Chapter 1 The Morning in the Royal Capital of Ikrit

In the royal capital of Ikrit, the morning air was filled with a faint blue hue, and the air in the city felt especially fresh during this cool autumn season.

East of the Ikrit Academy, two streets over, shops lined the road.

Smoke drifted out of a small restaurant, carrying the aroma of breakfast oatmeal and cheese.

Lanchi stood in front of the shop's entrance with a slightly puzzled expression, looking up at the typical two-story wooden building. A sign hung above the entrance, engraved with the words "Cat Boss Restaurant."

Although the entire structure was made of slightly rustic brown wood, its style and decorations were full of old Victorian charm. The large roof curved elegantly, with eaves extending far beyond the walls, giving a spacious feel. The space under the eaves formed a balcony where people could relax, chat, or even dine. A string of wind chimes hung from the deep eaves, tinkling melodically whenever a breeze passed.

This was the new address Talia had given Lanchi.

Apparently, while it was a restaurant, the second floor was also rented out as a hostel.

Renting here long-term shouldn't be too expensive. More importantly, Lanchi believed that the food here must be very special and delicious to be favored by the gourmet detector, Talia.

As soon as Lanchi pushed open the door, a "ding-a-ling~ ding-a-ling~" sound rang out, and the restaurant's exquisite pavilions and terraces came into view. The simple layout divided the tables and chairs on the first floor into several areas. Besides the counter at the entrance, there was an entrance to the kitchen or the second floor.

It seemed that this restaurant didn't specialize in breakfast, so there weren't many customers at this time. Even the shop assistant behind the counter had to double as a waitress to deliver food.

"Hello, I'm looking for Miss Tata who lives here."

Lanchi waited leisurely at the counter for a while until the waitress who had been delivering food returned behind the counter before asking.

"Miss Tata… I'm sorry, I just started working at this restaurant recently, and I'm not very familiar with the residents who live here."

The waitress looked slightly puzzled, then apologized and explained to Lanchi.

She looked very young, probably the same age as him, working here part-time.

"If you can describe her features, although I can't tell you which room the guest is staying in, I can go upstairs and look for her for you."

The waitress said kindly.

She felt that Lanchi didn't seem like a bad person; he looked like a very kind and gentle young man.

"Uh, she's very beautiful, 168 centimeters tall, looks about 20 to 25 years old, gray hair, golden eyes, ideal healthy figure, never had children, speaks very little, and never smiles."

Lanchi began to vividly describe Talia's characteristics.

Last time in his hometown of South Wantina, he failed to successfully describe Talia to the steward in words. Since then, Lanchi had been thinking about how to describe her in as much detail and as perfectly as possible through written information.

Before Lanchi could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a chill down his back for some reason.

Soon, an icy hand landed on his shoulder.

Behind him seemed to be a pair of cold golden eyes of an absolute superior, emitting terrifying magical power that oppressed his whole body.

The waitress seemed to feel the temperature in the entire restaurant drop by two degrees. She rubbed her shoulders, shivering slightly.

"Are you talking about the lady behind you?"

She raised her hand slightly hesitantly, pointed to Lanchi's side, and asked cautiously.

“…Probably.”

Lanchi kept the same smile and slowly turned his head.

Only his head could move; his body was as if it was being pressed down by a mountain and he couldn't move at all.

Lanchi saw Talia standing behind him.

Her slender hand looked like it could crush his shoulder at any moment, while the other hand was holding a box of Ikrit sea salt flavored cheese crackers.

These crackers tended to sell out early every morning, so people in the royal capital had to get up early to queue up to buy them.

"Good morning, Teacher Tata."

Seeing that Talia's appetite was as good as ever, Lanchi was relieved.

It seemed that she had a good time during the two days he was away.

He was just a little worried that she would gain weight.

After all, she was so old and had such a bad personality. If she also gained weight, it would be even harder for her to marry.

"Come with me."

Talia slowly released her hand, her voice devoid of emotion.

But every word carried killing intent.

Next, Lanchi thanked the waitress and didn't dare to say another word, obediently following Talia up the creaking wooden stairs to the second floor.

They walked to the deepest part of the hallway. Talia took out a key from her pocket and opened the door to her new residence.

"Go in."

Talia said coldly.

Lanchi naturally didn't dare to hesitate and quickly stepped into the room.

"Tata, your taste is not bad…"

He looked around the small room and couldn't help but exclaim.

The ceiling was made of wooden boards and sloping beams, with a glass skylight, creating a terrace-like feeling where one could look up at the stars at night.

The walls were painted in a soft blend of cream, light orange, and beige, warm and bright. The wooden furniture had been carefully polished by the owner of this restaurant, giving it a natural texture.

Talia ignored Lanchi, walked past him, and sat down on the only wooden armchair in the living room.

Lanchi looked at the small coffee table next to the armchair and the few newspapers and magazines placed on it. He could roughly imagine what Talia's retirement life would be like at home.

As Lanchi was thinking, Talia's gaze turned to him again.

Although Talia had no evidence, she now had a strong intuition that Lanchi was always thinking about particularly despicable things in his heart.

Driven by curiosity and excitement, her talent magic gave her increasingly strong feedback. At least she was now certain that every time Lanchi was with her, his mental activity was unusually active.

Besides rebuilding her kingdom, the only thing Talia wanted to do right now was to break through her talent magic from lie detection to mind reading as soon as possible to see what Lanchi was thinking in his heart.

"What did you come to see me for?"

Talia asked with a cold expression.

She had actually wanted to go to Lanchi to inquire about the events in the Demon Realm shadow world two days ago.

But whenever she thought about the possibility that Lanchi might be smiling on the surface every day while thinking about things that deserved to be damned in his heart, she felt furious.

So she hadn't decided when to contact him yet and simply waited for him to come to her.

She didn't expect Lanchi to take the initiative to come so quickly.

It seemed that this human was more dependent on her than she had imagined.

But as expected.

Seeing him made her feel bad again.

(End of Chapter)