Not far from them, Emilia watched Theo and his mother's almost comical reactions to each other, bemused. Although she couldn't hear what they were talking about, she never imagined seeing such a scene here. And for no one else to look surprised… they must do it quite frequently.
'Well, he seems kinda funny. Maybe he's not as bad as his mother made him seem. Classic example of good intentions but poor execution. But still, it doesn't matter anyway, since he's too manly for my taste.'
Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Your 'taste' is clearly 'girls', Emilia. All boys are probably 'too manly' for you."
Emilia chuckled. She liked what she liked, and she wasn't embarrassed to admit it. 'Ehehe… I guess that's true.'
Cynthia also wanted to take a dig at Dixie by saying she should probably be too manly for Emilia too, but looking at the bimbo's cute little face… it probably won't work. She really wished Dixie's face was as flat as her personality. Other than panting like a dog in heat and wagging her tail around Emilia, what other thoughts were there in her puny mortal mind?
But Emilia will probably scold her for stating such a simple truth, so Cynthia could only pout in silence.
Unfortunately, Theo's mom was far from the last one to approach Emilia, and the ones who came afterwards were even more of a headache. It was as if every word out of their mouth just had to be a subtle taunt or probe, or they would suffer some divine retribution.
The worst of the bunch were those who took a dig at her 'mental stability' for changing her name, and some of them even refused to acknowledge it.
"I heard you had an 'arrangement' of sorts with Mr. Black's only son, Danielle? But I don't see the two of you being very close today?"
"Amos? No, we never really talked much. Uncle must have heard wrong."
This man had been one of the easier annoyances to handle, but the next lady proved herself to be on 'another level'.
From the condescending look in her eyes alone, Emilia felt a little nauseous. She could tell this was someone who enjoyed looking down on people, and toying with those she thought couldn't hurt her back.
Not the type of person she hated the most, but still extremely annoying to deal with.
Dixie tried not to let her talk to her princess, perhaps feeling the same, but the lady waved her off.
"Am I talking to you? No, right? So, stand aside."
Dixie's face was dark, and if not for Emilia holding her hand, she might have already snapped. The lady didn't seem to notice the strange atmosphere, however, and continued as if nothing had happened.
"I'm worried for my little daughter, so I wanted to ask, what caused you to spiral into depression, 'Emilia'? I want to make sure I prevent any chance of it happening to my own child, after all."
Her name was uttered with such obvious sarcasm that it disgusted Emilia to her core.
'I'll make sure to remember this bitch!'
Emilia knew that Dixie really was about to fly into a rage this time, and knowing her strength and ability, this lady might just get her spine snapped in two. It wouldn't be good to cause such a scene in public, so she squeezed her knight's hand to calm her down.
Dixie took a deep breath and barely managed to rein herself in, but her eyes were dark and gloomy.
'To dare speak to my princess like that… Isn't she in the cosmetics business? What can I do… If only those unreliable friends of mine weren't so late, this could all be avoided!'
Dixie's mind turned rapidly as she thought of a way to take revenge, although she would definitely have to vent on her friends later, too, the real problem was still this bitch in front of her.
'That's right! Koko's mother runs that famous beauty parlor chain! Her own words don't matter, but if she can influence most of her customers to think Rothschild's cosmetics are bogus…'
The more she thought about it, the more viable her idea seemed.
'Heh, even if it won't bring her down, it should still hurt a lot! I have no idea if it's possible, though, but it can't hurt to try, right?'
But Koko won't listen to her, of course. She would have to convince Emilia to do this, somehow. 'I hope princess won't be too kind for her own good, and that monkey brain won't try to demand another 'favor' in exchange, or I'll really have to break Koko's legs!'
Meanwhile, although Emilia wasn't as enraged by the woman's taunts as her knight, she was still considerably ticked off. For Emilia, poking fun at her appearance or intelligence was bad enough, but poking fun at her name was offensive on another level entirely.
"What's your name, 'auntie'?"
Although she was almost four decades older than the girl in front of her, the lady could still feel a sense of oppression coming from the little doll. She decided to shake off the strange feeling, turning her head up haughtily at the girl.
"You can call me Mrs. Rothschild, 'Emilia' dear."
Her confidence wasn't completely unfounded. Her husband led a conglomerate that wasn't much worse off than the likes of Black Tiger and White Deer.
However, a conglomerate was inherently different from what they had. Although it seemed like he had a lot under his hand, what he really had was nothing much when compared to the true leaders like the hero's father and Mr. White.
Emilia smiled, as sweet as honey, and her voice turned fainter to the point where even Mrs. Rothschild could barely hear her, let alone anyone else.
"Well, Mrs. 'Rots'child, my 'depression' stemmed from knowing people like you exist in this world. So if you just stay away from your daughter, I'm sure she'll grow up just fine!"
Even though she said that, Emilia looked quite 'shy' as she clung on to her friend, as if she was responding to some teasing words from the older lady.
The lady's face turned green and purple as she tried her best to control her anger, never expecting this little girl to actually dare speak out against her.
She knew this little bitch did it deliberately. Her appearance and her words were so contrasting that no one would believe her to be anything but a victim if the older lady started openly scolding her.
Mrs. Rothschild knew that her next reaction would be to probably look shocked and confused, as if not understanding why she 'suddenly changed'. It'll definitely make her look like a villain.
She couldn't believe she had been cornered by a child!
Some concerned waiter stepped forward at this moment.
"Madam, are you alright? Would you like us to call a doctor?"
She hurriedly waved him away, not wanting to attract any more attention to her situation. "N-No need, I'm fine."
But she didn't dare to stay near this girl any longer. In stark contrast to the harmless little rabbit she thought of playing around with, this was clearly a wolf in sheep's clothing!