S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 193

Chapter 193

The next morning, Adelaide woke up late and found herself face-to-face with Caladium the moment she opened the door. Based on his steady presence, he seemed to have been waiting in front of her room since dawn.

"Well, Adela."

Blink, blink. Adelaide examined Caladium with half-awake eyes.

His bangs were neatly styled, and his previously unruly side hair was now tidily arranged. His black shirt was perfectly pressed without a single wrinkle, and he even wore a subtle cologne. Anyone could tell he had meticulously prepared his appearance.

"So, where are we going today?"

Caladium crossed his arms and asked as if he couldn't care less. However, the slight curl of his lips and his excited voice clearly revealed he was eagerly anticipating their date.

In contrast, Adelaide's outfit was quite casual. Although the fabric was high-quality and the design was lovely—since Lisianthus had made it himself—it was still essentially comfortable home attire, with no sign of special effort. Her hair was also tangled in all directions, just as one would expect from someone who had just woken up.

She hadn't expected him to come so early, and she didn't even consider this outing a date in the first place.

"Yawn, good morning, Caladium."

Adelaide stretched and walked towards the kitchen, desperately wanting to gulp down some cool water. Though she had been moderately restrained last night, her thirst was intense.

"What morning? It's already midday."

Caladium followed her, grumbling.

After his return and their mutual exchange of feelings, Adelaide simultaneously held expectations and concerns about whether Caladium's personality or attitude might have changed.

But he was surprisingly the same as before. He was getting along so well with other dungeon members that it was hard to believe he had been away for quite a long time.

Of course, he no longer behaved as rudely as when they first met. He would still play around and mumble, but the moment Adelaide showed even a slight sign of discomfort, he would immediately become attentive and start acting cute.

It was the same now. While complaining about her messy hair, he quickly jumped to bring her cool water when he noticed she was looking for a drink. His sparkling eyes, expectant of praise, made him look very much like a large puppy.

Only after sufficiently quenching her thirst did Adelaide answer his question.

"Where I'm going is still a secret. It's close by, so it won't take long. Don't worry."

The longer, the better. Caladium swallowed his words.

"Are you busy today, Caladium? I have some things to do, so let's head out around evening."

His face instantly fell. Evening? Having to wait that long! He who had been anticipating their outing since before sunrise found this incredibly disappointing.

'Why did I mention being busy?'

Caladium bit his lip in regret. But being someone who lived and died by his bravado, he couldn't bring himself to retract his words. At least in front of her, he wanted to appear as a successful demon.

"Yeah, well. I'll have to finish my work before then."

"Oh, if you're busy, we can postpone."

"But I'll make time for you!"

Listen to a demon's words to the end! Caladium exclaimed urgently. She shrugged, saying "Okay."

Afterward, Adelaide truly had a busy time. Unlike Caladium, who was just pretending to be busy for show, she had a lot of tasks to handle.

First, there were incredibly complex documents to process after the war with Los Halde Dungeon. Thanks to Lisianthus's help, she only needed to review about 10 percent of the total documents, but that 10 percent was no small matter.

"Los Halde has quite a few subsidiary dungeons. Since they've decided to continue operations, unlike the Sol Dungeon, these subsidiary dungeons must be consistently managed."

The more she listened to Lisianthus's explanation, the more her head throbbed. For someone who had lived a simple life, all of this was overwhelmingly complicated.

"Ugh... my head is about to split..."

"Don't worry, Adel's pretty head is perfectly fine."

Despite having read and organized far more documents than her, Lisianthus didn't seem particularly tired. His quick and clean decision-making suggested he had considerable experience with such matters.

Adelaide stared at him blankly before turning to look at another stack of documents. These weren't related to Los Halde but were documents about repayment.

The Demon King's Castle had demanded separate documentation just because the massive debt was paid off at once. She couldn't understand why they would doubt her intention to repay her own debt.

"It seems the Demon King's Castle will soon conduct an investigation into the source of funds," Lisianthus mentioned.

She let out a deep sigh. An investigation into the source of funds—just hearing about it sounded tedious and complex.

Moreover, according to Lisianthus's speculation, the Demon King's Castle might use this investigation as a pretext to dig into the recent war. Although Uriel had initially declared war, Greenville also had a few sensitive points, which was already causing tension.

"And there's a job applicant interview tomorrow morning. Will the Master be participating?"

"Of course. I'm selecting my own dungeon members."

No matter how busy she was, she would attend the interview. Adelaide added decisively.

After winning the war against Los Halde, the popularity of the Greenville Dungeon had skyrocketed beyond description. Defeating the formidable Los Halde and becoming an A-grade dungeon was naturally going to attract attention.

However, the popularity exceeded even her expectations. This was all thanks to the dungeon newspaper.

<"Greenville Dungeon, Surpassing Cronatan's Best to Become the Demon Realm's Top Dungeon!">

The article was filled with flattery and praise for Greenville. The title itself was suspiciously exaggerated, and the content was even worse.

They were criticizing us just yesterday, and now this sudden change of attitude?

While Adelaide suspected there might be some underlying motive, Lisianthus shook his head. With their power to defeat both Los Halde and Abaddon now known, it was natural for the dungeon newspaper to shower them with praise. The demon realm's custom of being submissive to the strong and aggressive towards the weak remained unchanged.

In any case, an uncountable number of demons had applied to join Greenville. Even after consulting with her current dungeon members and thoroughly screening applicants, over fifty candidates had made it to the final interview.

Adelaide could have delegated the interviews to other dungeon members, but she was extremely serious about selecting dungeon members. This was due to her past experiences. She couldn't allow someone like a Death Knight to join.

"...So you'll be back by tomorrow morning?"

Lisianthus organized the documents with an expressionless face, indirectly asking when she would return from her outing with Caladium.

"Well, I'm not sure if I'll stay overnight, but I'll definitely be back in time for the interview."

Realizing it was time to go, Adelaide quickly stood up. Focused on her work, she hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. She needed to move quickly, or Caladium would surely get upset.

"Adel."

"Yes?"

"Remember, he's next in line. Don't forget."

Lisianthus smiled sweetly, but his gaze seemed somewhat fierce. Instinctively, she nodded. She didn't fully understand, but apparently, they had their own sequence of events.

---

Changing into proper outdoor clothing out of personal conscience, Adelaide rushed to the living room to meet Caladium. There, she froze at an unexpected scene.

"You're here, Adela?"

Caladium stood exactly as he had earlier. His clothes showed no signs of creasing, as if he hadn't sat or laid down for hours.

The only difference was the bright bouquet in his hand.

"Here."

He turned his head to the side, somewhat embarrassed, and handed her the bouquet. His inability to even make eye contact was adorable.

"What is... this?"

"What do you mean? It's flowers. This is our first date, after all."

So today is our date? Adelaide discretely swallowed her words. He looked so happy; she couldn't possibly say otherwise. Blinking, she looked down at the large bouquet. The white and yellow flowers were clustered together beautifully.

"Where did you buy this?"

"I was going to buy one, but I was worried I'd be late if I went as far as Belial... so I made it myself."

"You, Caladium?"

Surprised, she looked at the bouquet again. The packaging was indeed rougher than a store-bought one. However, the condition and arrangement of the flowers were as perfect as a famous flower shop. No wonder the flowers looked familiar—they seemed to be from one of Lisianthus's carefully cultivated collections.

"It's my first time, so it's a bit clumsy. I'll make a prettier one next time."

If he picks more, Lisianthus will get angry... Adelaide swallowed her words again. Imagining him carefully arranging flowers with his large hands made her smile involuntarily.

"No, it's beautiful. The most beautiful I've ever seen. Thank you, Caladium."

She smiled brightly and firmly grasped Caladium's hand. Instantly, his face turned as red as a tomato. Avoiding her gaze again, he seemed incredibly embarrassed.

"What are you doing, with such physical contact...!"

"By the way, I also prepared a gift for you. Want to go see it together?"

Adelaide interlocked her fingers with his and proposed. His skin turned even redder. Caladium merely nodded slightly in response.

"Woohoo! Let's go!"

She burst into a cheerful laugh and led Caladium to one side of the living room. Their destination was none other than a portal sparkling in a deep purple.

"Stay out as late as possible!"

Pia, who had been secretly observing the situation from behind a wall, suddenly shouted a greeting.

What a delightful angel. Caladium secretly gave her a thumbs-up behind Adelaide's back.

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