"That’s it?" she asked with obvious confusion about such a simple condition.
"Oh, and by the way," Noah added with growing mischief.
"None of those games of playing with words. Like saying ’Noah’ instead of ’I’ because I used the letter ’I’ in the sentence. I want to hear you specifically say those exact words."
Can’t let her wiggle out through clever interpretation. I know how her mind works.
Lola’s mouth fell open as she realised he’d anticipated and preemptively blocked her most obvious escape route. Her usual arsenal of verbal trickery had been neutralised before she could even deploy it.
"You..." she sputtered, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "That’s too much!"
"Is it?" Noah replied with innocent eyes that fooled absolutely nobody.
Lola crossed her arms and glared at him with indignation. She’d been outmanoeuvred by an amateur at her own game.
"This is emotional blackmail," she declared with wounded dignity.
"This is business," Noah countered smoothly. "Supply and demand. You demand the coffee, I supply the conditions."
She’s actually considering it, she really wants the coffee, huh.
Lola paced back and forth in front of him, muttering under her breath in what might have been frustrated commentary on his negotiating tactics.
"Fine!" she finally exploded, throwing her hands up in surrender. "But I’m only doing this because the coffee is essential for my advancement!"
"Of course," Noah agreed solemnly, though his twitching lips betrayed his amusement.
Lola took a deep breath, straightened her posture with as much dignity as she could muster, and looked him directly in the eyes.
"I’m..." she began, then stopped and glared at him again. "This is ridiculous."
"The coffee awaits," Noah reminded her helpfully.
"I’m a..." Another pause, another glare. "You’re enjoying this way too much."
"Guilty as charged. Continue."
Lola closed her eyes, took another deep breath, and spoke in a rush. "I’m a naughty successibus!" The words were all said together at once, making it hard to understand.
"I’m sorry, could you repeat that more clearly?" Noah asked with exaggerated concern. "I didn’t quite catch it."
"You heard me perfectly well!" Lola protested, her cheeks actually turning pink with embarrassment.
"Humour me, I’m not accepting your earlier response," Noah requested with a grin that could power the entire kingdom.
Lola gave him a look that promised future revenge before speaking with exaggerated clarity.
"I. Am. A. Naughty. Succubus!"
"There we go!" Noah clapped his hands together with obvious delight. "One instant coffee, coming right up!"
Noah walked to the shelf, carefully retrieved the instant coffee, and placed it on the counter.
"So... this item is 1,000 golden coins. Naughty succubus," he said with obvious satisfaction, unable to resist adding the playful reminder of her earlier embarrassment.
Lola’s eye twitched slightly at the repeated phrase, but she maintained her composure with admirable restraint. "A thousand golden coins... It’s worth more than that. You’re really giving me a significant discount."
She deliberately ignored Noah’s taunting as if she hadn’t heard it, though he could tell from the subtle tension in her shoulders that his words were definitely having an effect.
"Of course I’m giving you a discount," Noah replied with genuine warmth beneath his teasing exterior. "Employee benefits and all that."
Lola nodded appreciatively before a large leather pouch materialised from her dimensional storage ring, the bag clinking heavily with the metallic sound of accumulated wealth.
She began counting out the golden coins, and in a few seconds, she was done.
"I’m starting to run out of golden coins," she admitted with a slight frown as she organised the payment. "It seems like I need to work hard in the next territory to earn some income. Maybe then I can keep up with your increasingly expensive new items."
She’s been spending her personal wealth on my products consistently. It makes sense.
Despite the fact that she could earn these items as daily payment simply for working at his shop, Lola clearly wanted Noah to benefit financially from their relationship rather than taking advantage of the generous employment arrangement.
The gesture revealed a consideration for his business interests that went beyond mere professional obligation. She could easily claim the coffee as part of her daily compensation package, but instead chose to purchase it with her own money to ensure he received proper payment, helping him with his shop.
"You know," Noah said, his teasing tone softening into something more sincere, "you don’t actually have to buy this. When I get some later, it could count as part of your daily payment package."
Lola paused in her coin counting, looking up at him with ruby eyes that carried genuine surprise at his offer.
"That’s generous, but no," she replied firmly, resuming her payment preparation. "Business is business, and personal is personal. You’ve built something incredible here, and I want to support it properly. Besides, I’m not only paying for one item. I’m paying for a daily payment of it, you are being incredibly generous. If I had more, I would have paid more. Unfortunately, I don’t."
The interaction revealed yet another layer to Lola’s personality. Beneath the playful flirtation and grandmaster-level power lay someone who was kind and grateful for things being gift to them. She never took things for granted and always appreciated the kindness shown to her.
Her willingness to spend her personal wealth rather than exploit their employment relationship spoke to principles that Noah found increasingly attractive beyond her obvious physical beauty.
She could easily take advantage of the situation, but chooses not to. She really is kind-hearted.
[Transaction Complete!]
[Ding! First Instant Coffee sale complete!]
[Reward: Auto-InstantCoffee level 1]
[New Idle Income Stream: 1,000 Gold Coins ($100,000) established.]
With his new idle income stream available, Noah was now earning $455,000 daily without doing anything.
Nearly half a million a day, and that number could reach up to a million by the time his next items were bought and sold for their correct prices in the next territory.