Chapter 98: The Calm After the Storm (Part 3)
The morning air was crisp and cool as Yuki unlocked the polished oak door of The Golden Wheat, a cozy, bustling diner nestled in the heart of the High Capital’s commercial district.
Beside him, Vee stepped inside, her eyes scanning the pristine wooden tables, glowing brass lanterns, and long marble counter. She wore a simple dark apron over her tunic, her arms folded across her chest as she watched Yuki tie his own apron snugly around his waist.
"So this is where you vanish to every morning," Vee said, an amused smirk playing on her lips. "I thought you were picking herbs, not serving tea and pastries to townspeople."
"The herb contracts pay fine, but the diner pays daily gold—and I get to keep the surplus baked goods," Yuki replied, pulling a fresh batch of morning dough out of the prep counter. "Besides, it’s quiet. Simple work. No monster hordes, no spatial arrays."
"Right. Simple," Vee murmured, taking a seat at a corner booth where she could keep a watchful eye on the entire floor.
"It’s a job I’ve always wanted to do, you know?" Yuki said, smiling blissfully. "Owning my own bakery, coming in to work, and just baking sounds like a absolute dream."
"Are you sure it’s just to bake, or is it because you want to eat a lot of sweets and call it ’quality control’?" Vee chuckled.
Yuki gave her a playful side-eye. "Are you trying to say I’m getting chubby? Hm? Are you going to make fun of my hips again?"
"No. I like your hips. I like you just the way you are," she said, leaning forward as her eyes narrowed with affection.
Within an hour of turning the front sign to OPEN, the quiet diner was completely packed.
It didn’t take long for Vee to realize that ninety percent of the patrons crowding the tables weren’t actually there for the coffee or the fresh berry tarts. They were there for Yuki.
"Oh, look at him!" a young noblewoman at a window table giggled behind her silk fan, watching Yuki weave smoothly through the narrow aisles with a tray balanced perfectly on one hand. "He’s so focused... it’s absolutely adorable!"
"Forget the coffee—he’s the real eye candy here," her friend whispered back, leaning forward to catch a glimpse of Yuki’s bright, polite smile as he delivered a plate of warm cinnamon rolls to an elderly couple. "Have you seen his eyes? That milky emerald, starry look makes him look like a tragic prince from an ancient ballad."
"I would love for him to become one of my personal attendants—or a cook for my household," another noble lady chuckled softly.
"Ismarela!" her friends gasped. "You can’t do that! What would your husband think if you brought him home with you?"
"Oh, I’m only jesting! I wouldn’t actually do that..."
Yuki, completely oblivious to the murmuring, wiped down the marble counter with practiced efficiency. His mind was entirely locked into his work rhythm—checking order tickets, timing the oven, and making sure the hot tea stayed filled. Whenever he had a spare second, his gaze didn’t wander to the giggling crowds; it went straight to the corner booth, locking onto Vee with a warm, affectionate wink before he darted back into the kitchen.
Vee, however, heard everything.
Her sharp, trained bunny ears picked up every whisper across the room.
"Honestly, he’s like a little blue cake," a mercenary captain at the counter muttered to his companion, eyeing Yuki’s soft dark gradient hair and cheerful demeanor as he wiped up a spill. "Sweet, neat, and looks too good to be real. How does a guy working a diner counter look that precious?"
Vee’s hand tightened around her wooden teacup until the ceramic creaked under the pressure. A blue cake?! she thought, her brow twitching. He literally dropped a two-megaton nuclear warhead on a Rank 7 Calamity two weeks ago! To them, that was the work of some legendary sorcerer, and all they care about is his looks! None of them are even scared that he could do it again!
She paused, her expression softening into a self-satisfied smirk. ...Who am I kidding? He’s all mine.
"Order up for table four," Yuki called out cheerfully, stepping out from behind the counter with a fresh pot of herbal tea. He glided past a group of adventurers who were visibly swooning over his polite bow, completely deaf to their whispered compliments.
He walked straight over to Vee’s corner booth, leaning down to set a small, delicate plate in front of her. On it rested a perfectly golden, freshly baked honey tart shaped like a rose.
"For my favorite customer," Yuki whispered softly, leaning in close so only she could hear. "Don’t tell the manager—I made it special for you before we opened."
Vee looked at the sweet, intricate tart, then up at Yuki’s gentle, completely earnest smile. The irritation melting away from her chest was instantaneous, replaced by a deep, fierce warmth.
"You really don’t notice, do you?" Vee asked, her lips curling into a soft, possessive smile as she reached up to straighten his apron collar.
Yuki blinked, tilting his head. "Notice what? Am I missing something again?"
"Nothing, blue cake," Vee chuckled softly, taking a delicate bite of the warm tart. "Just finish your shift. I’m making sure no one steals my dessert."
Yuki offered her a bright, confused laugh, shaking his head as he turned back to take the next customer’s order, entirely unaware that the most dangerous person in the diner wasn’t the monster-slayer at the counter, but the woman watching him from the corner booth.
Vee sat there with a wide smile on her face. Yuki was returning to his old self: calm, cute, and oblivious as ever. The man she had met when she was first assigned as his familiar was slowly coming back.
Seeing him do the things he had always dreamed of, instead of constantly fighting and enduring so much pain—warmed her heart.
To think she had once been angry at him for not wanting to become the Demon King and for wanting to take things slow. She couldn’t be happier with where they were now.