The room was silent. All eyes were fixed on Theo and Tizmilly, who stood defiantly before Gyllena. Ignoring the heavy atmosphere, Gyllena took a silk handkerchief from her knight, dabbing her forehead with practiced, nonchalant grace.

​Theo crossed his arms, his voice dropping an octave. "The reason, Gyllena?"

​Tizmilly watched her old friend with a mix of worry and lingering resentment. "You were clearly satisfied with the dish, so why the hostility?"

​Gyllena handed the handkerchief back without looking. When she finally turned, her gaze didn’t meet Theo’s—it landed squarely on Tizmilly, cold and patronizing.

​"You aren’t the one who cooked that, am I right, Tizmilly?" Gyllena asked, her voice like cracking ice.

​Tizmilly flinched slightly but nodded. "I... I am still learning."

​"Clearly," Gyllena scoffed, a faint, mocking smirk playing on her lips. "Because that dish had a soul—something a fallen noble playing house in a kitchen could never replicate. Stop wasting my time and bring the real chef. It’s a tragedy to see such talent rotting in a pathetic, grease-stained hole like this. They deserve a proper stage, not... this."

​Tizmilly bit her lip, her knuckles whitening. She had succeeded in amazing Gyllena, yet the praise felt like a slap because it wasn’t for her.

​Theo stepped forward, shielding Tizmilly slightly. He grinned, though his eyes remained sharp. "The ’Masterchef’ you’re looking for is my mother. And trust me, she prefers building a legacy with her family over whatever ’greatness’ you’re trying to sell."

Finally, Gyllena looked at him, though her gaze quickly darted back to Tizmilly—that same condescending stare. "I see. So this is how you survive now, Tizmilly? After losing everything, you’ve decided to leech off a commoner’s family? How... desperate."

​Tizmilly fell silent, her shadow flickering under Gyllena’s weight. Sensing her distress, Theo took another step forward, shielding Tizmilly completely with his body. He maintained a sharp grin as he confronted the noblewoman.

​"You don’t seem to know a thing about Tizmilly, despite being her childhood friend," Theo said, his voice forcing Gyllena to finally lock eyes with him. "Sure, she’s new to the kitchen. She almost sliced the cutting board in half along with the garlic on her first day."

​Tizmilly’s face turned bright red. She remembered that day vividly—her first lesson under Theo’s mother, Calary. She tugged at Theo’s sleeve, trying to pull him back, but he ignored her desperate plea.

​"But she’s a natural!" Theo continued, his grin widening into something genuine and full of pride. "Within a day, she made an edible soup. Was it too salty? Maybe. It felt like drinking the ocean. But she improved faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. In less than a month, she’s already assisting my mother like a seasoned sous-chef!"

​Theo leaned in slightly, his tone becoming a bold challenge. "I bet no pampered noble lady could ever rival her grit. She’s not ’leeching’ off us, Gyllena. She’s the partner helping us build this legacy."

Gyllena’s cold smile vanished, replaced by a flat, unimpressed mask. She scoffed. "A seasoned sous-chef? Don’t make me laugh. She still smells like cheap grease."

​She glanced at Tizmilly’s burning face. It was so red that Gyllena could almost see steam rising from her hair. "But... if she is as ’talented’ as you claim, then perhaps she—and you—can understand why I am requesting to meet your mother."

​Seeing the confusion in their eyes, Gyllena let out a long, weary sigh. The sharpness in her posture softened just a fraction. "I’ll explain it as simply as I can, so even a blushing girl like her can grasp the gravity of the situation."

​Gyllena’s hand went to her right side bangs, tucking a strand behind her ear as she looked away. For the first time, that condescending glare faded, replaced by a shadow of genuine dread.

​"My head chef is dying. He tasted my breakfast three days ago and hasn’t opened his eyes since. With my engagement party approaching, I am not just looking for a cook, understand? I am looking for someone I can trust not to put anything... unnecessary in my wine. That is why I have been visiting every reputable eatery today. I need someone to replace him, temporarily."

​Theo and Tizmilly exchanged a sharp, stunned look.

​’Wait, Gyllena Layver... engaged?’ Theo’s mind raced, his fingers instinctively rubbing his chin. ’That’s impossible. She was single until the very end of the game... The timeline is shifting.’

​Unlike Theo who was focused on the plot, Tizmilly’s reaction was more visceral. Her eyes widened, not just at the mention of poison, but at the word ’engagement’.

​"Engagement? You?" Tizmilly blurted out, her voice losing its defensive edge for a moment. "But Gyllena, you always said you’d rather... I mean, who would even—"

​​Gyllena let out an exasperated sigh, her eyes flickering with a momentary flash of bitterness. "Who else, Tizmilly? Don’t make me repeat my own misfortune. You wouldn’t know, since you were buried in your studies at the Academy last year, but my parents... they went missing eight months ago. Without a trace."

​Tizmilly’s breath hitched, her palms flying to her lips in shock. "No... So Uncle and Aunt are—"

​"Gone," Gyllena interrupted, clicking her tongue impatiently to hide the crack in her voice. "I have no siblings. I had to take the mantle my father left behind. So, you see the precariousness of my position..."

​At that moment, Calary stepped out of the kitchen, calmly untying her apron. She scanned the room, reading the heavy expressions on their faces with a mother’s intuition. She clapped her hands together, the sharp sound snapping them out of their gloom.

​"Now, now, I’ve heard enough to know this isn’t a conversation for a standing crowd," Calary said with a warm yet business-like smile. "Why don’t we sit down and discuss the details? And, of course..."

​Calary’s grin turned mischievous as she rubbed her thumb and forefinger together in the universal sign for gold. "...we shall discuss the compensation for my son’s labor!"

They looked around and realized that Carole, Timmy, and others were still standing at the side and sitting on their chairs like some lost kids who didn’t know how they ended up in this place. They forgot that they were still interviewing these people before Gyllena ruined the peaceful interview.

Gyllena herself didn’t feel guilty for it. She only scoffed and threw her face away when she received Theo’s resentful glare.

Leaving Gyllena alone, Theo immediately instructed Carole and Timmy to bring them to the second floor and gave the new employees a quick briefing. Among the Dungeon Diver applicants, Theo decided to hire Ivandel and Karr and let the others go out with a small bag of cookies made by Calary.

Once they were finally alone, Theo and Tizmilly dragged some chairs and a round table to the center of the room for them to sit and started the discussion.

Gyllena leaned in and raised 2 fingers. "I can offer this much if you agree to work for me during the Engagement party."

"2 Gold coins?" Tizmilly, who sat across her, asked.

She shook her head in response. "20 gold coins," Gyllena stated boldly.

This surprised Tizmilly, since 20 gold coins was not a small sum in any way. That’s enough to buy a small, old mansion in the Dungeon City. Hiring a chef from a small, yet to know restaurant like theirs was already a praise.

Theo rapping the table with her finger as he weighing the offer. A moment later, he spoke up: "At least double that, or my answer will be no."

"Eh, but Mister Roost..." Tizmilly wanted to say that Theo was wanting too much, but when she noticed Theo’s solemn expression, she shut her lips.

He understood well how powerful Layver family was as a former gamer of the game. He also knew that Gyllena was skilled enough to maintain her family power after the disappearance of her parents, even developed it further as time passed. So he guessed that whoever could force Gyllena into an engagement, it must be a very dangerous or influential figure.

Gyllena frowned, but still nodded. "Well, your mother’s skill is indeed worth more... I agree to double it."

Theo sighed and leaned back, before looking at Tizmilly and his Mother. "What do you think, Tizmilly? Mom?" He let them decide the final decision.

Tizmilly looked at Gyllena’s face, hesitated. But she then recalled the memories when they were still young and used to play together. It determined her to help her.

She nodded, smilling. "It wouldn’t be a problem for me!"

Calary only shrugged in response. "If you two think it’s good, then why not?"

Gyllena only realized that she was holding her breath when she sighed in relief. Her relieved face made Theo and Tizmilly understand how cornered she actually was.

That made Theo curious about the identity of her fiance. "Can I ask who you are engaged with?"

Gyllena’s cold expression returned, a mask of stone. "It is the second Prince of the Tarram Kingdom, Jahreón Qua Tarram," she answered, the name leaving her lips like a curse.

​Tizmilly and Calary gasped in surprise—the kind of surprise one has when hearing a name of high royalty. But Theo?

​He froze.

​The air in his lungs felt heavy. In the game, Jahreon was never just a prince. He was a high-ranking apostle of the Abyssal New Gate, a worldwide cult that worshipped the demonic depths. In the original plot, Gyllena was never supposed to be his prey.

​’The timeline isn’t just shifting,’ Theo thought, his blood running cold. ’It’s rotting. Was it because I take Tizmilly out of her supposed fate?’

​Gyllena’s situation wasn’t just ’bad’—she was walking straight into a ritualistic slaughterhouse.

​Theo’s face turned grim. He massaged his temples, the silence in the room becoming suffocating as the others watched him in confusion.

​"Two hundred," Theo muttered, his voice low and sharp.

​"What?" Gyllena frowned, leaning forward. "Excuse me?"

​Theo looked her dead in the eye, his gaze no longer that of a simple restaurant owner, but of a man who had just seen a ghost.

​"Make it two hundred gold coins," Theo gritted his teeth. "And even then, I might be undercharging you for the hell we’re about to walk into."