With nothing urgent until morning, he chose to eat first.
After finishing, he used his technique to speed up digestion and nd torn muscle fibers.
Then he left his room.
The first floor was empty.
He checked the common room.
That’s where she was—alone at the bar, pouring a glass of red wine.
The wine glass sat untouched in her hand, her fingers barely moving.
Her eyes drifted over the bottles behind the counter, staring through them like nothing was really there.
Terrence never seen her like this before. She looked drained.
’That idiot. Don’t tell he’s actually cheating on her! ’
Unacceptable.
Sure, his uncle was wealthy and attractive. But none of that mattered.
Not when his wife was this devoted and caring.
’Doesn’t he get it? Most guys would kill to be with soone like her. She deserves better— ’
He stopped himself.
The thought felt too personal, too biased.
There was still so much unknown.
’Only one way to find out. ’
Walking closer, he noticed her expression change the mont she saw him.
She tried to look normal, like nothing was going on.
"Terrence? What are you doing down here? Did you need sothing?"
It was ti to man up.
"Aunt Effie, this might be out of line, but I don’t like seeing you like this."
"You don’t want to see drinking?"
"No." He shook his head. "I don’t want to see you sad."
She looked down. "I’m not sad. I’m just tired."
"Aunt Effie, don’t treat like I’m a child."
"You’re the only one who made feel welco after my parents died. I hate seeing you like this. You’re really kind, and—"
Before he could finish, she hugged her arms tightly around herself.
"Please, Terrence," she whispered, her voice breaking, "don’t say anything more... or I might do sothing I’ll regret."
She trembled. He could feel the rapid pounding of her heart beneath her soft chest.
His hand lifted instinctively to hug her back, but she pulled away and wiped her tears.
"Terrence." Her voice softened. "This is an adult matter. Your uncle and I will sort it out."
Those words were ant to calm him, but he didn’t back down. If this was about age, then he was far older than her if he counted his past life.
"I’m not a kid. I’ll be eighteen soon."
Her smile faded. Sothing flickered in her eyes before she looked away, gripping the wine glass tighter.
"I... I didn’t an to treat you like one," she mumbled. "I just—"
"Terrence, please... wait until your birthday. I’ll be more comfortable talking about it then."
She stood up, finished her wine in one sip, and walked off.
Left alone, Terrence stared after her with mixed emotions.
This wasn’t how things played out before. But his steps were already changing the future like the butterfly effect.
And if he was lucky... maybe this butterfly would land on a flower worth waiting for.
’Shit, I’m getting ahead of myself.’
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Days passed, and his progress kept improving.
Neither of them brought up what happened at the bar, which was probably for the best. It gave him space to focus on himself.
Progress showed in his body.
""Twelve!" he grunted, forcing out the last rep of his set."
Sitting up, he started his breathing technique again to maximize his gains.
But by now, his growth already slowed to a snail’s pace as expected.
’This room’s too cramped. I’ll move to the backyard and train so combat techniques.’
Standing up, he stretched his legs one last ti .
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movent. Effie.
She ducked behind the hallway wall. But he already knew she been watching since the beginning.
In the past few days, his senses improved. The little mana in the air started to bring back so of his sensitivity.
It was nowhere near his forr strength, but it was enough to defend himself if anyone tried to hurt him.
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