The restaurant was called Mira’s Kitchen.

Not that it mattered.

But the smell...

God, the smell.

Grilled meat. Simmering stew. Fresh bread. Spices Kael couldn’t name but immediately wanted to eat by the handful. The kind of food that reminded you hunger existed for good reasons.

Perfect.

Kael slid into a corner booth with a clear sightline to the bungalow’s front window. The distance was maybe sixty meters—close enough to see movement through the curtains, far enough that nobody inside would notice a man eating dinner.

He ordered everything.

Steak. Medium rare. A bowl of something thick and brown that the waitress called "Morir special." Bread rolls—four of them. A plate of roasted vegetables that glistened with oil. And a bottle of something amber and strong that burned going down and warmed the belly after.

The first bite of steak made him close his eyes.

"Good?" the waitress asked. She was middle-aged, tired, the kind of woman who’d been serving food to slum dwellers for years and had stopped caring about tips around year three.

"Incredible."

"Not bad for this dump, huh?"

"Not bad for anywhere."

She snorted and walked away.

Kael ate slowly. Each bite was an exercise in patience—chew, swallow, sip the amber liquid, glance at the bungalow, repeat. The food was genuinely excellent, which helped. Nothing made time pass faster than good food and worse company, and right now his company was himself.

He continued to observe the married couple.

The word sat strangely in Kael’s mind. He’d never been married. Never wanted to be. The concept seemed foreign—binding yourself to another person legally, emotionally, permanently. Sophie had wanted something like that, he supposed. The fox sisters probably dreamed about it. Normal people, normal lives, normal attachments.

But Steve wasn’t normal. Steve was House of Crimson. Steve had helped kidnap hundreds—maybe thousands—of people. Steve had stood guard over a teleportation formation that sent civilians to god knew where for god knew what.

And Steve had a wife who greeted him at the door with tears in her eyes.

Interesting.

The amber bottle emptied. Kael ordered another.

Forty minutes passed as Steve emerged.

He looked better. Not healed—still pale but the worst of the bleeding had stopped.

His right hand was wrapped in bandages.

Kael watched him go. The shadow man moved down the slum street with the careful urgency of someone who needed something specific and didn’t want to be seen getting it. Probably an alchemy shop. Healing pills were standard for cultivator injuries—faster than natural recovery, easier than finding a healer.

The silhouette disappeared around a corner.

Kael finished his vegetables.

Ten more minutes. Just to be sure. He didn’t want Steve returning early and finding an unexpected visitor in his home. That would complicate things.

He paid the bill—thirty-two credits, absurdly cheap for food this good—and left a fifty-credit tip. The waitress’s eyebrows rose. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Thank you, generous sir," she said with a bow.

"You earned it."

He stepped out of Mira’s Kitchen into the fading purple dusk of Morir’s evening. The slum was quieter now—fewer people on the streets, fewer lights in the windows, the particular stillness that came with nighttime in places where being outside after dark was a calculated risk.

Kael walked.

The bungalow’s rusted gate creaked when he pushed it open.

He walked up the short path as he stopped at the door.

And knocked as footsteps came quickly to open the door.

The door opened.

Sarah stood in the doorway.

Up close, she was even more striking than Kael had observed from the shadows. Late twenties, maybe early thirties. The kind of face that aged well—high cheekbones, soft jawline, lips that looked naturally pink without any cosmetic enhancement. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, a few strands falling framing her face. Green eyes that caught the warm light from inside and seemed to glow.

She was wearing a simple housedress—light blue, modest, nothing revealing. But it hugged her figure in ways that suggested either excellent tailoring or an excellent figure. Probably both.

"Hello?"

The word came out soft. Slightly confused. But accompanied by a beautiful smile.

Kael smiled back.

The kind of smile that said I’m friendly, I’m harmless, I’m exactly what I appear to be.

"Good evening," he said. His voice was gentle. "I’m looking for Steve. Is he home?"

Sarah’s brow furrowed slightly. She glanced back into the house—checking, probably, confirming that Steve wasn’t standing right behind her.

"He just stepped out," she said. "Can I help you with something? Are you... friends?"

The question was careful. She’d noticed Steve’s condition when he arrived. She knew something was wrong. But she didn’t know what, and she wasn’t the type to pry into her husband’s business.

"Yes, of course." Kael’s smile widened by a fraction. "We work together. I heard he had an... accident. Came to check on him."

The lie rolled off his tongue like honey.

Sarah’s expression softened. Concern replaced confusion.

"That’s so kind of you," she said. "He’s been better. Resting. I was worried, but... he says it’s nothing serious."

"It never is." Kael tilted his head slightly. "Do you mind if I come in? I can wait for him. Won’t take long."

A beat of hesitation.

Kael saw it—the brief flicker of uncertainty that every woman learned to feel when a stranger asked to enter her home. The instinct that said be careful, you don’t know this person, something feels off.

But then it passed.

Because Kael looked harmless. Because Kael had said he was Steve’s friend, and Steve had friends, and friends checked on each other, and this was normal, this was fine, this was nothing to worry about.

"You can come in."

She stepped aside, holding the door open.

Kael entered the bungalow.

Warm air enveloped him. The smell of home—cooked food, clean laundry, something faintly floral that was probably Sarah’s soap. The interior was small but well-kept. A couch, a table, a tiny kitchen. Family photos on the walls—Steve and Sarah at what looked like a wedding, younger versions of themselves beaming at the camera.

Sarah closed the door behind him.

The click of the latch was very quiet.

But the devil heard it perfectly.