Evelyn waking up was absolutely a good thing. After a series of examinations, it was confirmed that she was in excellent health—not only had she become younger and more beautiful, but her lifespan had also increased significantly.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, her face now looking like she was in her early forties again, Evelyn could hardly believe it.
"Mom, you look so beautiful now. If we go out together, people will think we're sisters!" Quinn said with a grin, hugging Evelyn's arm.
Since they were mother and daughter, their facial features naturally bore some resemblance. Now that Evelyn had regained her youth, they really did look like sisters.
"From now on, I'll call you 'sis' when we're outside!"
Evelyn couldn't help but beam at Quinn's words, her face filled with unconcealed delight.
No woman could resist the temptation of becoming younger and more beautiful—and Evelyn had achieved both.
Julian gave his aunt a thumbs-up. Her flattery skills were truly top-notch.
'Too bad it's useless. No matter how much you butter her up, Grandma still loves me the most. You'll always be second.'
"Mom, I've already reserved a spot. Let's have a proper family gathering tonight," Henry said.
Ever since John and Evelyn divorced, their family had never been truly whole.
So today was the perfect opportunity for a proper reunion.
Evelyn didn't respond right away.
"Mom, you're not planning to skip it, are you?" Quinn asked nervously, giving Julian a subtle look.
"Grandma, if you don't go, then I won't come to Orient to visit you anymore!" Julian chimed in.
The moment he finished speaking, Evelyn lightly smacked the back of his head.
"You ungrateful brat. If I hadn't protected you earlier, your father would've beaten you up!" Evelyn scolded, giving him a mock glare.
Then she nodded. "Fine, let's have a family gathering."
"But if that old man dares to give me attitude at the table, I won't hold back."
The subtext was clear: she was asking whether John would be there.
Julian didn't catch the underlying meaning, but Quinn did and quickly reassured her, "Don't worry, Dad will definitely come. He's the one who arranged this gathering in the first place."
"You expect me to believe that?"
Despite her words, the faint smile on her face didn't escape Quinn's notice.
Today's gathering was a Walker family banquet, so instead of holding it at a hotel, they chose a private estate in Orient.
The Walker Group had businesses all over the world, so owning properties was a given. Thus, it wasn't surprising that they had an estate in Orient.
However, since the Walker family was small, no one had ever lived in this estate. Still, it was regularly cleaned, and the gardens were meticulously maintained.
John, Evelyn, Henry, Jake, Tina, Quinn, Julian—along with Great Uncle James, who was still in Imperial Capital—made up the entire Walker family.
---
Inside the villa at the Walker family estate, Slowking walked in with Lucario and Garchomp trailing behind, both of them carrying bags full of groceries.
Naturally, the responsibility for tonight's family banquet dishes fell to Slowking, with Magearna assisting and Kartana handling the vegetable prep.
Wearing an apron and a white chef's hat, Slowking stood in the kitchen with a stern, focused expression.
This was the Walker family's first proper reunion dinner—as the head chef, it had to perform even more flawlessly than usual.
Magearna gazed at Slowking's back with admiration: 'So cool…'
Kartana, meanwhile, wore a grave expression: 'What the hell is this oppressive aura?'
Slowking, who had been concentrating with closed eyes, suddenly opened them, its aura subtly shifting.
"Slow!"
Slowking: "Let's begin preparing the banquet. You two, assist me."
Magearna: "Understood, Slowking-sensei!" (Fired up!)
Kartana: "Got it!"
From the couch, Julian could almost see flames blazing behind Slowking.
He glanced at Celebi, who was happily munching on fried chicken and sipping cola.
"You should eat less now, or you won't have room for dinner later. Slowking seems extra serious today—if you're too full to eat its cooking, you'll die a miserable death."
Honestly, if not for Celebi extending Evelyn's lifespan, even finding the Glossy Ganoderma wouldn't have been enough to save her in time. And later, it was Celebi's power that neutralized the poison.
So despite the little guy being lazy, gluttonous, addicted to games, and a frequent troll, Julian had to admit—it came through when it really mattered.
"Then I'll stop eating."
Celebi quickly dropped the fried chicken. Not because it didn't want to eat, but because Julian had a point—Slowking was unusually intense today.
If it stuffed itself with fast food and couldn't eat Slowking's cooking later… it didn't even dare imagine the consequences.
The living room was spacious, with more than one sofa.
Henry, Jake, and Tina sat together on one couch.
Meanwhile, John and Evelyn sat on the same couch—but at opposite ends, leaving a vast empty space between them.
No phones, no conversation. The atmosphere was just… awkward.
"Hey, Auntie."
Julian lightly nudged Quinn, who was absorbed in her phone, with his foot.
"What?" she replied, not even looking up.
"Who exactly is the 'other woman' Grandma mentioned?"
Julian's gossipy heart hadn't settled—if anything, he was more curious now. No one could resist juicy family drama.
Quinn sneakily glanced at John and Evelyn to make sure they weren't paying attention, then looked at Julian, who had "curious little gossip gremlin" written all over his face.
"You really wanna know?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Julian nodded vigorously.
"Alright then, I'll tell you…"
At this point, Julian had perked his ears straight up, fully locked in.
"Mom, Dad! Julian's digging into your gossip again—this kid just won't give up!" Quinn directly called out.
Julian: (⊙x⊙;)
A thousand Tauros seemed to have galloped through his heart. Julian glared at Quinn with pure betrayal.
Watching Julian's utterly devastated expression, Quinn smirked shamelessly.
John's face darkened a little. He had been trying to think of how to break the awkward silence with Evelyn, but his daughter just had to say something like that.
And his grandson was still gossiping about his own grandfather? Unbelievable. Was the boy trying to drive him to the grave?
Sure enough, when he stole a glance at Evelyn, her face had turned thunderous.
"My dear grandson, since you're so curious, I'll tell you who that 'other woman' is—it's Catherine Bennett," Evelyn said coldly.
'Catherine Bennett?'
The name sounded familiar.
Then, the image of a beautiful woman flashed through Julian's mind.
"Fairy-type Elite, Catherine?!" Julian blurted out.
Catherine, the Fairy-type Elite, was an incredibly famous figure—dubbed the 'most beautiful Elite in history'. Despite being in her fifties, her figure, face, and skin were as flawless as a young girl's.
She was known for her gentle demeanor and was also a superstar singer and actress on the side.
In terms of sheer fan numbers, Catherine far surpassed Julian. Her fanbase spanned all ages and genders, while Julian's supporters were mostly young people.
And her side career in entertainment was explosively successful—which made her fandom even more massive.
Several of her movies had achieved massive popularity overseas, earning her an enormous international following too.
*****
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