Sitting across from Ruben, the girl kept her head down facing away. She meekly nodded to what he said, and offered weak responses not really listening at all. The girl's ears were drooping, her tail drooping down. She didn't really understand what made her so upset all that she knows is that, fighting is wrong... Then the room was suddenly covered with silence which made her uncomfortable. The talking had stopped. And then with what little she could see, Ruben clenched his fist quivering.

Was it anger? She didn't know but she was afraid nonetheless. She closed her eyes bracing for impact, with how Ruben and Jodie had acted she was already sure that they would hit her. She wasn't listening after all. I'm scared... they're like monsters...

Then, Ruben raised both of his arms off the table making Lyrica flinch. He was about to hit her, or that's what the little cat had expected. She opened her eyes and almost cried. Ruben mumbled something, she couldn't quite catch it but he sounded pained as if he did something unforgivable that he regrets.

The man in front of her stood up and turned his heel, only stopping to look back one last time before Bifa intervened and forcibly sat him down back to his chair.

"Lass, I know that Ruben here has wronged ya, but look at the laddie in the eyes when he's apologizing to ya." Bifa consoled the girl.

♦ ♦ ♦

Sitting with his resting on top of the table, Ruben's hand quivered in fear. He was guilty, trying to face his responsibilities as a caretaker head on.

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have seen us like that," Ruben said, Lyrica nodding in return.

"I promise I'm not mad."

"I'm sorry..."

"Please... come back to the orphanage..."

"Just..."

And yet, Lyrica doesn't seem to be listening to him. He shuddered and raised his palms to his face, regretting. "This... is what I get for being a self centered idiot and lashing out on everyone... If I can't even apologize to you... forget Mister Klaus, Ergo, and Jodie... I might as well just give up..."

Ruben stood up from his seat, and turned his heel looking back at Lyrica. He tried to vacate the premises but Bifa put her hands on his shoulders and forcibly plopped him back to his seat.

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♦ ♦ ♦

Lyrica turned her misty eyes up pondering what Bifa had said. His expression was pained with eyes full of regret. Ruben didn't need to say a word, his face was enough to convey the words that he wanted to say. She rose from his seat and hugged Ruben tightly, crying.

"Guess everythin's sorted aye?" Bifa asked, arms crossed with a grin on her face. The pair didn't answer, but the old lady already knew what they were going to say. "Aight, ya'll can eat here before comin' back ta your orphanage."

Then Ruben's eyes lit up, unlike the orphanage the other commoners like Bifa can actually afford food, being able to cook actual fish instead of dried ones with preservatives. However, he only groaned after coming to a realization. "I appreciate it, but I have to cook for the orphans, I'll let Lyrica and the others eat instead."

"Hm... is that so?" Bifa shot a glance at Ruben, barely making eye contact. "If ya'r so adamant lad we can save some for ya."

"Oh... thank you."

Soon after, sixth bell rang signalling the closing of town and dinner urging everyone to go home prompting Ruben to leave bumping into Jodie holding the hand of a crying Ergo. Ruben then explained that Bifa will cook for them, and that he'll start cooking in the orphanage.

She started to fire a hearth setting a gridiron on top of it, a kind of cooking implement with bars of iron criss-crossing with each other to form a framework that you can grill food with.

Bifa started to scale the fish with her knife scraping the fish from tail to head with the dull side of the knife. Then she started gutting it cutting into the belly, taking out the intestines and the bile sac. And then, she put her hands underneath the gill flaps and tore the it out.

Looking at it, Lyrica can only think of mackerels. After all, all fish to her is mackerel.

Bifa started to rub salt into the fish, a seasoning that Ruben didn't have access to resulting in his stews being bland. And then plopping the fish into the gridiron, the juices started to flow with the skin of the fish getting crackly and the flesh becoming juicy and moist. Soon after, the fish were fully cooked releasing the delicious aroma of freshly grilled fish.

The fish were then served into a wooden plate as Bifa grabbed it with her tongs. Ergo bit into the fish releasing an audible hum, enjoying the juicy flesh and the crunchy skin. But most importantly, it wasn't bland, it tasted good. Jodie and Lyrica however, didn't dig in. Not yet. They didn't want to use their hands, the fish was hot and they would rather not dirty their hands.

Jodie took out some cloth, offering them to Lyrica with Bifa intervening. "Lass... don't use perfectly clean cloth for such needless things."

She took out some sticks, and skewered their fish. "There, ya should be able to hold em now."

Finally, Lyrica took a bite of her first decent meal in a long while. Bite after bite, she relentlessly savored it, bringing the fish to her lips and devouring. It was delicious, better than anything that she'd ever ate in the past three days. It was something that she'd never eat again if she came back to the orphanage as it is right now.

Soon after, the fish was gone, she realized as she took a bite out of thin air. She wanted to eat more delicious food. She needed it. It reminded her of what used to be and how she had lived. Eating delicious food, travelling, and accumulating money. Her current situation hasn't changed, she'll continue to live as she had been. She was Lyrica, the daughter of a peddler, and she's already decided to set her sights on a goal. Food.