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352 The Good Food Policy

"When you canceled last night, I thought Isabella might have finally won you over," Scarlet, a redhead in her seventies, smirked.

"No, I just decided against mixing relationships," Evalyn claimed.

"Does that mean you don\'t consider me family like them?" Scarlet mused.

"Do you want me to consider you family? To invite you over for the holidays?" Evalyn playfully countered.

"Oh, God no," Scarlet laughed. "But I\'d like the option to reject you."

"Only you would desire an opportunity to reject someone," Evalyn chuckled.

"Don\'t make it sound so bad," Scarlet rolled her eyes. "For people like us, getting invitations to personal events is a profound gesture, and rejection is an expectation."

Evalyn gripped her cup of black coffee, unable to hide her wry smile.

"People like us?"

Scarlet noticed and smirked, taking a sip of her black coffee. "Is that really so bad?"

The following morning, they sat in Tragg\'s Espresso Bar, an increasingly ironic choice for drinks. They watched the sunrise from the same booth, at the same varnished maple table, and holding the same cups. However, the experience couldn\'t have been more different.

Evalyn silently contemplated before looking up, "I don\'t know."

Scarlet glanced around in amusement. "What\'s there to know?" she laughed. "You own a city, lead thousands of troops, and stand on the forefront of history. And despite your conflicted take on yourself, the most powerful person — potentially in existence — has chosen you as his lover. What more do you want? Happiness?"

Evalyn returned a wry smile, taking a deep breath and gazing at the colorful sky. "No, it\'s just..." she began, conflicted in her thoughts.

"I have always envied Kaze\'s leadership but always thought it would be impossible to be like that. However, Isabella seems to think I could."

"That\'s cute," Scarlet sassed, raising her eyebrows and toasting with her coffee cup.

"Why not?" Evalyn frowned.

"That man is incredible, there\'s no doubt," Scarlet chuckled. "He\'s probably the most ideal man I\'ve ever encountered. But that\'s not because he\'s perfect or a nice guy. No, Emperor Lexicon\'s just as inhumane as we are."

Evalyn narrowed her eyes, warning Scarlet.

"Debase yourself if you want, but don\'t override my compliments, insult me, and then threaten me to do so," Scarlet scoffed.

"Incredible, ideal, and inhumane are three sides of the same coin."

Evalyn\'s eyebrow twitched, feeling the weight of Scarlet\'s logic. "Did you really need to make a nonsensical analogy to express your thought?"

"Nonsensical?" Scarlet smirked. "For a normal coin, it\'s impossible.

But with the fourth dimension — \'time\' — there are three sides. It\'s hard to imagine another explanation."

Evalyn steeled a poker face, remembering what type of woman she was up against.

"Emperor Lexicon was born the way he was, just as you were born the way you are," Scarlet rejoined. "You don\'t have unique personalities created through toxic experiences — you exhibit toxic textbook behavior with unique personalities molded by life experiences. The belief that you could have ended up like Emperor Lexicon if you pretended is like claiming someone with severe depression could\'ve been happy if they pretended to be. It\'s cruel."

Evalyn swallowed, her eyes trembling and pained. "We\'re not that different, Scarlet," she asserted. "We\'re both entitled, lacking empathy, and manipulative beneath the surface. The difference is how we present ourselves; is it strange for me to act that way?"

Scarlet chuckled, shaking her head with a smug smile. "Indeed, you do share those traits," she taunted. "That\'s why he acts as he does to achieve his goals, and you act this way to achieve yours."

The blonde frowned, her gaze filled with mild resentment. "So you\'re saying I want to be like this?"

"Not at all. That\'s what you\'re implying," the woman replied with a patronizing laugh. "Inward entitlement, lack of empathy, and manipulative behavior are hallmark signs of various personality disorders, including antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, and avoidant. Yet you and Isabella seem to think that these vastly different disorders can be interchanged with a simple change of makeup. It\'s insulting."

Evalyn\'s face fell, and she glanced down at her black coffee, feeling her hope deflate. "So that\'s it, then?" she scoffed. "I\'m destined to be this toxic, murderous, femur-breaking ice queen?"

"You\'re incorrigible," Scarlet snorted. "I said you exhibit typical behaviors, but with a unique personality shaped by life experiences.

Yet you only heard what confirmed your beliefs."

Frustrated, the blonde stood up, irritated by the woman\'s condescending attitude.

"Ten percent of the world\'s population has a mental health or personality disorder, but there\'s only one captivating, femur-breaking ice queen fighting for justice," the woman huffed, rolling her eyes. "People with your disorder are typically insufferable, whiny, and meek. You\'re unique - that\'s why I\'ve invested time in unlocking your potential. And whether you admit it or not, everything I\'ve taught you is working."

Evalyn studied the aloof, overbearing woman who had once stood atop the ruined careers of her adversaries. "It\'s precarious to argue with a world-renowned lawyer," she muttered, her eyes tinged with bitterness. "Even when they\'re spouting toxic rhetoric."

"That\'s what all my clients said, too," Scarlet smirked. \'"But they always returned because I never failed to secure their victories, and opposing me was a death wish. Sound familiar?

"You watched Kaze decimate me a few days ago," Evalyn challenged.

"Kaze is adored by his people and resented by the world; you\'re loved by the world and resented by your people. But people respect you both the same," the redhead quipped. "I\'m not so different. My law firm brought significant positive change to millions in this empire, while Emperor Lexicon catered to the privileged few who adore him. Maybe he could be loved by all with immortality and time, but that hasn\'t happened in human history yet."

Evalyn pursed her lips, trying to process the woman\'s words.

"But probably not," Scarlet taunted. "If longevity could bring peace and stability, the Sky Plane wouldn\'t resort to genocide to solve their problems after living thousands of years on a \'higher plane of existence."

With a deep breath, the blonde turned and left the room, the sound of the door closing and bells chiming in her wake.

*****

"Dinner will be ready in fifteen... hey, what\'s the matter?" a man with brown hair and a neatly trimmed, graying beard inquired, his light brown eyes glinted with kindness. Despite witnessing untold horrors, he didn\'t appear to be a survivor of an apocalyptic ordeal.

"What do you mean, Carter?" Evalyn asked, accidentally releasing a ball of compressed air that exploded in a ten-year-old\'s face, causing his cheeks to ripple and his hair to fly back as if he were skydiving in reverse. "Oh, my God! I\'m so sorry, Zach!" she cried.

"T-That..." the kid stammered, his eyes quivering as if traumatized.

"That was fucking awesome!"

"Zachary David Green!" a blonde woman in her fifties scolded, hands on her hips.

Zach swallowed, "Was freaking cool...."

"Ahem!" Elizabeth, his mother, warned.

"Was... cool?" the kid asked, his tone playfully apprehensive, earning a stern glare. However, his mother stomped away, and the affable man burst into laughter.

"Be careful," Carter chuckled. "If you change your ways, you\'ll end up calm and boring like me after your spouse whips—"

"AHEM!" Elizabeth harumphed from the kitchen.

"—up delicious dishes that you can\'t enjoy if you annoy them," he finished with a smirk.

Evalyn giggled, feeling an emotional counterbalance for the first time in days. "Says the cook."

"Well, yeah; if I didn\'t act like that, I wouldn\'t be good at cooking!" he exclaimed, making everyone laugh.

Once the laughter subsided, he smiled at the blonde. "That\'s the Evalyn I love to see," Carter said, his voice gentle and soothing. "You know, Isabella, Scarlet, and your father, uncle, and grandfather spent countless years trying to persuade Liz and me to support their various \'Evalyn policies.\' They always tried to categorize you, but each time they did, Liz and I remembered your genuine smile when you tasted good cooking, and we rejected their proposals."

Tears welled in Evalyn\'s eyes.

"That\'s why our \'Evalyn policy’ is the \'good food policy,\'" Elizabeth called out from the kitchen. "So stop dawdling and get in here! If it weren\'t for a good woman, dinner would\'ve burned!"

Carter offered a wry smile to the emotional blonde. "Well, there you have it," he chuckled. "She may nag a bit and seem hellish at times "AHHHHEEMEGH!" Elizabeth harumphed with lethal ferocity, making Evalyn laugh again.

"—but she\'s improved my life," Carter continued, his tone warm and affectionate. "To me, that\'s what matters most. Now, let\'s eat."

Evalyn flashed a radiant smile before sitting at the dining room table, admiring the dishes of eagle meat, sautéed vegetables, rice, and fish side dishes. The incredible aroma brought back memories of the countless meals she had shared with Carter and Elizabeth while her parents were away on business trips. As the family\'s cook, he had always been there for her, making his cooking feel like home - a real home.

The food moved her to tears as they laughed and joked, just as they used to. It reminded her of a feeling she had lost in recent years — contentment. Even if fleeting, she found solace in sharing a meal with her loved ones. The \'good food policy\' seemed the best approach after all.

Evalyn didn\'t know what it all meant, but it gave her hope. Hope that she and Kaze could achieve something meaningful in this cycle.