(MC POV)
After my disciples were done, I even had to satisfy the servant girls who were caught up in the fox girls' pheromones. Thus it was next morning when I finally stepped outside the room, having slept with all the girls the previous day.
I looked up to see Iris watching me silently, the woman obviously enjoying the show I've put for her all this while.
"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" I asked.
"Ufufufu~ But of course, Master~ Did you not like it? If you didn't, I could End all of them right now."
"What did I say about Ending things arbitrarily? Don't do that."
"Ara, ara? If Master says so~ Ufufufu~"
I stretched myself and groaned. I don't actually feel sore considering I'm not mortal anymore, but it just felt nice to do that.
Since all the girls were still asleep including the servants, I went to the kitchens to make some food for everyone.
It's been a while since I last cooked so it's good for me to polish my rusty cooking skills a little.
I stepped into the kitchens and I stopped.
Has the stove always been on the right side? I thought it was on the left? Did they move things around during my absence?
Hmmm… I suppose it's possible so I didn't think too much into it.
I went up to the cooking station and briefly thought about what I should make.
"Anything you'd like to have, Xun Guan?" I asked the slime girl.
"Just water is fine, Master," she replied me as-a-matter-of-factly.
Oh? That's weird… I just realised she wasn't massaging the places she would usually do and was simply sticking to my shoulders. Perhaps she's still sleepy?
I poured out some water for her in a jug and left it on the table, prompting Xun Guan to stretch out a prehensile tentacle from my sleeve to dip into the glass to start sucking the liquid up.
I left her to it and proceeded to make breakfast for today, deciding on some simple eggs, toast and meat buns.
I was in the midst of seasoning the eggs to fry them when the kitchen door opened, revealing a yawning Brendan standing at the doorway.
Xun Guan had quickly retracted her tentacle so he shouldn't have seen that.
"Good morning Brendan, long night?" I greeted.
"Good morning Master, I had a breakthrough with my research yesterday so I had to finish up with it first. Did I disturb you?"
I chuckled, "How could you? I was worried I might be the one who kept you up."
He laughed before moving near me.
I was surprised when he actually slipped his arms around my waist from behind and hugged me while he leaned his head on my shoulder.
"Oh Master… You can keep me awake any time," He whispered into my ear.
Brendan squeezed his arms before letting me go, giggling as he moved to help me cut the bread to be toasted.
What.
The.
Fuck?
I stared at Brendan, wondering if he drank some weird potion yesterday or something but he just continued on as normal, even humming a tune as though he didn't do anything weird.
"What was that?" I asked, still keeping my gaze on Brendan.
He tilted his head at me, "What was what, Master?"
"Ummm… That. That hug. Like what? I mean, I'm not mad or anything, just surprised."
Brendan looked genuinely confused, "Hmm? I don't understand Master? Did something happen?"
"I mean… You don't usually do that... Don't you?"
He smiled, "Oh, I see. You just needed to ask, Master."
He stepped closer to me again and this time he hugged me from the front, keeping his gaze locked on me.
I was still in the midst of processing what was going on when he leaned forward and captured my lips with his.
…
I don't want to say it. I really don't want to say it…
Ok.
Brendan's lips were surprisingly soft.
He pulled back after a while with a shy smile, "I hope that was a nice enough good morning kiss?"
Not waiting for an answer, he stepped back and returned to humming while cutting the bread, looking even more chirpy than before.
Ok, seriously.
What.
The.
Fuck?
I turned to look at Iris standing in the corner and she's not showing any signs of thinking this was weird. Actually, it's hard to tell with her since she literally does not care about anything else that isn't me.
"Xun Guan… No comments?" I asked in a whisper.
"Hmm? About what Master?" She whispered back.
Eh? Did she not see what happened? Was she sleeping? I guess I did sleep quite late last night so it'll make sense that she's still tired.
"Nothing, just… Er… Nothing," I sighed, going back to the eggs while the feeling of Brendan's kiss still lingered on my lips.
Did I hate it? Actually… Not really…
Still doesn't change the fact that this was weird… Maybe a heads up would be nice, you know?
I decided not to think about it first and focus on making breakfast for everyone, it'd be really embarrassing if I actually burnt the eggs now.
I'm definitely thinking he drank something weird yesterday that made Brendan like this, so I'll properly check through his lab later so as to not embarrass him.
The servants came in a while later, all of them apologising profusely for making me prepare everyone's breakfast but I simply waved them off saying it was fine.
Soon enough, breakfast was laid out on the table in the dining room and my girls soon filtered into the room, all of them looking fresh.
"Good morning Master," All of them greeted me.
Cai Hong ran up and hugged my leg, "Good 'mwowin' Papa!"
So cute.
I sat down at my usual spot at the head of the table before my disciples took their own seats.
Then the next unexpected thing happened.
Usually Cai Hong would sit beside me or on my lap. This time she chose to sit beside me so that was still normal.
That would leave my other side empty and my girls would usually draw lots on who gets to sit there, it's something Lian Li and Manami had been doing ever since Cai Hong joined us and all the girls joined in on it ever since.
This time, they didn't even draw lots and Brendan went ahead to take the seat like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The girls didn't comment on it either, simply waiting for me to take the first bite before everyone else started eating as per normal.
Ok… Something weird is definitely going on…
Is this some sort of prank?
Hold on a moment, I just realised there's more people around than normal…
I mean Feng Jie is here which is normal since I brought her here so it's natural that she joined us for breakfast. The kitchen being flipped may also be contributing to this weird feeling I'm having but there's something else that doesn't feel right.
Has the dining table always been this big? But why is every seat filled--
Wait…
WHY DO I SEE FOUR ERIS?
