When I lay down on my bed, I just want to drown in it. I want to physically enter the weird spongy mattress and disappear in it.

Is it too much to ask?

So, a short summary of the day.

Augustus is a wholesome guy so far.

Lucinda is apparently a prick.

Camilla is hot but not bothered by me. And she could become a very interesting partner. Her sisters are pricks, but she volunteered the information herself, so…

Too many decisions.

I’m on the verge of closing my eyes and falling asleep when…

[Mage – Level 3!]

[Skill – Deep Focus Acquired!]

[Skill – Light Manipulation Acquired!]

Oh man.

Come on.

Now you made me curious.

I hoist myself up from the bed, grumpy as hell.

“Deep Focus? So, I just say [Deep Focus]?” nothing happens.

Maybe I need to think about focusing a lot—

WOAH.

Every single noise in the room goes silent.

Since I was thinking about the skill, I started to closely analyze its effects, forgetting about the rest of the world. I feel calm and collected; I can barely remember anything that’s unrelated to this current task.

After a few seconds, I’m actively trying to get distracted, but it’s like my mind is automatically brought back to the skill. [Deep Focus] makes my mind unilaterally engaged with something, it appears.

I deactivate the skill and the world spins a little.

“Woah, this is trippy as hell,” I mutter.

Well, I guess that [Light Manipulation] does what I was trying to do but kind of allows me to do it better?

Ok, I’m going to sleep now.

I rest my head on the pillow and, finally, I drift off.

…

Camilla was staring daggers at Amelia.

“You couldn’t shut your goddamn mouth?” she bangs a fist on the table.

“Cami, I was just trying to—”

“You are an idiot!” Camilla shouted at her sister. “Couldn’t you see he was tired?! He was even sad for some reason, and you started talking shop like that? What do you have between your ears? Sawdust?!”

Amelia stayed silent and put her eyes on the ground. On the side, Flavia, the silent one, offered her own piece of mind.

“He seems like a nice person. Let’s give him some time. Avoid hounding him, Camilla. If he’s already comfortable at Happy’s, they might bank on that and steal him just like that,” Flavia snapped her fingers.

Camilla calmed down and removed a lock of pinkish-blond hair from her eyes.

“He’s a nice person,” Camilla sighed. “And he’s not in it for the business, Amelia. If we want the guy, we have to play nice and cozy.”

“Yeah sure, I’d like to see you do that,” Amelia scoffed.

They were in the office. Lucinda had left together with Joey, and they had been discussing what to do.

“That Lucinda has a crush on him,” Flavia declared sheepishly.

“Which makes it even more important that we treat both with respect and fairly,” Camilla said while staring at her oldest sister.

Amelia sighed and shrugged.

“Anyway, that guy seems very comfortable with our concept of baking. He called it ‘street food’ and I would bet both your tits that he could bankrupt us,” Camilla started biting her lower lip with a fire in her eyes. “But if we get him, we might even put Happy’s out of business.”

“Yeah, that’s what my skill’s telling me,” Flavia nodded.

[Talent Scouting]

Flavia was both a [Cook] and a [Restaurant Administrator].

They all had a secondary specialized class.

Amelia sighed.

“Listen, Camilla, it’s up to you. I can’t deal with kids.”

“One day, sister, I’ll fire your ass,” Camilla pointed a finger at her sibling, “and not even Father will be able to put you back here.”

“Sure, Cami,” Amelia scoffed and went out.

“You two should stop fighting,” Flavia said.

“Please, Flavia, please. I don’t want to hear it.”

Camilla put her hands up.

She couldn’t deal with idiocy at the moment.

She was too focused on the problem at hand.

Joey was a very nice boy, but he also seemed quite naïve. She really wanted to work with him, and she did not care that he was a human.

“You like the boy,” Flavia told her.

“I like someone who can bake, sister,” Camilla shook her head. “He’s a human. I’m not Amelia, I don’t need to chase, or be chased, by every member of the male or female race.”

“He’s cute, though.”

“Snatch him up for yourself, then, Flavia. I need him for baking. I’ll leave the non-baking activities to you.”

Flavia laughed and shrugged.

“Not that cute,” she too got up and left the office.

Camilla stayed behind, thinking.

She hadn’t got much from the Human. He was clearly too tired to show the main side of his character, and something seemed to have him depressed. Lucinda had told them he was the bubbliest person around.

Was he suddenly not liking his stay in Amorium? And where had he come from, by the way? There were humans in the elven city, but they were not common at all.

Is it homesickness or is it heartbreak?

He had looked wistfully at his own legal representative, and it looked like there was something there. Maybe that something had rotten.

Camilla looked at the walls where a few nice letters of recommendation had been framed. Even [Gourmets] had praised her innovative approach to food. Some had despised her and said that she was declassing the culinary experience to the commonfolk level, but she saw it as just feeding people better food. It wasn’t complicated.

She kept them both, hate and love. The hate she received – together with the envy – was fuel for her ambitions.

And food critics could say all they wanted that she was whoring out high-class cuisine, but she wasn’t going to stop. Hell, she was going to double down very soon.

She would get to Joey and learn all about this ‘street food’ he mentioned.

Whatever the cost.