Just as Nicholas was about to fall back into the endless spiral of his own mind a small knock came from his door.
He didn't even have time to respond before the door was pushed open anyway.
An older woman stepped in, moving with quiet confidence that came from decades of taking care of people… of him.
She pushed a trolley loaded with trays and bowls of steaming food.
The aroma was so strong that it hit Nicholas before the woman even crossed the threshold of the room.
Even his stomach growled.
"Nick." Her voice was soft but firm. "I heard you moving around in your room. So, I prepared your favourite."
Auntie Penny pushed the tray onto the side table next to his bed. She gestured at the main dish with the pride of an artist unveiling their masterpiece.
"Essence-infused meat… It will help with your recovery."
Nicholas pushed himself up, until his back was resting against his headboard, ignoring the pain wrecking through his body like a demolition crew.
"Good morning to you too, Auntie Penny."
Auntie Penny's face softened. She leaned down and gave him a gentle peck on the forehead.
"Good morning to you too, my boy."
She turned away for a moment, unfolding a small bed table and placing it carefully over his legs then she began placing the dishes one by one.
The first dish was a soup.
She took a spoonful, blew on it gently before she brought it to his lips.
Nicholas did not argue, he smiled and took a sip.
*OOOOOOOHHHHHH*
The moment the soup hit his throat, a massive wave of soothing warmth spread through his body.
A lovely sensation moved through his veins, sinking into his muscles, his bones, the places where the pain lived. His eyes half-closed without permission.
*UUUUUUUUHHHHHMMM*
The sound escaped him before he could stop it… A groan of pure, unguarded delight.
Auntie Penny's smile could have lit up a dark room. "I knew you would love it."
Auntie Penny wasn't his maid or his lover… she was more of his voluntary caretaker and now that Nicholas was thinking about it properly, she was most likely his father's lover.
Back when the old man was still alive and still making terrible life decisions well into his sixties.
The only reason Miss Penny wasn't his biological mother was simple… She was already well past menopause by the time Nicholas's father finally decided to settle down.
'Who even gave that old man the bright idea that settling down in your sixties with a fifty-year-old woman was a smart plan?' Nicholas wondered randomly. 'Did he think he was going to reverse her fertility with sheer determination?'
If he had to guess, the old man had spent his entire life chasing something… trying to leave a mark on the world. Something that would prove he existed.
And he never succeeded… at least not completely.
So, he settled for the next best thing… A descendant.
Even though she was technically his stepmother, Auntie Penny had never treated him badly. Not once. Not even on his worst days… and there had been some spectacularly bad days.
In fact, she loved him like her own son.
Which made it confusing why she wouldn't let him call her mother.
And despite her age Auntie Penny was successful. She was a Grade D Gourmet Master and ran her own restaurant.
Contrary to most cultivation novels Nicholas had read in his previous life, where energy replaced food and high-ranking experts survived on nothing but cultivation this world worked the opposite way.
The more powerful you were, the more you needed to eat not less.
The body was often likened to a powerful machine or vessel that is constantly using essence while hosting the soul, resisting the pressure of natural law and regenerating cells at an accelerated rate.
All of which required massive amounts of raw metabolic energy.
Sure, with the help of essence, you could go a day or two without eating and maybe three if you pushed yourself to the brink… but after that?
Your body started eating itself… like literally.
So Gourmet Master like Auntie Penny were essential. More so Auntie Penny since her Soul Ability was tailored for the profession.
Nicholas pushed all those thoughts aside and focused on recovery, after all he could only begin carrying out his plan if he could walk properly.
Auntie Penny fed him spoonful by spoonful until the trays were empty and his belly full. He was certain she would prepare more if he could stomach it.
Thankfully the benefit of having a Gourmet Master as a stepmother showed itself immediately as the pain in his body reduced noticeably.
By the end of the day, he felt noticeably better and could finally move his body without feeling extensive pain.
But that was when he noticed another issue… his body was lagging.
It was as if his body couldn't keep up with his mind, so he stayed back in bed… He spent the rest of the day trying to contact the other guy but nothing.
The same thing happened the next day.
Auntie Penny came again in the morning, afternoon and evening feeding him while the spoke about random things.
Finally on the third day Nicholas got out of his bed properly.
He had spent the better part of the last day trying to contact the other guy but nothing so he gave up. There wasn't much else he could do in that regard. For now.