Ron exited the dimensional space and greeted Nora before heading upstairs to prepare lunch.
Since there was now an extra mouth to feed, he made slightly larger portions today.
Once everything was ready, Ron called for Nora to come up. He soon heard the soft pat-pat of footsteps on the stairs.
As the aroma of food wafted through the air, Nora couldn't help but twitch her nose slightly, and her stomach growled in response.
Even though there hadn't been a single customer all morning, Nora hadn't been idle—she'd cleaned the shop top to bottom. By noon, she was already starving.
She sat down at the dining table, and Ron brought over the last plate before sitting across from her, gesturing that she could begin eating.
The room quickly filled with the clinking of cutlery and the sounds of chewing.
"How old are you?" Ron asked casually after swallowing a bite.
Nora paused mid-chew. With food still in her mouth, she mumbled, "...Sixteen."
"You're two years younger than me," Ron nodded. "Have you always lived in Chaos City?"
Nora swallowed, then shook her head. After a moment of silence, she said,
"When I was little, I lived in the imperial capital of the Human Empire. My mother and I were caught by traffickers. We were sent somewhere near the border… but halfway there, my mom helped me escape. I ran all the way here."
The room fell quiet for a moment.
Noticing Ron's expression, Nora smiled gently and offered comfort:
"It's been seven or eight years. I don't mind talking about it, so don't look so guilty, okay?"
Ron nodded and didn't press the topic.
As for what happened to her mother… the fact that she helped Nora escape spoke volumes. Her fate likely wasn't a good one.
Nora lowered her head and continued eating. Having gone so long without hot meals, she cherished every bite. And lately, she'd eaten several warm meals at Ron's place.
Just the thought that she'd be able to eat like this regularly made the lingering shadow of her past feel a little lighter.
"You can take the hat off," Ron said as he noticed sweat trickling down her forehead. "There's no one else here—you don't have to hide your ears."
Nora felt a bit warm too, so she obediently took off her hat and set it aside.
A pair of soft, shallow-black cat ears perked up, fully exposed to the air—and to Ron's line of sight.
Ron lowered his head and continued eating as if nothing happened, but his eyes couldn't help drifting back to those ears again and again.
Whether it was because she rarely revealed them, or because she sensed his gaze, the cat ears twitched lightly—making it really tempting to reach out and pet them.
Since she had arrived in Chaos City, Nora had never exposed her ears in front of others like this.
To sit here with them fully visible and not flinch—that was a first in many years.
If one looked closely, the inside of her ears had turned slightly pink from embarrassment and tension.
Very different from the fierce girl who once beat up thugs for a skewer of meat.
"Ron… I mean, Boss," Nora spoke up when the silence got a bit awkward. "Are you from Chaos City?"
Ron shook his head. "Nope."
"So… did you come here specifically to open this flower shop?" Nora asked curiously.
"Hm…" Ron paused, put down his knife and fork, and adopted a serious expression.
"Well, since you're asking, I might as well tell you."
"My father is none other than the Emperor of the Human Empire—Emperor André III."
"I'm his seventh child."
"Pfft—" Nora had been listening seriously at first, but upon hearing that, she burst into laughter, almost choking. She patted her chest to catch her breath, coughing:
"Cough… Seriously, that's your joke?"
Unfazed, Ron smiled and continued,
"And this flower shop? It exists because I received a divine message from the Goddess of Harvest. Without her, I wouldn't have any of these magical plants."
"Boss… You shouldn't joke about the Goddess like that…" Nora hesitated before gently reminding him.
Her faith was also in the Goddess of Harvest, and clearly, she didn't believe a word Ron was saying.
Emperor's son? Divine revelation?
It all sounded too ridiculous.
Ron just shrugged. After all… he wasn't lying.
Okay, the "divine message" part might have been a fib—for now—but soon enough, he'd make that a "truth."
"I'll stop. Just treat it as me messing around," Ron said, changing the subject. Some things, no matter how true they are, just won't be believed without proof.
Still… in this world, it often turned out that the more outrageous something sounded, the more likely it was true.
"Well… are we hiring another employee?" Nora asked, moving on. "I remember your hiring notice said you were looking for two workers?"
"Uh…" Ron froze for a second. The truth was, he had written "two" just to avoid hurting her pride—to make it seem like she wasn't being hired out of pity.
But that wasn't something he could say out loud.
It'd come off like he had ulterior motives.
Especially after seeing her post-shower look… he really might start having some.
Ahem.
Ron cleared his throat and replied carefully,
"Well, originally I did want to hire two people, but now it's not urgent. I'll wait and see if the right person shows up."
"Besides," he added with a sly smile, "I have a feeling you wouldn't want me hiring anyone else."
"Wh-What?! Of course I wouldn't mind!" Nora protested, a little too quickly.
"You're the boss—it's your right to hire whoever you want!"
"But if I hire someone else," Ron continued innocently, "I'd probably assign one of you to daytime shifts, the other to night. That would mean your salary would have to be split… half and half."
He paused meaningfully.
"But on the plus side, you'd have less work and more rest."
"No way!" Nora stood up so fast her cat ears twitched madly.
Realizing her reaction was too strong, she hurried to explain,
"I-I mean, that's not necessary… I mean, it's not worth the trouble! Right! I can handle it all myself—you don't need to go out of your way to hire someone else!"
Ron couldn't help but laugh.
"Sit down. I wasn't really planning to hire another. Your pay's safe."
"I-I'm not doing it for the money…" Nora mumbled as she sat down, her voice barely audible.
"I just… don't mind working hard."
"Well then, do your best," Ron smiled. "Now hurry up and finish eating. The afternoon rush is usually the busiest—get ready."
Nora nodded earnestly.
This job, so hard-won… she was going to treasure it with all her heart!