NOVPUBIn the old cafe in the north district of Ichrite, a line of cats walked by on the ground.
Juliana glanced sideways at these cats dressed in red military uniforms, wondering why they seemed to be on patrol—perhaps this was a characteristic of the Ichrite cafe.
"Juliana, in the two weeks you’ve stayed in Ichrite... I have actually wanted to have dinner with you every day. Would you mind meeting me like this every day?"
Loren’s gentle voice reached her, making Juliana look up at him again.
"This..."
Inside, Juliana was quite thrilled, her heart beating faster.
But she was also a bit scared.
She was thinking about dating Loren, but Loren emphasized eating together. Was he deliberately maintaining a sense of boundary with her?
[He obviously likes you. If he didn’t, why would he want to eat with you every day?]
As if sensing Juliana’s anxious heartbeat and breathing, the Love Assistant Miss’s voice came through.
Really?
Juliana was completely at a loss.
[Unless I really like someone, I wouldn’t want to have dinner with them every day. Think about it—if you eat with someone you dislike, even the most delicious food won’t taste that good. But if you eat with someone you like, your appetite will also get better.]
After hearing the Love Assistant Miss’s analysis, Juliana thought about it carefully.
It did make sense.
[Accept his invitation and just have dinner with him.]
...
The two sitting by the low table, each on a sofa, fell into a brief silence.
"I’ve heard you’ve been busy with work recently... But if you have free time after work, then of course I would like to eat dinner with you every day."
Juliana spoke slowly.
And then she regretted it.
What she really wanted to say was, "Then of course I’d be willing to see you every day."
But such blush-inducing words, like being stuck in her throat, couldn’t come out.
Then she searched her mind for words and noticed they were all about "eating," a phrase that the Love Assistant Miss often mentioned and that was nearly dominating her brain, and that was what she ended up saying!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the low table.
[See, didn’t I tell you? She just wants to eat with you.]
The voice of the Love Guru sounded in Loren’s ear.
Loren nodded slightly, his heart relieved.
He had almost become an overstepping suitor.
Although Juliana had agreed to go out with him, it was under the premise of normal social interaction like friends.
A judgment by a Love Guru, as recommended by Professor Bolao, surely couldn’t be wrong.
Loren was certain that unless greatly disturbed and misled, the Love Guru could not possibly misinterpret a girl’s thoughts.
[Don’t worry. With a girl like this, if she were to eat with someone she dislikes, even the finest food wouldn’t taste very good to her. But if she eats with someone she likes, her appetite will improve accordingly. So as it stands, she already considers you to be a quite close person.]
After this analysis by the Guru, Loren felt that things weren’t so bad afterall.
But how should he interact with a girl like this?
And, with the Guru’s words... why did it feel more like raising an animal than dating a girl?
[Feed her well every day, and naturally, you’ll become even closer. Just as they say, loving someone is like raising a pig—don’t you find it satisfying to see her happily eating and feeling content with her meals? If one day you can feed her until she’s plump, you’ll feel that your life is quite fulfilled...]
The Love Guru, as if recalling past experiences, spoke in a quite tender tone.
Loren listened intently while trying to remember the teachings of the Love Guru, finding them to make a lot of sense.
The instructor taught, and he learned.
At least, up to this point in the date, Miss Juliana seemed quite satisfied.
...
Across the corner from the cafe outside, at the open-air seating of a spacious restaurant, a gentleman occupied his own little world, his table spread with a Magic Device for work and several scattered documents, seemingly immersed in an ocean of tasks.
He wore a black flat cap and a simple dark-colored shirt paired with casual work pants, which couldn’t hide his naturally handsome features.
Beside him, a little black cat as dark as night lay leisurely on a chair, occasionally lazily eyeing the passers-by or stretching elegantly, its eyes twinkling with curiosity about the surrounding world.
Lanci sometimes talked to himself with a Magic Conduit Earpiece on, and at other times, he gently stroked the little black cat’s head.
As everyone knows, the highest realm of tracking is to make the target follow you around.
Since Lanci orchestrated Loren’s schedule, he would always appear one step ahead at Loren’s future locations, acting like any other person going about his own business.
Now, he sat at the outdoor seating, working while keeping an eye on Loren’s activities.
When necessary, he might even change his appearance to personally lend Loren a hand.
"Meow meow meow, how is it going?"
The Cat Boss floated to Lanci’s head, tilting its own in confusion, locking eyes with Lanci.
It had been listening to the conversation between Lanci and Loren all along, daring not to make a sound.
"There’s no big issue, but why do I have this inexplicable sense of déjà vu with the lady…"
Lanci rubbed his chin, frowning slightly at the wooden table, lost in thought.
The date today was simpler than he expected.
And strangely, even though she didn’t seem like a normal person, he always managed to guess her thoughts, as if their brainwaves were in sync. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"Who are you talking about?"
The Cat Boss inquired, moving closer.
"·That·Woman·"
Unwilling to say her name out loud, Lanci wrote down these words in a notebook.
"You need dots for this trivial matter?"
The Cat Boss questioned.
"Are you talking about ·that·one·?"
The Cat Boss used Psychic Power to take Lanci’s pen and wrote on the paper as well.
"Yes."
Lanci nodded.
Although theoretically, Remote Mind-reading was not possible, the night before, he dreamt that Tata could ignore distance to read his thoughts, appearing like a ghost and pinning him down on the spot, while Lanci woke up shouting, "Don’t kill me!"
He had not had such a terrifying dream in a long time.
"No way, meow, how would Tata know Miss Juliana from Arolan Kingdom, and hasn’t Miss Juliana just arrived in Hutton Kingdom a couple of days ago?"
The little black cat jumped on the table and asked Lanci.
"That’s true."
Lanci suddenly smiled, feeling relieved.
Upon reflection, if Tata could teach someone about love, she wouldn’t have been single for hundreds of years.
As everyone knows, dreams are often the opposite of reality.
They could chat freely now; since both Cat Boss Restaurant and Ichrite Academy were located in the eastern district of Ichrite, being all the way in the northern district now, it was unlikely to run into her by chance.
