Free Web Novel"Welcome, Master. Would you like to order something special today?"
Matt’s voice came out flat, completely emotionless, as he held a small notepad in one hand and a tray in the other.
In front of him, a middle-aged man smiled awkwardly, like he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or apologize.
"Uh… a latte, please."
"Understood, Master."
Matt wrote down the order with a blank expression.
On the outside, he was just another employee at the café, but on the inside…
'I want to die.'
Matt lowered his gaze to his uniform and felt something inside him break for the tenth time that day.
He was wearing a black shirt with white trim, a frilly apron, a little ribbon around his neck, and, for some reason he still couldn’t understand, a pair of fake cat ears clipped to his head.
The uniform wasn’t exactly a maid outfit.
It was worse.
It was a version designed by someone who clearly hated men, human dignity, or both.
'Why does it need lace?' Matt thought as he walked toward the counter. 'Why couldn’t it just be a normal apron? Why the ears? What do the ears add to the coffee?'
Matt placed the order on the counter, where the sound of the espresso machine filled the air.
Pssshhh!
Steam burst out with force, briefly covering the tired face of one of the cooks.
The place was called Sweet Fang Café, though there wasn’t much sweet about it.
The walls were decorated in pink and black, the tables had cloths covered in tiny hearts, and in every corner there were drawings of cats, vampires, and maids smiling like they were trapped in a commercial nightmare.
Matt hated that place.
He hated the soft music that played all day.
He hated having to smile.
He hated calling strangers “Master” and “Mistress.”
But above all…
He hated that it was the only decent job near his house.
But more than anything, the only one that had accepted him.
Matt had tried applying to other places.
Stores.
Restaurants.
A bookstore.
Even a gym, though he wasn’t exactly sure what he had expected to do there.
But they had all rejected him.
All except this maid café.
The manager had looked him up and down, smiled like he’d just found a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk, and said:
"Perfect. You’ve got the face of an exhausted protagonist. That sells."
Matt should have run away right then and there, but he needed money.
And money, unfortunately, had more power than his pride.
"Matt!"
A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Matt turned his head and saw Clara, one of his coworkers, weaving between the tables with a tray full of cups, plates, and desserts.
Clara was a cheerful girl with brown hair tied into two ponytails, and she had an impressive ability to smile even while the world was falling apart.
Either that, or she was insane.
Matt still wasn’t sure.
"Can you take table five’s order after this?" Clara asked in a rush. "I’m a little behind."
"Yeah, sure," Matt replied, with very little enthusiasm.
"Thank you!"
Clara smiled and kept walking, but her foot hit the leg of a chair someone had left sticking out.
"Huh?"
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Clara’s body tilted forward.
The tray shook.
The cups slid.
Time seemed to slow down.
Matt’s eyes opened slightly.
'That idiot...'
Without thinking, Matt moved at incredible speed. He took a quick step toward her, dropped his own tray onto a nearby table, and stretched out his arm just in time.
Tap!
He caught Clara by the waist before she hit the floor.
But the tray she had been carrying wasn’t so lucky.
Crash!
The cups fell.
Clack!
The plates bounced against the floor.
Splash!
Coffee spread across the tiles.
For one second, nobody said anything.
Clara stood frozen, eyes wide, still held by Matt.
Matt looked at the mess on the floor.
Then he looked at Clara.
Then he looked back at the mess.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Clara blinked, as if she had just remembered how to breathe.
"Y-Yeah…" she said, her cheeks a little red. "Thanks, Matt. You saved me."
Matt carefully let go of her and took a step back.
"No problem."
Clara placed a hand on her chest and sighed in relief.
"Seriously, thank you so much. If I’d fallen with all that on me, I definitely would’ve burned myself..."
Matt nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
Clara smiled gratefully. Matt looked once again at the floor covered in coffee, broken ceramic, and spilled cream.
Then he sighed.
"Now we have to clean it." freewёbnoνel.com
Clara’s smile froze.
"Ah… yeah."
Matt grabbed a nearby broom and handed it to her.
"I’ll get the mop."
Clara lowered her head, embarrassed.
"Sorry…"
"Don’t worry about it," Matt said as he walked toward the cleaning closet. "At least you broke the normal cups and not those cat-shaped ones. Those freak me out."
Clara let out a small nervous laugh.
Matt didn’t laugh.
He meant it.
◇◆◇
After that, the day went on like normal.
Or as normal as it could be to work in a maid café where customers ordered desserts with names like “Meow Meow Strawberry Shortcake” or “Dark Coffee of the Vampire Lord.”
"Thank you for visiting, Master. We hope to see you again."
Matt gave a slight bow as a group of customers left the café.
The moment the door closed, his smile disappeared instantly.
'Don’t come back.'
Matt straightened up and let out a sigh.
The clock on the wall seemed to be moving slower than usual.
There were still several hours left before his shift ended.
Matt leaned for a moment near the counter, watching Clara try to decorate a cappuccino with a heart.
The result looked more like a sad potato.
"Looks nice," Matt said.
Clara looked up, hopeful.
"Really?"
"No."
"Hey!"
Matt shrugged.
"But it has personality."
Clara looked down at the cappuccino, doubtful.
"What kind of personality?"
"The kind that asks for help."
Clara puffed out her cheeks, offended, while Matt picked up another order from the counter.
For a moment, everything was fine.
Ridiculous, yes.
Humiliating, also yes.
But normal.
Until the café door opened.
Cling!
The little bell rang softly.
Matt didn’t look right away.
He was too busy placing a cup onto a tray.
But then…
He felt something.
A presence.
Cold.
Heavy.
As if someone had opened a window in the middle of winter, but directly inside his spine.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
His hand froze over the tray.
'No.'
Matt swallowed.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the entrance.
And saw her.
A girl with white hair had entered the café.
Her skin was pale, too perfect, like porcelain under the café’s soft light. She wore an elegant black dress, simple but expensive, and her red eyes calmly scanned the room.
She didn’t look like a normal customer.
She didn’t look at the menu.
She didn’t look curious.
She didn’t look lost.
She looked like someone who already knew exactly where she had come.
Or worse.
Who she had come to find.
Matt felt his heart speed up.
'No, no, no, no, no…'
The girl turned her gaze.
Her red eyes met Matt’s.
Thump!
Matt’s heart slammed hard against his chest.
On the outside, his expression barely changed.
On the inside, he began cursing with admirable intensity.
'Damn it! Why is she here?! How did she find me?! No, better question, why today?! I’m dressed like a servant with cat ears!'
The girl tilted her head ever so slightly.
Matt felt a chill.
He knew her.
Of course he knew her.
And precisely because of that, he had to leave.
Immediately.
"Matt," Clara said from the side, noticing nothing. "Can you take care of the girl who just came in?"
Matt kept staring at the white-haired girl.
She stared back.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
"I can’t," Matt said.
Clara blinked.
"Why?"
Matt picked up an empty tray and held it in front of his chest like a shield.
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"Now?"
"It’s an emergency."
Clara frowned.
"But you just went half an hour ago." freēwebnovel.com
"That was a practice emergency."
"What does that even mean?"
Matt didn’t answer.
He started walking toward the hallway in the back with calm steps, trying not to look suspicious.
'Good. I just have to reach the bathroom. I go in, lock the door, open the window, and get out. Easy.'
Matt kept his back straight.
He didn’t run.
Running would be admitting guilt.
And he wasn’t guilty of anything.
Except running away.
But that didn’t count if nobody caught him.
'The bathroom window faces the alley,' he thought, calculating quickly. 'If I jump out, I can go around the back of the café, cross the avenue, and disappear into the crowd. Then I’ll quit by text. Or better yet, fake my death.'
Matt was only a few steps from the bathroom door.
His hand almost touched the knob.
Then…
"Matt."
The voice sounded behind him.
Soft.
Clear.
Cold.
Impossible to ignore.
Matt froze.
His hand hovered inches from the door.
"Matt," the girl repeated. "What are you doing?"
Matt slowly closed his eyes.
The café went silent.
Or at least, that’s how it felt to him.
The music was still playing.
The customers were still talking.
Clara was still confused.
But for Matt, everything narrowed down to that voice.
To that girl.
Matt lowered his hand from the knob and slowly turned around.
The white-haired girl stood a few yards away from him.
She hadn’t walked fast.
She hadn’t raised her voice.
And yet, she seemed to have caught up to him with the same ease as someone catching a cup before it hit the floor.
Matt stared at her.
She looked him up and down.
Her gaze stopped for one second on the cat ears.
Matt felt what remained of his pride finally die.
"Don’t say anything," he muttered.
The girl blinked.
"I didn’t say anything."
"You thought it."
"Yes."
Matt clenched his teeth.
Clara, who was behind the counter, watched the scene with eyes full of curiosity.
"Matt? Do you know her?"
Matt didn’t take his eyes off the girl.
"Unfortunately."
The white-haired girl didn’t react to the comment.
"What are you doing here?"
The girl took a step toward him. Matt wanted to step back, but doing that in front of his coworkers would be too humiliating.
More humiliating than the uniform.
"I came for you," she replied.
Matt frowned.
"That doesn’t answer my question."
"Yes, it does."
"No, it doesn’t."
The girl held his gaze.
Then she spoke with the same calm as before.
"The vampire queen needs you."
