CHAPTER 222: ARGUMENT AND A BUN

"It happens to the best of us.. Does that mean that you acted like I did last night before? Back in your world?" Zaque asked, his gaze on Coco.

Coco froze and she blinked owlishly, not expecting for Zaque to turn the question back to her.

"Well.. No, not really, but my friends who get wasted do act like that sometimes." Coco smiled softly at him and raised a hand, patting his shoulder in a reassuring manner, "So, you don’t have to be embarrassed, okay?"

Zaque nodded his head slowly, but the shame and guilt he was feeling is still lingering.

"I’ll do my best." He murmured, watching as Coco bought her hand back to her side and turned to the freshly baked bread on the tray.

"Do you mind if I take some of these with me? I’ll be hitting the bath once I get back to the inn and have to leave as soon as I can so I don’t have time to eat breakfast." Coco asked politely, pointing at one of the buns on the corner.

"Not that I have time to eat breakfast at all." Coco hummed out mindlessly.

It was just a passing statement, one that she usually does on a daily basis, and don’t have any meaning behind it, but the mediator beside her felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"I can only eat on the way to the mountain so I usually have packed breakfast with me, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a snack while I’m working, right? Besides, I love the bread you bake." Coco was quick to assure him, laughing quietly.

Though, she didn’t have to say those things because she brought Zaque with her before.

"I know that, but.." Zaque frowned and pressed his eyebrows together as he looked down on the buns with worry, "You’re doing a lot of work and has to wake early. You need to eat something at least."

"I’m pretty sure En takes care of her breakfast."

The two of them were in the midst of a conversation when suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the air, interrupting them.

The sound was unexpected, causing them to stop their conversation and turn toward the source of the voice.

"Quizen." Coco acknowledged the blue haired mediator’s presence with a small smile, "Good morning. I hope you had a good night rest."

"Good morning." Quizen greeted Coco back with a nod and turned to Zaque, "You don’t have to worry about this woman’s breakfast, lunch, or any of her meal. The chef from the inn is quite proud that she eats the meal that En cooks."

Zaque’s eyebrows furrowed, the corner of his lips curling down into a frown, and made his displeasure known to Coco and Quizen.

"And you’re proud at the fact that our wife eats someone else’s cooking instead of her husband’s?" Zaque questioned him, an underlying warning tone in his voice as he stared down at the fourth husband.

Quizen noticably flinched in his spot, his face draining of its color as he darted his gaze away from Zaque.

"N.. No.. That’s not what I meant." Quizen stammered out with his voice shaking slightly from anxiousness, "I was merely saying that you shouldn’t worry about our wife because she’s taken care of—"

"By someone else." Zaque said, his face stern and tone firm as he cut Quizen off.

"But the owner wants her to eat En’s cooking—"

"Which shouldn’t be allowed because she has a husband who can cook and bake at home." Zaque stated bluntly and narrowed his eyes towards Quizen, the displeasure getting replaced with annoyance.

Coco ignored the two mediator as Zaque started reprimanding Quizen, her attention instead focused on the tray of buns sitting on the dining table.

She reached out and picked one up, her fingers deftly tearing off a piece of the soft, warm bun and admiring the golden color and buttery scent as she hum contently to herself.

She ate a small piece and held out a even smaller piece towards the garden fairy on her shoulder.

The sounds of reprimand and rebuttal behind her faded into the background as she took a bite, the taste of the bun erasing everything else from her mind.

She chewed thoughtfully as she hummed in satisfaction, savoring the sweet, doughy flavor as the men continued to shout at each other— loving the taste and taking another bite.

Her attention remained completely focused on the bun in her hand, tuning out the argument behind her.

On the other hand, Zaque continued to glare down at the fourth husband for saying something absurd and even had the audacity to expect Zaque to keep his cool.

"In the first place, didn’t Coco start to buy her food from the inn’s pub because she don’t have anywhere else to cook her own food?" Quizen stammered out, the words escaping his mouth before he could process them.

Zaque froze in his spot, making Quizen freeze as well.

"You.. How dare you—"

"The two of you should stop arguing and serve something to Coco. Maybe give her the chocolate spread or something? She’s just eating the buns as is."

The two mediators who were in the midst of a argument got interrupted when a familiar voice cut through their exchange like a knife through butter, making both of them jerked their heads in the direction of the interruption.

"Look at them, eating the bread plainly without anything to make it tastier or something to push those bites down." Heiren scolded the two of them as he pushed the jar of chocolate spread towards Coco, along with spoon and a cup of water.

"Oh, thanks, Heiren!" Coco expressed her gratitude with a bright smile and grabbed the chocolate spread.

Heiren nodded his head towards Coco before turning his attention to the first and fourth husbands, his chocolatey irises narrowing into a glare.

"Isn’t it too early to be fighting? Right in her presence, too, of all places and people." Heiren huffed out.