Vivian gave her a smile that looked a bit unnatural before she shifted her gaze back to Max and said, "When you are free, please come to the administration building. I'll show you around your office and inform you about the current state of the mansion."
Max thought for a moment before nodding, "Alright. I'll be there in an hour."
"Okay. I'll go arrange things there and wait for you." Vivian said before she gave the girls a smile, "Now, everyone. Please excuse me."
"Tsk! What a vixen!" Natalie clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath as she watched Vivian leave, her hips swaying alluringly.
Max looked at her with a frown on his face which made Natalie gulp nervously.
"I don't just call her aunt, I respect her like one. So, make sure you don't curse her like this again."
"I-I understand, Big Brother." Natalie bit her lower lip, and nodded, her eyes turning misty.
Max sighed inwardly when he saw this. She was still young and had a playful and straightforward personality.
Because of this, he didn't want to be harsh on her fearing she would not act naturally around him any longer once she got afraid of him, but there were things where he had no choice but to be a little harsh.
For example, just now. If he had let her off, not only would she not respect Vivian or any other woman he got close with, she would become even more possessive.
While he knew he would enjoy his women's possessiveness and wouldn't want to change it, it shouldn't affect their mentality.
Seeing his words had been more than effective, he decided to do the damage control and pulled her into his embrace, softly caressing her back.
"Don't be sad, babygirl. I'm not angry." He consoled,
Natalie was stiff for a moment and even thought about struggling out of his embrace due to her aggrieved anger, but when she heard and felt him being so gentle to her, she nuzzled her face on in his chest, and shed a few tears before she raised her head and looked him in the eyes, saying:
"If I do something wrong or something that you don't like, just tell me normally. I won't do it ever again, just... Don't be angry, okay?"
Max furrowed his brows at her words and asked, "Why? Do you think I would no longer care about you if you make me angry?"
Natalie hesitated for a moment, before she bit her lip, lowered her head and nodded. "Mm."
Max shook his head and seriously said, "You can be rest assured that it would never happen, I promise you that, after all..."
Saying this, he smiled, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "You are my sweet little sister, who I can't have enough of."
Hearing his words and feeling his hot breath tickling her ear, Natalie shivered and almost let out a moan, her legs becoming putty, causing her to lean against him and clutch his shirt for support.
Max was about to circle his hand around her waist to support her when she suddenly remembered not only Sophie was standing right next to them, there were other people in the vicinity who were watching them.
Immediately, her face went red.
A moment later, she took a deep breath and as naturally as possible, she firmly planted her feet on the ground and pulled away from him.
Then, she put on a stern look on her face and swept her gaze across the people nearby, who hurriedly averted their gazes before entering their homes or walking away.
Seeing this, she let out a sigh of relief before giving Max an aggrieved look.
Max just smiled in response. Then, he asked, "So, shall we continue our exploration?"
"No need." To Max's surprise, both girls said the same words at the same time.
"..."
Natalie stared at Sophie, who, with an impassive expression on her face, turned around and began walking away.
"Hehe, someone's jealous." Natalie chuckled in a low enough voice for only Max to hear.
"Let's go." Max smiled.
"Don't be so happy yet. She isn't going to give in so easily." Natalie chuckled.
Max looked at her, slightly surprised. "You just did not like Aunt Vivian because you thought she was trying to seduce me, no? Then how come you don't feel anything about me wanting Sophie?"
Natalie held her hands behind her back and said in the most casual tone, "Because she is my sister."
Her simple answer dazed him for a moment before he smiled in understanding and said, "That's very good to hear."
When Emily married John and they came to live with them, Natalie was feeling very uneasy due to the sudden change in her surroundings and the people around her.
On John's suggestion, he had tried to make her comfortable around him and get familiar with the new environment, however, Natalie didn't interact with him. In fact, except for Sophie, she wouldn't interact with anyone, not even her mother.
If someone tried to force a conversation with her, she would either run into her room and lock the door, or she would scream and cry.
This had made everyone, especially Emily, very sad and helpless.
Fortunately, they didn't have to worry about her wellbeing with Sophie looking after her.
This phase of hers had lasted for around a month and during this time period, the sisters became very close.
But as they grew up, some distance appeared between them and before the apocalypse, they would exchange only a few sentences if any at all.
Natalie would either run out to hang out with Nia or play around with her in the swimming pool or garden while Sophie would stay in her room after returning from college, studying.
Because of this, he had assumed the sisters didn't get along. Fortunately, this wasn't the case.
...
Soon, the trio returned home.
"Mom, Big Brother is leaving for his leader work in an hour. Hurry up and make us some food." Natalie shouted toward Emily, who had just emerged from her room upon hearing the sound of the door opening.
"Is that right?" Emily said, "Just give me twenty minutes."
Saying this, she rushed into the kitchen. When they settled into this residence, someone had come over with a bucket of drinking water and some dry ingredients for soup and bread.
So, Emily was going to use them to make the dinner and even though it would be a simple meal, she was happy to be able to cook something after such a long time.
Max sat down in the living room and began chatting with Natalie about random stuff of before the apocalypse. As for Sophie, she had gone to her room, they both knew she would only return for the dinner, or maybe even after Max left.
Less than half an hour later, Emily came over carrying a steaming pot of soup.
"Let me bring the bread, Mom." Natalie said, wanting to help her, but Emily shook her head and smiled, "No need. I'll bring it."
"Hm?" Natalie tilted her head in confusion.
Before the apocalypse, she always helped her bring the dishes from the kitchen, and when she didn't offer to herself, her mother would ask her. So, her refusal surprised her.
Seeing her confused face, Max chuckled, leaned over and whispered in her ear, "She doesn't want you to move around too much until... you have recovered from last night's activities."
Natalie's expression froze. Then her face paled before turning bright red.
She was aware that with no sound-proofing in her room, both Sophie and Emily must have heard her cries of joyful moans.
However, when she woke up in the morning, she had met Sophie who had come over to take care of her, and did not give her any judgemental looks to make her embarrassed.
Then, in the afternoon, when she wasn't feeling so sore, she and Sophie had gone down and saw Emily, who acted like she didn't know anything and after having their slice of [Nutritious Bread], they had begun talking about random things, and wondering where Max might have gone.
Because of that, she had relaxed completely and had nearly forgotten that Emily was also aware of her nightly escapades with Max.
Now that he told her this, all that embarrassment she was supposed to feel in the afternoon upon meeting Emily, she was feeling now.
Just then, she felt Max's hand on her shoulder and heard him say, "Calm down. No need to be so embarrassed. If she saw you like this and asked you what's wrong, it would be more embarrassing."
Natalie looked at him and anxiously asked, "But how am I supposed to face her now?"
"Just like you have been facing her until now. She is acting oblivious so as not to embarrass you, you should do the same." Max said.
Hearing this, Natalie growled, glaring at him angrily, "Why did you tell me that, Big Brother? If you hadn't, I would still be calm. You... are too much."
"Yeah. It's my fault. I'm sorry." Max raised his hands in surrender, but an amused smile still hung on his lips.
"You..."
Before Natalie could say anything about it, Max glanced towards the kitchen and said, "Mom's coming. Now, take a deep breath and try to calm down."
Flustered, Natalie immediately shut her mouth and did as he said. After she had taken a few deep breaths and her face wasn't as red, Emily walked out of the kitchen.
Max gave her a grateful look to which Emily just pursed her lips and put down the bread she made and a piece of Nutritious bread.
She then served the soup, her bread and a slice of Nutritious Bread in four plates. While they craved home-cooked food, no matter how simple it was, Emily knew how perfect the Nutritious Bread was, though a little bland in taste, and couldn't be missed out on.
Once she was done, she called out to Sophie in a loud voice, "Sophie, dinner's ready. Come down."
While she served Max and Natalie their plates, Sophie came down and they began eating.
While eating, she looked at Max several times, opened her mouth, but always hesitated.
Noticing this, Max asked, "Do you want to say something, Mom?"
Sophie and Natalie looked at her.
Emily sighed to herself and nodded.
"Yes. I... heard that you killed over a hundred people. Is that true?" She put down her spoon.
Sophie and Natalie's eyes widened hearing this and they also stopped eating and looked at Max, awaiting his response, while hoping for him to refute it.
However...
Max calmly nodded, "Yeah. They wanted to destroy the mansion and kill everyone here. So, I had no choice but to take action."
The three women paled at his words and there was silence for several seconds which was broken by the sound of Natalie's spoon clanking against the bowl.
Emily and Sophie looked at her in surprise. She was in the mood to eat?
"What's up with those expressions? You think Big Brother did something wrong by killing them?" Natalie asked, her expression hardening, "You heard him, right? If he hadn't killed them, Aunt Sarah, his grandfather and his family and everyone living in this mansion would have died."
She paused for a moment, "The world is not the same now, and we have witnessed this with our own eyes. So, while I understand this is hard to digest given we have lived in a peaceful world until two weeks ago, and are constricted by the so-called morals, it's high time we redefine the definition of what's right and what's wrong."
Max couldn't help but be impressed by her hearing this and gave her a smile which made Natalie happy.
As for Emily and Sophie, they were silent. Of course, they knew the world wasn't the same and what Max did wasn't wrong... It's just that, as Natalie said, their views on things hadn't acclimated to this world yet.
"Let's eat Mom." Sophie said, picking up her spoon once again. And despite not feeling like it, Emily did the same, making Max nod in satisfaction.
Though it wasn't easy to get used to things and their views so soon, as long as they were willing to change, it wouldn't be as difficult.
...
Not long after, they were done with the dinner and Max was leaving when Natalie stopped him and asked while averting his gaze, "You'll come back soon, right?"
Max knew she was afraid that if he stayed with Vivian for too long, something might happen between them. Well, her fear was right since he was going to claim that lovely woman tonight, moreover, he planned to visit someone else too.
So, he cupped her face in his palms and kissed her lips before saying, "I'll try to be back as soon as possible, but I can't promise as I have a lot to do."
Natalie stared at him dazedly after the kiss. Then remembering Emily and Sophie were there, she blushed. However, she suppressed her embarrassment upon hearing his words, bit her lower lip and grabbed the front of his shift before hesitantly saying.
"Promise me... you won't pay me less attention just because... you will have more women interested in you."
Seeing how sweet, vulnerable and lovable she looked as she said this, for a moment, Max wanted to say that she will be the only woman in his life, but then he remembered that he had already made Ruth his woman too and given the danger he and everyone else was, he needed more, he snapped back to his senses and smiled.
"I promise. But if you ever think I'm giving you less attention, complain to me. As my woman, you have the right to."
"Mm. I'll do it." Natalie seriously nodded and said, "Alright. Go now and try to return soon."
"Sure." Max smiled and waved Emily and Sophie goodbye before leaving the residence.
[Harem Points: 19]
[Time Remaining: 4 Days, 19.2 Hours]