After bidding farewell to all of their guests, Amy sat at the restaurant with Ugly Duckling on her lap. She was looking at the purple crystal that Jessica had given her when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and her pointy little ears wiggled in a cheeky manner. She turned around with a sweet smile on her face, and said, "Father, all of my friends were very happy today. Thank you.""Your little friends were all very happy because you took good care of them." Mag stroked Amy"s hair with a smile. Even though throwing a party on his day off was a little tiring, it was all worth it when he saw the smile on Amy"s face.
Amy"s smile became even more vibrant upon hearing that, and she excitedly rattled off all of the presents that she had received to Mag. Some of the presents were quite valuable, like the gold bracelet, while other ones included things like freshly picked wild flowers. However, Amy treasured every one of them equally.
Mag was quite happy to see that. The thought behind a present was the most important factor, one that far outweighed its objective value. It was quite pleasing that Amy was already able to understand this concept, and that she was aware of what Jessica"s purple crystal entailed.
He held Amy in his arms and sat at the restaurant entrance for a while. After playing around with her little friends, Amy was already exhausted, and she soon nodded off in his warm embrace. Mag looked down at the sleeping Amy, and a warm smile appeared on his face.
Boss really is a good father. If only I had a father like him. I"ve never met my father, and I don"t even know his name. I wonder if he held me even once before he left… Yabemiya stared at Amy and Mag with a hint of envy in her eyes.
Mag carefully carried Amy upstairs before tucking her into bed. When he came back downstairs, he discovered Yabemiya looking down at her fingers, seemingly in deep thought. He was just about to say something when Yabemiya abruptly raised her head, and her expression suggested that she had mustered up a lot of courage as she said, "Boss, can you become my father?"
"Hah?" Mag"s eyes widened, and he stared at Yabemiya with astonishment etched on his face.
Yabemiya was 17 years old, but he was only in his early thirties! She wanted him to be her father?
I see you as a friend, but you see me as your father??? Mag"s composure was completely thrown off, and he scrambled for a way to diplomatically turn down Yabemiya"s strange request.
"B… Boss, it"s not what you think. What I"m saying is.. can you hug me as a father, just like you how you hug Amy?" Yabemiya also quickly realized that she had misspoken, and a faint blush appeared on her face. She hurriedly waved her hands, and hung her head with embarra.s.sment as she whispered, "I don"t think my father has ever held me. A father"s embrace must be very warm, right?"
Sally was just about to walk out of the kitchen when she stopped in her tracks. She looked at Yabemiya through the kitchen window, and her heart throbbed with sympathy for her.
Ever since they had been confronted by that Frost Dragon girl that night, Yabemiya had been in a peculiar emotional state. She tried her best not to show it, but Sally had noticed during the past few days that Yabemiya would often s.p.a.ce out and stare into the distance with a forlorn expression.
Looks like Miya still really yearns for acknowledgment, regardless of whether that acknowledgment comes from a human or a dragon. It"s just that with her half-dragon bloodline, there"s no way that the dragon race can accept her with open arms. Sally heaved an internal sigh as she turned her attention to Mag.
Mag"s expression gradually softened as he looked at Yabemiya, and he hesitated momentarily before placing his hand gently on Yabemiya"s head. He smiled, and said, "Trust me, Miya, your father will come to find you someday, and when that time comes, he will give you a warm embrace. That will be a true fatherly embrace."
Yabemiya slowly raised her head, and her expression gradually became more resolute as she looked into Mag"s gentle eyes. She nodded firmly, and replied, "Thank you, Boss. I also believe that he"ll come back for me."
Boss really is a good person. I wonder what kind of elf had Amy with him, and why aren"t they living together? Sally was quite moved by the gentle expression on Mag"s face.
Mag consoled Yabemiya before announcing, "Oh, by the way, I have something to tell you two. Tonight, we"re going to have customers who are reserving the entire restaurant. If you two don"t have anything else to do tonight, can you put in an extra s.h.i.+ft? You"ll be getting penalty rates for your efforts."
"They reserved the whole restaurant? But Boss, I thought you don"t offer that service." Yabemiya was quite perplexed as she looked at Mag. She still remembered how he had rejected Schonard when the latter had made the same request.
Sally was also looking at Mag with a hint of curiosity on her face. She was wondering what kind of person Mag would make such an exception for.
Mag looked at the two of them, and explained, "The city lord is the one who reserved the restaurant. Tonight, the conference between the dragons and the demons will be held here, with the city lord"s castle as the mediating third party. Our opening hours will remain the same as usual. I wouldn"t normally allow people to reserve the restaurant, as it would deprive other customers of the chance to dine here, and very few people would be able to afford the reservation fee anyway. However, the circ.u.mstances are quite special this time. I want to rent the plot of land outside the restaurant to set up an outdoor dining area, and if we get the nod from the city lord"s castle, it"ll make the application process a lot easier."
"The city lord reserved our restaurant? And our customers are powerful beings from the dragon and demon races?" Yabemiya"s eyes widened with disbelief.
"The conference between the dragons and the demons must be revolving around their territorial conflict again. It"s very surprising that the city lord would set our Mamy Restaurant as the conference venue, though. I don"t think there has ever been a precedent for this." Sally was also in disbelief. The elves and the human also had ongoing territorial conflicts, and Chaos City had acted as the mediator on many occasions. As such, she was quite familiar with conferences of this nature as her father had been an elven representative during several of those conferences in the past. All of the representatives were at least 9th-tier powerful beings.
"I"m really sorry to make you two work on your day off. As penalty rates, you"ll be getting three times your normal wage. At the same time, you can choose to have anything you want for dinner tonight." Mag nodded with a hint of apology on his face. Making people work on their day off was quite vexing, after all.
Yabemiya hurriedly shook her head, and said, "There"s nothing you need to apologize for, Boss. I have nothing to do today anyway, so I"m more than happy to work. I don"t need three times the normal wage; just the normal wage is fine."
Sally smiled, and chimed in, "I have to make a trip home first, but I"ll be back before 5pm. I"m fine with normal wages as well."