His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 32

“Good evening! I’m Madam Lydia and I welcome you to Her Highness’s Secret Palace Raena greeted the crowd, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice as she saw the number of people waiting on the street outside. “Please be patient while our lovely hostesses find you a table “

Raena nodded at the two girls and they stepped forward with bright smiles, urging the first customers to enter. Upon a second look, Raena noticed that there was a certain distinction in the crowd the people on the left were more in numbers and while most were wearing clean, neat clothes, they didn’t look nearly as dressed up as the ones on the right. The ones on the right also stood awkwardly in the street, some even frowning and murmuring about how they shouldn’t have been made to wait.

Raena stopped Jaswyn as she returned to escort the next batch of customers.

“Those there look like they are nobles. Be extra accommodating,” Raena whispered and the girl nodded, her smile growing even wider as she moved to greet a group of four men that stared at her like she was on the menu.

“This way, gentlemen. Would it be just the four of you?” Jaswyn’s sweet voice rang out, bringing even more eyes to her. Raena continued to watch over, greeting everyone while they were led inside, filling the restaurant with low murmurs, gasps, and laughter.

When the ones still remaining outside started to whisper excitedly and look around, she took calming breath, stepping forward again. A pair of carriages made their way through the street, forcing the people to create a path while craning their necks to see better. The whispers grew so loud even she could hear them from the door.

“Who is that? Is that the Imperial family’s crest? What are the royals doing here? You don’t think they would actually go to that place, do you?”

Raena glanced at the two hostesses that had stopped next to her, staring at the carriage with wide eyes.

“Is the restaurant full?” Raena asked quietly, and the two of them jumped, looking at her.

“There are only a few tables left.” Jaswyn replied.

“Fill them up. I’ll take care of our special guests.”

The girls nodded, moving to escort more of the people inside while Raena locked her eyes on the group of men that had stepped out of the carriages.

Prince Rissen was the last one to appear, looking left and right with a sour expression before moving his attention to her building. His eyes stopped on Raena and he said something to his company, then all of them headed toward the restaurant with him in the lead. The crowd parted to make way, but he barely looked at the people staring at him. As they reached the stairs of the building, Raena curtsied.

“Welcome, Your Highness. We’re honored to have you here!” she said in her sweetest voice, glancing at him. As expected, his eyes shamelessly locked on her cleavage, paying almost no mind to her face. He didn’t even mention the veil.

His friends were all young nobles, some staring at her, some looking at the building behind her. “Please allow me to show you to your table. I have the best floor reserved for you, Your Highness.”

She turned around and headed toward the staircase, moving slowly to give everybody on the first floor the chance to see who was walking behind her. As expected, the hall quieted and stared until they disappeared up the stairs.

Raena pushed the door on the third floor, nodding at the guard standing inside before continuing her way in. The VIP room, as she called it, was a bit smaller than the accommodations below since she had requested to expand the balcony and make the wall separating the balcony from the inside space all glass.

She had used her memories of the descriptions from the book to construct this room so it was supposed to resemble one of the reception rooms in the Imperial Palace on a smaller scale. The floor was covered with marble and the walls were painted dark red and gold, with chairs of dark wood and gilded edges circling the three rectangular tables inside. It was much more sophisticated than the simple rooms below and judging by the stunned on everybody’s faces, she had succeeded in achieving the likeness.

“Would you like to sit outside or inside, Your Highness? The weather is very pleasant tonight, so I made both options available.”

Rissen looked taken aback as he struggled to hold his disgruntled expression. He glanced at his friends and after a short deliberation, they settled for a table outside.

“Take your time in choosing whatever you like. The waitresses will be here shortly to take your order,” Raena announced, bowing her head, then turning to leave. Before she had done a single step, she felt a hand grab her wrist and yank her back.

She lost her footing and flew backward, landing in somebody’s lap. As she tried to rise up, a pair of hands wrapped around her waist, squeezing her tightly. She looked at the man holding her, not at allsurprised to find Rissen staring at her with a smirk.

“What if we want everything on the menu?” he asked, his fingers running circles over her lower back. “Maybe I want to start with the dessert.”

“You can find the desserts on page twelve, Your Highness,” Raena replied, trying to keep her voice even. “And feel free to order the rest of the menu as well, since it’s your money after all.”

“I can’t decide if you’re stupid or pretending not to know what I mean,” he scoffed, his hand raising to lift her veil. Raena grabbed his fingers before he could do it, squeezing with all her might. He stopped, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

“I’m giving you a chance to leave this matter with your dignity intact, Your Highness,” Raena replied. “This is a proper establishment and the people working here are not on the menu. So I’d appreciate it if you keep your hands to yourself while you enjoy the best meal of your life.

“And what if I don’t?” Rissen asked daringly.

“Then we’ll politely ask you to leave,” Raena smiled, trying to get up again. To her surprise, he didn’t let go, but instead painfully tightened his grip.

“Do you know who you’re speaking to, b!tch?” he scoffed, his eyes flashing in warning. “You think anyone here would be stupid enough to lay their hands on me?”

The table had grown silent, the only sounds coming from the crowd outside still waiting to be given entrance. Raena stared back into his eyes without blinking, her brain searching for the right words. She leaned toward him, lowering her voice so only he could hear her.

“How about another royal, then?” she whispered. “My employer would be extremely unhappy if she learns how you treat her precious proxy. And I don’t want to make my employer unhappy. How about you, Your Highness?”

She felt him stiffen underneath her, and his hands squeezed her even harder. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from crying out when he released her, pushing her off his lap. She staggered for a second before regaining her balance, then turned to face everyone at the table.

“Take your time to pick, gentlemen. I’ll bring you a round of refreshments on the house in honor of our opening night.”

After receiving a round of awkward nods and mumbles in agreement, Raena bowed again and stepped inside, letting out a relieved sigh.

“Are you alright, Madam Lydia?” the guard by the door asked quietly as she was just about to pass by him.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Raena replied with a weak smile that he couldn’t see. “Keep an eye on them and let me know if they harass the girls. Do not interfere unless somebody is getting badly hurt or l explicitly tell you to. Got it?”

“Got it.” He nodded, moving his eyes back to the table outside.

Raena slipped past him, stomping down the stairs. She stopped on the second floor and peeked inside the hall, eyes examining the tables and the excited customers devouring their food or chatting loudly over their wine and cocktails. The guard by the door glanced at her, but before he could say anything, she continued to the ground floor.

Raena could still see people waiting outside impatiently for a seat to open up, rising to their toes to peek inside. Making her way toward the kitchen, she walked slowly in an attempt to determine the response of the people.

“oh, gods, this is amazing! Try it!”

“How is the meat so tender?”

“What is this? It’s sweet, but also sour! How did they make it both?”

“This place is unbelievable!”

“Did you see the ceiling? Do you think the Imperial Palace looks like this on the inside? Now I get why it’s called Palace!’

Her Highness’s Secret “l can’t believe we almost didn’t come here!

“Did you see her? The one with the veil? Who is she?”

“Who is she? Why is she wearing a veil?”

“Did you see her dress?”

Raena smiled as she continued onward, ignoring the stares that followed her. She pushed the door toward the kitchen open, quickly moving out of the way as one of the servants prepared to exit with a big tray in her hands.

“Dina, take with you whoever is free at the moment and bring drinks to His Highness on the third floor. Be extremely careful what you say and stay sharp,” Raena said to one of the servant girls that was just leaving a load of dirty dishes in the sinks in the back. The dark-haired girl looked at her nervously, but nodded.

Raena returned to the dining hall, looking around when she noticed Jaswyn hurrying toward her with an uneasy expression. Raena waited impatiently for the hostess to reach her, raising her eyebrows in an unspoken question.

“Madam Lydia, what are we going to do?”

Jaswyn whispered, glancing around. “You said to expect only one special guest for the VIP room.

“That’s right. Why?” Raena frowned.

“It’s the third prince. He is also on his way here.