"Mm— slurp slurp~."
"Eileen, Eileen! Try this one, it's super delicious too!"
"Wow! This sauce is so unique!"
Chomp chomp~
"Good thing we stayed for dinner. I'd totally regret it if we hadn't."
Ron smiled as he looked at the two girls across from him who had completely fallen victim to the 'so-good-it-hurts' effect and said, "Slow down, there's plenty of food. And since it's hotpot, you don't need to worry about the dishes getting cold."
"Mhm." Mia nodded eagerly as she clumsily stuffed a large chunk of duck blood into her mouth with her chopsticks. Her face beamed with a silly grin, all her usual princess-like decorum gone.
Beside her, Eileen was still trying to maintain the poise of a noble lady, but her eating speed was no less than Mia's.
Though she chewed slowly and elegantly, the fact that she kept eating nonstop meant she was keeping up with Mia just fine.
Nora was still wearing her work uniform, hat and all.
She stood by the table, refilling the hotpot, skimming off the foam, helping the girls pick out ingredients, and swapping out sauces—completely in the zone.
Among the four people present, only Ron felt a bit uncomfortable watching Nora buzz around so busily. The other three didn't seem to mind at all.
Mia and Eileen were used to being waited on—having a few attendants at meals was normal for them.
Nora, on the other hand, didn't feel she had the qualifications to eat with them. She also wanted to make a good impression in front of her boss's little sister, so she didn't mind at all and was happy to help.
Under the hotpot sat a powerful stove Ron had bought. The three diners were sweating buckets, but a sip of ice-cold sour plum juice made it all feel worthwhile.
Nora, however, had it worse.
The rising steam from the hotpot filled the room, leaving her forehead and back drenched in sweat.
As she bustled around, she had to keep wiping her face to stop sweat from dripping into the food.
And since she didn't want to expose her half-beast identity, she kept her hat on the whole time. Her hair was soaked and clinging to her scalp—clearly uncomfortable.
But she didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, she looked like she was enjoying herself.
"Ron, did you invent that Elemental card game yourself?" Mia asked, her stomach now slightly puffed from all the food, and finally started a conversation.
"Yup," Ron nodded. "If you like it, I can give you two decks."
"That's amazing! Thank you, Ron~" Mia's eyes turned into happy crescent moons.
After dinner, Mia and Eileen sat for a bit longer.
Mia insisted on staying over at Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop, trying to use her unbeatable puppy-dog eyes technique again—but was swiftly dragged off by Eileen, who grabbed her by the ear with a disapproving frown.
As she tidied the dishes, Nora kept sneaking glances toward the storefront.
Only when she confirmed that the princess had really left did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Truth be told, when she heard that the princess wanted to stay the night, Nora was genuinely startled.
It wasn't that she was afraid of Princess Mia—but rather, she was worried about Eileen.
After all, Eileen was so beautiful, with graceful manners and a dignified aura—clearly the kind of woman who would be very attractive to men.
The moment Nora heard they might be staying over, her internal alarm bells went off.
Thankfully, Eileen had a good sense of propriety and knew it'd be inappropriate for the princess to stay at the flower shop.
Otherwise, Nora probably would've spent the entire night wide awake again.
After sending Mia and Eileen off, Ron headed next door to the barbecue shop, planning to buy Nora a meal since she hadn't eaten yet.
But the moment he stepped inside, Ron noticed something was off.
The place was... oddly empty.
Not that there weren't any customers—if someone came in for the first time and saw that 80% of the seats were filled, they'd think the business was doing great.
But for Lyle's Barbecue, which had been growing hotter by the day, this was highly unusual.
Normally, by this time, the place would be packed. Even the outdoor seating in the backyard would've been full.
There shouldn't have been any empty tables at all.
Ron, sensing something was wrong, immediately headed toward the kitchen.
Maybe business was just bad today?
He wondered as he stepped into the kitchen—and instantly saw the problem.
There was no one else in the kitchen. Only Lyle, cooking away, sweat pouring down his face.
"Lyle?"
"Ron?" Lyle turned instinctively, and when he saw Ron, he gave a bitter smile. "Sorry, I can't stop right now. If you want something, just tell me."
Ron frowned and shook his head. "Looks like you're in trouble?"
"…Yeah," Lyle sighed, his hands still moving, flipping the seasoning bottles with practiced skill. "Amelia and Ralph quit…"
"They got poached?" Ron raised a brow. Just as Lyle was about to take a plate of grilled meat out, Ron stopped him. "Which table? I'll deliver it—you focus on cooking."
"Table 7."
Ron brought the barbecue to the customers and returned to the kitchen.
The two resumed their conversation.
"Yeah, they got poached," Lyle said with a helpless look. "The other party seems to have a lot of money and had secretly been colluding with those two for a while—stealthily figuring out my seasoning blends while also training a team of staff to make this new style of barbecue."
"They both quit this evening. And at the same time, three new barbecue restaurants opened up just on Aikley Street, all using the same grilling methods as us."
"Some customers mentioned that other streets have new places like that too—so it's not just Aikley Street."
Ron fell silent and helped carry out more dishes.
Lyle, meanwhile, seemed rather at ease—maybe it was just self-comfort.
"Honestly, didn't you already see this coming? When you first gave me the seasoning formulas, you mentioned this could happen."
"I just thought, as long as I kept the formulas well-hidden, it wouldn't get out so soon."
"And the thing is—Amelia and Ralph… their new salaries are five or six times higher."
"But in the end, no amount of money beats the temptation of being the boss of your own shop."
"I was mentally prepared for this. It's not a huge problem."
"I'll hire two new staff members tomorrow. Training them will take some time, but I'll be busy only for a few days."
"Our regular customers are really loyal. Even though new shops popped up nearby, many still come here on purpose. So, the customer flow won't drop too much."
"Compared to when we just started, business is still pretty great."
Ron didn't expect Lyle's mindset to be this stable.
At the very least, he hadn't fallen into despair.
There wasn't much Ron could do, so he simply said, "I can give you a few more seasoning formulas, though it probably won't make much of a difference."
"If they've already figured out one of your blends, they'll probably be able to figure out others too."
"This type of seasoning method follows a pattern—once someone learns one, they can reverse-engineer the rest. It just depends on whether they're willing to put in the time."
Lyle quickly expressed his gratitude, "Thanks, Ron."
Leaning against the kitchen doorframe, Ron smiled. "If you really want to thank me, grill up a plate. My shop's employee hasn't eaten yet."
"No problem!"