* * *
Tonight, the sky was especially dark and overcast.
There were heaps of fruit, barbecued pork, duck, and grilled pickled fish. Although the wedding was tomorrow, the Kun clan was already in a wedding mood.
Daphne, feeling refreshed, stood up and danced with the women of the Kun clan. The sound of plucking the strings of a traditional instrument resonates beautifully with handclapping. Between the dizzying footsteps and flickering of lights, a hearty laugh spreads.
“Hahaha, then please take care of the men’s clothes as well!”
“No problem. You provided a lot of designs, so if I use them as a reference, it won’t take long.”
At this simple banquet were Princess Hertiti of the Ram clan and her husband, Zachary. I received several traditional and modern designs for desert men’s clothing from Mr. Zachary. Originally, I had no intention of making men’s clothing, but since they gave me designs for reference, I figured I could give it a try.
‘However, it seems like I’ll need a lot more manpower…’
I’ll have to go back and gradually post job openings.
The business isn’t very large yet, so I can’t offer significantly higher salaries than other places. But I will ensure that rest days are guaranteed. If we have to work overtime because we’re busy, of course, additional pay will be provided. Besides that, I plan to give birthday leaves and celebration bonuses, maternity and paternity leave with bonuses, separate gifts for the end and start of the year, and annual bonuses.
Praise comes with money. Morale can also be boosted with money.
Expressing that the company values its employees is best done with money! And my goal was to create a working environment where we could hire exactly three people for the amount of work that three people should do, so that we could have a good work-life balance. And since most of our employees are women, I’m also thinking of buying the building next to the tea shop and turning it into a daycare center.
‘Oh, there’s one more thing. Menstrual leave.’
It seems that society still doesn’t quite have a culture where women can confidently take time off during their periods, which is a bit disappointing. Although I haven’t seen it explicitly, it’s like everyone keeps quiet about it, you know?
I decided to send a letter containing the above employee welfare-related information and check how well it was being implemented after returning to Terran. After this wild night, that is…
“Ah, Lashin. There… … !”
“You looked so pretty at the banquet, I thought I was going to lose my mind.”
“Hmm, eup!”
“I wanted to suck your lips, but there were too many eyes watching.”
“Ah!”
“I wanted to gouge out all the eyes that were looking at you.”
Lacius whispered slowly while pressing his lips against mine.
It should have been a chilling statement, but why did it sound sweet? Maybe it’s because I also wanted to douse those who were looking at Lacius with oil. Burning them would be the natural next step.
‘But it’s not the way they look at my man that needs to be burned right now.’
I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. His body was so hot against mine that it made it easy for my body to feel hot as well.
He stripped off his top as soon as we entered the room. Then he pulled on. my waist and left an impatient kiss on the nape of my neck. It was a sign of his unbearable hardness.
“Bed, I want to go to bed.”
“Sure.”
My enticement was met with a quick yes. He swept me up in a quick hug, carried me to the bed, and laid me down in a few steps. I deliberately flick my tongue before licking my lips and giving him a satisfied smile.
Seeing that, Lacius let out a deep groan and pulled the string on his pants. It was then that I felt something poking my back. At the same time, I realized that ‘something’ was wriggling.
“Lashin, wait a minute!”
It is not squishy. It was a hard creature. Like a giant bug…
“Eeekk Bug, bug!”
I got goosebumps for a moment and quickly stood up, clinging to him. I’m not scared of ghosts or big animals. But bugs! I absolutely hated bugs.
Crackle! But that was then. A small flame was created, and part of the bed sheet was engulfed in flames. Lacius held me up with one of his arms and snapped his fingers with his other hand.
Pwoosh, pwoosh! Then, dozens of small flames appeared around him and me. The surroundings, which were difficult to see because it was dark, finally became visible. I looked away, trying not to see what was crackling and burning.
“Um, what is that? A beetle or something like that?”
If you ask me, bugs and insects should be afraid of me because I’m thousands of times bigger, but what can I do when I’m scared of them? I groaned in discomfort. After briefly stroking my head, Lacius set me back down on the floor.
“I’ll check it out.”
“Alright.”
By the way, Lacius, could you always conjure flames out of thin air?
Since when? It was a skill that never appeared in the original work, so could he always do this…?
But it was then, while I was heaving a sigh of relief and watching his back, suddenly, I felt a sharp sting on my ankle.
“Ack!”
“Shay?”
“Lashin, Th-There…”
Growl! Cat’s roar rang out from outside at the same time as I slumped to the ground.
-Gotcha! You’re the rat who I missed from the party last time!
I couldn’t respond to its voice, which was filled with excitement. I’ve only just been stung, but I can feel the venom spreading rapidly through my veins every second. Lacius wrapped his arms around me and shook me. My mouth opened, but no words came out.
-Master? Master, what’s going on? I caught this…!
Just then, Cat climbed through the window and dropped a half-broken scorpion from its mouth. Wrapped around the scorpion was the stem of a plant. Like an octopus whose legs are cut off, it still moves, wriggling grotesquely despite being disconnected from its body.
‘Plant. Scorpion. Poison…’
Just by combining a few clues, the culprit’s identity is already clear.
Peridot. It’s you.
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