The little tavern looked even more modest from the inside than it had from the street, but it possessed a warmth that neither Mira nor Evelyne had expected.
The wooden floor had been cleaned recently, and the faint scent of freshly baked bread mingled with the aroma of coffee drifting from somewhere behind the counter. Several wooden tables stood neatly arranged across the room, with a few decorative lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Behind the counter, shelves held bottles, jars of spices, and neatly stacked cups.
Since it was still early in the morning, there were hardly any customers. Only one old man sat by the window, quietly enjoying his breakfast while reading something on his phone.
Robert pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding it for the two girls.
"Come in. It’s a little quiet at this hour, but things usually get busier around lunchtime."
Mira glanced around with curiosity. For a place owned by an A-rank Awakener, the tavern was surprisingly ordinary. She had half expected to find expensive magical decorations or trophies from dangerous dungeons hanging on the walls.
Instead, there was a small potted plant beside the window and a handwritten menu near the entrance.
For some reason, she found that rather comforting.
Robert led them toward the counter, where a woman with delicate features was polishing a glass with a clean cloth. She appeared to be in her early thirties, and her dark hair was tied into a loose ponytail. When she noticed Robert approaching, her face brightened with a familiar smile.
Then her eyes moved to the two girls following him.
Her smile widened mischievously.
"Robert, you jerk! You actually brought minors here?"
Robert nearly stumbled.
"Anna, please. Can you not start with that?"
The woman named Anna rested the glass on the counter and crossed her arms. "Oh? Then what should I say? ’Welcome home, darling husband. How wonderful of you to bring two young girls to our perfectly respectable tavern first thing in the morning’?"
Mira pressed her lips together, desperately trying not to laugh.
Beside her, Evelyne simply smiled.
Robert looked at his wife, then at Evelyne, whose expression suggested that she was enjoying his predicament far more than she ought to.
He let out a nervous laugh.
"Anyway, these are our clients. This is Mira Ashford, and this is Miss Evelyne de Roselle. They hired our team for an expedition into Kragdeep Dungeon."
Anna’s teasing expression vanished.
For a moment, she simply stared at Evelyne.
"De Roselle?" she repeated quietly.
The cloth slipped slightly in her hand.
The name was not one an experienced Awakener could casually overlook. The de Roselle family was a great noble house from another Apex Realm, a name that carried weight far beyond ordinary wealth or social standing.
Anna straightened almost immediately.
"P-please forgive my earlier words, Lady Evelyne. I didn’t realize who you were."
Robert’s expression grew serious as well. He had already known Evelyne’s identity, of course, but hearing his wife address her so formally made the difference in their stations feel painfully real.
Evelyne sighed inwardly.
She had barely entered the tavern, and already the atmosphere had changed.
"Please don’t feel pressured," she said gently. "I am currently a student at Aethryndian Academy. Outside the academy, I’m simply Evelyne. You don’t need to treat me as though I’ve come here to inspect your establishment."
Anna hesitated.
"A student at Aethryndian Academy is hardly an ordinary person either, Lady Evelyne."
"That’s true," Evelyne admitted with a small smile. "But if you keep calling me ’Lady Evelyne’ every few seconds, I’m afraid I’ll start feeling like an elderly noblewoman."
Mira let out a quiet laugh.
Even Anna couldn’t help smiling at that.
The tension eased a little, though neither Anna nor Robert seemed entirely capable of forgetting whom they were dealing with.
Robert cleared his throat and turned toward the back of the tavern.
"Enough standing around. Let me introduce the rest of the team."
He raised his voice.
"Daniel! Lucas! Get over here for a moment!"
There was a brief clatter from a room behind the counter, followed by hurried footsteps.
Two young men emerged from the back. Both appeared to be in their twenties, though one was a little taller and broader than the other. The taller man had short brown hair and a sturdy build, while his companion had black hair, a lean frame, and a pair of alert eyes that seemed to notice everything around him.
"What’s wrong, Captain?" the taller one asked.
Robert gestured toward the girls.
"These are our clients, Mira Ashford and Evelyne de Roselle. We’ll be accompanying them into Kragdeep Dungeon this week."
He pointed to the taller man first.
"This is Daniel Brooks. He’s a B-rank Awakener, specializing in close combat and defensive techniques."
Then he indicated the other man.
"And this is Lucas Bennett. Also B-rank. He’s better at scouting, tracking, and detecting monsters before they get too close."
Both men nodded politely.
"Nice to meet you," Daniel said.
"Likewise," Lucas added.
Then Robert mentioned Evelyne’s full name once more.
The change was immediate.
Daniel’s shoulders stiffened, and Lucas’s eyes widened before he quickly lowered his gaze. The casual expressions they had worn moments earlier disappeared.
They had expected respectable clients, perhaps wealthy merchants or minor nobles. Even the fact that the girls attended Aethryndian Academy would have been enough to make them cautious.
But a member of the de Roselle family?
That was an entirely different matter.
Daniel swallowed before managing to speak. "It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Evelyne."
Lucas nodded quickly. "Yes. An honor."
Evelyne rubbed her forehead.
’This is going to be a long morning.’
Mira, meanwhile, had begun to wonder whether anyone in this city could hear Evelyne’s name without immediately becoming nervous.
She was just about to say something to lighten the atmosphere when the tavern door suddenly swung open.
"Daddy!"
A small girl came running inside, holding a little woven basket in both hands.
She had soft black hair that bounced around her cheeks with every hurried step, and a pair of bright black eyes that immediately searched the room for someone familiar. She couldn’t have been more than five or six years old.
The moment she spotted Robert, her face lit up.
"Daddy!"
Robert turned.
For the first time since they had met him, the serious A-rank Awakener looked completely caught off guard by something that had nothing to do with a dungeon, a dangerous mission, or a noble family.
"Emma?"
The little girl rushed straight toward him.
Robert barely had time to bend down before she wrapped both arms around his legs, nearly dropping the basket in the process.
"Whoa, careful there!"
He caught the basket with one hand and scooped her up with the other.
The transformation was astonishing.