Difficult? Lucy was slightly taken aback and pursed her lips. She knew what Jones meant by "difficult." Even if she found a top-tier doctor, the First Prince and the Second Prince would never willingly let her bring them back to the royal palace.
"Let's eat," Jones said faintly. "Oh." Lucy pouted. Even if it was difficult, she had to try. How would she know without giving it a shot? Her father was still waiting for her to return, even if...
"There's a menu here." Jones's eyes spotted a menu on the table, which rather surprised her. Why would a guest room have a menu?
"A menu?" Lucy got up, climbed off the bed, and went over to the leopard-eared girl's side. She looked down at the words on the menu—sure enough, the large word "Menu" was printed on the cover.
She turned her head and said, "Let's eat in the room. Then we can rest for a bit. Didn't they say there's a performance tonight? We can go out and have a look then."
Throughout their journey, they had always eaten in their room at night to reduce the chances of revealing their whereabouts.
"Mmm," Jones nodded faintly. Previously, it had always been her who insisted on not going out.
"Let's see what's good to eat." Lucy opened the menu. The first page she turned to had a sentence: 'Guests who wish to order, please write down the dish names and submit them to the front desk staff. For delicacies from outside this tavern, a delivery fee of one copper coin is required.'
"A delivery fee? You can actually order food from outside the tavern? This is incredible!" Lucy said, astonished.
Who would include delicacies from outside their own tavern on their menu? Weren't they trying to make money for their own establishment? But this was certainly best for the customers.
In reality, Lucas wasn't that foolish. The delicacies he had people add to the menu were all from his own shops. This was done to spawn a new profession—delivery person—and to serve as a pilot for a food delivery industry.
"I'll write." Jones picked up a piece of paper and a pen, her cool gaze fixed on the menu as she waited for the dishes to be named.
"Then I'll start ordering." Lucy continued to flip through the menu, looking at the dish names inside, all of which she had never seen or heard of before. This surprised her greatly.
"Steamed Fish Head with Diced Hot Red Peppers? What are these diced hot red peppers? Should we order it and try?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"Mmm." Jones wrote down the name of the dish.
"And this White Cut Chicken? What a strange name," Lucy continued flipping through the menu, exclaiming, "There's even a dish called Steak au Poivre?"
"Let's try it." Jones was also curious and wrote down all the dish names.
"Oh, these are the delicacies from outside the tavern." Lucy flipped to the very back of the menu and ordered two more dishes, "Two meat buns, and a braised mutton noodle."
"A total of five dishes." Jones put down the pen, turned, opened the door, and went out to hand the paper to the ox beastkin at the front desk.
"Ma'am, two of the dishes may take a little longer," The ox beastkin said politely.
"Mmm." Jones nodded coolly, turned, and went back to the room. She had the patience to wait. When she returned, she saw Lucy standing by the window, looking outside.
Creak...
The sound of the door opening and closing made Lucy turn her head. She said softly, "Jones, this city is truly incredible."
Jones was slightly taken aback, then nodded faintly. She could see that Lucy had something on her mind, which was undoubtedly just worry for the old king.
"Jones, what would you think if you were to live here?" Lucy suddenly asked.
"Impossible," Jones said coldly, a trace of confusion flashing in her red eyes. She had grown accustomed to being by Lucy's side these past few years and had never considered living on her own.
"Jones, you should have your own life. Following me is such a waste of your talents," Lucy turned back to look at the pedestrians outside the window. Those laughing and talking beastkin seemed happier than the indifferent leopard-eared girl.
"What are you trying to say?" Jones's eyes narrowed slightly. She knew Lucy was about to say something foolish again.
"Jones, I will live the life of an ordinary person in the future. It's a real pity for you to follow me," Lucy said in a low voice. From now on, she could only live in anonymity.
This was a thought that had suddenly occurred to her upon seeing the beastkin outside. Jones was a very, very skilled assassin. If not for her saving the leopard-eared girl by a fortunate coincidence, Jones wouldn't have stayed with her all this time.
"You would starve to death," Jones said calmly. From her understanding of Lucy, leaving her to live alone would likely result in her starving to death. "How could I?" Lucy pouted and said petulantly, "I can learn to cook for myself, and I can write novels to earn money."
"You're deceiving yourself." The corner of Jones's mouth lifted slightly. With Lucy's cooking skills, she'd probably poison herself to death.
"Hmph!" Lucy snorted in embarrassment. She also knew her own skills were really not suited for cooking. When they were on the road, Jones had handled everything.
Jones raised an eyebrow, sat on the edge of the bed, and took out her finger-blades to wipe them. She paid no mind to Lucy's words. Lucy had always thought she was the one tying Jones down.
In reality, Jones had simply grown accustomed to her current life. As for the life of an assassin, it was no longer in her consideration. She had become an assassin out of necessity, and things had not reached that point of necessity now.
Knock, knock, knock...
Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and a voice came from outside, "Ma'am, the dishes you ordered have arrived."
Jones's eyes narrowed slightly. She got up and went to the door, slipping her finger-blades onto her right hand and hiding it behind her back. Only then did she use her left hand to open the door a crack. She saw several people standing outside, holding trays.
Creak!
The leopard-eared girl took a step back, opened the door fully, and let the delivery people in.
"That was pretty fast," Lucy said, looking at the dishes on the table. She quickly took a copper coin from her pocket and handed it to the delivery person.
"Please enjoy your meal, ma'am. You can just leave the finished plates outside the door, and someone will come to collect them," The delivery person said, respectfully taking the copper coin before leaving.
Creak... The delivery person closed the door on their way out.
"Jones, hurry and come eat!" Lucy called out eagerly, her eyes fixed on the dishes. The aroma was making her mouth water continuously.
"Mmm." Jones put away her finger-blades and sat down next to Lucy.
"Wow! This flavor is so good! Could this be the chili pepper that Dahlia talked about?"
"Huh, this thing, it can't be the Steak au Poivre, can it? ... It's so delicious."
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