Luck is a Charm

Arriving at the Palace Moon Restaurant, Zen glanced at Krista Dragoon who seemed a little bit dazed.

"What happened, Krista? Still bothered by Leon Camellia?" Zen asked lightly in concern.

Krista Dragoon looked at him with a disbelief expression as she shook her head. 

"No, I'm just surprised how you managed to charm multiple women when you don't even understand a woman's feelings." Krista Dragoon exclaimed.

Afterward, she entered the Palace Moon Restaurant first to meet up with Leila Dragoon, leaving Zen all alone in the entrance.

'Why did Krista suddenly get mad at me?' Zen scratched his head slightly in confusion.

He couldn't understand how she would be all lovey-dovey with him and then suddenly ditch him all alone.

Alas, Zen was completely clueless as to what was going on in her mind as he decided to step inside the restaurant and tried to get a chance to ask Evie or Angela for advice.

After all, Zen believed a woman may understand another woman's feelings so he wouldn't have to overthink anything.

Entering inside, the first thing Zen saw was the lovely receptionist at the desk as usual with her cheongsam attire that reveals some of her dazzling and glistening legs.

Zen smirked as he decided to tease her briefly before having to deal with Krista Dragoon's sudden mood change.

"Oh my, isn't this our lovely Eleanor?" Zen made a cheeky greeting as he advanced closer to her and started leering at her legs.

However, there was zero replies nor reaction coming from Eleanor, causing Zen to raise his eyebrow in surprise.

'Usually, Eleanor would be giggling right now and tried to come up with all sorts of excuses to deny me.' Zen pondered inwardly as he tilted his head slightly to look at her.

When Zen saw some teary eyes in her face with a bit of paleness, Zen was dumbfounded before turning serious.

"What happened to you, Eleanor? Did someone bully you?" Zen asked solemnly as he wasn't going to act normal when he saw her like this.

Eleanor smiled bitterly as she glanced at Zen, almost like she wanted to say her worries but decided against it.

Eleanor merely shook her head, "It's nothing Zen… Princess Krista Dragoon has entered the second floor already. You can find her there."

Afterward, Eleanor tried to walk away with her head lowered and Zen with his ultra sixth senses was telling him it's definitely something else.

Thus, he rushed forward and grabbed Eleanor's arm without letting her go.

"You must think I'm some dumb kid to not realize something happened when you act so unnatural," Zen exclaimed with a glare, seemingly threatening her with his gaze to tell him what's wrong.

If someone actually dared to bully Eleanor, then Zen wouldn't mind paying the culprit a visit since Eleanor was someone who worked for Evie. 

Not to mention, he enjoyed teasing her a lot due to her calm and swift replies, unlike others who just blushed slightly.

Eleanor bit her lips gently as she looked around the restaurant and Zen understood her meaning.

Without uttering a single word, Zen teleported outside to an alley and cast a barrier around them to prevent any eavesdropping.

"You can tell me everything now. No one can hear us nor detect any suspicious thing since there's an illusion around us." Zen explained the barrier briefly for Eleanor to reassure her that she can now be honest with him.

Eleanor pondered for a few moments before tearing up and Zen held a gawking expression as he could never imagine the scene in front of him to occur.

The calm and collected woman that always managed to deal with his teasing was crying like a little woman that's been bullied.

Zen quickly retrieved a handkerchief in his spatial ring and handed it over to Eleanor to wipe her tears.

However, Eleanor seemed to be disconnected from him as she simply cried louder and louder.

Zen had no other choice but to pull Eleanor closer to him as he wiped her tears gently. 

"It's alright now, Eleanor. You can tell me who bullied you and I will make sure he will have no place to live." Zen patted her back gently as he continued to soothe her emotion.

Eleanor nodded slowly and buried her head in his chest as she spoke in a soft and low tone. 

"T-The place I'm living in is near a noble family and they have been targeting my house ever since because it's on their way to building a grand house. Thus, they have been threatening me daily and t-they even wanted to have me violated and sell me to a sex slave merchant." 

Zen's expression darkened as he didn't expect Eleanor's dilemma to be like this, considering the fact that she always held a smile on her face.

"Then why didn't you tell this to Evie? Given the fact that I've known her in this brief moment, I can guarantee to say that Evie has a mysterious and powerful background so if you simply tell them you're Evie's people then the noble family should have backed off." 

Zen exclaimed slowly as he didn't let anger nor worries cloud his judgment on determining the situation.

Meanwhile, Eleanor trembled slightly as she didn't expect Zen to question her suddenly.

'Damn it, why are you being so smart all of a sudden?' Eleanor cursed inwardly while keeping her pitiful expression.

Afterward, she stared at Zen with teary eyes and said, "Madam Evie was gone when the noble family started targeting me and they knew Madam Evie wasn't around so they used this chance to test their luck."

And she continued, "Also, when Madam Evie came back, she was too busy with multiple tasks as they stacked up during her absence so I can only fend for myself. B-But I'm just a woman without any strength nor ability to confront such a big noble family."

Zen listened to each and every one of her words and realized it must have happened during their disappearance from the auction house.

'Great, so it was because we didn't decide to leave when we had a chance that caused Eleanor to suffer greatly.' Zen sighed inwardly as he glanced at Eleanor.