Evening settled over the city of Ikerite, a mantle of twilight that painted every inch of the royal capital in a lustrous, pearl-like sheen.
Less than a kilometer east of Ikerite Academy, the Boss Cat Restaurant was already doing brisk business at the dinner hour, fragrant plumes of kitchen smoke and dinner aromas curling into the air from its roof.
Beneath the glow of the streetlamps lining the avenue, the antique wooden cottage looked all the more mysterious in the night, while the light pouring through its windows felt warm and cheerful.
Whenever a guest came or went, the wind chimes above the door rang out with a pleasant jingle alongside the swing of the door, as if bidding welcome and farewell to every patron.
Passing through the restaurant entrance, a bustling scene greeted the eye.
The tables and chairs on the first floor were nearly packed to capacity. Clinking glasses, smiles, whispered banter, and bursts of laughter filled the room.
The waitress was spinning about like a top-rat, giving her all to bring out piping-hot dishes. Seeing Lanqi and Hyperion push through the door, she called out hurriedly:
"Guests, please take a look at the menu first! I'll be right with you!"
Hyperion smiled and waved her hand, signaling that the waitress did not need to mind them.
They had already eaten dinner; they had come here looking for someone.
Lanqi, thoroughly familiar with the place, walked straight toward the stairs leading up to the second floor.
Then something caught the corner of his eye.
He turned his head and saw Talia standing behind the counter, serving as the shop's poster girl.
Her hair was styled in youthful braids, and over a pure white dress she wore an apron. She looked gentle, sensible, and lovely—not a single thing about her would ever lead anyone to suspect she belonged to the demon race.
Lanqi froze in disbelief. He had never even drawn Talia like this.
Did a Demon King really need to work a part-time job?
And why did it seem like she had blended perfectly into life in the royal capital? It felt just like how he had naturally integrated into Purgatory Corridor Academy, causing no discord whatsoever among the surrounding other races.
Just like that, Lanqi stared at Talia.
Talia stared back at Lanqi.
Neither spoke a word.
The silence was terrifying.
Talia's face, which had held a trace of warmth just moments before, instantly clouded over with frost.
Evidently, she had not expected Lanqi to show up at this hour.
Lanqi usually came in the morning or afternoon to study card making with her and returned before nightfall.
Hyperion, who had been taking in the surroundings after entering the shop and waiting for Lanqi to lead the way, noticed him staring at the counter and followed his gaze.
There behind the counter stood a Poet of Great Love.
"Why is Lanfu out?" Hyperion murmured in surprise, caught off guard.
"Lanfu?"
Hearing the name, Talia frowned slightly, shifting her gaze from Lanqi to the girl standing behind him.
A flicker of surprise and emotion flashed across her golden eyes.
Then Talia seemed to understand.
Her niece had clearly mistaken her for the Poet of Great Love at first glance.
It was all the fault of that damned boy, who had modeled the Poet of Great Love after her own likeness!
Talia fixed Lanqi with a piercing glare once more.
This historical grievance was something she would settle with him sooner or later.
Lanqi did not dare look Talia in the eye any longer and averted his gaze.
Hyperion glanced back and forth between them. Sensing the unnatural tension, she realized she had probably said the wrong thing.
Then she caught what was amiss.
The Poet of Great Love had blue eyes.
The lady before her had golden eyes.
Their demeanors were completely different too—the Poet of Great Love would never act so cold and distant toward Lanqi.
"Ahem. This is my teacher, Miss Tata," Lanqi said, introducing her to Hyperion while dodging Talia's death glare.
Things were clearly off to a bad start today.
"Hello, Miss Tata," Hyperion said, greeting Talia as respectfully as she could.
She did her best to conceal the stormy waves surging in her heart. She had thought Tata merely resembled the Poet of Great Love, but they were identical!
"..."
Talia remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.
Lanqi grew a little tense.
Talia's mood could usually be deduced from her very first response. If she gave Hyperion the cold shoulder, there would likely be no talking to her afterward.
Yet to his surprise...
Talia nodded slightly to Hyperion and surveyed the restaurant. It was peak dinner hour, and standing in the walkway to chat was hardly ideal.
She produced a key from her apron pocket and handed it to Lanqi.
"Take her upstairs first. Once I finish watching the shop for Boss Cat a little longer, I'll come up to join you,"
Talia said in a gentle voice.
"O-oh!"
Lanqi took the key, somewhat dazed.
Had the sun risen in the west? Why was this old hag so gentle today?
Could this really be the Poet of Great Love in disguise?!
***
It was past seven o'clock when the crowd began to thin out and the waitress was no longer running about as frantically as before.
Talia remained behind the counter, expressionless.
To her, an hour passed in the blink of an eye; even a few months or a few years were fleeting.
While Talia was still diligently attending to her post...
"Tata, thank you, meow."
A cute little black cat hopped out from the kitchen onto the counter, speaking to Talia in a tender, youthful voice.
Surrounding patrons showed no surprise whatsoever at the fact that the cat could talk.
"It was nothing."
Talia untied her apron and folded it into the cabinet.
The patrons all assumed this black cat was a mage skilled in transmutation magic, but Talia alone could tell that its true form was simply a cat of an elven species.
Though inherently frail—to the point where it might not best a savage Tier 3 or Tier 4 magic beast even at Tier 7—it possessed an exceptionally long lifespan.
Even she could not tell how long this elven cat had lived to have stubbornly turtled its way all the way to Tier 7.
Because Boss Cat always made special late-night snacks for her, she would lend a hand whenever the shop was short on help.
"Did that boy come looking for you again?" the little black cat asked.
Although it spent most of its time in the kitchen, it knew a dark-haired, green-eyed boy often came to visit Tata.
Since last month, his visits had become remarkably frequent, and every time, he would stay in Tata's room for hours.
It was intensely curious about the relationship between the seemingly frost-cold Tata and that refined, gentle boy.
It had initially planned to observe for a while longer.
It had not expected the boy to bring an equally lovely girl with him this time, which piqued its curiosity beyond containment.
"We are merely acquaintances, nothing more," Talia said, devoid of emotion.
The relationship between her and Lanqi was purely one of employment.
Along with ensuring his safety and urging him to pay his debts until he cleared them all.
Furthermore, he occasionally brought about pleasant surprises that suited her wishes.
For instance, Hyperion, whom she had long wanted to meet—before she could even find a suitable pretext or opportunity to drop a hint to Lanqi, he had unexpectedly brought Hyperion right before her eyes.
"Don't you find him to be a special person?" the little black cat probed.
It had always felt that the connection between Tata and this boy went far beyond the ordinary.
Tata never socialized with anyone else, yet she spent prolonged periods in this boy's company alone.
"What do you mean by 'special'?"
Even after wandering human realms for so many years, there were still many human emotions Talia failed to grasp.
She knew that the "special" Boss Cat spoke of was not the literal sense of being unusual, but rather tied to the human notions of "partnership" or "love."
She had always wanted an answer, so she chose to consult Boss Cat.
Having lived for so long and getting along so well with humans, it was bound to understand them thoroughly.
"It means he can always make you happy. Without realizing it, you gradually find you can't do without him. You start caring about and feeling curious about his thoughts, and your usually calm self easily experiences emotional swings because of him."
The little black cat flicked its paw. Hearing a call from the kitchen, it hurriedly hopped down from the counter and looked back at Tata.
It had to get back to work in the kitchen.
"..."
Talia frowned in deep thought.
It seemed as though every single point Boss Cat mentioned was spot on—accurate to a fault.
Yet she still could not understand.
Where on earth had things gone wrong?
Chapter 179