NOVPUBThe evening darkness in Ichrite City was as if twilight was cloaking the city’s skyline, painting every inch of the royal capital with a color as brilliant as pearls.
Less than a kilometer eastward from Ishrite Academy, you’d find the "Boss Cat Restaurant", already full of business at dinnertime with smoke and fragrance billowing from the roof.
Through the street lights illuminating the streets, the quaint wooden house seemed even more mystical in the night. The light filtering through the wooden house’s windows bestowed a sense of warmth and cheer.
Every time guests entered or exited, the wind chimes on the door would chime along with the door, giving off a pleasing sound, as if welcoming and bidding farewell to each customer.
After walking through the restaurant’s door, a lively scene catches your eye.
The tables and chairs on the first floor were almost full, smiles and sips, whispers and laughter filled the air.
The waitress, busy as a spinning top, serving up steaming hot dishes, calls out to Lanci and Hyperion who had just stepped in:
"Please check out the menu first, customers! I’ll be with you in a moment."
Hyperion shakes his hand with a smile, signaling the waitress not to worry about them.
They had already had dinner. They were here to find someone.
Meanwhile, Lanci, already familiar with the place, proceeds directly to the stairs, ready to go upstairs.
However, something catches the corner of his sight.
He turned his head and noticed Talia behind the counter.
With her hair done up in a somewhat girlish braid and wearing an apron over a pure white dress, she looked sensible, composed and charming, no one would have thought she was a demon.
Lanci was struck dumbfounded, he had never imagined Talia like this before.
Does a Demon King need to work part-time?
And why does she seem to have perfectly blended into life in the royal capital like the way he had naturally assimilated with life in the Purgatory Corridor Academy, without any conflict with the alien cultures surrounding him?
Just like that, Lanci looked at Talia.
And Talia looked back at Lanci.
Without uttering a word.
The air was suffocatingly silent.
Talia, who had been appearing even more gentle moments ago, suddenly had a frosty look in her eyes.
Clearly, she hadn’t anticipated Lanci visiting at this timing.
Lanci usually came to learn card production in the morning or afternoon and would be gone by evening.
Hyperion who had just been looking around and was waiting for Lanci to lead the way, noticed Lanci looking at the counter and followed his gaze.
To her surprise, she saw a Great Love Poet standing behind the counter.
"How did Lan Fu get here?" murmured Hyperion in surprised bewilderment.
"Lan Fu?"
Talia’s brows furrowed slightly when she heard the name, and her gaze shifted from Lanci to Hyperion.
Surprise and emotion swiftly clouded her golden eyes.
Then, as if realizing something, Talia focused her golden gaze solely on Lanci.
Clearly, at first glance, her niece had mistaken her for the Great Love Poet.
All this was to be blamed on the guy who portrayed himself as the Great Love Poet!
Once again, Talia’s gaze fixated on Lanci.
Such historical issues, she would have to resolve with Lanci sooner or later.
Lanci dared not to stare back at Talia anymore and shifted his gaze.
Hyperion, noticing the awkward atmosphere, immediately understood she might have said something wrong.
She noticed the root of the problem.
The Great Love Poet has blue pupils.
But the lady in front of her had golden pupils.
Even their demeanors were entirely different. The Great Love Poet would never be so distant with Lanci.
"Ahem, this is my teacher, Miss Tata," Lanci, avoiding Talia’s piercing gaze, introduced to Hyperion.
Today seemed to be getting off on the wrong foot.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Tata," greeted Hyperion as respectfully as she could.
She was desperately hiding her shock, she thought Miss Tata and the Great Love Poet looked similar, but she never imagined they’d look identical!
"..."
Talia remained silent,
as if pondering something.
Lanci was slightly nervous.
He could guess her mood from Talia’s first response.
If she ignored Hyperion completely, it’s likely there would be no further discussion.
However.
Talia nodded slightly towards Hyperion, surveyed the restaurant. It was dinner time and gathering to chat in the aisle was not very appropriate.
She took out a key from her apron pocket and handed it to Lanci.
"Take her upstairs first, I’ll come up after watching the store for the Cat boss a little longer."
Talia said in a gentle voice.
"Oh... Oh!"
Lanci was slightly stunned as he took the key.
The sun was rising in the west. Why was this old woman so gentle today?
Could it be impersonated by the Great Love Poet?!
...
Until after seven o’clock.
Some customers had left the store, and the serving Miss is no longer as busy as before.
Talia was still expressionless behind the counter.
For her, an hour was just a blink of an eye, and a few months or years were also short.
Just when Talia was still in serious work.
"Tata, thank you, Meow."
A cute Little Black Cat kicked out from the back kitchen, jumped onto the counter, and spoke to Talia with its young voice.
The customers around didn’t find it strange that a cat could talk.
"It’s okay."
Talia took off her apron and put it back in the cupboard.
The customers all thought that this black cat was a magician who was good at transfiguration, but only Talia could see that its body was just an elf cat.
Although it was very weak by nature and might not be able to fight fierce third or fourth-order magical beasts even at the seven-order level, its life span was very long.
She couldn’t figure out how long this elf cat had lived, and it managed to grind up to the seventh order.
Because the Cat boss would always make late-night snacks for her, she would help when the Cat boss was short of staff.
"Did that young man come to look for you again?"
The Little Black Cat asked.
Although it was always staying in the back kitchen, it knew that a young man with black hair and green eyes would always come to find Tata.
And it was becoming particularly frequent since last month, staying in Tata’s room for a long time.
It was very very curious about the relationship between the seemingly frosty Tata and this gentle young man.
It had planned to probe for a period.
But it didn’t expect that this young man actually brought a similarly beautiful and stunning girl again this time.
Its curiosity couldn’t be contained.
"I just know him, nothing more."
Talia’s voice was void of any emotions.
The relationship between her and Lanci was simple employment.
And to protect him and urge him to repay before he paid off his debts.
In addition, he would occasionally bring some good things that she was pleased with.
For example, Hyperion, who she always wanted to see. Before she could find a suitable excuse and opportunity to hint Lanci, he suddenly brought Hyperion to her.
"Didn’t you think he’s a special person?"
The Little Black Cat asked tentatively.
it always felt that the relationship between Tata and this boy was deep.
Tata, who never had interaction with others, could be with this boy for a long time.
"What do you mean by special?"
Even though Talia has been traveling in the Human Kingdom for so many years, there are many human feelings that she still doesn’t understand.
She knew that the "special" the Cat boss talked about was not the literal meaning of "special", but was related to the human concept of "mate" or "love".
She always wanted to get the answer, so she asked the Cat boss for advice.
It had lived for so long, and it got along well with humans, it must understand humans very well.
"He can always make you happy, you will gradually become inseparable from him unknowingly, you will start to be interested and curious about his thoughts, and your originally calm self will easily be upset because of him."
The Little Black Cat waved its paw, hearing the call from the back kitchen, it hurriedly jumped off the counter, and turned to Tata.
It had to go back to the kitchen to be busy.
"..."
Talia frowned in thought.
It seemed that everything the Cat boss said was accurate and couldn’t have been more accurate.
But she was still unable to understand.
Where did the problem lie?
