Ugh!
Rowan woke up with a groan and a splitting headache. All he remembered was someone knocking him out before he could eat his soup.
Wait...soup!
"Not my onion soup!" he yelled while waking up. He was genuinely scared that someone had eaten his onion soup while he was out cold.
It must have been some nefarious criminal who had come to rob him of his valuable food. With the drought-induced famine, people must have been getting desperate.
"Wait, but I'm a high-class magic knight. Who the hell can sneak up on me!"
That's when he realised the unfamiliar weight on his chest and legs. On his chest was a sprawled-up little girl who was hugging him tightly.
She fluttered her eyelids as her father's movements had jolted her awake. Her emerald green eyes shone through her golden blonde hair as she rubbed her chubby face with slightly pudgy hands.
Her small body struggled to get up as she stared at her father with groggy but curious eyes. Rowan's own eyes gazed at her with a stunned look.
"Artemis..." he mumbled the name of the woman he first fell in love with a couple of years back. She had even accepted his proposal on this very farm.
This very farm was where they had taken all the necessary steps in their relationship. This was also the place she had left him at.
Alone.
This child was a perfect replica of what he dreamed their child would look like but even more endearing and cuter. Of course, that dream was shattered when she disappeared with a measly 5 word letter.
My sword can't be dulled.
However, that dream was soon patched back as the little girl grumbled. "Daddy... I'm hungry."
Rowan's mind exploded. A rush of emotion he couldn't describe flooded his heart as his breathing became filled with a joy he couldn't describe.
His instincts told him to run to the kitchen and cook up a hearty and nutritious breakfast for his daughter. His instincts screamed that this had to be his own blood. And as a knight who had betted everything on the battlefield on his instincts, he knew he couldn't be wrong.
This had to be his child.
"Can you say that again?" Rowan asked softly.
"I'm hungry..." the half asleep child replied groggily.
"No, the other part."
"Daddy?" Rowan beamed a smile so large that his face started to hurt, but he couldn't help it. It was always his dream to have a bunch of children and live happily with his wife and kids on a leisurely farm.
Though he might not have gotten a wife but he did get a daughter. That was good enough for him. He's not a greedy man.
Rowan held the little girl in his big arms as he slowly got up from his bed. He sat up and noticed that there were 4 other kids using his legs as a pillow. They were still fast asleep.
He ignored them for now as he held up his daughter in his hands and placed her in front of him. At this point, the girl had exited her groggy state and had woken up.
She looked at her father with a smile and eyes full of anticipation.
I did it. I talked to my dad for the first time. Her heart was full of excitement. Her mother had always told her that her dad was a kind and caring man. He is also someone who makes very delicious food.
"What's your name?" asked Rowan.
"My name is Lilliana, Lilliana Blacksun. Mommy calls me Lilly." Lilly proudly declared. Her mom had always stressed the fact that her last name was Blacksun. The same as her fathers, as is tradition in this world.
"Blacksun...hahaha!. Of course. She's a Blacksun. My own blood." Rowan laughed loudly with pride.
This made Lilly happy, too. She was glad that her dad liked her name. All the kids she had met always had fathers who were proud of them. They looked at their children with joy. The kids would always ask her where her father was, but she could never answer.
Now, seeing her father looking at her with such joy made her finally experience the love of a father.
Grrr!
Her moment of happiness was cut short as her stomach made a small rumbling noise. All she had yesterday was some onion soup before her mother had one of the women put them to sleep until this morning.
This was to make sure they would have enough time to run away from Rowan, as they couldn't let him catch them. They didn't know how to face the man.
"I'll make you breakfast. Want to see?" Rowan asked while carefully moving around the children without waking them. It was easy when he used some levitation magic carefully.
His instincts hinted they were his offspring as well, but for now, he wants to bond with the one who is probably his eldest child. Lilly's mother was the first one he met, so she had to be the oldest.
He took Lilly to the kitchen in his arms and took out a bowl. He summoned some water into it and placed it on the dining table. He then placed Lilly on the table.
"Can you wash your face, or should I help?" Rowan said as he dipped a small towel in the bowl.
"Help me!" she said excitedly. She knew how to do it herself as her mother never helped. She wanted to see what it felt like for her dad to help her.
Rowan obliged as he applied the cold towel to Lilly's face and carefully wiped her.
"Uwah!" Feeling all refreshed and completely awake, Lilly was ready for some breakfast.
Rowan grinned like a fool as he carried her to the kitchen and dragged a dining chair with him. He placed it in the kitchen and placed Lilly on it. She obediently sat there and watched.
With curious emerald eyes, she saw her father open a strange contraption that had all sorts of ingredients and food inside. It was a metal cabinet with two vertical parts, and it let out cold air.
"Brr!" she shivered. Rowan turned around and saw this.
"Sorry about that." he apologised and moved her chair over so the fridge air wouldn't hit her. His house was already kept very cool because of the sweltering heat outside. He had installed a large cooling magic circle a long time ago. There was also a heating circle he had turned off. That was for the winter.
Rowan took out 9 eggs and 3 medium tomatoes, and a little bit of milk from his fridge. As always, the tomatoes were from his farm, and the eggs and milk from his cows and chickens.
He took out the oil from his cabinet and an extra-large black frying pan. He placed the pan on the stovetop and started a fire. He poured a light amount of oil on top. Too much oil wasn't good for the kids in the morning.
He then started cracking eggs and putting them in a big bowl, added a pinch of salt and started beating them up. When they were almost down being beaten, he picked up Lilly and held her up to the bowl.
"Wanna beat them?"
"Yes!" she nodded and took the whisker that Rowan offered her. She started spinning it around in the bowl like she saw Rowan do, but not as fast. She stirred slowly but did her best to be as fast as possible.
"Well done." he patted her head and placed her back on the chair, and carefully set the mix into the hot ban.
Szzzz!
The eggs sizzled in the pan. Lilly watched in glee as she swung her legs. He stirred it slowly; it didn't take long for it to be just solid yet soft enough.
He took some plates and split the scrambled eggs into 6 portions. Then he chopped up tomatoes.
Thack! Thack! Thack!
The knife hit the cutting board at perfect intervals as 3 tomatoes were diced into near perfect squares. Then slid them onto what remained of the oil and added salt. It only took them 3 minutes to become soft and juicy so Rowan put them on top of the eggs.
"There we go, scrambled eggs with tomatoes." declared Rowan as Lilly was tapping her spoon on the dining table. With an eager look, she glanced between her food and Rowan.
"Give it a second. It's still very hot." As he said, the other children started walking out of the room grogily. They hesitantly approached Rowan and Lilly.
Seeing her younger siblings wake up, Lilly was even more excited. "Little brothers and sisters! Come sit down."
She beckoned them while waving around her small metal spoon. Her mother had said she's the oldest so she had to guide the younger ones.
The four saw her so full of energy and comfortable around the man whom their mothers said was their father. This made them more willing to approach the table where the man sat.
Rowan looked at his other children with curiosity. Just from their appearances alone, he could tell who their mothers are.
Damn. They all took their mothers' traits. Are my genes that weak?
Rowan could see that they all had the same eye and hair colours as their mothers. The kids all slowly sat at the table meant for 8, 4 chairs on each side. No chairs at the heads of the table. Rowan's parents didn't like having family heads and stuff like that. They believed that family is equal.
Rowan believed in it too. That's why he picked each and every one of his kids up from the chair himself. Then he wiped their faces with water and a towel. All of them were oddly calm. No one resisted having their face washed.
He was expecting the kids to be rebellious like their mothers. Those women were always so unruly and did whatever they wanted.
Seems like they taught them well over the years. I guess I was right when I thought they would be good mothers.
Rowan nodded is satisfaction. The only thing that irked him was that their so-called good mothers just left them to him. Why couldn't they stay behind too?
Rowan shook his head and sat down at the table again. He didn't want to think about that now. Maybe the kids would know why they were left to him.
"Dig in. We'll talk after breakfast." Rowan smiled as he watched the kids pick up their spoons and shovel the tomato and eggs into their mouths.
"Woah!"
"What's this taste?"
"Why is this better than the castle food?"
"So much better than moms!"
"Yum!"
All kids were wide eyed at the first taste. They could not believe how good the food tasted. Some of them were amazed at the food because their mothers couldn't cook. Others were amazed that the food was more delicious than their chefs at home.
Hearing the kids compliment his food made his day even better than it was. This is exactly the reason he worked so hard to grow his farm and make everything from scratch. His smile really couldn't get any better.
He decided to let them enjoy the food while he ate some too. And indeed it was good. The Eggs are soft and slightly creamy with just the right amount of seasoning. The Tomatoes then cut in with their freshness and juice. The slight acidity cuts through the eggs perfectly.
It truly is a nutritious and delicious breakfast.
It didn't take long for the eager kids to empty their plates. They turned to look at Rowan with eyes that seemed to ask for more.
"Breakfast doesn't need that much food. We'll have lunch in a couple of hours. I'll fill up your appetites then." Rowan explained.
Breakfast doesn't need to be very happy as lunch would be right after noon. He would make sure to stuff them to the brim then.
Kids all seemed a bit disappointed at this but nodded in acceptance. Their mothers wouldn't fill them up all the way in the morning either.
"So now that everyone is somewhat satisfied. Let's introduce ourselves to each other."