Records of the Weakest Emperor

Today was Wednesday.

In the early hours of the morning, the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop was as popular as ever.

But with the return of the Cavaliers from the Maximum Security Penitentiary, the workload that was under the shoulders of Charlotte, Cecilia, and Calvin had significantly lessened. All was going well. The young lass Cecilia had now become a favorite of the shop's patrons.

it was because the young lass was not only smart, she was also quick-witted.

The patrons often found themselves ordering food items that they didn't know they needed.

An example of this was a young teenager living from one of the apartment buildings situated in the Southern Borough. At first, the young man disliked the taste of the coffee.

Apparently, it was too strong and bitter for his taste.

However, he didn't voice out his thoughts and just sat there with a look of contemplation on his face.

That was when Cecilia approached him and said, "Mister, would you like to add half a cup of milk and a teaspoon of honey to your coffee?"

Setting aside the young man's amusement from being called a Mister, he was intrigued by the young lass's proposal.

As far as he could remember, it was unprecedented that one would add a cup of milk to one's coffee since the adults always liked their coffee, bitter and strong-tasting.

Without expecting too much, the young man agreed and with a sip...

He fell in love with the coffee.

Coffee and Milk, this was a simple concoction indeed, yet it made the young man wonder why this was the first time that he heard of such a thing.

Cafe Latte was its name and it was now his favorite. He had been converted into a frequent customer of the shop, not only because of the young lass but also because of its products.

"Calvin, you are free to go somewhere else today." Ashlynn suddenly approached the counter.

As always, Calvin stood behind the counter as he served the customers with their freshly-brewed coffee.

"It's okay, I can still handle it." Calvin waved his hand at Ashlynn and smiled.

Ashlynn glanced at Charlotte who was currently entertaining a customer and a smile spread on the former's face.

"Are you really that dense?" Ashlynn teased.

"What?" Calvin looked genuinely confused, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Seriously? Dude! Your wife! I was trying to hint at you! Take her with you somewhere else!"

"Let us handle this place for the day! What's more, you are due for the Auxiliary Police Training starting tomorrow for the next three months, right? Are you really just going to let the day be over without spending some quality time with your wife?" Ashlynn scolded.

Calvin revealed a bitter smile.

He glanced at Charlotte and guilt couldn't help but appear in his eyes.

How could he not understand what Ashlynn was talking about?

But after Grace shamelessly revealed what he was trying to do with Charlotte, Calvin felt that he didn't have the face to talk to her anymore.

"Calvin, you..." Ashlynn Celestia dragged Calvin into the kitchen, "Char, I'll leave the counter to you for now. I have to lecture Calvin about the preservation of perishable goods..."

"Give us a minute or two, okay? We'll be back!" Ashlynn waved in Charlotte's direction and the latter nodded her head with a sweet smile on her face.

"Just what the hell is wrong with you, Ashlynn?"

Calvin's collar was being held by Ashlynn as she pushed him onto a wall.

Thud!

A dull thud rang out. The impact was quite strong and Calvin couldn't help but wince in pain.

"Seriously, what are you doing?"

"You..."

Ashlynn glared at Calvin, "Why did your eyes look so guilty earlier when you stared at Char? Could it be that... could it be that you have another girl outside?!" The look on Ashlynn's face was severe and she didn't seem to be joking.

Calvin deduced that if he gave the wrong answer, then he might be summarily executed in this kitchen, and his remains fed to the fishes in the Revoir River.

"No... it's a misunderstanding..." Calvin hurriedly waved his hand. His mind quickly spun as bullshit came out of his mouth, "I was just feeling guilty to Charlotte. She must've suffered a lot when I was missing."

Ashlynn stared at him for a moment before she sighed in relief, "You shouldn't really worry about that anymore, Calvin."

"That girl..."

"She's stronger than you think."

Ashlynn then turned around and left the kitchen.

"It's not like I don't know that..."

Calvin bitterly smiled as he arranged his collar and returned to the counter.

Charlotte was still as busy as always, while the young lass Cecilia was taking a break on a small table behind the counter.

Calvin approached her and he peeked at what she was doing...

"Cecilia! You're doing that right now?" The young lass was holding a quill pen in her right hand and was currently filling in the blanks.

Up above the piece of yellowish paper were the words, "Arithmetic in Daily Life".

"Ah! Daddy... You scared me!"

Cecilia was apparently absorbed in what she was doing as she was jolted awake from her trance by Calvin's words.

"Wow, you've progressed so far, young lass!" Calvin rubbed the crown of her head.

"Hehehe, let me show you this, Daddy!" Cecilia looked proud as she pointed at the piece of paper with her quill, "Mommy was teaching me percentages last night and I discovered a trick on how to do it!"

[x% of y = y% of x]

"What is that, Cecilia?" Calvin was intrigued.

"Daddy, daddy!"

"This is how it works!"

"Mommy asked me last night about what is the 4% of 75..."

"I was really confused and I didn't get to answer it since Mommy didn't let me use paper and pen."

"But when I was trying to sleep last night. I suddenly thought—what if I flip the percentages and find the 75% of 4 instead?"

"Ah!" Calvin exclaimed in shock.

"See!" Cecilia looked so excited and proud that she was practically bouncing up and down.

Calvin stared at the young lass with widened eyes as if he was looking at a genius. It has to be known that even though the formula she just used was commonplace on Earth.

Most people in Las Felipinas didn't even know how to read nor write.

This was why Calvin thought that she had done a remarkable feat, enough for her to be considered as a child genius.

"Wow... Cecilia, you're a genius!"

Calvin carried Cecilia onto his shoulder and the young lass laughed.

"Daddy, you better give me some rewards, hmmph!" Cecilia teased.

Charlotte noticed the commotion and she stared at the scene in shock, "Calvin?"

"It's fine, this young lass isn't that heavy at all." Calvin snickered.

Charlotte didn't know what to say but a sweet feeling started to surface in her heart.

"Wheeew~" Someone whistled from upstairs. It was Ashlynn who couldn't help but tease, "It's still so early in the morning, yet the family's already showing some public display of affection, eh? What about us singles? Are you trying to universally mock us for being single dogs?"

"Hey, shut up, Ashlynn!" Calvin glared at Ashlynn.

"Yeah, that's right, Calvin! If you are going to flirt with your family, bring it outside! I'm trying to drink a cup of coffee in peace here!"

A frequent customer also took advantage of this opportunity to cajole.

"All right, fine. Shut up now, okay?" Calvin swept his gaze across the rowdy customers, "Say one more thing and I'll make sure to remove the buy two get one more cup of coffee promo!"

"I-I want to apologize..."

The man who cajoled quickly apologized, eliciting a wave of laughter from the other customers.

With laughter from here and there, the scene became picturesquely beautiful for Calvin.

Back then, didn't he also wish for peaceful times like this?

But it's not like Calvin didn't want that to happen anymore on the current timeline.

It was just that... the status quo needed to be changed first.

Calvin had to annihilate the invaders, or he must do something that would prevent them from going into the world of Las Felipinas. Until Calvin had done all of his duties, he knew that he couldn't rest and indulge himself in scenes like this.

But...

Why does it feel so good?

Why does it feel so good to be surrounded by people whom you liked and also loved you?

Calvin shook his head.

Looking at Cecilia, he said, "Since my daughter here has done so well in her studies. It's about time that she gets her reward..."

"Oooh!" Cecilia clapped her small hands together and replied, "Daddy! Daddy! What's my reward going to be?"

"Let's see..." Calvin thought for a while.

But his thinking bore no fruit, for he truly had no idea where to bring a child to have fun in Ashmelion.

If Cecilia was a middle-aged man, then he knew just where the two of them could have fun.

But Cecilia was only a six-year-old girl, so Calvin found himself unable to think of any answer as to where he could bring the young lass for fun. Now that he was thinking about it, was there even a child-friendly place in Ashmelion? In this City that Never Sleeps?

Calvin made a sidelong glance at Charlotte. A smile quickly spread on his face. 

He found his scapegoat.

"Wife, would you like to go out today and have some fun?" Calvin said these words with a kind-natured smile on his face, but Charlotte abruptly froze when she heard what he had said. 

"You... Calvin! What are you doing saying those things so early in the morning and with so many people around us!" Charlotte hurriedly rushed over to Calvin's side and pinched his waist.

"Ah! Ah! AAAH! What did I do?!" The pain that washed over Calvin's body came so suddenly that he couldn't help but shout.

Ashlynn and Bruce laughed upstairs as they observed the two from the loft.

Ron Samuel also had a smile on his face while James Branzuela shook his head, "What a farce." 

The former heard what he said and Ron Samuel couldn't help but ask, "Are you jealous of them, James?"

"C-C-Captain?!" James Branzuela was startled by Ron Samuel's words that he couldn't help but take a step back. 

"Hahaha, nevermind." Ron Samuel chuckled and he couldn't help but glance at Ashlynn. 

It probably never crossed Ashlynn's mind before but Ron Samuel wasn't as dense as she had thought.

The former knew that Ashlynn liked him. 

But he also knew that James Branzuela had some feelings for the rowdy and boisterous Ashlynn.

Letting out a sigh, Ron Samuel muttered to himself.

"What a pain..."