The Princess With The Jet Black Hair

[Two years ago, Robinson's]

"Is that all, Sir?" Erik asked with a smile.

The man smiled back and said, "Yeah, that's all."

Erik then walked to the counter and handed the order to the lady there so that she could send it to the kitchen.

Just then he saw another hand raised, so he rushed over to that customer to take her order. He smiled and asked politely, "What would you like, madam?"

She looked at the menu and said, "I'm sorry, I don't think what I want is here."

"Well, is there something else you want instead? Why don't you try our bread pudding? It's pretty famous." Erik suggested while retaining his smile.

"Hmm, I don't want any of that. What I want is Erik's time, do you guys serve it here?"

Erik finally realised who it was.

It was Lilian.

"Lilian?!" Erik called out loudly, causing everyone in the diner to turn and look at him. He gave everyone in the diner an apologetic bow while Lilian was snickering away. Once Erik shifted his attention to her she purses her lips and held back her laugher.

She was wearing a floral dress and her bright orange hair was let down, making it difficult for Erik to recognise her.

This was his first time seeing Lilian outside of the bar.

He had no idea that Lilian would actually keep her words and literally meet a few hours later.

"So, are going to take my order or what?" She asked with a grin.

"Nope. I can't actually sit here during my shift, there's still a lot of orders that need to be taken, you know that right?" He explained as he pretended as if he was taking her order so that the boss of the diner would not scold him for slacking.

"Well, I'll sit till your shift is over then," Lilian said as smiled.

"You know you can't do that." He rolled his eyes as Lilian purposely looked at him with her sad eyes, "I... Can't?"

That was his soft spot.

He gave up right after looking at her sad eyes for a few seconds. He sighed and huffed, "Fine, just... order some food so my boss doesn't suspect anything."

"Okay, I'll take that bread pudding that you recommended," Lilian said as she smiled.

"Is that all, Miss?" He asked with a smile, hinting to Lilian to pretend to be a regular customer.

She got the hint and replied, "Yes, that's all. Thanks."

A few hours had passed ever since she began sitting there. She did not seem to mind it but Erik did. He felt bad letting her sit there for a long time. Erik grabbed two plates of food from the counter and was about to walk over to the couple who ordered it, when the head chef, Jerry, stopped Erik and whispered, "Who's that girl?"

"My friend." He replied quickly before going over to the table to serve them their food. When he got back to the counter, Jerry whispered once more, "Are you sure you guys are just 'friends'?" He made quotation marks with his fingers when he said 'friends'.

"I mean she had been waiting for like four hours now." He added on with a hint of suspicion.

"Well, it's not like I can do anything about it, right?" Erik said as his gaze saddened.

Jerry noticed it and sighed, "You know what? Boss is out now and the diner isn't that busy, so why don't you go talk to her? It's rude to keep a girl waiting, you know? Go on, I'll keep this a secret."

Erik's eyes lit up when he heard that, "Really?"

Jerry nodded, "Yeah, you should hurry before the boss comes back."

Erik thanked Jerry and went over to Lilian. She was already at her third milkshake while she sat there waiting for him.

He took the seat opposite her and greeted, "Hey."

"Looks like my order is finally served." She teased with a grin, "I'm joking, but is your shift over yet? If not, your boss will be mad if he sees you slacking like this."

"He's not here and the diner isn't that busy, so I do have some time." He explained as he stretched. He then looked at her and asked, "So, is there something you want to talk about?"

She took a sip of her milkshake and shook her head, "No, not really."

"Then... Why did you sit here for the past few hours, waiting for me?" He asked as he raised one of his eyebrows.

"Well, I'm bored so I decided to come here. Besides, it doesn't matter, right? I'm not disturbing you or anything." She replied.

"Yeah, but I feel bad having you sit here for hours." He admitted while resisting his urge to blush.

She froze for a moment before she started laughing, "You're worried about that?! I came here because I want to, not because you forced me or anything. I honestly don't mind sitting here and doing nothing. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, your presence is good enough."

Saying those last few words made her blushed. She quickly drank more milkshake to covered her reddened face.

There was an awkward silence between them after Lilian said that.

Erik rubbed his neck sheepishly and broke the silence as he blurted out something that he instantly regretted.

"Don't say things like that, it messes me up."

When Lilian heard it, her face turned redder.

"Y-You're right! What was I talking about? I'll go take a walk first, I'll be back once your shift is over. Okay? Bye!" Lilian flustered as she rushed out of the diner.

Jerry walked up to Erik and asked, "What happe—" But, his words died on his lips when he saw how red Erik's face was. Jerry then sat next to him and said, "...You like her, don't you?"

Nothing came out of Erik's mouth, he just nodded as he leaned back onto the chair with his arm over his eyes.

[Outside Robinson's, Night]

"She said that she's going to be here once I finished my shift. So, I should wait for her, right?" Erik thought as he waited for Lilian outside the diner.

He sighed and looked up to the night sky. "I wonder will those people find me in three days, as I told them? Or will they miraculously not disturb me after yesterday's incident? ...Mannnnn, I don't know. There's just so much to think about." He closed his eyes for a moment to rest his mind.

Just then, he felt someone gave him a nudge. He opened his eyes and saw Lilian. She was holding a brown paper bag. "Let's go." She said as she started walking.

"What? Where? And isn't your shift about to start?" Erik asked as he followed behind.

"Your house. I ȧssume that you and your cousins haven't had dinner. So, I'm going to cook." She said as she looked back at him with a smile. She then turned back and continued, "For the work part, I'll take a day off then. It's not fun anymore when you're not there anyway."

"Oh." He replied calmly but in the next second, he started freaking out when he realised what was happening, "Wait, no. It's late and you're going to a guy's house. T-That's not a wise choice. Aren't you afraid that I'll do something?"

"Don't be ridiculous! You're not that kind of person." She protested as she slowed down her pace so that Erik could catch up with her.

Erik grinned charmingly and said, "Well, you wouldn't know."

That grin made Lilian's heart skipped a beat. She turned away as her face got warmer.

The two walked in silence for a little while before Erik felt a light grip on his hand. He looked down and saw his hand was intertwined with Lilian's. Even though he did not know why she did that, he did not pull away.

He did not want to.

His grip tightened, making Lilian smiled secretly as she hid her mouth behind the paper bag. Erik rubbed the bottom of his nose gingerly, trying his best to contain his happiness. Both of them continued walking along the street, close together, without making a single sound.

However, this happiness ended quickly.

Out of nowhere, he felt a blunt blow on the side of his neck. As his vision began to blur, he looked over and saw Lilian collapsing behind him, he wanted to reach out to her, but it was too late. His vision had faded to black.