Behind a cluttered wooden counter, Mila—a woman with dark, tired eyes and flour-dusted hands—nearly dropped a ladle into a bubbling pot when she spotted him. Her breath hitched, and for a split second, she froze. Then, with a panicked whirl, she grabbed a plate, nearly knocking over a stack of bowls in the process.
"O-oh! Mister K-Kaden! You—you're back!" she stamred, fumbling as she tried to scoop food onto a plate. She spilled so stew on the counter, cursed under her breath, wiped it, then spilled more trying to clean it.
Kaden watched her, amused. "You good there?"
Mila let out a nervous laugh, frantically trying to regain her composure. "I'm f-fine! You just—um—ca in so suddenly! I wasn't expecting you yet. The food's ready! I an, it's always ready—ah, here!" She thrust the plate toward him with both hands. "Eat!"
Kaden took it with ease, his smirk growing. "You always this jumpy, or am I just that intimidating?"
Mila's face turned pink, and she shook her head furiously. "N-no! I an, yes—wait, no, not like that! It's just—"
A small giggle interrupted her.
Kaden turned his gaze toward a tiny girl peeking out from behind a wooden stool, her big round eyes gleaming with curiosity. She couldn't have been older than five, her dark curls bouncing as she tried to suppress another giggle.
The little girl whispered, not nearly as quiet as she thought, "Mommy's scared of the boss-man."
Mila choked. "L-Lia! Hush!"
Kaden arched a brow. "Boss-man?" He took a slow bite of his food, eyeing the child with mild amusent. The little girl, Lia, didn't back down. She tilted her head, staring up at him. "You eat like a big monster."
Kaden paused mid-bite, then let out a short, deep chuckle. He swallowed and leaned forward slightly. "A big monster, huh? What kind?"
Lia lit up, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. "A huge one! With sharp teeth! But—but not a bad monster. A good one."
Kaden blinked.
For a mont, just a flicker of a second, a mory surfaced—a tiny hand tugging at his sleeve, a soft voice calling him 'big scary brother' in that sa playful way. His expression softened, just barely.
He reached out and lightly tapped Lia's forehead with one finger. "You sure? I might eat little kids like you for dessert."
Lia gasped dramatically and giggled harder, scrambling behind Mila's legs. "Nooo! Mommy, protect !"
Mila, still red-faced and flustered, patted her daughter's head. "Don't tease her, Mr. Kaden."
Kaden smirked but didn't push further. Instead, he returned to his food, eating in silence.
Lia, bold as ever, peeked out again. "Do big monsters get full?"
Kaden chewed thoughtfully before answering. "Depends. So are never full. They just keep eating and eating, getting stronger."
Lia's eyes widened. "You're a hungry monster?"
Kaden glanced at her, then at Mila, whose nervous expression hadn't eased at all. He swallowed another bite and shrugged. "Yeah. But I only eat bad things."
Lia nodded seriously as if making an important ntal note. "Like bad guys?"
Kaden's smirk returned. "Exactly."
Mila let out a relieved sigh, shaking her head. "I swear, Lia, you'll talk his ear off if you keep going."
Kaden leaned back, stretching. "She's fine. More entertaining than most of the people I have to deal with." He turned back to Lia and, for reasons he didn't quite understand himself, fished a small trinket out of the settlent inventory, a carved wooden charm Niera had picked up from Rafael's corpse.
It wasn't anything fancy, but it was smooth and well-crafted, shaped like a small wing and it gave a small boost to one's speed.
He held it out to her. "Here. For the little monster."
Lia gasped, eyes wide with excitent. She grabbed it carefully, as if holding treasure, then bead at him. "Thank you, Boss-Monster!"
Mila looked like she was about to faint from embarrassnt. "Lia! That's not his na!"
But Kaden only chuckled again, finishing the last bite of his al.
"Not bad," he admitted, setting the plate down. "Can I have more? I also brought more at for later. If you have ti, can you cook that for ? I will pay for the services."
Lia, still admiring her new charm, giggled. "Mommy, Boss-Monster likes your food!"
Mila let out a strangled noise, frantically grabbing another plate. In her haste, she nearly dropped the ladle again but managed to catch it at the last second. "L-Lia, don't say it like that!"
Kaden leaned back in his seat, arms crossing. "Well, she's not wrong." He gestured lazily toward the pile of cooked food.
Mila froze mid-motion, blinking rapidly. "Y-you think so?"
Kaden shrugged. "Yeah. If I didn't, I wouldn't ask for more, would I?"
For a mont, Mila just stared at him. Then, her hands started moving again, faster this ti, as she filled his plate with another serving. Her nervous energy was still there, but there was a hint of determination in her actions now.
"I-I can cook the extra at later!" she blurted out, fidgeting as she set the plate down in front of him. "But you don't have to pay! I an, um, you're the lord of the settlent, so it's, uh, only natural, right? For to—ah!—help out with—uh—"
Kaden smirked. "You always ramble like this?"
Mila's entire face turned red. She ducked her head, frantically stirring the stew pot. "I—ah—um—n-no?"
Lia snickered, watching the exchange with clear amusent. "Mommy gets nervous around people she likes."
Mila choked. "LIA!"
Kaden laughed outright, shaking his head. "You're sothing else, kid." He flicked his gaze toward Mila, who was now too busy pretending to work to look at either of them.
"Well, if you're not taking paynt, I'll just keep bringing in the best at I can find," he said, reaching for his plate again. "By the way cooking higher level beast at can help you level up. So maybe we are even?"
Mila squeaked but gave a quick, shy nod. "O-okay… thank you."
Kaden was just joking. He was going to pay her anyway. In the starting stage, everyone needed coins and he was about to get a shit load of them in a few hours. Thinking about the rest of the day, he quickly started devouring the food until his stomach was happy.
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