Night grew deeper.
After helping Yuna tidy up the third-floor bedroom, the two of them also organized the guest room on the second floor.
After that, Yuna returned to the third floor to take a shower.
Nora sat alone on the living room sofa, feeling restless and unable to find a comfortable position.
At this moment, she had already taken off her hat, exposing a pair of light black cat ears to the air.
Her shoulder-length purple hair fell softly around her face. The sensitive cat ears on top of her head twitched from time to time, clearly revealing the complex emotions she was feeling at that moment.
The thought of "staying overnight in a man's house for the first time" kept circling in her mind.
Her heart began to pound fiercely. Her body inexplicably grew warm, and her cheeks flushed bright red—yet Nora herself hadn't even realized it.
After an intense internal struggle, Nora took a deep breath, stood up, walked to the door of the study, knocked, then pushed it open and poked her head inside, speaking softly:
"Boss, I'm going to take a shower now."
"Mm, go ahead."
Nora closed the study door, took her change of clothes, and entered the bathroom.
In truth, she had always bathed here every day. At first, it had felt a little awkward, but after one or two months, she had long since gotten used to it.
But today was different.
Her light black tail lifted and swayed restlessly in the air.
A faint blush spread across her fair, delicate face.
Warm water poured down, soaking her shoulder-length purple hair.
In the mist, Nora's cat ears drooped slightly. She reached out, held her tail, and carefully washed it.
Because of how sensitive it was, soft little hums escaped her lips.
More than ten minutes later, the sound of running water gradually faded.
Wrapped in a towel, Nora glanced at herself in the mirror. She couldn't help but think of Edith, then Sister Sylvie, and then Yuna—the deep curves hidden beneath her loose clothes.
She sighed softly.
Picking up her clean clothes, she was about to get dressed when a scene from The Viscountess's Rise Diary resurfaced in her mind—
"I walked past the study wrapped in a bath towel, then accidentally fell… I could clearly feel the viscount's scorching gaze, like burning hands upon my body…"
Nora's face flushed crimson. She vigorously shook her small head, throwing that dangerous thought away, and quickly put on her clean cotton clothes.
She knocked on the study door. After opening it, she peeked her head inside, her face still tinged with the lingering redness from the bath.
"Boss, I'm done washing up. I'll go to sleep now."
"Mm. Good night."
"Good night, Boss~."
Nora walked into the guest room and closed the door. Leaning her back against it, she covered her increasingly hot cheeks with both hands.
I really… moved in…
The Boss's bedroom is right across the hall…
Her head felt a little dizzy.
Her hand rested on the door handle as the angel and devil in her heart fought fiercely.
Should I lock the door?
If I don't lock it… will the Boss tonight…
The scene from The Viscountess's Rise Diary that had appeared earlier continued in her mind, the next line slowly surfacing—
"I think… tonight will be a wonderful night."
All kinds of unbearably embarrassing scenes filled Nora's thoughts. By the time she came back to her senses, she was already lying under the covers without realizing it.
As for the bedroom door—
In the end, she hadn't locked it.
"Getting up again would be such a hassle… I'll just leave it unlocked…"
Nora found herself a perfectly reasonable excuse, then pulled the blanket over her flushed face.
Meanwhile, in the study.
Ron ignored the shameless system that had just issued a task with no reward, closed his book, and went into the bathroom to shower.
As usual, he admired his own good looks in the mirror for a moment, took a shower, then returned to his bedroom.
The fragrance of Nether Orchid filled the room.
Ron lay down on the bed, ate a Nether Orchid fruit, and entered a meditative state.
Previously, after exchanging for a miracle of the Goddess of Harvest, he had jumped straight from a first-tier mage to a second-tier mage. Since then, although his magical realm had steadily improved, it still wasn't time to advance to the third tier.
After all, this was the transition from beginner to intermediate—he still needed some time to accumulate.
However, the Battle Aura Vortex within his body was gradually filling. Perhaps in just a few days, he would advance to a second-tier warrior.
He wasn't in a hurry. He would simply let things take their natural course.
Compared to when he had just transmigrated, Ron's mindset was now much more relaxed.
With his good relationships with the Chaos City Magic Academy, the Radiant Mercenary Corps, and various nobles—plus his identity as the seventh prince and a chosen one blessed by a goddess—his life in this world was already well secured.
Now, with Sister Sylvie, a sixth-tier mage, providing close protection, along with the Life Belt gifted by the Church of the Goddess of Harvest, and the title passive skill Vital Bloom, whose cooldown had already ended—
Ron was extremely safe.
Unless a legendary-tier powerhouse specifically targeted him, he did not need to worry about his safety.
The flower shop's business was still thriving.
The production and sale of Element Cards were fully on track.
The tabletop-themed tavern next door was about to open.
Far away in the Royal Capital, the hotpot and barbecue restaurant's site selection and other preparations were progressing at full speed.
Everything was moving in a positive direction.
After obtaining the Puppet Tree's puppet fruits, Ron had been freed from the assembly-line grind of the dimensional plane.
All the plants needed by the flower shop could now be mass-produced by puppets.
As for selling the plants, that was handled by Nora.
Ron only needed to deal with customers making large bulk purchases.
The production of Element Cards had been handed over to the nuns, packaging was managed by the factory workers under Guy, and sales were handled by Kiel, who was determined to change the fate of mixed-bloods.
As a hands-off boss, Ron only needed to control the overall direction.
The tabletop tavern was just a small side project Ron tinkered with in his spare time. Since it hadn't triggered a system-side quest, he wasn't too concerned about its profitability—he treated it more as a place for himself and friends to relax.
When the time came, handing it over to Yuna, the spy-turned-cheap labor, to handle daily operations would be enough.
As for the Royal Capital's hotpot and barbecue restaurant, Mia and Lyle were clearly full of enthusiasm.
Unless they encountered some insurmountable problem, it wouldn't be necessary for Ron to step in personally.
Thinking about it this way, although many things were going on, Ron was actually quite relaxed.
If not for the system's task rewards—and the fact that these things were genuinely interesting—Ron suspected he would have already become a shut-in, staying in the shop every day and teasing his employees.
Although he greatly longed for that kind of laid-back life, as someone who had transmigrated with a system, he felt he should at least explore what uses those magical plants provided by the system actually had.
Who knew? There might be more treasures like the Puppet Tree.
After briefly planning things out in his mind, Ron lay on the bed, circulating the Natural Meditation Technique, his soul gradually sinking into a deep meditative state.
Hopefully that spy named Yuna doesn't cause any trouble…
That was Ron's final thought before he fully entered deep meditation.