Business First

Flora didn’t stay in bed.

Considering that as long as she didn’t leave her room and wasn’t seen working, it was fine… so her choice was to write various suggestions and plans in her room.

The next day, she went for a walk to show that she had recovered.

On the third day, Flora decisively returned to her post and started working, though she didn’t immediately take on strenuous tasks, focusing mainly on supervising new recruits and kitchen work.

Especially the kitchen… After joint research by her and Mr. Cook, a sauce made with tomatoes as the raw material was finally created.

After everyone tasted it and confirmed that tomato sauce could make certain dishes more delicious, Flora immediately thought of another use for tomato sauce—

“Chiu-chiu~ Dong-qiang~ Shaka-shaka~ Waku-waku~ Become delicious! Heysho!”

During dinner, Flora once again danced gracefully, singing in an impossibly cute, squeaky voice, finally making an adorable heart gesture towards Ryan, and for the first time, giving him a flirtatious wink.

‘How’s that? This is the upgraded version!’

Flora thought proudly to herself.

By now, she no longer believed this alone could capture Ryan’s heart, but based on past experience, doing this would undoubtedly cause a significant emotional fluctuation in Ryan.

And this time, what she wanted was to make Ryan’s mood worse.

This wasn’t her presumption of merit or acting out again; she hadn’t forgotten the last time she almost made Ryan dislike her too much and go astray.

Instead, she was still executing her previously mentioned second step of the plan—playing hard to get.

She seemed to be regarded by Ryan as a sister-like figure now… Don’t let this seemingly closer relationship deceive you into thinking it would naturally lead into a romantic path.

But in reality, sibling affection and romance are worlds apart!

Most people wouldn’t make a move on their sister or develop romantic feelings for her!

Moreover, a romantic partner needs to have a sense of mystery; this is what keeps curiosity alive and encourages interaction.

But a sister who is always around, too easy to understand, too familiar, simply cannot create a romantic atmosphere or impulse!

In summary, Flora wanted to detach herself from the sister role.

The method was to appropriately create a little dissatisfaction in the other party, making herself drop to the position of a subordinate or a mere maid.

It might seem like all her previous efforts would be wasted by doing this, but this actually involved another meaning of playing hard to get… once a stranger, twice an acquaintance.

Specifically, though favorability might drop, the height it once reached would be etched in the target’s mind, making it not difficult to return to that level later.

If she maintained the sister role, it would only make the target feel bored and accustomed.

Therefore, deliberately letting favorability drop, creating a larger emotional gap, and then raising favorability again in the future, could give the target a greater impact, perhaps even breaking through the previous height in one go…

Well, Flora didn’t fully understand it either; romance was much harder than marching, fighting, economic management, and so on… but her intuition told her that this was not wrong.

However, perhaps he had already gotten used to her doing this, Ryan showed no sign of disgust, nor the type of expressionless face that held back anger but whose eyes conveyed clear displeasure.

“Is there more?”

Instead, Ryan wore the faint smile that had become common recently, his eyes holding a touch of expectation and tolerance.

Anyone who didn’t know might think he was an older brother watching his sister’s antics.

Fortunately, Flora was prepared and immediately brought out her second set of maid dances—the adorable flying kiss she couldn’t quite manage with stiff movements before.

Flora always learned from her mistakes and came back stronger. After returning, she not only spent time perfecting this second set but also prepared a third!

After she skillfully demonstrated her third set, “Magical Girl Transformation,” Ryan praised:

“You’ve worked hard.”

Huh?

Flora, flushed with shame, was somewhat speechless.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to play out, was it?

Why was he so easily angered before, but now that she was trying so hard to be mischievous, there wasn’t a hint of displeasure… His tolerance for his “sister” was too high!

Still, Flora had a third trick up her sleeve… As for why there wasn’t a fourth or fifth set, it wasn’t that she hadn’t prepared, but that the food would get cold if she kept dancing.

She walked to the dining table, raised a condiment bottle, letting the tomato sauce flow in a thin stream, then drew a heart shape and wrote something like “Master love love” on one of Ryan’s dishes…

No, just looking at it made Flora feel utterly mortified; she didn’t know how she managed to draw it without her hand shaking…

But the point wasn’t how she felt.

She quickly looked up, expectantly at Ryan.

‘How about that? Surely this time he can’t stand it, right?’

Having gone this far, Ryan indeed couldn’t maintain his previous smile, but it only turned into a wry one.

“Can I eat now?”

“Ah… oh, yes, Your Highness Ryan, please enjoy.”

Ryan shook his head lightly, but still decisively picked up his knife and fork, putting the tomato-sauce-drenched food into his mouth.

After eating it, he commented: “This tomato sauce is quite good, sweet and sour.

But paired with this dish, I think it overpowers the main flavor a bit. Still, it’s very tasty.”

“Overpowers the main flavor… I apologize, I didn’t do it well.”

Flora carefully recalled the taste during the sampling and realized that she had indeed focused too much on the tomato sauce’s flavor, overlooking the original taste of the dish…

She couldn’t help but blame herself, feeling immensely guilty for being so thoughtless in her work.

“No need for that; I don’t actually have such high demands.”

Ryan quickly finished the dish, signifying that he didn’t mind.

“When there are no VIPs, there’s no need to always serve such high-end dishes.

Besides Cook, surely someone else can make a secondary menu, right?”

“Yes!”

Flora’s spirits lifted at this.

She had actually wanted to suggest this for a while. Eating such high-end food daily was troublesome to prepare, not to mention it relied too much on Chef Cook and her.

During the days she was unconscious, with Manton and the Farts as honored guests in the mansion… Cook had been utterly swamped.

Thinking of this, Flora quickly pulled out a plan, and after Ryan finished eating, promptly handed it to him.

“Your Highness Ryan, regarding what you just said… I actually want to suggest that even when VIPs arrive, we don’t always serve the highest-grade dishes.”

“Why?”

Ryan wasn’t angry or displeased; instead, he curiously examined the plan.

“Because according to statistics and consultations, I found that most VIPs don’t finish all their food, nor are they very concerned about whether our ingredients are expensive.

Dishes with genuinely expensive ingredients often aren’t that outstanding in presentation or taste…”

“Then don’t be confined by the preciousness of ingredients; prioritize presentation and and taste.”

Ryan immediately understood Flora’s intention to alleviate pressure on the kitchen.

“However, we also cannot offer food that is too low-grade.

Some people can still discern whether something is good or bad. Deliciousness cannot mask everything.”

“I’ll make sure the kitchen notes that!”

Afterwards, Ryan discussed other areas for improvement with Flora and inquired about the new kitchen staff before leaving the dining room.

“This is great, a historic moment!”

Looking at the notebook filled with improvement plans, Flora was exceptionally happy.

After all, this was the first time Ryan had given so many opinions.

However, her smile soon stiffened—

Huh, where was the anger she had planned for Ryan?