— Maximilian’s Ho —
Maximilian finally arrived at his ho, with Switch following behind to have a conversation with him.
They had taken a taxi to get there. Though the driver gave Switch a few strange looks, likely due to her body’s bionic parts, he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself.
"Is this your house?" Switch asked.
"No, it’s my brother’s. I plan to turn the first floor into a café. If you have ti, you can co and lounge here. I’ll give you a discount," Maximilian said with a smile.
This was sothing he had dread of doing in his previous life. Unfortunately, many things had happened, and he died before ever getting the chance. He had even learned how to make various kinds of coffee and studied how to manage a café, including what to look out for.
He never planned for it to be as profitable as Starbucks. He just wanted to open a small café with a few regular guests, a place to chat and pass the ti. It would be even better if that silly donut could manifest and be with him.
Maximilian led Switch into the living room on the first floor. The space was large enough to be renovated into a small café. Including counters and all the necessary coffee-making equipnt, it would fit perfectly.
"Please have a seat. Do you want a latte, mocha, or...?"
"Latte will do," Switch replied with a smile.
Maximilian entered the kitchen for a few minutes. He returned with a cup of latte, which he handed to Switch before sitting across from her.
"What do you want to talk about, Ms. Switch?" Maximilian asked.
Switch didn’t answer imdiately. She stared at the cup in her hands, inhaled the aroma, then took a sip. After savoring the taste for a brief mont, she placed the cup gently onto the white saucer.
"You’re good at this. I think you really have what it takes to open a café," Switch praised.
"Thanks," Maximilian replied politely with a nod.
"As for why I ca here," Switch began, stirring her coffee, "I want to talk about Doc. I’m going to track him down and get you an answer. I won’t let that rat do whatever he wants. And when I find him, I’ll extract every cent he stole from you!" she declared with determination.
Hearing this, Maximilian chuckled. The girl was surprisingly honest. He didn’t expect a rcenary who handled dangerous and bloody work to have this side to her.
"There’s no need. If you find him, you can keep the money. Think of it as compensation from for losing your team," Maximilian said.
Hearing that, Switch didn’t know how to respond. She wanted the money—she needed a lot of it for surgeries to remove her cumberso bionics and replace them with sothing better. But at the sa ti, she didn’t want this man to think she was only after money.
Seeing her hesitation, Maximilian shook his head.
"You don’t need to overthink. Just keep the money when you find that rat. Besides, I’m rich now," he said.
At that mont, Switch rembered that he now owned 1% of the Kingsley Group. That ant money was no longer a problem for him.
"Thank you. I’ll do that," Switch nodded.
She looked down at the coffee cup on the table but couldn’t help stealing glances at Maximilian occasionally. What she liked about this man was his aura. He emanated a sense of peace and calm that made her feel safe, a kind of tranquility she had long yearned for.
She thought back to her childhood, to the days when she was happy. There were no fights, no bloodshed. She loved pestering her parents to take her to amusent parks or on family trips. Those were the nostalgic days, the days of peace.
How many years had it been since she felt this peaceful around soone?
Looking at the man in front of her, she felt like he was still a harmless sheep; an aura of gentleness and calm surrounded him.
And yet... he was a martial arts master who could bring down a behemoth with his bare hands. This contradiction was strange to her. How could soone so dangerous possess such a peaceful presence?
Maximilian noticed Switch had gone quiet. Though she was enjoying the coffee, she kept stealing glances at him.
[She’s a good girl, huh, Max? Don’t you find her interesting? (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ] Aetherna teased through the link.
{I admit she’s surprisingly honest and decent for a rc. But that’s not the point. You don’t need to promote her like this. I already have you, rember? I don’t want to neglect you for soone else. Even if I were to accept her, it wouldn’t be fair to her. I don’t think I could love anyone the way I love you.} Maximilian replied with a wry smile.
What he said was true; at least, that’s what he believed. It would be a lie to say he never entertained the idea of having a harem. He was a man, after all, and he’d read and watched plenty of harem stories.
It was fun as long as it stayed in fiction.
But if it happened to him in real life?
God... he couldn’t imagine how chaotic that would be. And he hated chaos, especially the kind that ca from jealousy. That was sothing he really, really didn’t want to deal with.
Hearing Maximilian’s thoughts, Aetherna let out a sigh.
[Max... I’m serious. This is important.] Aetherna said, her tone shifting to sothing more grave.
{Why is it important?} he asked.
[Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand right now; I’ll spare you the details. Let’s just say...] Aetherna paused, trying to find the right words to convince Maximilian without revealing too much.
But before she could continue, the door suddenly swung open, and a group of n in Hawaiian shirts ca pouring in.
"Oh! Boss! We’ve got a lot of custors, I think—"
The man who spoke, leading the group—was none other than Ricardo.
Now, he sported a black leather jacket over his Hawaiian shirt. He paused when he noticed Maximilian sitting in the living room on the first floor with a beautiful girl with a black ponytail and a sleek black tal bionic arm.
"Huh? Who are you? Why do you look like Boss?" Ricardo squinted, staring hard at Maximilian.
{This Glasses of Ordinarity is too good; it can even fool this guy!} Maximilian said to Aetherna.
[Right? But hey! That’s not the point; we’re not done talking yet!] Aetherna protested.
{C’mon, Athel, let it rest. Let nature take its course.} Maximilian dismissed whatever Aetherna was about to say. He didn’t want to argue with her.
[Fine... Let nature take its course; you said it yourself! (눈_눈)]
After finishing his internal exchange with Aetherna, Maximilian smiled and turned to Ricardo.
"You must be Mr. Ricardo Navarro. My brother Maximilian told about you. I’ll be staying here from now on. Pleased to et you."
Maximilian extended his hand.
Seeing the polite gesture and hearing that this man was the boss’s brother, Ricardo accepted the handshake.
"Ohh, okay, Boss’s brother! I’m his right-hand man. If you ever need anything, just ask!" Ricardo replied, still trying to process the whole situation.
"Since you’re his brother... do you know where he is? I’ve got sothing to discuss with him," Ricardo asked.
"Oh, he’s out of town on business. If you don’t mind, you can leave a ssage with , and I’ll make sure he gets it," Maximilian said with a composed smile.
He wanted to know why Ricardo had co. He rembered Ricardo saying sothing about custors.
Ricardo frowned slightly, scrutinizing Maximilian once again. But with the Glasses of Ordinarity, Maximilian’s aura gave off the vibe of a harmless sheep.
Ricardo could only frown, then shook his head.
He was convinced the boss’s brother was just a regular guy, no reason for him to drag boss brother into this kind of work. And he had no intention of earning his boss’s wrath.
"No need, Boss’s brother. We’ll just wait for him to co back and talk to him ourselves," Ricardo said with a smile.
After that, Ricardo led his group and walked out of the house.
Seeing Ricardo’s group exit, Switch quickly reacted.
"Max, I have sothing I need to take care of. I’ll go first. See you around," Switch said with a smile, then followed Ricardo’s group out of the house like the wind.
Seeing this, Maximilian could only shake his head and smile. Then, he cleaned the table and brought the coffee cup set to the kitchen sink to wash.
Outside the house, Switch caught up to Ricardo’s group.
"Hey, you! I have so questions for you," Switch called out to Ricardo.
"Huh? Aren’t you the boss’s brother’s woman?" Ricardo frowned, confused about what this girl wanted with him.
"Whose woman?! I don’t have that kind of relationship with him yet!" Switch imdiately corrected Ricardo.
"Yet?" Ricardo repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Realizing she had let the cat out of the bag, she quickly changed the subject. "Whatever! Just follow to the Fringe. I want to talk to you guys."
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