"Oi! Did you go into a shock after hearing the truth?" Rudy scoffed softly. "Why don't you search on the internet to confirm it?"
"It's fine." Lucy smiled at Rudy with a soft gaze and uttered, "I trust you. So never lie to me, brother."
Rudy grabbed Lucy's finger and said, "I am hungry."
"I was about to ask you about that. Go sit at the table. I was waiting for you, so I haven't eaten either."
"But I saw dirty plates on the counter. Surely, mom didn't use five plates for dinner."
"You are so perceptive. Yes, Rebecca didn't use them. I had served food on the plates, but the food got cold while I was waiting for you. Rebecca told me that you might not come, so I thought I should put everything in the refrigerator, but… I couldn't fit all the plates in there.
Long story short, the plates are dirty because of that reason. I went to take a bath, and now you are here. If I knew you would come home, I wouldn't have gone through all that trouble for nothing."
She ended the sentence with a short sigh.
"Or Miss Lucy would have just called me."
"Rebecca told me you won't come, so I naturally assumed you informed her."
"Girl, I never knew you worried so much about me."
"It's natural for a sister to worry about her brother, is it not?"
"Oh?" Rudy raised his brow with an amused expression on his face and remarked, "And I thought I was your stepbrother."
"You are! It's my sisterly love for you~"
"Is that so? I must be one lucky man if I have a sister like you."
"That you are. So you must also do the same for me."
"Like what, make sure to eat dinner with you?"
"That's a basic requirement of every family member. You don't have siblings, so you might not know, but it's a brother's duty to fulfill all of his sister's needs."
"I see, I see." Rudy nodded.
Lucy gazed at Rudy seductively and added, "Which includes everything, from A to Z. I hope you can put up with my needs."
Rudy was well aware of what Lucy was trying to say, but he had his dumb mode on, so he needed to act dumb.
"As long as you don't ask for ridiculous things, such as the moon and stars."
Undoubtedly, Rudy could bring the moon and stars for Lucy if she asked him to.
Lucy rolled her eyes and inwardly uttered, 'He is dense as always. Maybe I should be a little aggressive next time? Or… I can simply be more direct instead of beating around the bush.'
Rudy watched Lucy as she heated the food while humming a song.
'In my past life, it was so rare for us to be alone at home like this. Mom used to be out for the night shift, but Joe was always home at night. Good thing I took care of him as soon as I got a chance.'
Rudy helped Lucy with the food, and they sat in front of each other while eating dinner.
Lucy couldn't take her eyes off Rudy while eating, but Rudy, however, was lost in his abyss of never-ending thoughts.
She wanted to have a conversation with Rudy as it was too awkward to eat dinner alone with him.
"Why did you come so late? You told me you have sports week, is it because of that?" she asked naturally while serving gravy on his plate.
"No, I went to Eric's house."
"Ah, I see."
'That was a common thing for him.' Lucy uttered inwardly.
"By the way, I have been wondering about one thing. You always go to Eric's house, but he never comes here. Why?"
"Hmm…" Rudy swallowed the bite he was chewing and drank a sip of water. "That's a good question, actually."
"Do you have an answer to that…?"
"If I have to say… he probably doesn't like coming here. He could enter the house but wouldn't stay for more than ten minutes. He wouldn't eat or drink either. Most of the time, he comes to grab my homework books and assignments or to grab me out of the house."
"He is rich, so… I guess it's natural for him to feel… repulsed… or something. I don't know. I shouldn't judge a person I barely know," She shrugged her shoulders.
"No, you are right. But the word 'repulsed' is too strong. Any rich person would be weirded out to be in a small house. That's not really his fault. It's a natural instinct. For example, a Lion wouldn't like to live on the streets. A vulture wouldn't like to live in buildings.
They are the same thing, but not the place they are supposed to be. I hope it was a good example. My mind is not focused right now."
"You are having dinner with such a beautiful and cute girl like me, and yet you are saying your mind is focused elsewhere? I feel offended," she puffed her cheeks a little.
"I never said I wasn't focused on you."
"...!" Lucy's face flushed.
'I didn't expect a sudden smooth move. Did he do that on purpose? No… Rudy doesn't have skills like that.'
"The food is great too."
"Rebecca made it." Lucy sharpened her gaze and remarked, "You never say that when I cook."
"As always."
"Huh?"
"The food is great, too, as always. You interrupted me in between."
"No, no." Lucy shook her hand and said, "You literally stopped after saying that. I didn't interrupt you. There was a three-second silence in between."
"That's because I stopped to swallow the food."
"..." Lucy didn't trust Rudy, but she was happy regardless after receiving praise.
However, Rudy's mind was truly lost somewhere else. He couldn't stop thinking about Janet. He felt uneasy.
'Should I use my 'Find me' ability to track and see what she is doing? I have already marked her, so I can track her. Let's just hope she is not taking a bath because I don't want to see her naked. Otherwise, I would get a boner in front of Lucy.'
Rudy closed his eyes to track Janet, but for some reason, she was untrackable.
'Uhh…'
