The dining table was dead silent after Violet’s accidental confession.
Andrea was still gaping like she’d just witnessed a public execution, Violet was clutching her plate as if it could save her from embarrassnt, and Alex was smugly chewing like a king who’d just won a war without lifting a finger.
Daniel finally cleared his throat, his coffee cup rattling in his trembling hands. He set the newspaper down, eyes darting between the three of them like he was standing in the middle of a minefield.
"Y-You..." he pointed stiffly at Alex, his voice cracking like a teenager’s. "You have a job. Collect the rent from the General Shop, they’re overdue by two days now. J-Just go. Go right now."
The man was practically sweating through his shirt, desperate to push his son out before the breakfast table beca a courtroom drama.
Andrea still looked like she was about to explode, but she bit her tongue. Violet quickly nodded, as if agreeing with the sudden change of subject might erase the humiliation seared into her brain.
Alex licked honey from his thumb, stood up casually, and flashed that infuriating grin.
"Fine. I’ll handle it, Dad."
He adjusted his shirt, glanced at Violet long enough to make her blush all over again, and strolled out like he was on a catwalk.
The tension finally broke, though nobody dared to breathe too loudly. Daniel imdiately lifted his newspaper back up, hiding behind it like a coward retreating into the trenches.
Violet picked at her bread silently, and Andrea stabbed her fork into her eggs as if the yolk had personally offended her.
Breakfast... resud.
...
"You don’t have to open the shop, Lily. We can ask for so more days. Mr. Shepheard’s a good man, he’ll understand."
"But dear, we’re running out of money already, and I can’t have you borrowing more crowns just to run this house."
"B-but—"
"No buts, darling. You need proper rest, and I’m not so clueless child." Lily puffed out her chest like she was about to flex in a wrestling ring. "I can handle the store. I’m tougher than I look."
She looked tough all right — her blouse threatening to pop like an overstuffed pastry with every breath.
Even sick and pale, Marcus couldn’t help noticing his wife’s enthusiasm made her chest bounce like a pair of fat coin purses slapping together.
Marcus groaned, not from the illness this ti, but because watching her try to play the heroic rchant’s wife was making his situation harder in every sense.
Their little general shop sat right under this shabby apartnt, leased from Daniel Shepherd, the so-called "respectable businessman" who collected three hundred crowns every month with a smile sharp enough to gut a fish.
Unfortunately, Marcus had caught so godforsaken disease last week, and every bit of savings had been torched on dicine and healers.
Now the cupboards were bare, their coin purse emptier than a nun’s liquor cabinet, and the rent was already two days overdue.
"Lily, if we ask Mr. Shepherd for a little more ti, I’m sure he’ll understand our plight."
"I know that, dear, but we don’t need to if I just open the shop. It’s literally under our feet, so no worries. I can manage myself."
Marcus sighed. He knew that tone, the tone that ant his wife had already won.
"Fine... Just... don’t get hurt."
"? Hurt? Please. Lily the Great fears no man, no debt, no overdue rent!"
Marcus dragged a hand down his face. "If only we could’ve afforded a healing potion, huh?"
Lily’s bravado slipped for a mont. She sat beside him, grabbing his frail hand and squeezing it hard enough to remind him she wasn’t all tits and attitude.
"Everything will be alright, dear. Everything will be. Our lord will find a way to help us."
Of course, what neither of them knew... was that their so-called "lord," the very storm cloud in human form, was already buttoning up his crisp white shirt and stepping out the door, headed straight for them.
Not as a savior. More like a tax collector with a hard-on for chaos.
....
Alex left his house right after dropping a verbal nuke at breakfast. Was he shaken by the fallout? Not in the slightest. In his head he hadn’t said a single wrong thing.
"Damn, the street is buzzing with life."
The mont he stepped outside, the world smacked him with color and chaos. Shops, houses, and apartnts lined both sides of the road.
Humans, elves, dwarves, beastn, all scurrying around like soone had sprinkled cocaine into the town’s morning tea.
"Dayum, this is nice."
On Earth, his entire world was a shoebox apartnt with neighbors so far apart you could scream bloody murder and only get a reply three days later.
Compared to that graveyard lifestyle, this busy street felt like a rave.
And that wasn’t the only thing cranking him up.
’All these races... I gotta build a harem ASAP.’
His eyes slid over the crowd like a kid in a candy store with no supervision.
Elves walked tall and smooth, every one of them looking like they’d just stepped off a runway.
Dwarves strutted with thick necks and stubby pride, the kind of stocky build that scread beer and headbutts.
Humans were hit or miss but a few were so hot they could charge admission just by existing.
Then ca the beastn. God’s little joke turned into his wet dream. Bunny ears twitching, cat tails swishing, antlers gleaming in the sun. It was like soone had dumped every flavor of spice into one pot and told him to pick his favorite seasoning.
Alex licked his lips like he was about to chow down on destiny.
’First order of business, grab the rent before soone cries about being broke.’
He set off down the road, boots clapping against stone. The General Store was only half a kiloter away, close enough to walk but far enough to feel like a villain marching to collect his tribute.
...
Inside the store, Lily was waging war against dust and moulds. A week since opening and the shelves already looked like they had been abandoned in a tomb.
She swept and wiped, puffing her cheeks in determination, then flipped the little cardboard sign from "Closed" to "Open."
Back at the counter, she polished a glass chalice, humming softly, trying to look professional even though she had no clue what a professional shopkeeper actually did.
Ding~
The bell above the door sang. Lily’s head snapped up, her eyes sparkling wide.
’First custor. Alright Lily, ti to charm them into buying sothing.’
Her gaze locked onto the man stepping in, tall, confident, and carrying that air of soone who thought coins fell out of his pockets for fun. A smile blood on her lips.
"Welco, sir. How may I help you?"
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