"Sia, this is delicious~" Sarah finished her food and smiled brightly.
"Heh." Sia smiled with pride and glanced at Varian who was wolfing down the third serving without even glancing at them.
Her lips twitched as she said. "If my cooking wasn't this delicious, Varian would've skipped dinners."
Sarah looked at the incarnation of gluttony beside her and gave Sia a wry smile. "Let me guess. Training till he fell asleep and forgetting dinner regularly? That's so like him."
"Nom. Nom. Th-Thish is awhsome. I missed sooo mush~" Varian muttered without stopping.
Sia covered her face like she was embarrassed by his table manners while Sarah found it funny.
"Varian?" She called him softly.
"Hm?" Varian raised his head and looked at her, but his hand blurred as the spoon kept going from the bowl to his mouth.
He looked like a man starving for weeks.
"I don't know him. I don't know. Ahh~ I'm embarrassed." Sia buried her face in the table and kicked her legs powerlessly.
Sarah shifted her body in the chair and looked Varian in the eye.
"That day," Her eyes shone with nostalgia.
That was the first time she saw Varian's vulnerable side. The incident was etched in her heart.
"You cried when on your first meal with me and Anna. Were you picturing this very scene?"
"…" Varian's hand froze and he gulped down the food. Then, he closed his eyes and recalled that day.
When he sat down to eat with Sarah and Anna, he suddenly remembered Amanda and Sia. The feeling of loss overwhelmed him and he ended up in tears.
And now…
Varian looked at Sarah beside him and Sia across the table. Even though Amanda was gone, even though Sia went through a lot of things…
"I want to cry now as well. I'm really happy." Varian said in a serious tone.
Even though it wasn't a perfect situation, it was the best that was possible. He lost them once, but now, he'd never let them go.
Then, Varian resumed eating.
This time, however, Sarah understood something else as she looked at his nostalgic expression.
It wasn't about the food. Even if Sia made the most common dish, he'd eat it with the same relish.
What he missed, what he called good was the feeling of care. A feeling of home. He missed it dearly for a year and now he's trying to take in as much as he could at once.
He no longer appeared like a starving guy devouring food, but a sad guy who was clinging to his family or what was left of it.
Sarah bit her lip and she rose from her seat.
Then, to the surprise of both Varian and Sia, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the forehead.
"It's alright. We aren't going anywhere." She whispered in a gentle voice.
"…"
Varian's body trembled and he put down the spoon.
Taking a breath, he gave Sia and Sarah an intense gaze. "Whatever happens, I'm not letting you go. I love you both too much."
"(^_^)?" Sia's smile cracked.
">_<?!" Sarah thought she was having hearing problems.
Looking at their expressions, Varian repeated again. "I. Love. You. Both."
Sarah and Sia's expressions changed from shock to disbelief, disbelief to surprise, and surprise to confusion.
Varian stood up and walked out with a wave of his hand. "We don't have any time for any serious stuff now. Wait until we can end the abyssals for marriage. I promise it'll be the grandest marriage in history."
"?"
"!"
He threw another bombshell and walked out with hands in his pockets.
With beet-red faces, Sia and Sarah looked at each other in silence before they both yelled.
"You rascal!"
"Shameless!"
Hearing the screams coming from the mansion, Varian merely shrugged and laid on a hammock in a small forest near the mansion.
A few more screams sounded, this time, a bit more 'cultured'. Varian clicked his tongue and covered his ears.
"Jokes on you two, I already came out."
He knew his words were rather explosive. But he said them anyway.
If he waited, this issue would erupt sooner or later. If Sia confessed to him at some point, then she'd be the one to face the pressure.
Since he did it, he took the pressure off her.
"I should ask her to thank me later." Varian put his hands behind his head and gazed at the beautiful blue sky.
His body relaxed and he grinned.
Life was peaceful~
Not so much inside the mansion.
"That guy! How shameless! Telling two girls he loves them both! Argh! I should've added some poison in the food!" Sia slammed the innocent dining table and complained.
"His face didn't have the slightest inch of shame when he said those words. Like what! Sia, why is he so shameless? The Varian I knew was graceful and kind!"
"Graceful? Bah! He was and is a shameless, narcissist and now, he's even cocky!"
"Yeah! Talking about stuff like marriage so nonchalantly! He's cocky indeed!"
Sarah and Sia nodded seriously and the noise settled down. They both sat across each other and gazed at each other with a peaceful smile.
"Say, Sarah." Sia held Sarah's hand. "Varian is shameless, narcissist and now he's even cocky, right?"
"Yeah! Absolutely!" Sarah nodded with a serious face.
"Then as your best friend, let me advise you, dating such a guy is just plain bad! Break up! Break up! BREAK UP now!" Sia gripped Sarah's hand tighter and smiled even more peacefully.
Sarah's eyebrows jumped in anger and she held Sia's other hand. "Sia, you two grew up since you were nine, right? Aren't you two like…siblings?"
"Haha." Sia burst into laughter and leaned forward. "Of course, not. I always knew we weren't siblings. I never called Amanda as mom either. We were closer to childhood sweethearts, for eight years. It's only natural that I should bear him, even though he has all these bad qualities."
"Ah-haha." Sarah withdrew her hand and covered her mouth. "But you should seem him as one, right? Living under the same roof for so many years, but nothing happened between you two. So, you know…"
Sia gritted her teeth as Sarah's words hit a pain point. Varian at that time was too focused on his training to start anything romantic with her. Even though she tried a few times, he avoided her.
With every passing year, he had lower self-esteem and didn't want to hold her back with a new relationship.
Looking at Sarah's smug smile, Sia pierced the table with her index finger and said. "Didn't you just meet him like three months ago? Ice beauty Sarah is head over heels for a man in just two or three months? Isn't that…too fast?"
Sarah's face flushed at her words and she glared at Sia.
Now they're even.
