"Excellent bread!" Rhys exclaimed, after trying a croissant from the plate of desserts Lupet had brought out. He highly praised her skills.
The baking was just right, with a rich buttery aroma and, most importantly, perfectly flaky pastry. Every detail was executed flawlessly, making this ordinary, even somewhat commonplace, bread shine in its own unique way.
"I'm glad you like it." Seeing Rhys thoroughly enjoy the dessert she made, Lupet felt genuinely happy.
"Aren't you opening the shop today?" Rhys noticed it was getting late and Lupet had shown no intention of heading downstairs to open the shop, so he took the initiative to ask. In the food business, it's crucial not to close midway.
They had already closed yesterday, and closing again today would greatly reduce customer loyalty.
"The young girl I hired before went home, so today I need to hire two new assistants first," Lupet explained. She understood the necessity of opening the shop daily, but she really couldn't manage everything by herself right now.
Unless...
Feeling Lupet's gaze on him, Rhys thought it wouldn't hurt to help her out a bit. After all, he didn't have any pressing matters to attend to at the moment, and he was also quite intrigued by the idea of working in a dessert shop. So, a few minutes later, Rhys was downstairs in the dessert shop, wearing an apron.
"Don't worry Master! You just need to package what the customers order and handle the checkout. Leave the dessert-making to me." Lupet cautiously instructed Rhys before heading into the kitchen, where she began manipulating the ingredients with her wand.
Flour, eggs, sugar, and milk were added to a bowl in turn, then stirred automatically under the influence of magic. Soon, the aroma of baked goods wafted out of the kitchen.
As the sun climbed higher, the flow of people in Diagon Alley increased, and Lupet's dessert shop began welcoming its loyal regulars.
With a tap of Rhys's wand, the food that customers ordered floated out from behind the counter and landed in the pre-prepared takeaway boxes. All Rhys needed to do was calculate the price and handle the payment.
At first, he found it quite easy, but he soon realized that customers kept coming to buy things almost non-stop from morning till evening, leaving him with almost no time to rest.
After a whole day of work, Rhys's mindset underwent a subtle change: Damn, making money in the food business is really hard work!
Moreover, he discovered a terrifying fact: after spending so much time in the dessert shop, he actually started losing interest in the array of desserts! This couldn't be happening!
As the flow of people in Diagon Alley gradually thinned out and the desserts in the display case were nearly sold out, Lupet finished cleaning up the kitchen and rushed out.
"I'm so sorry for troubling you! Please, take a rest!"
When the shop first opened, Lupet hadn't realized the problem. But when she finished baking a batch of bread and looked up to see Rhys bustling around the counter, she immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
This was her master!
To make a somewhat inappropriate comparison, it was like if Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange opened a clothing shop, did the sewing in a small room, and had Voldemort measuring customers on the shop floor—is this suitable? Is this a normal master-servant relationship?
Sweat began to drip steadily from Lupet's forehead as she thought about it. If she hadn't noticed that Rhys wasn't showing any signs of impatience, she would have already run out to close the shop again.
She had made up her mind to definitely hire some extra help, even if it meant closing the shop again tomorrow to do so. What had she been thinking, letting her master run the shop for her?
"Excuse me..."
A young male voice suddenly interrupted Rhys and Lupet's conversation from the shop entrance.
Both Rhys and Lupet turned to see a blond boy with a chubby, round face standing hesitantly at the door, nervously glancing at the two of them inside.
"Neville? What are you... Are you here to buy some desserts? If so, you've come to the right place. The desserts here are incredibly, incredibly delicious," Rhys immediately recognized the Hufflepuff boy who brought a toad to school.
Because of his unusual pet, Rhys initially thought he was particularly skilled in Potions. However, after chatting with Hermione, he learned that this boy had a shy personality, was rather forgetful, and wasn't particularly good at Potions—instead, he often sat alone in the common room reading books on Herbology.
"My gran told me to come to Diagon Alley to find a place to work, so I could improve my speaking skills and courage, and maybe earn my allowance for next year," Neville explained his purpose in a voice barely louder than a whisper, but with a bit of newfound courage after seeing a familiar face.
It must be said, Neville's grandmother had a rather clever idea. Getting a summer job, interacting with different kinds of people, might help him mature a bit and become more confident in handling tasks.
But judging by Neville's appearance, he had probably spent the entire day in Diagon Alley getting turned down. Walking into shop after shop only to be rejected repeatedly—he didn't have any remarkable talents, and he didn't look particularly sharp, so naturally, he wasn't favored by the shopkeepers.
If his grandmother were willing to pull some strings with old acquaintances, finding a summer job would be easy for Neville, who came from a pure-blood family. However, it was clear that Augusta Longbottom had no intention of helping him. She wanted Neville to handle this on his own.
This was her way of testing him.
"So, you want to work here?" Lupet's eyes immediately lit up. "Come on, I'm actually short of hands—can you work as a cashier?"
Lupet was now at the point where she would take anyone she could get, as long as they were alive and breathing—two legs preferred, but even one would do. As long as she didn't have to let her master work for her again!
"Oh, okay, sorry to bother—huh? I got the job?" Neville, having been rejected so many times today, instinctively prepared to say goodbye, but then realized something was off.
Did he really get the job?!
He stole a glance at Rhys, wondering if this might have been thanks to him.
What was Rhys's relationship with the shop owner?
"Alright then, come to the shop tomorrow morning at seven, and I'll give you a simple orientation. As for the pay… how does one Galleon a day sound?"
Neville nodded eagerly like a pecking chick.
After he left, Lupet let out a sigh of relief.
At least now her master wouldn't have to help tomorrow... right?
But then, remembering that boy's clumsy demeanor, she suddenly wasn't so confident.
Rhys yawned and started packing up the unsold sweets in the shop. Halfway through, he paused, noticing that Lupet was staring motionlessly at the store entrance.
Following her gaze, Rhys saw a girl standing outside the shop. She was dressed in shabby clothes and had a pale complexion, and she was staring back at Lupet.
After a few seconds of the two of them looking at each other, the girl finally spoke, "Are you still hiring?"
———
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