When they arrived at the dining hall, everyone was already there.
"Greetings city lord, lord commander..." Max and others politely greeted everyone.
Everyone returned the greeting with a smile on their faces and invited them to sit.
While eating, Max noticed an odd thing. Arya's uncle and aunt, whose son they saved, would occasionally glance at him with a weird look in her eyes.
'What is this?' Max frowned. He didn't understand why they were behaving this way.
"Father, is there any massage from big sister? When is she coming?" Elena asked the old man Raku.
"Yes. I was about to tell our little friends about it." Old man Raku smiled lightly.
'Big sister? Is she talking about Rima's master?' Max thought. He had heard Arya say that she was her aunt, although not related to blood.
Just as he thought, they were indeed talking about Rima's future master. The old man Raku glanced at Rima and said, "Little lady, I got a message from your future master this morning. She will return to the city by tonight. So, I will take you to meet her tomorrow."
"Yes, grandpa." Rima nodded. She was both nervous and excited to hear that she will meet her potential master, a mighty king rank mage, tomorrow.
A while later, they finished having breakfast. Just as they were about to head back, Arya's aunt walked up to Elena and whispered something in her ear.
After hearing whatever she said, Elena's usually gentle expression became slightly colder. She looked at Max with a piercing gaze and called out, "Max, stay back. I need to talk to you."
Max shivered slightly when he heard her indifferent tone and saw her expression.
'Could it be that they have found out that Maria spent the night with me?' He thought, and a wry smile appeared on his face.
Ryan, who was about to go out, stopped in his tracks when he heard Elena. He looked at Max with an amusing expression on his face and then glanced at his wife.
Elena shook her head when she saw Ryan's expression and smilingly said, "It's nothing too important. I just want to talk to him in private for a bit."
"Alright." Ryan nodded and walked out.
When he passed by Max, his laugher sounded in Max's ears, 'Kid, I don't know what you did, but you are in a good scolding by the looks of it. Hahaha..."
'This old man...' Max gritted his teeth in frustration.
Rima, Belen and Leticia looked at Max with questioning looks, which made him smile wryly. "You guys go first. I'll tell you later."
Since he said that, none of them insisted on staying and walked out of the hall.
Arya's aunt glanced at her husband, and he also walked away. She then sent out all the maids out.
After a moment, only Max, Elena and Arya's aunt were in the dining hall.
Both of the ladies looked at Max without saying anything. Max felt an invisible pressure on his shoulder and stiffly asked, "What did you want to talk about, city lord?"
"Why don't you guess?" Elena asked indifferently.
Max knew she was trying to suppress her anger behind her indifferent voice. He sighed and said, "I reckon you want to talk about Maria, right?"
"Oh, so you aren't completely clueless." Elena coldly laughed and then asked, "Tell me, is it appropriate to behave so atrociously in someone else's home?"
"No." Max shook his head and before she could say anything, he said, "I know I made a mistake and I won't give any excuses. But let me tell you, I didn't force her. Moreover, I've already taken her as my woman if it makes any difference."
"Oh?" Elena and Arya's aunt, both were taken aback.
"I know you humans like Elvin beauties, but are you sure you want to make a mere servant your woman?" Arya's aunt seriously asked, stressing the word 'woman'.
Max understood what she meant. She was asking whether he was going to treat her as his woman or a plaything?
"Don't worry about it. I'll treat her the same as I treat my other woman." He resolutely said.
...
After a while, Max walked out of the dining hall. Rima, Belen, Leticia and little Arya were standing right outside, waiting for him.
Seeing him come out, little Arya ran up to him and asked, "Big brother, my mom scold you, right?"
"Hm? Why would she scold me?" Max asked with a smile.
"That's weird." Little Arya put on a contemplative expression and thought aloud, "Whenever my mom had that kind of expression, it means she is angry and she even scolds my father. Why didn't she scold big brother?"
"You little girl. You think that about me, huh?" Elena's voice sounded out from the dining hall.
Little Arya jumped up in fright and ran behind Max. She looked toward her mother, walking out with her aunt, and hastily said, "Hehe mom... I was just joking."
"Okay. Go and play somewhere else. Don't disturb your big brother and big sisters. They have something to talk about." Elena said as she gave Max a meaningful glance before walking away.
After hearing what she said, Rima and others looked at Max in confusion.
"Let's go to my room first, shall we?" Max smiled.
...
After a while, all of them were sitting in Max's room. The ladies had their eyes trained on Max, making him feel a little awkward.
He glanced at them, coughed to clear his throat, and explained what happened last night. "Well, last night..."
After he finished explaining, Rima and Leticia had conflicted expression. As for Belen, she maintained the same expression from end to last, as if it didn't matter how many women he had.
Looking at their expressions, Max sighed. He couldn't stand the awkward atmosphere, so he said, "I'm going out for a bit."
"It's alright." Before he could stand up, Rima and Leticia spoke up.
"I-Is that so?" Max let out a sigh in his heart.
"Yeah. I don't care how many women you have. As long as I have a small corner in your heart, I'm happy." Rima smiled.
