Amy was looking Mag with a rather urgent expression. How could he have said something like that? What if Irina became displeased with him?Irina wore an amused smile on her face upon hearing Mag"s response, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes.
Mag could sense a frosty aura surging toward him, and he was struck by the urge to slap himself across the face. How could he have allowed himself to fall into such an obvious trap. He forced a smile onto his face, and said, "What I meant was, I"m not displeased with you, Princess; I"m naturally very honored that someone of your status would treat Amy so well. I"m simply displeased with myself. I have to trouble a princess like you to hold Amy for me while a man like me is carrying Ugly Duckling."
"Is that really the case?" Irina looked into Mag"s eyes.
"Of course." Mag nodded with a firm and resolute expression.
Alex never lied to me in the past. I feel like he"s changed a little, but he shouldn"t be lying to me. With that in mind, Irina withdrew her gaze, and continued onward with Amy in her arms as she said, "I"m hungry; let"s go eat."
"Phew…" Mag heaved a faint sight of relief, feeling as if he had just dodged a bullet.
"Go, Father!" Amy mouthed at Mag silently as she clenched her little fist to cheer him on.
Mag nodded as he composed himself before striding forward with Ugly Duckling in his arms. He had to uphold his image as a courageous father in Amy"s heart, so he couldn"t back down no matter what!
After pa.s.sing through an alleyway, the three of them were greeted by the side of a wide and bustling street.
There were two- and three-story-tall western-style buildings lining the entire streets, mostly grayish-yellow in color. All of them had round dome roofs, and consisted of clean and simplistic lines.
There was a series of small stalls lining the street, and chefs from all over the continent were showing off their cooking skills. This was a very lively crowded street.
The aromas of all types of delicious foods could be detected in the air, making it feel as if one were wading through a river of delicious cuisine.
This street is not inferior to the commercial food streets in modern times. Mag couldn"t help but praise it internally as he looked at the dense crowd making their way along the street.
However, there was a clear disparity between the customers who were visiting the small streetside stalls and the customers dining at the restaurants.
The former wore rather simple and crude attire, suggesting that they were most likely normal citizens, while those who fell in the latter category were dressed in much more lavish attire, and used horse-drawn carriages as transportation devices rather than traveling on foot.
The prices of the dishes at the restaurants dictated its targeted demographic, so Mag didn"t think too much of this. After all, it would be a lot more expensive to enjoy a meal at Mamy Restaurant compared to purchasing some food from a street vendor.
However, this was the case throughout almost the entire street, and there were even restaurants with bold signs prohibiting the entry of normal citizens. That observation brought a frown to Mag"s face.
The Roth Empire"s political system was similar to that of medieval England. However, the king of the Roth Empire had established a centralization policy after founding the empire, giving the n.o.bles usage rights over their territory, but not owners.h.i.+p rights. This was a system that was similar to the one employed by China during the Sui and Tang dynasties.
In doing so, the king held absolute power over the entire empire, and could ensure that his policies and orders were carried out to perfection.
However, there was also a major flaw to this system: even though n.o.bles didn"t have owners.h.i.+p rights over their territories, they were still upper-cla.s.s citizens of the empire, thereby possessing many special privileges that completely set them apart from commoners.
The bold signs on those restaurants prohibiting the entry of common citizens were only the smallest tip of the iceberg. In the eyes of the n.o.bles, common citizens were inferior beings whom they could do with as they pleased.
I should rip off those signs and ram them in the faces of the owners of those restaurants! Mag looked at one such sign that was plastered in front of a restaurant by the name of Cary"s Rotisserie, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.
Compared to this city, he much preferred Chaos City. At the very least, there was hope for equality there one day.
"What should we eat?" Irina asked in an offhand manner.
"I think…" Mag withdrew his gaze as he began to look around with a contemplative expression.
"Let"s go to this rotisserie." Irina strode over to Cary"s Rotisserie with Amy in her arms.
"…" Mag looked on with a rather speechless expression. It turned out that she had only been asking a rhetorical question. He hurriedly followed along behind her, but he pointed at the sign on the door of the rotisserie as he shrugged, and said, "I"m just a normal citizen, not a n.o.ble."
"I really hate this differentiation, but as long as you"re with me, I"ll make sure that you"re treated like n.o.bility," Irina replied confidently.
Is this… what it feels like to be a sugar baby? Mag"s eyes widened.
He repressed the urge to go along with Irina"s arrangements as he shook his head, and said, "I have no intention of becoming n.o.bility. The prices I charge at my restaurant are most likely higher than the ones being charged by this rotisserie, but I"ve never set any restrictions on who can dine at my restaurant."
"Rip."
After looking at Mag for a while, Irina tore the sign of the door and tossed it aside. "How about now?"
I"m feeling a little too flattered… Mag looked at the sign on the ground, then at the calm expression on Irina"s face, and he was temporarily at a loss for words.
Irina"s actions naturally attracted a lot of attention from the pa.s.sersby on the streets.
The beautiful and regal Irina was absolutely stunning while the half-elf little girl in her arms was incredibly adorable. The two of them made the perfect duo, and the onlookers were simply unable to look away.
Everyone then turned their attention to Mag, who was holding Ugly Duckling in his arms, and their expressions immediately darkened.
"What a lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d! He"s a man, yet he"s holding a kitten; spineless pretty boy!"
"Look at how gorgeous that little girl is! If it weren"t for his beautiful wife, how could he possibly have such an adorable daughter?"
"She"s way out of his league! She must be as blind as she"s beautiful!"
Mag was struck by an indescribable sense of satisfaction upon hearing those jealous words. These people were just like the pathetic keyboard warriors of the present generation, insulting celebrities and people who were more successful than them by typing up one jealous comment after another.
The more these people resented him, the more satisfied he felt. He loved seeing them grit their teeth in fury, unable to do anything to him.
Luck was not an attainable skill, so no matter how jealous they were, they could only concede that they weren"t as lucky as him.
Right at this moment, a brawny man holding a large meat cleaver rushed out of the restaurant as he roared, "Who dares to rip the sign off my rotisserie?"