"Hey gorgeous, what's on your mind?"
Sophie nearly jumped out of her skin as Lieber's grinning face appeared outside her second-floor window.
"You scared me to death! Why can't you use the door like a normal person?" she hissed as the vampire slipped inside with unnatural grace. Then it hit her—"Wait, aren't you supposed to be in Cassina?"
"Couldn't sleep. Missed you too much," Lieber said with his trademark nighttime smirk.
"Perfect timing!" Sophie grabbed his arm. "I need you to find out who's spreading these vile rumors about me!" She rapid-fired the whole situation—the shop's success, the whispers about her being some noble's mistress, even the bastard child allegations.
Lieber listened, then smirked. "I'll help... if you let me stay. I'm destitute! Look how thin I've gotten without your cooking!"
"Deal," Sophie said immediately, already calculating how his handsome face could attract more female customers. "You can be our doorman—unpaid, of course."
Before she could elaborate, Lieber vanished into the night.
Hours later, just as Sophie was dozing off at the windowsill, he reappeared with news. By sheer luck, he'd overheard a certain restaurant owner gloating:
"That uppity woman won't be so smug when all Lamipore knows she's just a noble's discarded plaything!" The man—Teuton—had been cackling about Sophie stealing his customers since adding pastries to her shop. "She makes in days what I earn in months!"
Sophie's eyes gleamed with dark understanding. "So it's that weasel-faced diner owner who mocked Eva!"
Lieber shivered at her smile. Someone was about to have a very bad day.
——
At dawn, Sophie assembled her troops—Yakth, Charles, Little White, even Princess Milta—with the gravitas of a general. "Comrades! Our vengeance begins today!"
Blank stares greeted her dramatic proclamation.
*Ugh, no sense of theater,* she grumbled internally before explaining the plan over breakfast.
"Teuton needs to taste his own medicine," she declared, passing around a box of... insects. Milta's contribution.
By noon, they infiltrated Teuton's restaurant in staggered groups. Sophie's table ordered every premium dish, including his famed "Snow Sticks" dessert.
The moment came when Sophie stood abruptly, brandishing a nail from her stew. "Owner! Are you trying to kill us with your food?!"
Teuton nearly tripped rushing over. Before he could react:
Charles: "Ew! There's hair in mine!" (His own, strategically planted)
Yakth: *fake gagging* "A FLY! I'm gonna be sick!"
Milta (slamming down a plate swarming with bugs): "I'm telling Father you tried to poison me!"
Every royal guard in disguise then "discovered" similar horrors in their meals.
Teuton's face turned the color of spoiled milk. He knew he'd been set up—but with the princess involved, protest was impossible.
As chaos erupted, Sophie whispered to Lieber:
"Phase one complete. Tomorrow... we bankrupt him."
**To Be Continued...**