With the funds I left behind, Philip was also planning to go to the slave market later to pick out one or two suitable slaves to serve as guards.
Judging by his intentions, he was probably preparing to find a few powerful beast-people like Ghislaine to be guards!
In the afternoon, Doris came home from school, bringing a lot of groceries, preparing to make a lavish dinner for the evening.
Aunt Hilda also went to the kitchen to help cook. She is a very traditional woman; although she never cooked when she was the mistress in Ranoa, she had learned the methods of cooking.
And she even brought Eris into the kitchen with her, probably intending to nurture her daughter's domestic skills.
However, less than ten minutes after they entered the kitchen, while Philip and I were chatting, we saw Eris come out carrying two cutting boards that had been chopped in half.
Haha, it's exactly the same as in history; Eris really did choose to learn vegetable chopping after all?
It seems that chopping vegetables and swordsmanship are fundamentally different things.
When dinner started, our family happily enjoyed a rich meal together.
Philip firmly refused the seat of honor, so we ended up sitting 3 against 3 across the table, leaving the seat of honor empty.
Eris, I, and Doris sat on one side, while Ghislaine, Philip, and Hilda sat on the other.
This warm dinner felt like the first one I had eaten in so many years.
Previously, I either ate alone at a large dining table or sat on the ground eating outdoors.
It was rare to have a family sitting together like this, giving me a feeling of home.
In the future, when I have my own children, no matter how high my status is, I must have dinner with my children and family every day.
At night, Doris and I slept in the master bedroom, Eris slept with Ghislaine, and Philip and Hilda shared a room.
I don't know if it was because my mentality was affected too much during the day, or if the sounds from Uncle Philip and Aunt Hilda next door were too loud.
I kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Doris was already an adult. Perhaps sensing my restlessness, she knew what to do with her thoughtfulness.
She took off her nightgown and lay down in my arms.
I am a normal man, and my normal physiological response quickly kicked in.
After an intense internal struggle, we engaged in some close-quarters combat on the bed on that dark and windy night.
Morning light leaked through the gaps in the Venetian blinds, slicing fine golden threads across the disheveled bedding.
Doris had transformed from a girl into a woman last night.
She curled up in the crook of my arm, her hair falling across her neck, wrapped in rumpled silk that still held the lingering flush of passion.
My fingers were still hooked around the tie of her nightgown, the fabric rubbing softly under my fingertips, mingling with our intertwined breaths to weave an invisible net.
She suddenly tilted her head, her nose brushing against the sweat on my collarbone, the coolness making my Adam's apple bob.
The palms we held last night still retained the sticky saltiness of exertion; touching now through a thin sheen of perspiration, they felt hotter than any vow.
As I lowered my head, her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, her lips brushing against the fine hair on my chest, the unspoken tickle causing us both to hold our breath simultaneously.
"Water…" she rasped, her fingertips tracing the hollow of my lower abdomen.
I smiled and cast a Water Magic spell, pressing a cool water sphere against the back of her neck. Water droplets rolled down her spine, refracting tiny rainbows in the morning light.
She coughed and curled up tightly. I took the opportunity to bite her earlobe and chuckled softly, "The first time I realized you look like a kitten when you wake up."
When the sunlight crept onto the headboard, she was standing on her tiptoes trying to reach his shirt.
I held her ankle; the curve of her arched foot reminded me of the lips she had bitten last night.
As the shirt slipped off her shoulder, she suddenly turned and kissed me, her tongue sweeping away the lingering saltiness.
The moment the lock turned, the fragrance of the pagoda tree blossoms clinging to her hair drifted in with the morning breeze, falling into my empty palm.
I walked downstairs; Doris had already started preparing breakfast. A faint blush still remained on her face.
Eris and Ghislaine were both up very early and had already finished their morning training. They were now performing empty swings as part of their early practice.
Although I wanted to join them, the soreness in my lower back made me decide to take a day off.
At breakfast, Eris informed us that they had packed their luggage the previous night and planned to leave with Ghislaine today.
I didn't try to keep them; I was also preparing to leave Sharia within the next couple of days.
After eating, I took Philip to find Ariel. After a brief introduction, I left the time and space to them and headed home alone.
On the way, I saw two Beast People—one with cat ears and one with dog ears—extorting a young human male.
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