Wayne turned around. Tess was standing at the doorway, a conflicted expression twisting her features.
She was trying her best to appear calm, but that very effort was written all over her face.
Wayne waved at her. "Let's go, Tess. We didn't eat well for lunch, so I'll buy you something delicious for dinner!"
Tess nodded and forced a cheerful expression. "Okay, okay! Thanks, Boss."
Deep down, she was incredibly grateful to Wayne. When Bowles had bullied her before, Wayne had stepped in without hesitation to protect her. Later, when Bowles tried to humiliate her, it was Wayne who, in front of everyone, had her throw gold coins at those sycophantic bodyguards.
Ever since she had been forced onto that ship leaving her homeland, living under someone else's roof and following strict rules had become her daily reality. This was the first time she had been able to release her long-suppressed emotions so freely in public.
Wayne told her to wait while he went over to the Lion's Pride Inn himself. He bought a variety of foods, ranging from full meals to snacks, and walked back out carrying a large box.
The people in the inn clapped and cheered when they saw him. After the Hogger incident, this afternoon's events further convinced everyone that this young man was anything but ordinary. Moreover, the fact that the powerful figure who had slapped a Duke so casually had stopped to chat and become friends with Wayne made people look at him with even more respect.
In Wayne's internal terms, his reputation in Goldshire had risen from "Revered" to "Exalted," and he seemed not far off from "Idolized."
"Let them play. We'll go inside and eat in peace," Wayne said as he led Tess into his small room.
This was the first time Tess had entered Wayne's room. Looking at the cluttered and messy layout, she pulled up a worn-out chair and sat down.
Wayne: "You must be hungry. Eat up."
Tess nodded, took two bites, and then spoke. "Boss, do you have something you want to say to me?"
Wayne didn't beat around the bush and went straight to his conclusion.
Half of it was based on real-world events, and the other half was based on his knowledge of World of Warcraft from before he crossed over.
Threatened by internal strife and external enemies, this kingdom—Gilneas—had used many methods to preserve itself. This included building a massive Great Wall to isolate the entire nation from the world, withdrawing from the Alliance to avoid the conflicts between the Horde and the Scourge, and even using the thousand-year-sealed "blessing" of the Worgen to enhance the combat strength of its soldiers.
Until that "blessing" spiraled completely out of control, becoming an indelible curse.
Whenever the sun set and the moon rose, they would transform into Worgen, wielding their claws against their loved ones and compatriots. When they turned back into humans the next day, they would look at the bloodstained ground, having no memory of what had transpired.
Most of those who turned into Worgen had their minds corrupted by the beastly madness, eventually becoming bloodthirsty monsters. Only a small fraction of Worgen, with the help of Night Elf Priestesses, mastered the method of maintaining their humanity while in Worgen form.
Tess was one of the very few who had escaped this terrible curse, partly because she was too young and partly because she was a protected member of the royal family.
Her mother, Queen Mia, had also been spared.
To protect the two of them, her father, the King, had tried to send them by ship to the distant Night Elf capital of Darnassus. However, during a stopover in Stormwind, they encountered a shipwreck for unknown reasons. Fortunately, Tess was rescued.
Of course, this shipwreck hadn't happened recently as Tess had claimed; it had happened several months ago, at the beginning of the year, just as Dughan had discovered.
However, for some reason, the secret was kept.
Amidst the political tug-of-war, King Varian mysteriously disappeared, and a Regent took power. It was highly likely that the Countess was planning to use Tess as a hostage to blackmail Gilneas into sending troops.
Thus, while Queen Mia was protected by Night Elf ambassadors, Mathias Shaw—as Varian's absolute confidant and the head of the intelligence agency SI:7—took it upon himself to hide the young princess.
Fortunately, under King Varian's prior top-secret arrangements, very few people knew the truth or had ever seen Tess in person.
Wayne couldn't know the exact details of that part.
But Mathias, holding such a high-profile position, was too much of a target. Or rather, after Queen Mia safely departed, those targeting Tess pressured Mathias to hand her over. With the army forbidden from marching, Mathias couldn't even mobilize a ship to send Tess away.
Coincidentally, Wayne's net cafe became famous at that time. This led several Rogues planted nearby by SI:7, such as Korin and others, to scout the net cafe over several nights, only to suffer at Wayne's hands.
Mathias decided to go all in. He personally led his confidants to test Wayne's strength in actual combat. As a Master-level Rogue and a top-tier expert, he found himself evenly matched with the obscure "Wayne."
Therefore, they took a calculated risk, treating the most dangerous place—where people came and went constantly—as the safest hiding spot. As Dughan believed, how could the Kingdom of Gilneas, ten thousand miles away, possibly put their princess in a shabby little shop?
Of course, as the head of Stormwind's intelligence agency, he wouldn't just abandon Tess. Perhaps in the inn or elsewhere, senior agents were monitoring every move of the net cafe day and night. If Tess encountered any danger, these agents would intervene immediately.
Wayne didn't name the people he suspected were agents, as he had no concrete evidence, and they weren't enemies.
To make the plan work, Mathias had even altered the intelligence reports from his agents, erasing all mentions of Wayne using magic. This happened to align perfectly with the reports from Willem and others regarding the Gnoll invasion of Goldshire, leading those who might have been suspicious to believe Wayne was just a reckless youth who had stumbled his way into defeating Hogger.
As for the old King's personal arrival today, Wayne didn't know what he had done before coming to Goldshire or if anything had happened between him and the Regent, Bolvar. But one thing was certain: the old King must have hidden his movements from everyone in Stormwind Keep. He wouldn't easily expose everything Mathias had meticulously arranged.
Listening to Wayne's analysis, Tess had long since put down her food.