Volume 1 Chapter 91

Volume 1 + Chapter 91: Regular Customer

“What?”

Hearing the waiter’s words, Eve couldn’t help but be slightly stunned. She instinctively looked toward the little girl in front of her, who had her head lowered while feeding steak to her cat.

Now she understood. No wonder the waiter hadn’t looked surprised at all when she saw Eve holding Pipim’s hand and walking in, and didn’t even try to stop them.

So Pipim was actually a regular here. Eve was the one who was the newcomer.

But this actually made Eve breathe a slight sigh of relief. So it wasn’t that the girl had recognized her, but rather that whenever she saw a gentle and beautiful woman, she would call her the “Crimson Witch.”

Thank goodness…

“It’s fine, bring her another portion.”

Eve smiled and shook her head. She gently patted Pipim’s head, her expression still carrying a trace of tenderness.

“Really bring another portion?”

The waiter looked at Pipim, who was sitting across from Eve. At that moment, the little girl was clearly more reserved, constantly lowering her head to pet the cat at her feet, not daring to lift her head to look at them even once.

Like a child who had done something wrong.

But in Eve’s eyes, she hadn’t done anything wrong. She was just hungry, that was all.

“Bring another portion. It’s fine. I just said, ‘she can eat as much as she wants.’”

Eve nodded. After confirming Eve’s intention several times, the waiter finally left slowly to prepare Pipim’s second meal.

“I’ll help feed the kitten. You just eat first, alright? You must be starving, aren’t you?”

Eve softly said to Pipim, as though doing her best to take care of her emotions.

Hearing that Eve had no intention of scolding her, Pipim finally raised her head slightly, though she still didn’t dare to look into Eve’s eyes.

“The waitress sister is wrong. I’ve never tricked anyone. Mama told me that Miss Crimson Witch Eve is a good person, a very gentle and beautiful big sister. I don’t know what the Crimson Witch actually looks like, so I go look for those big sisters who seem gentle and beautiful.”

“I believe that, sooner or later, I’ll find the Scarlet Witch Mama told me about.”

Pipim gripped the fork in her hand tightly. Her small body trembled slightly, but her tone was filled with determination.

“But the Scarlet Witch has long since been executed.”

The waiter brought over another identical meal. Along with it, she also set down a delicate caramel pudding.

“No she hasn’t!”

Pipim seemed to know this waitress. When she spoke to her, she showed no attempt to hide her feelings.

Her little mouth pouted, looking quite angry at the waiter’s words.

“Alright, alright, fine. She hasn’t, she hasn’t, okay?”

The waitress sighed helplessly, pushing the pudding in front of Pipim, and at the same time poured a glass of hot water for Eve.

“Miss, as you can see, this little girl is just like this.”

“I work here, and before, she grabbed my hand and called me the Scarlet Witch. How could I be any witch? But this little girl just clung to me and wouldn’t let go, insisting her mama told her to come find me.”

The waitress sighed, beginning to tell Eve about Pipim’s situation.

Meanwhile, Pipim had already set her eyes on the caramel pudding before her. Those bright, lively eyes stared fixedly at the pudding, as she kept swallowing her saliva.

Seeing her pitiful yet greedy look, Eve couldn’t help but think back to when she first saw Leah in the slums.

“This little girl has been in the Imperial Capital for almost a month now, always hiding nearby, looking for the Scarlet Witch.”

“But that witch had long ago been executed. They say her grave was even dug up by those who hated witches, and the corpse inside the coffin was stolen away and burned.”

Hearing the waitress’s words, Eve felt oddly reassured.

It seemed that most people did indeed believe in the fact that the Scarlet Witch had died.

That was good. Although the truth she knew made the waitress’s account sound somewhat odd, at least her own identity was relatively safe.

“We’ve tried over and over to explain it to this little girl, but she just won’t listen. It seems her mother… has already passed away, hasn’t she?”

“She’s a pitiful child too. When she’s hungry, she sneaks off to dig through the trash bins behind the kitchen. Sometimes she latches onto one or two women who look kind, and maybe they’ll take pity and bring her here for a meal.”

“After a while, she became familiar around here.”

The waitress looked at Pipim, who was still staring at the pudding, but still hadn’t moved to eat it.

Even though she looked so dirty and starving, she never stole or robbed. Things that weren’t hers, things she wasn’t allowed to touch—at most, she would just stare longingly for a while.

“Eat. This is the free dessert that comes with this lady ordering two sets.”

The waitress said this as she patted Pipim’s little head, then handed her a spoon.

Pipim took the spoon but didn’t immediately dig into the pudding. Instead, she cautiously looked up at Eve, who was sitting across from her.

“Go on, eat.”

With Eve’s permission, her face immediately lit up with joy. She scooped up a large spoonful of pudding and stuffed it into her mouth.

“The waitress just said it too—she only ever clings to women who look gentle and beautiful. You’re the first one she’s latched onto, so it must mean she really believes in her heart that you are gentle and beautiful.”

“Oh my, you really are…”

The waitress laughed so hard at Eve’s words that her shoulders trembled.

“You’ve been caught by her too. But… my advice is, you’d better not get involved with her.”

“This little girl just wants to find the Scarlet Witch. It’s not like there haven’t been kind-hearted rich ladies who wanted to take her home and raise her as their little daughter.”

“But she refused, insisting she must find the Scarlet Witch.”

“Clearly it would be so much better to follow those rich ladies home. Why suffer here, exposed to the elements, without even a full meal to eat?”

“It’s really hard to watch…”

The waitress sighed softly. Just as she was speaking, another pair of customers walked in. The waitress hurriedly said goodbye to Eve, then put on a smile and went out to greet them.

Eve pondered the waitress’s words, then looked at Pipim, who was eating the pudding in big bites.

She knew now what Pipim liked. It seemed the waitress hadn’t been stingy in feeding the poor Pipim before either.

This pudding probably wasn’t really a “freebie” at all, was it? It was most likely something the waitress had bought for Pipim out of her own pocket.

But a waitress—how much salary could she really earn?

Even Eve’s own pay as the manager of a luxury apartment wasn’t all that high, let alone a little waitress.

“Pipim.”

“Mm?”

“Why do you have to find the Scarlet Witch?”

“I want to find the Scarlet Witch so she can help me fulfill a wish.”

Pipim’s mouth was stuffed full, her words muffled as she replied.

“A wish? What wish?”