"Mom!" Aella yelled, bringing her hands down onto the table. "What do you think you're asking him!?"
"What's wrong, dear? I'm only curious to see if he's so playboy trying to take advantage of you," her mother said, turning to Neraxis. "Are you?"
Neraxis imdiately shook his head. "Of course not. I only ca here today to hang out, nothing more."
"Hmm..." Aella's mother humd in amusent. "Is that right?"
Noticing that she was not going to let up, Neraxis simply started eating his rib-eye steak in silence, letting Aella deal with the rest.
"Mom... I already told you about him. Why don't you just put it to rest now?" she asked, frustrated.
But her mom rely shrugged, putting a piece of salad in her mouth. "If I let just any guy near you, what will beco of my daughter?"
"Huuuh!? Do you think I just bring any guy ho!?" Aella stood up, speechless. "Do you think I'm so sort of sl—"
"Can it, dear," her mother interrupted with a smile. "No need to convince . I'll make my own judgnt."
"Fine..." Aella replied, sitting back down and aggressively biting into her salad.
All the while, Neraxis was watching the entire scene unfold.
However, a sudden yawn interrupted him.
[What'd I miss?] Evangeline said groggily.
A bit. Did you actually sleep? He asked with a raised brow.
[Well, after you two were hitting it off, I got too aroused, so I went to bed,] she replied nonchalantly, nearly making him pierce straight through the plate with his fork.
You were aroused, so you went to bed... Now that's the first ti I'm hearing sothing like that. Neraxis chuckled inwardly.
[Well, I did co back when you got blue-balled by the mother. Went to bed after that, though,] Evangeline remarked. [I'm happy you two are getting along. I was honestly expecting the progress to be much slower, given how you tend not to make advances often. Glad you held back too.]
What can I say? I can be bold and have restraint at the sa ti, Neraxis replied and finished the last of his steak.
As he did, one of the servants brought over another dish.
Once again, it was at—just this ti, it was pork.
"I did say I'd make sure to feed you well, didn't I?" Aella giggled from the side.
"What about you? Do you not like at?" Neraxis asked with curiosity.
"I do. My mom does as well." She pointed toward the salads. "We just have strict diets to maintain our beautiful figures. Right, Mom?"
"Yes, sweetie. Old as I may be, I want to remain stunning until the grave," Aella's mother remarked with a nod, making him let out a small laugh.
"No wonder—your skin is glistening, miss," Neraxis added so flattery.
"Of course. Back in my day, n would kill just for to glance at them," she bragged, reminding him of a certain soone.
Nonetheless, the dinner went by smoothly, with Aella chiming in from ti to ti, asking if he was hungry.
Surprisingly, even after eating 14 dishes, he still did not feel full.
Noticing this, Aella's mother let out a sigh. "I'm surprised you can keep that slim build with the way you eat. I wish I had that kind of figure..."
He was fairly certain she could, given the technology and potions that were developed, but he wouldn't comnt on it.
But Neraxis was pretty puzzled about what to even talk about during such a gathering. After all, both Aella and her mother had finished their food long ago.
Only he was still scarfing down different kinds of gourt at.
However, Neraxis did not need to wonder long, as Aella's mother spoke up. "Do you have experience? In dating, I an."
"No, ma'am. I've never dated anyone," he replied.
It was not a lie either—he truly had no experience.
"I see. Good." The mother nodded to herself. "How about your hobbies?"
"Hobbies...?" Neraxis froze, falling into thought. "I guess I'd have to say combat training. Alchemy is pretty fun too, but I don't get the chance to do it that often."
"So your end goal is to die in battle then," she added coldly.
"Mo—" Aella was about to stand up to interfere, but he shot a glance at her, stopping her from doing so.
Instead, he gave a calm response. "I'm not planning on dying, but if I do end up dying, it was simply because I am weak."
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He had resolved himself to such a fate since he would not die from betrayal twice.
"That's a naive outlook," she said before lifting up a knife and pointing it at him. "What would you do if your loved one was about to be killed, but the only way to save them would be to give up your life? Would you let them die, or kill yourself?"
"There is no correct answer," Neraxis stated, furrowing his brows. "All paths lead to the sa outco. They would still die even if I killed myself. The only correct answer would be to simply attain such strength where no one could put in a position like that."
"The world is unpredictable," the mother comnted before looking off to the side, a longing expression in her eyes. "My husband had to make that sa choice many years ago. Want to guess which one he picked?"
"..." Neraxis couldn't give her an answer since it was obvious what she was implying.
"Anyways, I'm glad you took an interest in my daughter, as she did the sa with you," the mother said, standing up. "I'll head out for the night. Aella, no boys over after 8:00 P.M. It's 7:40 P.M."
Sighing, Aella replied, "I know, Mom. I'll show him around a bit and take him ho."
Her mother nodded and shot one last glance toward Neraxis. "For all our sakes and especially your own, I hope you find the right answer. Good night, Neraxis. I'll be waiting for the next ti you visit."
"Night... Ma'am," he replied with a slightly sour look as she finally made her way out of the dining room.
Nonetheless, he could no longer eat, as his appetite was ruined.
That single question she asked managed to shake him much more than he expected.
Is my answer truly wrong...? Even if it's naive, there's no other way around it, he mused as the worried-looking Aella approached.
"Sorry... She tends to get a bit serious when she ets other Awakened..." she trailed off. "My dad was an S ranked Awakened, a pretty famous one at that. But with fa also ca jealousy. His colleagues took Mom hostage and threatened to kill her."
Neraxis could see tears forming in her eyes, which he quickly reached in to wipe.
"She was still pregnant with at the ti, so using her skills was very dangerous. She could have killed by accident," Aella added with a forced chuckle. "Still... My dad was given the choice to either take his own life or watch as they took and my mom's lives."
"So he chose the forr... and in the heat of their surprise, my mother killed all of them," Aella finished before locking eyes with Neraxis. "Anyways... Want a tour?"
"You don't need to force yourself." Neraxis stood up, grabbing her hand. "Why don't we just go for a simple walk instead?"
"Okay." She imdiately agreed and took the lead, guiding him through a hidden entrance that led to the sandy beach below her house.
The darkness, coupled with the sea breeze and the angelic Aella walking beside him, made Neraxis feel awfully calm.
But even then, the sa question was gnawing at him.
If it ca down to it, what would he choose?
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