was weird to witness as both Stephanie and Luna thought the one screaming at the front line was the leader, but turns out she was not? Either way, at least it was quieter now. Before leaving, the nerdy girl and Stephanie shared a brief stare but it didn't last long as they soon lost eye contact and got indulged with their partner.

"Listen. Unless you wanna end up as someone's slave, stand up for yourself and don't carelessly follow other's orders."

Diverting her thoughts from that rookie, Stephanie gave Luna a strict piece of advice. Although she was trying to enslave Luna herself, she still had some level of expectations for someone to fill in that position.

And Luna was certainly lagging a lot in that. She was way too timid and hopeless as she couldn't do a thing without Stephanie's help.

'Ugh, I guess some education is needed to be done until I finally start unloading my task on her.' she took a deep silent sigh within and blankly stared at Luna delivering her apology speech.

'So annoying...'

The meal at long last arrived, but to everyone's dismay, today's brunch was far more worst they'd ever been served. And to add salt to their wounds, the maids and guards were also standing at the corners this time to monitor them. There wasn't a speck of guilt on their faces.

"One watery corn soup bowl, a dice of rotten cheese, and three slices of stale bread. What a delicacy we are blessed with." Stephanie scoffed at the trash arranged so beautifully on her plate.

"There's a mold here...." But Luna was utterly shocked by the food situation. She never thought it would be so bad in here despite being a royal prostitute. To be honest, she had much better food on her run in her previous life than here, which was really disturbing to her.

"Jesus. What's the point of being called 'Royal' when all we're served with is trash which even beggars don't consume down the streets. It's terrible!" Luna tried her best to separate the nasty parts aside but it was all pointless.

Amused from her mockery, Stephanie replied to her statement with a sarcastic smile pointed at the guards and maids staring at them with disgust but also with a sadistic smile. Everything is rotten here.

"A prostitute is a prostitute, my friend. Adding the word 'Royal' just indicates the cage will be made up of gold than iron. So dig up." She playfully waved her spoon in the air while looking at Luna and suggested to remain calm if she wants to survive. But as soon as she started to dig into her food a skinny white arm stopped her from doing so.

"Huh?! What are you doing?!" She angrily whispered at Luna's foolish act and scanned around to see if anyone was watching.

Unfortunately, a maid had noticed some disturbances on the table.

"Don't eat that!" She screamed in a whisper.

"What?! Then do you want me to starve till night?! Let go otherwise we both won't be spared!" Stephanie protested and jerked her hands off her, but Luna was now acting like a leech who just wouldn't stop pestering her.

'Urk! Why's she so adamant?! We have been eating this food every day! What's wrong with her today?! Ugh! At this rate, the guards will notice us soon-!! Oh no. Here they come-'

The big footsteps approaching raised anxiety within Steph's heart but it was too late to run away now. They had already caught her.

"Hey! Let go of me! It's she who was stopping me from eating!" She pleaded as she resisted the hands wrapping around her arms.

In an instant, a few more guards arrived at the scene and started to pull both of them forcefully by their hair while others watched the chaos in silence and fear.

But while Stephanie was struggling to defend herself, Luna was on a completely different page by trying to reason with the guards that no one would've ever dared to say.

"With all due respect sir and ma'am, this food is highly hazardous to our health-" she was nervous for sure, but at the same pace she had composure while reasoning with them. Nobody knew why was she even trying to put up this worthless argument, but even so, her words did succeed in making everyone halt from consuming their food.

Seeing the most fragile of them all fighting for her basic right raised the urge to fight in them too.

"Please sir, you tell me. Do you really think we are that unworthy to eat even a simple decent meal a day?

We were forced to become like this! And you know it!

We too are someone's daughter, we too have young siblings, and we too once had a family! But we were dragged down to work here against our will and now you can't even give us proper food?! It is your job to provide us with-"

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU IT'S HER FAULT!!!"

But while others were astounded and perplexed by her painful debate, a ferocious woman just wouldn't stop landing her punches and kicks in the air and continuously blame her partner for disobeying the orders. Every time, she would coincidentally interrupt Luna's speech by yelling she was the guilty one until Luna too got fed up with her.

"I can't eat-"

"ARE Y'ALL DEAF OR-"

"...something like this which is so bad-"

"SOMETHING?! I SAID-" Stephanie's thunder grew much louder but its intensity burst the bubble and now it was Luna's time to shower her anger.

"WOULD YOU JUST LET ME F**KING SAY SOMETHING?! SIR, IT WAS HER FAULT TOO! WE BOTH WERE TALKING AT THE DINING TABLE!" Her patience snapped bringing everyone to silence.

Her unexpected roar dared nobody to open the seal of their mouth.

And that's how the whole chaos was put down to an end, and the time for the punishment was announced.

The guards nodded their heads in agreement and soon began the process of sending the rebellions to a confinement chamber down in the basement.

Everything came back to normal and the girls, though a bit hesitant, engulfed the rotten meal blindly under the maids' supervision, despite the horror screams that echoed in the background.